Disclaimer1
this is a review unit provided by Fiio during the tour event. Thanks again for Fiio allowing me to take part of this event.

Disclaimer 2
by no means I am an expert in audio, but I will try my best to express my impression of this device.


Gear I used in this review:

• Desktop (dac function)
• AKG K7xx
• Shure SE215
• 32GB microsd card

Packaging
It is really nice that it included two different case for user to choose from. Both of them has their advantages and disadvantages.


Build Quality
It feel very solid in my hands. As a thinkpad user, I would also worry the dent it make on the floor if I drop it. (luckily that never happened) Instead of full on metal case, Fiio incorporated a glass back which from my experience of the X7, it is much less slippery. Button placement is on point with my thumb able to access pause/play, volume knob, next track and previous track. The click on the button is also quite tactile. The volume knob also gives a good feedback. I really like the gear like knob that make sure the user does not slip while adjusting the volume.


Hardware
Screen is nothing special since the device itself is focus on audio. I can understand Fiio would try to save cost in this aspect. Looking from the specs, it seems this is the same panel Fiio used in the X7. Viewing angle is average at best. With colorful albums, the color can shift quite a bit when I change the angle I look at the it. Touch in my opinion is a bit too sensitive. When I am scrolling through the tracks, I can accidentally swipe the track to the left for the option of delete. I’m not sure if this is also the case for other retail unit, but the one on the review unit comes with a glass screen protector. It is a nice addition to the user since most of us nowadays would slap on a glass screen protector right away. Screen brightness has to adjust manually since there no sensor for the auto brightness setting. The good thing is brightness control can be accessed very easily anywhere.


While using it as a desktop DAC, it can get a bit warm to the touch. During my time using it, I would remove the leather case to keep it cool. You will need to download a driver from Fiio in order to make it work, but the installation process is very straight forward. Once it is connected, you will have to switch the mode to dac mode in the notification. The only issue I had was having replug the usb cable after my computer went to sleep, or else it the Fiio software won't be able to detect the device. I guess a software fix is possible on this one?


The leather case definitely add some premium feeling to the device. The padding inside also kept the device well in place. During my week of using it, it never slip out a bit. The only problem is with the leather case on, the buttons become mushy and whenever I try to press the wake button to check its battery life or time, it is most likely I have pushed the next track button which it starts playing tracks until I check it the next time.



On the other hand, the plastic case was pretty much made for users who listen with the device on-the-go. Besides the 3.5mm headphone port, the other ports are covered by flap inserts. This might be a bit weird to express, but the feeling of pushing the flaps into the ports are pretty satisfying. The buttons that the case covers remain clicky.

Software


The UI might be a bit confusing to use since when you start using the first time, it has a guide that I consider too much for user to remember in that short amount of time. It does take time to get use to navigating through the interface. For people who are good at technologies, it might only be a very short process, but for other people, it can be a problem. I would love to see a cleaner UI.


Storage
It supports two microSD cards up to 256GB for each slot. During the time I used the device, I was only able to use one of them and only a 32gb. When I try to play larger files (DSD), it takes a little bit more than one second to load the song and start playing.

Battery life
That being said, battery life on this unit is pretty good. Even when I left it playing music for almost two hours, it drop at maximum of around 20%. The first day I got the device, I fully charged it and let it sit on my desk overnight to check its standby time. After around ten hours of standby without any connectivity, it dropped only 6% from 100%. It really shows Fiio tweaked the Android system to consume as little battery as possible. Which comes back to the screen as it is a low resolution panel, it also help save battery life. Charging the device might take a little while when the 3400mah battery. It does support fast charging which I tried it with the oneplus 3 charger and it does charges faster.

Sound Quality
The majority of the reviews here are comparing this unit with similar pricing ones or even better ones. Whereas I was only able to compare it with entry level gears. My impression on the sound quality will mostly base on my Fiio X1 and LG G4.

Comparing it with my Fiio X1, it definitely has a wider soundstage. When I listen to classical music, each instruments sound more separate with some are further away, creating a more pleasant listening experience. With the highs such as piano notes, it sounds more transparent.While listening to Kool&Klean (jazz), it feels even more smooth with the combination of different music.

The amp was able to power my iems and headphones pretty well.

Conclusion
Overall. This is a great device. It provides a great experience with an affordable price comparing to other DAP that has similar specs. Build quality is very good with the use of metal. Accessories are also enough to get it going without adding additional costs to the users on screen protector and protective case. The UI could be improved with more user friendly design and also can be optimized even further to create a smooth experience.


Thank you for reading my review. Feel free to provide any feedback~

 
 
Before we start, I have to mention that this X7 is a loan unit from Fiio for the world tour. Thanks again to Fiio, Head-Fi and Joeblogg to make this event possible.
Since the X3K review, I am still an amateur on the subject of sound quality, so I will do my best describe my experience.
 
Since I have started looking around at different kinds of music player, I think the X7 is the first of the kind that used Android OS as their software bases and allows users to use their own prefer applications for music playback.
 
Packaging
The unboxing is very similar to the X1 and X3II. It comes with
 

1. MicroUSB charging/data syncing cable
2. 3.5mm to coaxial adapter
3. Two screen protector
4. T5 screws
5. T5 screw driver
6. Warranty card

 
This time though it did not come with a silicon case.
 

 
Build quality
The build quality is as usual, very nicely done. The aluminium housing is very sturdy. Nowhere in the device that shows low quality or cheaply made. The most favourite part about the exterior of the device is the buttons. They give a light click which can be satisfying to press.
The size of the device is designed specify for single handed use. With a good amount of thickness and the right size of the device made it stays in my hand very securely.
At the bottom of the device, it has an empty block. It is the modular amp that Fiio says will allow user to swap out with a different amp for a different sound signature. It reminds me of the RHA T10 of their "Interchangeable tuning filters". This would be an interesting idea to look forward to.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Usability
In the build quality, I mentioned that I really like the buttons, but usability wise, it can be better. Along with the review unit, there are some documents related to the making of the device and it was explained the reason behind the parallel buttons. Even so, I would prefer the buttons to be different on both sides for the ease of blind clicking.
 
