Hi, thank you for the effort (google sheet @ first page), are there any new contenders worth mentioning, guys? Over the years I went through LG V20, G5 + "HIFI friend", beloved V30+ and now I'm stuck with a company iPhone XS. What should I buy for private backup? Is LG V50 still one of the best...

Well, that's an unlucky choice by LG. I tested and can tell different audio modes work even if it's not indicated which type of device is connected, only HiFi connection is indicated with EU firmware. Thanks for the app tip, it's a nice hack.

I want to upgrade to V30 and sell my (as new) V20.

V20: V30: Hi guys, fristly thank you for this thread and all the info, tips and testing, much appreciated, such a thread is missing for V20. I plan to upgrade to V30 from my current V20, but during my testing with european V30 one thing surprised me: contrary to V10 & V20, if I enable HiFi DAC...

Anyone in Europe can switch to Samsung's Exynos Galaxy line, which has excellent Hifi DAC minus headphone amp. Another option is (gray) import from Hong Kong or other part of the world... No drama, just choices.

Yes, I've bought it with my G5 and it lives on it permanently. It could drive everything I have thrown at it and pretty well: Sennheiser IE80, AKG K702, Beyerdynamic DT1350, B&O Beoplay H7, H9, B&W P7, Sony MDR-1A, Audeze Sine... Just excellent. Mind you I roll 3 batteries with mine, easy and...

If you have LG G5 just ebay G5's B&O HiFi "Friend" and you are set. It is excellent, in line with V10 and V20.

This was fun, on my G5+Hifi and AKG K702 HP I couldn't tell any difference at all, not even once. Try it out for yourself and post screenshot if you succeed: http://abx.digitalfeed.net/

WHAT!? I get 7 hours screen on time at 50% brightness on my G5 (not rooted) and it has significantly smaller battery, 2800 mAh, I guess. I hope you're wrong. I have V20 ordered/bought already. I was hoping the 3200 mAh battery gets me past 9 hours SOT.

any news/rumors on LG V20?

it does no magic. It is just amping the output more. If you have enough volume with your headphones, you don't need it. All my headphones (16, 62, 80 ohm, sensitivity 125 - 102 dB) sound fantastic with Hi-res material on both LG V10/G5 with cirrus dac + amp and also on S7 Edge with cirrus dac...

depends on which version you've got: http://www.chipworks.com/about-chipworks/overview/blog/galaxy-s7-snapdragon-chipsets-vs-exynos-chipsets Exynos version is fantastic.

So guys, I've finally got S7 Edge Exynos version on my own, as I could not find any relevant info regarding audio quality. I'll do direct comparison against LG G5+B&O Hifi Plus, which is almost identical to LG V10. I usually listen on 35 volume on G5 Hifi +. Plenty loud with all my headphones...

So guys, I've finally got S7E Exynos version on my own, as I could not find any relevant info regarding audio quality. I'll do direct comparison against LG G5+B&O Hifi Plus, which is almost identical to V10. I usually listen on 35 volume on G5. Plenty loud with all my headphones. On 40 it gets...

Have you Exynos version of S7E? If so could you compare audio between V10 S7e? Thanks.

Seems about right to me, I'll probably reverse to V10 from G5+B&O. I've found no better choice still, I just wish there would be an update with SD820 and OLED screen ;) Hey LG, bring that OLED tech to you phones finally!

+1

Do you mean this Mojo? http://www.whathifi.com/chord/mojo/review

Too bad Lenovo went with hybrid SIM/microSD slot in Vibe X3 :(

can someone confirm this?  

No microSD card slot is a deal breaker, but thanks for posting :)

I cannot agree: in my case there was equal, superb audio quality from default player and from 3rd party player. I could not hear any difference eith my ie80s. I tested it immediately and in both it showed even the discussed delay/pause when toggling the HiFi button On/Off in settings. Maybe...

@TrucknHemi @BlackShaker :) thanks for posting; trully impressive design :)

from what I know you should either use phone's headphone out or if you want better sound buy external USB DAC/headphone AMP and stream your music to the DAC via phone's USB port. Your headphones attach then directly to the DAC/AMP, not to the phone.

The Xplay 5 Elite packs an ES9028 DAC chip and TI OPA1612 amplifier. Dual DAC & dual AMP.