INTRODUCTION

   Popularity of Hi-Res (high resolution) music players has reached new heights, not only because of their internal dedicated DACs and processors which result in much higher audio clarity/precision (always compared to low/mid-end smartphones) but also due to their long battery lives and, in most cases, their very compact enclosures. Seriously, if we exclude the rather short period just over a decade ago when people would buy low-cost MP3/MP4 players (well to be fair smartphones weren't really used for that back then) there's never been such interest in this market ever before (even more impressive however are the sales numbers of high/ultra-high end music players). FiiO has been steadily leading the Hi-Res music player market for many years now and today with us we have one of their latest entry-level models, the M5.

   FiiO was established in 2007 and has experience in researching and developing countless portable music products of different types, and sell FiiO-branded products through sales agents worldwide. The brand name FiiO is composed of Fi(fidelity from HiFi) and iO(number 1&0), representing the real feeling and convenient life that digital brings to life. Meanwhile, the Chinese “飞傲” is the transliteration of FiiO, indicating the positive and innovative spirit as thriving as spring. FiiO is focused on product quality, adheres strictly to ISO9001 standards in quality management and works hard to attain the lowest repair-related product returns rate.

   Even though just like with the M3K model (review here) the M5 (currently available in black, blue, red, silver and titanium colors) is based on the low-power X1000E dedicated IoT Processor by Ingenic (MIPS-Based XBurst cores clocked at 1GHz with 64MB LPDDR) which also allows it to be used as a USB DAC (digital output and converter to analog by external circuit) with support for audio sample rates of up to 384KHz32bit/DSD128 this time over FiiO paired it with the AK4377 advanced DAC by ASAHI KASEI MICRODEVICES (32-bit with built-in VELVET sound technology headphone amplifier) which supports a maximum sampling frequency/resolution of 768kHz/32-bit (PCM input) with an SNR of 128dB and -109dB distortion (THD+N). The M5 also features an 1.54-inch IPS TFT screen (240x240p / 220.4 PPI / 262k colors) protected by a 2.5D tempered glass, CNC machined aluminum body, the CSR8675 bluetooth v5.0 receiver/transmitter by Qualcomm (makes use of their Kalimba DSP and supports playback of aptX, aptX HD, LDAC, SBC and ACC codecs - Qualcomm states that this is a v5.0 chip whereas FiiO states this is an v4.2 chip), dual cVc noise-cancelling microphones (for voice calls and sound recording), high-precision pedometer/step counter and a 3.7V 550mAh lithium-ion polymer rechargeable battery which can keep it powered for up to 10.5 hours (13.5 hours when using bluetooth). As expected, the M5 supports most current audio formats (MP3/OGG/AAC/WMA/WAV/FLAC/APE/AIFF/M4A/ALAC/ISO/DSD/CUE) and can be equipped with micro SD cards of up to 2TB in capacity.