Old phones to use as a DAP?

[DiMenezes]

Like many, I use my phone for music but for now I don't have a portable DAC as my phone is an old Samsung S7 Edge and this model still had the 3.5mm jack but whenever I upgrade I can't be sure of it.
So I got thinking, instead of worrying about this for music, I thought about buying an old phone which could provide proper source for music.

Anyone has any suggestions of old phones (cheap) good for music?

While looking around I stumbled upon some models, like LG V40 but I don't know much more than that. I wonder if old Sony phones would do good as they have been in the music part for a good while.
Just to give some context, I would be mainly using them with IEMs, so I don't need the same amount of power one would need for power hungry headphones.

 

[voja]

Like many, I use my phone for music but for now I don't have a portable DAC as my phone is an old Samsung S7 Edge and this model still had the 3.5mm jack but whenever I upgrade I can't be sure of it.
So I got thinking, instead of worrying about this for music, I thought about buying an old phone which could provide proper source for music.

Anyone has any suggestions of old phones (cheap) good for music?

While looking around I stumbled upon some models, like LG V40 but I don't know much more than that. I wonder if old Sony phones would do good as they have been in the music part for a good while.
Just to give some context, I would be mainly using them with IEMs, so I don't need the same amount of power one would need for power hungry headphones.

LG is pretty much the best there is AFAIK. LG "VX" phones have been generally accepted within the audiophile community as "audiophile-grade". I'm not 100% certain which V model is better than the other, but as far as smartphone companies go, LG is what has received the most praise.

 

[DiMenezes]

I stumbled upon a refurbished model of a Sony Xperia X Compact. It has an audio jack and it is super cheap. I'm really tempted to give this one a go if I can confirm it is good for audio, not only because it is cheap but also very small.

 

[dunring]

Soundguys did an article on it and at the bottom they list measurements for them all too.
https://www.soundguys.com/best-smartphones-for-audio-16373/
I use a Moto G Power which also has an FM tuner which is handy, and massive battery life. On ebay if you get it from TracFone. It's $124, but comes with a year of service which normally costs that much, so got it free.

I stumbled upon a refurbished model of a Sony Xperia X Compact. It has an audio jack and it is super cheap. I'm really tempted to give this one a go if I can confirm it is good for audio, not only because it is cheap but also very small.

 

[Juanderosa]

I just bought a LG G8. A number of the LG phones with the quad DAC seem to measure well (V30, V40, V50, V60 and G8, G8X) but it’s a matter of budget. The G8 seemed to be a good mix of performance and low price (it’s newer than the V30 and V40 without the extra cost of a 5G radio). I paid $55 shipped for a G8 locked to Sprint which I thought was a deal.

 

[CANiSLAYu]

Why not just buy a dongle DAP/amp and use whatever smartphone you have? There's dozens of them now that manufacturers are ditching low/mid-fi DAPs.

Luxury & Precision W1 and W2/W2-131
Lotoo PAW S1/S2
FiiO KA1
Questyle M12/M15
Cayin RU-6
Astell&Kern AK HC2
iFi audio GO bar
EarMen Sparrow
ALO audio Pilot
Etc., etc.

 

[Bingo777]

Like many, I use my phone for music but for now I don't have a portable DAC as my phone is an old Samsung S7 Edge and this model still had the 3.5mm jack but whenever I upgrade I can't be sure of it.
So I got thinking, instead of worrying about this for music, I thought about buying an old phone which could provide proper source for music.

Anyone has any suggestions of old phones (cheap) good for music?

While looking around I stumbled upon some models, like LG V40 but I don't know much more than that. I wonder if old Sony phones would do good as they have been in the music part for a good while.
Just to give some context, I would be mainly using them with IEMs, so I don't need the same amount of power one would need for power hungry headphones.

LG10 LG20 LG30 or entry level USB-C phone (100eur) + 50 eur DAC/AMP or miniDAP like Hiby r2 (99eur) or used Sony NW45 (100eur)

 

[roylan667]

I am using old LG V40 and I installed viper4android on it (bootloader unlocked). Currently paired it with Xduoo 05 Bal. It is my main gear now.

 

[ops V]

Meizu Pro 7 Plus

 

[TheUnknow]

Xplay 5S
Xplay 6

... If you can find them.

 

[Subhasis]

Xplay 5S
Xplay 6

... If you can find them.

X-Play 6 is hard to find , but perhaps the best sounding smartphone still now , at least on papers . Don't have any personal experience with it .

 

[labrat]

What is wrong with the Samsung S7 ?

 

[stonedowner]

I have a samsung S10+ that I'm going to use solely as a DAP with a firefly. Has anyone configured an Android phone as a DAP? Not sure whether to use a sim or not.

 

[YungOmbat]

any phone really is fine but if u really are hooked on using a phone as a dap use an lg phone, the dac and amp part is actually pretty good and way better than the regular ones, but u most likely wont have enough power if u wanna run some good stuff

 

[stonedowner]

I have a samsung S10+ that I'm going to use solely as a DAP with a firefly. Has anyone configured an Android phone as a DAP? Not sure whether to use a sim or not

any phone really is fine but if u really are hooked on using a phone as a dap use an lg phone, the dac and amp part is actually pretty good and way better than the regular ones, but u most likely wont have enough power if u wanna run some good stuff

Surely if you're using a firefly (external dac) it really doesn't matter about the audio system in the phone. Just as long as the phone can run the software you're using.