Hidizs is a old and known brand among audiophiles, they have been around since 2009.Their portable music player offerings like AP80 and AP80 pro was regarded for their outstanding sonic capabilities. Following the same theory of AP80, they came up with their small BT receiver , H2.
DISCLAIMER- The HIDIZS H2 is provided by the courtesy of HIFIGO as part of review tour in INDIA. But this subjective review of mine are my own thoughts and I am not being paid anything to say positive or negative about this . That said I want to thank HIFIGO for giving me an opportunity to hear it!!! You can find the store link (not affiliated, of course LOL)
UNBOXING-
Just had a small box in which there was this small tiny unit with a protective case behind and a small usb c-c cable
BUILD AND SIZE-
This is a very very light unit , even with the case it might be lighter than some iems ( cough cough ikko Oh10
)
It’s tempered glass on front and back with a plastic build all over. The plastic is matte black and the glass in front seems like a true fingerprint magnet
UNIT TOUR (HEHE)
1)Buttons-
- volume up and down in a single button with a slight bump to volume up button. It’s easily felt to my hands so it's good enough for me Even in pockets it was noticeable for me but a slightly higher bump would help when you have jeans on
- a single power button which doubles up as a pairing button too
2)A single USB C port for power and connecting as a DAC- no mqa support here
3)A single LED on the side to show pairing and what bitrate the file is playing.
4)A single 3.5 MM Jack for connecting to a wired headphone or iem.
SPECS AND THOUGHTS -
1)
Bluetooth Chip: Qualcomm CSR8675
2)
Amp Chip: MAX 97220(Not great choice !!!)
3)
Bluetooth Codecs: UAT, APTX-HD, APTX-LL, LDAC, AAC, SBS, CVC (loved this at this price range it nearly has everything)
The different states indicated by the color of the LED are as follows:
- Red flashing: on charging.
- Blue flashing: Bluetooth pairing mode.
- Green: 44.1kHz to 48kHz.
- Blue: 88.2kHz to 192kHz.
4)
NFC support and USB DAC functionality via Type C (Somehow couldn’t get the USB DAC to show higher bitrate and sampling rate, just stuck at 16bit-48khz all the time in USB – DAC mode and NFC just didn’t work either with my LG G8x or S10 lite, it just cuts off all the time just after pairing- firmware issues I guess
)
5)
Microphone for Handsfree Calling (It also has a mic for taking calls and it’s not as good as BTR5 mic but its decent and pretty doable to use for calls, just make sure it’s a little quiet environment)
6)
3.5mm stereo Port
7)
Battery Capacity: 160Mah(Very less haha but this small package its pretty good!!!)
8)
Battery Life: 7 hrs(NOPE ITS MORE LIKE 2 hours with LDAC and an efficient IEM ) ; Charging Time: 1.5 hrs( yup that’s true haha!!
)
9)
App Support: Hiby Blue App( Not that good of an app , lacks some decent functionality & a little buggy too)
| Rated Output Power | 8mW+8mW |
| Frequency Response | 20Hz-90Khz |
| Total Harmonic Distortion+Noise | 0.008%(1kHz) |
| Signal-to-Noise Ratio | 92dB |
| Crosstalk | 68dB (@32Ω) |
| Recommended Earphone Resistance Range | 8-60Ω (Recommended) |
10)
PRICE- 65$
BATTERY LIFE-
Now using this with efficient iems it was good surprisingly and I was able to get about 1hour 53mins with CA Mammoth with BT with LDAC with my LG G8x
On using this with DUNU Zen – it came down to around 1hour27mins with same LDAC and G8x
On using with N6ii with UAT on- they showed DUNU ZEN- about 1hour 18mins & CA MAMMOTH- about 1hour 35mins
On using with SBC with LG G8x- it gave 5hours 14mins for my run with tidal with CA Mammoth.
