[JamesFiiO]

Since there seem to be a stream of questions about Google Play and Samsung and FiiO, I figured I'd list a few home truths about the M15 and M11/M11 Pro, since they're all based on the same SoC and nothing we say or do or ask here is going to change that.

For their part, @JamesFiiO and @WianFiiO have been very open and honest about these players' support (or lack thereof) of Google Play services, and what this means for FiiO users. This has never been a secret. If you bought the M15 and are expressing surprise about its lack of Google Play support, a bit of reading up before dropping $1300 on a music player goes a long way.

So...here's my abbreviated summary (and feel free to chime in if something's changed since I was last in the FiiO camp**):

1. The M15 uses the same Samsung 7872 SoC first introduced with the M11. This is a super-fast SoC, one of the fastest on any current Android DAP.

2. The Samsung 7872 SoC is limited to Android 7 support. This is a result of Google's Play Services policy, and would require Samsung to update their SoC support for the latest Android versions. To date Samsung has shown no inclination to update their now 3-year-old SoC, and likely never will.

3. That means unless someone develops custom firmware for the M15 that supports Google Play services, the M15 will not support Google Play services. Ever. Period.

4. This does NOT mean the M15 will not support current and future Android apps. In fact, chances are it will support new Android apps for many years to come via sideloading, as it does currently.

5. It does, however, mean that the M15 will not, and likely never will, support Android apps that require Google Play services for verification. The most famous example of this, in DAP-land, is UAPP (USB Audio Player Pro), arguably one of the best third-party Android music library and playback software.

6. UAPP, like Plex, require an active Google account and support for Play services to verify payment/subscription details. There is NO workaround. There are no 'cracked' APKs that bypass this 'limitation'. Trust me, thousands have tried, thousands have failed.

7. Forget about using UAPP on the M15. Move on. Use Neutron (if you have to), or just learn to live with FiiO Music - which is excellent as long as you understand its limitations (like lack of Album Artist sorting, or Tidal integration, or PEQ, or any other cool UAPP features everyone keeps asking FiiO for).

8. In case you think this is the worst thing in the world, just remember that A&K's sideloading support is even WORSE than FiiO's (you can only run whitelisted apps on their so-called OpenApp service). So no UAPP and no Plex on any A&K DAP, even the SP2000.

9. If you want a fully open, fully compatible Android DAP, HiBy and iBasso are currently your only two options (that I'm aware of).

Hopefully the above makes sense and clears up any ongoing confusion with regards Google Play support on the lastest FiiO DAPs and specifically the M15.

PS. To clarify one other thing I read in this thread, the HiBy app does NOT support Tidal or Tidal offline. Even UAPP, which supports Tidal and MQA, does NOT support Tidal offline. Only the official Tidal app supports Tidal offline.

**I am no longer in the FiiO camp. Consider this a public service message.

thank you very much for your summary and that is 100% correct . of course we will try to see if we can use aother new Soc which is fast enough and still can supports Google service . but plz understand that is quite difficult cause this market is too small and the Qualcomm will not support such a tiny company like FiiO.

 

[jmills8]

i ve heard lp6ti which have better dynamics and depth than n8.

Me too , used it for s week.

 

[NZtechfreak]

Well, almost 100% correct - iBasso DAPs do not have Google Play Services out of the box and iBasso do not provide for this. There is a third party add on that enables this for some, but not all of their DAPs. I'm only aware of Hiby that natively has this officially and out of the box. This is just a tiny nitpick on an excellent informative post for people not aware of this issue.

 

[RRM1]

Still think this is a ballzy move by Fiio going into the A&K arena. I have to wonder what most people would go for the M15 or the SA700 for essentially the same money. For me the UI on A&K smokes the Fiio music app. My wife seems to love it though. But I think it is because she can post on facebook while listing to music. She retired her AK 240 for a M11. As far as the sound goes color me a A&K fan boy I guess.

 

[DarginMahkum]

So here we are, m15 is not really that good (not dual 4497 level of goodness)with iem but presents some level of competence with headphones, besides that sound quality wise n62 with t01 amp came pretty close with it but much cheaper. What a awkward position for such high priced device. I would wait for further price drop and use third party player app to see if the musicality can be resolved with that.

