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I want to leave my phone at home or not have it on me most of the time. Most calls I get are meaningless spam and I rarely need to answer my phone for real calls outside my home (though it does happen on ocassion). One thing I do want and am accustomed to is having music, however.

I was looking at Amazon and Aliexpress for devices that can play mp3/mp4s, some can do that and even have ebook readers which is great. I don't see any connectivity on them or microphones save for the one that is included on the earbuds or Bluetooth.

And that is one question I have: can Bluetooth compromised your privacy? I know Bluetooth hacking is real but how bad is it?

I guess if it has a microphone it is ok if I dont have any connectivity. What do you guys recommend?

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[-] tavu@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Old phone which is supported by (even an old version of) LineageOS, kept permanently in airplane mode.

Can be extra cheap in countries which have switched off 2G+3G networks, and old phones are more likely to have a headphone jack. You might even have one kicking around in a drawer.

Audio output quality and headphone driving capability varies -- research on audio forums for what might be good. LG v-series were very good.

If you're feeling adventurous you could crack it open and remove/short antennas & microphones and cameras.

If it's usb-only or the audio section is poor quality, apple sell a cheap usb-c dac that's pretty good. (get it from a reputable source -- most are counterfeit).

this post was submitted on 20 Jan 2026
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Privacy

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