Hey all.
I just received my X5 G2 last night. Read basically this entire thread over the last week or so (I need help). I have an aging iPod touch (one of the first ones), but that never leaves my vehicle anymore. I wanted a DAP with good sound quality, I only needed it to do music, and wanted to get away from iTunes. I considered others, but after reading much of this thread I decided on the X5 2nd Gen. After putting a bit of music on it and messing around with it for a bit last night I'm happy so far. The interface and scroll wheel is a little quirky, but it doesn't bother me. As long as it's reliable I'm more than satisfied.
I may be odd, but I love the fact that I can organize my music however I want in folders and simply copy those folders on the card, and then browse the folders on the X5ii. May be a bit cumbersome for some, but there is a simplicity about it that I prefer.
The silicone case does have a bit of a smell. They said they added jasmine scent (I think), and I guess I do smell that, but it had an undertone to the scent that reminded me of Crayola colored markers. It's really only noticeable if I try to smell it, and isn't offensive to me (though my sense of smell isn't my best sense). Doesn't bother me, but I still may not use the case. I prefer the bare player. That may change, but for now I'll likely use the player without the case.
Note: The following paragraph is only written because others have commented on such things. I'm not trying to be overly critical of the X5ii, though I guess that's exactly what I'm doing with this paragraph (being overly critical, meaning these things aren't a bit deal, and if you got that critical with any device you would find similar flaws in many) . Having gotten that out of the way, here goes. My center button is a little tilted. It is flush with the scroll wheel at the top, and sticks out just a hair at the bottom. The tilt doesn't bother me (well, maybe a little because I'm a bit anal, but not too bad). I didn't even notice the tilt yesterday, only noticed it today when I wasn't even using the device, just holding while talking on the phone. In other words, the button functions fine, and the tilt isn't bad enough to stand out (no pun intended). The four "x" buttons around the scroll wheel look and function perfectly. They don't all feel quite the same height to the touch, but it's a minor difference, though I did notice that last night, almost right away in fact. But I may not have noticed it if others hadn't already commented on some buttons being set in further than others, so I was looking for it. The scroll wheel is flush all the way around and operates smoothly. It's not quite a 1-1 click to menu movement, but close. Like I said before, I'll call it quirky. Not perfect, but not a real hindrance from being able to operate the device. Again, I may not have noticed it as much if there hadn't been so much discussion about it in this thread. I'd say it's the lesser of two evils. I'd rather have it occasionally not move for a click and have to click it again, than to have it occasionally move two options for one click. Then you would be passing things and have to come back and hope it didn't overshoot again. Definitely feel the sensitivity is erred on the correct side.
As for sound quality, right now I only have crappy earbuds (came with phone years ago), and some Bose headphones that are nice, but have their share of problems for me (I'll be getting new headphones soon, hopefully). Because of that I cannot really comment on sound quality, other than to say it certainly sounds as good as anything else I've plugged those headphones into.