UI
Overall the UI is pretty clean. Throughout the time I’ve used the device, I have only used the default music player. The text are clean to read with the good contrast between the background colour. Swiping from the very left in the music player reveals its settings. One big problem I have notice is the register point of touch can be a bit hard to get to use to since the screen is small, in turn each elements are scaled down. Would be better if the buttons are a bit larger or increase the register point a bit more. Other than that, the UI is well-done.
 

 

 

 

 

 
Battery Life
I would consider it to be average. Since It has a lot of functions disabled. The battery life lasts longer than my phones. My last check before fully charge the device, it ran almost 14hours at 14% battery. I've also notice there are more battery drain when wifi was turned on, but I did not really use those functions so I can't really say much about it.
 

 

 
 
Sound Quality
Gear used: K7xx, SE215
Throughout the 10 days, I did not change the EQ since I have very little knowledge about it. Everything is kept at default besides switching the gain to low.
The vocal is pretty imitating even on the K7xx, especially the female vocals. I would say the instrument separation is pretty good which of course, better than my X1. I can really hear the better separation on the X7 with classical and jazz music. For some reason, the X7 give me a softer more comfortable feeling when listening to Jazz music such as the one by KoolKlean. While listening to classical music, it has more soundstage than my Fiio X1.
 
 
[So far, I've only got a little improvement on evaluating on the subject of sound quality. If you have read until here, thank you very much for the patient. Feel free to provide any feedback!]

Fiio X3 2^nd generation preview
 

 
Disclaimer: before jumping into the device itself, I have to talk a little bit about myself. I am still an amateur on the subject of sound quality, but I’ll try my best to describe my experience.
And this device is from a preview tour. Hence the model named X3K as it is the early name. For other users, it will be “X3” on the box instead of “X3K”
Upon removing the package from the box, it feels very well packaged.
 

 

 
While holding the device on my hand, it has the solid feel. Compare to the X1, it is a bit heavier, which is 29g heavier with the aluminum body instead of plastic. The best thing about being all metal is it is less likely to be interfered with any wireless devices near it. While testing it with my phone on top and having active wireless connection, I did not notice any static noise compare to the X1 with a plastic back.
The silicon cover is a must have if you do not want to have scratches on the device. One downside of the silicone case is it prone to dust, but from my experience with the case, it does not get too much dirt and the dust that got stuck on it can be removed with the wipe of my fingers. A great thing about the silicone case is it has a cover for the line out/coaxial out jack, to prevent dust getting into it while not being used. The cutting for the 3.5mm audio jack is large enough to fit in any type of jacks as AKG, Shure and a few others who will understand.
 
UI
When booting up the device, it shows an animation which reminds me of the Google’s Lollipop boot animation. Not really sure how that would fit into the rest of the UI though…The main screen is almost identical to the X1 with a little bit of changes of colour in the theme. I would say the change is rather an improvement with a few better themes compare to the X1. There are six themes to choose from which I only found four of them to be usable. For example, the wood theme which has light colours on the pattern, it overlaps with the white texts, making it hard to read. The best thing however, is Fiio allows the user to customize their firmware and create our own themes, kudos for that!
It recognize any characters, no matter it is English, Japanese or Chinese. Compare to other devices or music player that give me unreadable characters.
In the Browse files section, even though I choose the language as English, it is showing TF-Card as TF-卡 (Chinese character lol)
I wonder if there is way to change the screen brightness without jumping through settings to change it. Perhaps having some key combo with the wheel?
 
Feature
The DAC mode can be a hazel to configure. While remembering the experience with the E07K was very simple and easy, the X3II is almost the opposite, but a bit of research got the problem solved. It would be nice if the configuration was easier. While using the X3II in dac mode, I am still able to navigate through different places which is a very nice option.
It also has the gain feature to help boost the volume but with my current gears, it is not something I will be using. Another thing to note is the number of volume control is a bit more with 120 instead of 100 in the X1.
I also features a standby mode which is similar to a smartphone, cutting down the booting time needed before enjoying your music.
Battery life
Through the week that I had been using, the battery life is pretty good. I got it charged to full while using it as a desktop dac at the beginning of the week and I hold for the rest of the week even after I sent it to the next person for the review. As my usage, I use the device around two hours per day while leaving it on standby mode.
 
Display
The display is pretty good if you are using it indoor and in dark environment. The display can be dimmed into a comfortable level, but it can be very hard to read under sunlight even at the brightest level.
 
Sound quality
With a few jazz music that has a bit bass in the background, it does not get as punchy as the X1 which I really like because on the X1, I will need to use the eq to soften the bass to have less fatigue.
Overall, it sound warmer than the X1 which I find it similar to the Xiaomi Mi3, warm and punchier bass. Not until later that I found out both the X3II and Mi3 has the Cirrus chip which I see majority of the people find them having a warmer sound.
This is the first time I ever listen to a song through the DSD format. Since I did not have any songs that is in that format, I was able to get a free one from Oppo website which is call “Vision of her” and I quite like the song! It sound really smooth and I can hear better separation of different instruments and vocal sound really clear.
 
Overall, I find it better than the X1 which of course should be. This is a music player that is great for people like me who is on a budget but also want to enjoy some quality music. It has great build quality and the experience was very smooth.
 
I apologize for the lack of details in the sound quality, as I progress in this community, I might update this review for a more detailed one. Meanwhile, feel free to ask any questions.