- As N6ii with A01 seems to cost $1200 and T01 is more expensive than A01, I don't see it being much cheaper at all:

https://shop.musicteck.com/products...y-digital-audio-player?variant=20942691237950

- Out of the box, M15 is not flat (so is not N8). The mids were more forward and bass was more bloated, but that has changed by time considerably. I am always comparing with by using an external amp (SHA900). With SHA900 it has a more natural sound with more treble extension. I don't have any preference, just depends on the recording or what I prefer at that moment.

Price wise, don’t believe the price policy fiio officially Announced. There is definitely space for negotiation to push the price under 1000$

- You crunched the numbers and you came up with a price less than $1K or it is your wish it was under $1K?

Still think this is a ballzy move by Fiio going into the A&K arena. I have to wonder what most people would go for the M15 or the SA700 for essentially the same money. For me the UI on A&K smokes the Fiio music app. My wife seems to love it though. But I think it is because she can post on facebook while listing to music. She retired her AK 240 for a M11. As far as the sound goes color me a A&K fan boy I guess.

- I had SP1000, SP1000M and KANN Cube. For me FiiO software as a whole package is _much much_ better than A&K. There is absolutely no contest here. And what should FiiO do? Develop something like M15 and sell it for half the price of the cheapest A&K, because there is a class difference? Again, my preference: I would take M15 over any A&K out there, including their TOTL DAPs, and enjoy the, for me, really well thought out software platform and feature set. If I want something more reference, I just use my SHA900 and I have still have a better sounding portable system than SP1000.

 

[TheUnknow]

thank you very much for your summary and that is 100% correct . of course we will try to see if we can use aother new Soc which is fast enough and still can supports Google service . but plz understand that is quite difficult cause this market is too small and the Qualcomm will not support such a tiny company like FiiO.

Your previous gen, the X series, while having sluggish hardware , support the Playstore.

Your new gen , the M series , have "decent" hardware , but doesn't have the GPS.

The X series wasn't Streaming oriented , while the M is .

Kinda fail to understand your logic ....

 

[DarginMahkum]

Your previous gen, the X series, while having sluggish hardware , support the Playstore.

Your new gen , the M series , have "decent" hardware , but doesn't have the GPS.

The X series wasn't Streaming oriented , while the M is .

Kinda fail to understand your logic ....

You keep bringing this up for a product apparently you have not bought and not willing to buy, instead of saying "it is not for me" and moving on. Kinda fail to understand your logic...

 

[JamesFiiO]

Your previous gen, the X series, while having sluggish hardware , support the Playstore.

Your new gen , the M series , have "decent" hardware , but doesn't have the GPS.

The X series wasn't Streaming oriented , while the M is .

Kinda fail to understand your logic ....

I think you can make the same decision if you are in my position, cause we have not so many option. if we can , of course we will use Qualcomm 845/855 in our M15, but it will not happen.

even Sony in their new DAPs use not so decent Soc, you need to consider they are a huge company.

so , what decision you will make ? stay in Rockchip Soc , like RK3368 as another Chinese brand? or a Qualcomm 4XX which is not so powerful too and also you will have to delay the project, or Samsung 7872? btw, it will cost you about 18 month from you make the decision till the products launch market.

 

[musicinmymind]

None. Selling off my DX228Ex, keeping the DX160, and I’ll decide within time if the M15 stays.

you like DX160 SQ more than DX228, or just an backup for M15.

 

[Dmitry89]

Your previous gen, the X series, while having sluggish hardware , support the Playstore.

Your new gen , the M series , have "decent" hardware , but doesn't have the GPS.

The X series wasn't Streaming oriented , while the M is .

Kinda fail to understand your logic ....

I believe that Google services and the Play Market are not needed in a portable music device. If desired, you can install Neutron which plays music very well and has a good equalizer. Everything else can be installed using APKpure. And Google services will consume the battery reducing the device’s operating time. And you can somehow do without the UAPP application.