POWER-
It has very very less power. It could drive CA MAMMOTH, focal clears and DUNU ZEN but they felt very lacking in SQ a lot. DON’T EXPECT IT TO RUN YOUR IEMS OR HEADPHONES TO THEIR FULLEST POTENTIAL UNLESS IT’S A VERY EFFICIENT ONE (even BLON-03 felt a bit lacking was it power or sound well for that you have check the sound section
)
FUNCTIONALITY-
This has multi-connect and support for multiple codecs which at this price range very few do. But if you don’t pause on first device and play the other device connected, it doesn’t play, you have to pause on the first device and then it will play from the other device.
The Bluetooth range is pretty good too, measured about 14feet in a straight line from my phone but going through 2 x 35cm walls is just not possible. Through one wall though it was fine with occasional cutting out if you go beyond 6 feet after that wall.
The USB C-C cable is similar to what I have from FIIO but they are decently made and feels fine enough just not as robust as FIIO ones but for the price they are decent. The also needs to be connected at a particular direction for them to work so if it doesn’t work just reverse and try again HAHA….(don’t know why companies do this but okayyy, I guess to stop powering them from phone maybe, is my only guess
)
SOUND QUALITY-(NOTE: This is subjective and it was done with BT mode and USB DAC mode too( Didn’t find much difference) and the iems used are CA MAMMOTH, DUNU ZEN and HP- FOCAL CLEAR AND SENNHEISER HD558)
The Bass has a midbass boost giving the idea of punch but given the lack of power it seems hollow a lot. Its not like its not there but it feels a bit non exciting and dull. The texture is not present much but the dynamic is average!! Tonally its fine with good differentiation between different instruments present here. Timbre is also lacking
The subbass is definitely lacking. It doesn’t produce that rumble that I even felt with BTR5 or even my phones 3.5mm jack.
Mids are much better but presents a slightly V shaped signature. Now this is really good with iems like Mammoth to give a sense of space but they are just not exciting much here. The mids tonality is good but the timbre suffers a lot here. The dynamics is there but its average or below it at best. Owing to the lack of power is what it suffers a lot but if they would have made them mids forwards then might be the loss in power could have compensated it. The vocals on the other hand are above average, the male vocals have the weight and female vocals are just nicely balanced. Don’t expect them to sound lush but they are pretty good for the price. The microdetails are there but very difficult to identify at good listening levels showing the lack of power.
Treble is better though. Its airy and doesn’t seem to be lacking much. The resolution and timbre yes, they are average at best but the tonality of flutes, sax, trumpets etc are pretty good. They need more of that treble energy and sparkle which was missing here. They don’t extend that well in to the upper treble ranges but given the price its decent. They macro-details are good with dynamics better than the bass here but micro details are not that great especially with the small bells in some songs.
Soundstage is decent with more like slightly V shaped signature. Imaging is diffuse and resolution is good rather. There is air in instruments but owing the lack of power, this thing doesn’t provide the emotions needed to enjoy the more heavy metals or rock or even good jazz tracks. But acoustic solos and instrumentals are better here if you can compromise a few caveats. Best thing is instruments though are nearby I didn’t feel any mid-bass bleed. The congestion in notes or instruments was not present much
, which is a good plus in my book.
COMPARISON-
Now I don't have anything in the similar price offering given this much functionality for a comparison.
But BTR5 and QUEDELIX 5K are definitely way better that this but also comes at a higher cost. And I would have recommended UA1 if you wanna go cheap and have good SQ but its a dongle so not fair...
But I would recommend to save up for a BTR5 or QUEDELIX 5k since they would be much useful in the long run. Had the H2 work as a lineout this would have been a good option just to add to your DAC for functionality and adding BT.
SUMMARY- All in all , it’s the hidizs cheapest offering as a BT dac-amp and seems like they chose functionality over SQ for now. Given the hidizs new offerings have gained some fame, I guess they have become better. If you consider using this as a cheap option on the go its fine, you would need a very efficient iem though. But if you want the best sound quality, then I would suggest to look somewhere else.
