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If you were sad when Apple's iPod Shuffle was discontinued in 2017, you might find some solace in learning that the Mighty Vibe is essentially the new iPod Shuffle for the streaming era. It retails for $86 in the US and £61 to £80 in the UK (via Amazon and elsewhere), but it's also sometimes sold for as low as $69 (plus $5 shipping) from the manufacturer's website (see discount details).
Note that CNET may get get a share of revenue from the sales linked above.
Now, the big caveat from the "it's like the Shuffle for streaming" is this: It has nothing to do with Apple or (blech!) iTunes. Instead it's just for Spotify, the most popular subscription streaming music service in the world -- and an an up-and-coming purveyor of podcasts too.
With a 0.7-ounce (20-gram) body made of plastic instead of aluminum, it's not quite as small or swanky looking as the Shuffle. But it's pretty tiny and is designed to clip onto a piece of clothing -- just like the Shuffle was.
Those similarities aside, the Mighty Vibe has two key features missing from the Shuffle: Bluetooth wireless connectivity and the ability to download any song or podcast you want from Spotify. The caveat is that you have to be a Spotify Premium subscriber to use it. That'll cost you $10 (£10 or AU$12) a month.
The Mighty Vibe clipped onto a shirt.
Sarah Tew/CNETSome people experienced Bluetooth hiccups with Mighty's first-generation player. Addressing those complaints, Mighty said it has improved the Bluetooth performance for both connectivity and range in the Vibe. It seemed mostly fine to me, and fellow CNET editor David Katzmaier also didn't encounter any major issues.
Setup and synching were straightforward and I had no problem re-pairing the device with the Mighty app -- it's available for iOS and Android -- when I needed to refresh a playlist with additional songs or add another playlist.
While the Vibe is connected to the app on your iOS or Android device via Bluetooth, you transfer playlists over Wi-Fi. That means your phone and Vibe need to be on the same Wi-Fi network for synching. It's also worth mentioning that when you transfer playlists you can choose between three quality levels -- Normal, High and Extreme. If you use the Normal setting transfers are faster, but syncing proceeds with reasonable speed regardless of what setting you choose, thanks to the Wi-Fi connection.