The FiiO M23 Digital Audio Player: Transform Your On-the-Go Music Experience
FiiO M23 Review: A New Must-Have for Music Lovers
If you love great sound, you need to know about FiiO. This Chinese brand has been making awesome audio products for nearly 20 years. They make everything from headphones to digital audio players (DAPs) and more. Their products are known for their high quality and reliability.
Available now at OTIC for £649
Meet the FiiO M23
The M23 is FiiO's newest digital audio player. It's designed to compete with other popular players like Astell & Kern's SR25 MKII. FiiO is one of the few brands that can compete with Astell & Kern in the DAP market. The M23 is packed with features and built to impress.
Powerful Amplification and DAC
The FiiO M23 uses THX AAA 78+ amplification, which is an upgrade from their M11 series. This helps to keep the sound clear and precise with minimal distortion. The M23 also has a strong power supply and special capacitors to ensure stable power.
It features two AKM DAC chipsets, the AK4191EQ and AK4499EX. These chips work together to keep the signal clean and noise-free. The M23 can handle almost any digital audio file, including high-resolution formats like MQA, up to 24-bit/384kHz, and DSD256.
Great Connectivity
The FiiO M23 MP3 Playerworks with both wired and wireless headphones. It has 3.5mm and 4.4mm outputs for connecting headphones or other audio equipment. The 3.5mm jack can also be used as a digital coaxial output if you have a better DAC. For wireless use, the M23 supports Bluetooth 5.0 and works as both a transmitter and receiver. It supports many Bluetooth codecs, including SBC, AAC, aptX HD, and LDAC.
Easy to Use Interface
The M23 runs on Android 12 and uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor. This makes it fast and responsive. The 64GB internal memory is efficiently managed by FiiO’s Android system, and you can add up to 2TB with a microSD card.
The 5.5-inch touchscreen is sharp and responsive, making it easy to navigate through your music library.
Convenient Controls
The M23 has easy-to-use physical controls for power, volume, and playback. There’s also a 'hold' button to prevent accidental changes, a user-definable button, and a 'D-mode' slider for desktop use. One USB-C port is for data transfer and the other is for charging or using as a desktop DAC. In 'D-mode,' the player uses external power, saving battery life.
Long Battery Life
The M23 has a 550mAh battery that lasts about 10 hours on a single charge. It charges quickly with up to 30W fast charging when the battery is low, then switches to a slower rate to protect the battery.
Real-World Performance
During testing, the M23 occasionally paused when switching between different audio sources, like from TIDAL to internal memory. This was rare and didn’t affect the overall experience. The M23’s EQ settings didn’t make much difference in sound quality, showing that FiiO has already optimized the audio.
Listening Experience
The M23 makes music sound amazing. For example, the 24-bit/192kHz remaster of Talking Heads’s "Swamp" sounded fresh and detailed with the Sennheiser IE900 earphones. The Smile’s "Bending Hectic," streamed via aptX HD to Bowers & Wilkins Px8 headphones, also sounded fantastic. The M23’s soundstage is open and spacious, with detailed midrange and balanced frequencies.
Final Thoughts
The FiiO M23 is a great digital audio player. Its specs are impressive, but its real-world performance is even better. Once you hear your favorite music on the M23, your smartphone won’t compare. For music lovers on the go, the FiiO M23 is a must-have.
