INTRODUCTION

   MP3 players are dead, smartphones as we've known them for years now have given the final blow to the once popular devices. This is something I’ve read and heard over the years by numerous people and in a way i tend to agree with them, MP3 players indeed haven't been relevant for well over a decade now. The thing is however that MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 - 16bit/320Kbps) as a lossy audio format is also a thing of the past, at least for people who really cherish audio and have thus opted for the more recent lossless FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec - 32bit/192KHz), ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec - 32bit/384KHz) or even DSD (Direct Stream Digital - up to DSD1024 45.2MHz) formats. The latest M11S Portable High Resolution Music Player by FiiO reached the lab just 3 weeks ago and that’s what I’ll be talking about today.

   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.

   The M11S is the latest addition in the already long line of M11 music players by FiiO (M11/M11 Pro/M11 Plus LTD/M11S) and is based on the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 14nm SoC (Qualcomm Kryo 260 Octa-Core CPU @ 2.2GHz, Adreno 512 GPU, 2.4GHz/5GHz Wi-Fi 4 & Wi-Fi 5 support) paired with 3GB LPDDR3 RAM and 32GB ROM (16GB available to the user). FiiO this time over has used an customized Android 10 OS for the M11S and inside its enclosure we find two ES9038Q2M reference DACs (32-bit 2ch with 128dB DNR, -120dB THD+N / supports up to 32-bit 768kHz PCM and DSD256 via DoP and native DSD1024), two audiophile-approved OPA926 Op-Amps, two NDK crystal oscillators, SAMSUNG S5N5C10B01-6330 chip (Bluetooth v5.0 - SBC/AAC/aptX/aptX HD/LDAC/LHDC wireless codec support) and an 5300mAh 3.8V lithium polymer battery pack with support for quick charge 4.0 which according to FiiO can power the M11S for up to 14 hours. Needless to say, FiiO has also equipped the M11S with an 5" IPS Hi-Res in cell bezel-less screen (HD 1280x720p resolution, 312PPI pixel density, 16.7 million Colors and 10 finger multi-touch support), micro SD card slot (2TB card support), analog volume control and 2.5/3.5/4.4mm audio outputs (USB-C also available). Also, worth mentioning is that the M11S fully supports MQA unfolding, is Roon ready and sports a 10-band EQ (PEQ supported) for complete control over your audio. So, without further delay let's see what the latest M11S is capable of.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

As usual FiiO uses a black box to ship their music player the front of which is taken by a large product picture and the Hi-Res and company logos.

Contact information for FiiO is as always available at the rear of the box just under several certifications and information on the product.

Inside the box FiiO has placed the M11S with a silicon case and protection films from the front and rear, a paper which points to that fact and a USB-C cable.

THE M11S

The 271g heavy M11S is a medium-sized music player that measures 125.2mm in height, 74mm in width and 18.5mm in thickness.

To have a better understanding about size i placed the M11S next to its higher-end brother which has been my favourite music player to date, the M15.

The 5 inch IPS Hi-Res in cell bezel-less screen FiiO has equipped the M11S with may not impress with its HD resolution (at least not on paper) but it does have good pixel density (312PPI) and the 10 finger multi-touch support is plenty.

On the right side of the M11S we find the previous/next track and play/pause buttons right over/next to the microSD card slot.

On the opposite side we find the power on/off/lock screen, volume up/down and customizable multifunction buttons.

At the front of the M11S FiiO has placed all available connectors and more specifically a 3.5mm headphone/line/coax out, USB-C transfer/charging port, 2.5mm balanced out and a 4.4mm balanced/line out.

Turning the M11S around we find the company logo, Hi-Res logos and the products' electrical requirements.

THE M11S OS

Once you connect the M11S to your Wi-Fi network it will check for available firmware updates (for this review v1.0.3 was used).

Of course, the M11S launches in Android mode so the main screen is more or less what you'd see on your smartphone.

From the drop down menu you can set the screen brightness, check the status of Wi-Fi, change the mode, set the gain and output mode, enable in-vehicle mode, enable FiiO Roon and all to DSD functions, switch between dark/light themes, enable night light and rotate the screen.

