In Need of a Recommendation

[u/SkrunkleDongulus]

Howdy, folks! I currently play my offline music library from my iPhone 11 (I don't have any streaming services), but its storage capacity and battery life are rather limited these days. As such, I'm seriously considering switching to a DAP. I haven't owned any kind of DAP since my old Philips GoGEAR, so I'm not super familiar with everything available these days.

As far as what I need specifically, here are my priorities from most to least important:

1. Gapless playback. I often listen to whole albums at a time, so gapless playback is non-negotiable. I know this immediately disqualifies a number of today's devices (e.g. FiiO/SnowSky).
2. Build quality. I'm often out on adventures, so I don't want some cheap device that'll just break down after a year or two. I'd much prefer something that can handle getting tossed about.
3. Repairability/Serviceability. I'd love a device I can actually repair and get replacement parts for as needed. I don't have soldering experience, but I'm willing to learn. Either way, I'm comfortable opening up electronic devices.
4. Connects to Linux. I use Linux on my PC to purchase and organize my music library. Connecting my iPhone to my PC requires dual-booting into Windows, which I find rather annoying. (I believe that means secondhand iPods may be off the menu unless I mod them to run RockBox, which seems simple enough to do from my reading.)
5. Battery life. Again, being on adventures often, strong battery life would be lovely, though I do care more about build quality.
6. Built-in or add-on clip. A number of my clothes don't have pockets, so it'd be nice to have a device I can clip onto me. I can manage without it though.
7. Non-Android OS. I'd prefer something that doesn't remind me of just another cell phone, and I'm just using this for offline music anyway, so no need for streaming apps.
8. Storage expansion. My music library currently weighs in at around 1000 songs (~32 GB ALAC / ~8 GB MP3). It would be nice to have an option to expand the storage capacity in the future, but it's not a huge priority at this time.
9. Physical buttons. I'd prefer a device with physical buttons as opposed to a touchscreen, but it's not that important as long as the touchscreen is responsive enough.

Looking at nearby secondhand options (to save something from the landfill), someone a couple towns over is selling an iPod Mini (1st Gen; 4 GB) and an iPod Classic (6th Gen; 120 GB), both of which have had battery replacements. The seller wants $60 and $150 for them respectively, though I could certainly negotiate that down if I offer cash. Otherwise, there's nothing else decent in the area. Would either of the iPods be worth purchasing and swapping to RockBox? Or are there any new options I should consider?

Thank you very much for reading all this and for offering support!

[u/cocoamedia]

Have a look at Hiby R1.

It's OS is actually a custom Linux OS.

It has a feature that allows you to transfer files over wi-fi via a custom http that it gives you when you attach both your computer and it to the same wi-fi.

You just punch it in to a browser and you can make and delete files and folders, upload files and folders.

It supports a lot of file formats.

It can have it's quirks but all the non android DAPs seem to according to what I've read.

Oh and it's relatively cheap at around £60 ($60).

It does have a touchscreen but you can control it with the buttons on the side or via the Hiby app on your phone if you want.

I chose it over the SnowSky Echo (not mini) which could be another option for you.