ClipZip died, need adequate replacement

[Nubcakes]

Greetings everyone,
Recently my beloved clip zip died after 4 years of use and after checking amazon and ebay for a replacement(see images) I was not impressed to find the massive price increase considering I purchased the 8GB model 4 years ago for 50$ at radio shack.

I considered grabbing the Clip sport/Jam, but I am apprehensive after recalling the shenanigans I had to deal with on the Clip Zip before running rockbox:
* 10+ minute startup times when changes to music were made or if the microSD card connection was interrupted. "Building library" I believe the load time was called.
* random bricking(about once a week) which required holding unnatural button combinations down for specific periods of time or dissembling the player and baking the circuit board.
* janky interface which was hard to see in bright light.

Oddly, all of these issues went away immediately once I installed rockbox and it sounds like 3rd party firmware will be a No-Go for the current generation sandisk clips. I have little faith for sandisk's latest iteration considering how the Clip Zip was out of the box...

With that being said; I am looking for a new "MP3 Player" although the term feels out of place these days as I expect it to play FLAC, WAV, and OGG along side MP3s and as requested in the sticky here is what exactly;

Location: USA - Midwest
Capacity: WITH an expansion slot; 2GB+, WITHOUT an expansion slot; 16GB+
Budget: up to 300 US dollars. However, I am not shelling out $100+ for a player with the features and build quality of a $50 player from 4 years ago which is why I am not buying a "NEW" Clip Zip!
Use: Music while hiking, biking, running, working, commuting.
Type/Design: DAP - Should NOT have a touch screen as this player will be placed in a sometimes sweaty pocket. Should be easy to stuff in a small pocket and reasonably durable; 3ft drops on pavement shouldn't be a problem.
Features: MSC, Multi level folder support(folders within folders), standard connector like USB mini/micro.
Display: atleast 1 inch display that is readable in sun light.
UI/Controls: Actual buttons, no touch screen, UI should be very consistent and navigable without looking at the display with 1 hand.
Battery life: 8+ Hours.

Finally, no proprietary software should be required. I should be able to treat this player like a flash drive; plug it in, copy and past files/folders, pull it out; DONE. Hopefully there still exists a player out there for my needs. I am willing to make compromises as needed but only if no options exist.


Thanks!