 

[Dmitry89]

Still looking forward to seeing the M15 PRO with a THX AAA amplifier from Fiio

 

[greyforest]

- As N6ii with A01 seems to cost $1200 and T01 is more expensive than A01, I don't see it being much cheaper at all:

https://shop.musicteck.com/products...y-digital-audio-player?variant=20942691237950

- Out of the box, M15 is not flat (so is not N8). The mids were more forward and bass was more bloated, but that has changed by time considerably. I am always comparing with by using an external amp (SHA900). With SHA900 it has a more natural sound with more treble extension. I don't have any preference, just depends on the recording or what I prefer at that moment.



- You crunched the numbers and you came up with a price less than $1K or it is your wish it was under $1K?



- I had SP1000, SP1000M and KANN Cube. For me FiiO software as a whole package is _much much_ better than A&K. There is absolutely no contest here. And what should FiiO do? Develop something like M15 and sell it for half the price of the cheapest A&K, because there is a class difference? Again, my preference: I would take M15 over any A&K out there, including their TOTL DAPs, and enjoy the, for me, really well thought out software platform and feature set. If I want something more reference, I just use my SHA900 and I have still have a better sounding portable system than SP1000.

Sorry, I have no idea n62 sells that expensive.....last time I checked the real price is at least 30%off the price that you showed me.

As for m15 if the price is under 1k$ i will probably get one, my dealer offered me a deal that is quite close, I imagine few months later it would come even closer.

 

[greyforest]

Still looking forward to seeing the M15 PRO with a THX AAA amplifier from Fiio

from what i heard that is cancelled, seems like they can’t figure out how to put thx into the chassis.

 

[greyforest]

- As N6ii with A01 seems to cost $1200 and T01 is more expensive than A01, I don't see it being much cheaper at all:

https://shop.musicteck.com/products...y-digital-audio-player?variant=20942691237950

- Out of the box, M15 is not flat (so is not N8). The mids were more forward and bass was more bloated, but that has changed by time considerably. I am always comparing with by using an external amp (SHA900). With SHA900 it has a more natural sound with more treble extension. I don't have any preference, just depends on the recording or what I prefer at that moment.



- You crunched the numbers and you came up with a price less than $1K or it is your wish it was under $1K?



- I had SP1000, SP1000M and KANN Cube. For me FiiO software as a whole package is _much much_ better than A&K. There is absolutely no contest here. And what should FiiO do? Develop something like M15 and sell it for half the price of the cheapest A&K, because there is a class difference? Again, my preference: I would take M15 over any A&K out there, including their TOTL DAPs, and enjoy the, for me, really well thought out software platform and feature set. If I want something more reference, I just use my SHA900 and I have still have a better sounding portable system than SP1000.

You are right , full android system is why i am interested in m15 at first place. A decent dap on the go loaded with all the songs that i need, and back home it can function as a digital player for desktop dac&amp. Who wouldn’t want that

 

[TheUnknow]

I think you can make the same decision if you are in my position, cause we have not so many option. if we can , of course we will use Qualcomm 845/855 in our M15, but it will not happen.

even Sony in their new DAPs use not so decent Soc, you need to consider they are a huge company.

so , what decision you will make ? stay in Rockchip Soc , like RK3368 as another Chinese brand? or a Qualcomm 4XX which is not so powerful too and also you will have to delay the project, or Samsung 7872? btw, it will cost you about 18 month from you make the decision till the products launch market.

What about MediaTek SoC like Helio G90T that you can find in cheap smartphones like Redmi Note 8 Pro ?

If MIUI is running Android 9 , it's because MediaTek update their SDK.

I don't know , and maybe you can enlighten me about this , but are MediaTek recent SoC more expansive than 2 years old Samsung mid-range SoC ?

The thing is , MediaTek , like Qualcomm and Rockchip are brand that only make SoC , while Samsung (Exynos) , Huawei (Kirin) ... are in a variety of market.
Few devices are using Exynos & Kirin , comparing to MediaTek , Qualcomm and Rockship.
So you have better chance of having a up-to-date SDK with manufacturer like MediaTek or Qualcomm than Samsung or Huawei , this is why i said it was a bad choice for choosing Exynos.