Inside the settings you'll find most of things available in Android smartphones plus the more advanced audio settings.

The about page has a somewhat thorough report on what the M11S consists of.

You can also change modes from the settings area.

FiiO has made a total of 25 apps available for download for the M11S.

The Pure Music mode is what everyone will be using and it's very easy to navigate.

From the main Pure Music tab, you can use the EQ function, change the theme, use the FiiO link and control features, scan for music (local/microSD), initiate WiFi music transfer, set the sleep timer, check various beta features (Lab), enter the settings tab and change the language.

The EQ comes ready with several presets for you to choose from or create your very own.

For wireless testing i used the BTR3 model again by FiiO but as you can see you can pair the M11S with pretty much everything.

DLNA transmitting and PEQ are the two features inside the Lab area.

Using WiFi to transfer music is not something i used but it seems simple enough (just use the URL provided to transfer music from your PC to the M11S - both need to be on the same network).

The settings tab has everything i could ever hope to find (some i didn't even touch).

Finally, the music scanner is easy to configure and use.

CONCLUSION

   Having already reviewed the very good M11 model back in 2019 getting the latest upgraded version in the form of the M11S was a nice surprise for me. Now I don’t still have the M11 in my possession so a direct comparison is impossible but I do have the higher-end M15 (many of you have asked for the M17 lately so I will try and get that too) and that’s what I used for today’s review. Well compared to the M15 the new M11S does fall behind in two things, highs and soundstage reproduction. So yes, the M15 produced more accurate, soft and crisp highs and a wider soundstage compared to the M11S (mids and bass are very close with the M15 producing slightly deeper and softer bass). Needless to say, it matters a whole lot what earphones/headphones you’ll end up using and so even though with the new FiiO FH11 (review soon) there was very little difference between the two I obviously also used something higher end and more specifically the FA9 and FH7 earphones again by FiiO and the OV21 headphones by Thinksound (review soon) all three of which emphasised those two differences (the OV21 slightly more than the other two). As expected even the screens between the M15 and M11S have their differences (the one used with the M15 is brighter and more detailed) but what stood out more to me was the fact that even though the M15 Pure Music mode was able to detect all the lyrics for my audio collection the M11S Pure Music mode was not (strange since this is an app and not a hardware difference). Also strangely enough the M11 (and M15) had two microSD card slots but the M11S only has one and even though it should be plenty i do expect some consumers to have an issue with that. FiiO also claims the M11S has a battery life of up to 14 hours but if you check the parameters page that’s with the volume level set at less than half (37-47) so it’s no wonder I could hardly squeeze just over 10 hours from it (with the volume set at around 90-95). Still let’s face it, even 10 hours from any Hi-Res music player is more than plenty.

   Currently retailing for USD499.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 519.97Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) the M11S Portable High Resolution Music Player by FiiO is priced well for what it offers (more or less what the M11 retailed for back in 2019). This is almost 1/3 of the price you’re required to pay for the M15 (and other models similar to it) so it’s no surprise you’ll need to compromise a bit in regards to audio quality. Still the M11S does a very good overall job and definitely delivers on everything FiiO advertises it for which is exactly why it gets the Golden Award.

PROS

- Very Good Build Quality
- Impressive Audio Performance
- Supported Bluetooth Codecs (SBC/AAC/aptX/aptX HD/LDAC/LHDC)
- 5 Inch IPS Screen
- Octa Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 14nm SoC
- 3GB LPDDR3 RAM
- 2.5/3.5/4.4mm Audio Outputs
- 32GB Onboard Storage (16GB Available)
- Supported Audio Formats (DSD/ISO/DSF/DFF/DST/DXD/APE/Apple Lossless/AIFF/FLAC/WAV/WMA/MP3/OGG/AAC)
- 5300mAh Rechargeable Battery (Up To 14 Hours Of Playback)
- Micro SD Card Slot (Up To 2TB)
- Silicon Case & Protection Films
- Customized Android v10.0 OS
- Product Support

CONS

- Price (For Some)
- Single MicroSD Card Slot (For Some)