Note that you can't really type with your fingernails on a capacitive touchscreen, as your fingernails have no capacitance (or something like that). Typing with the meat of your fingers yields better accuracy, as at least that would register roughly where you intend it to.
I might be misunderstanding you, of course.
Mild misunderstanding. Meant that I usually type with the soft edge of my fingers (not the nail or pad) out of habit already, so the learning curve wasn't that steep. Plus, I've had a Cayin N5iiS for a couple years. Plenty of practice there hahaha. All things considered, the R5's screen is probably 90% there already in terms of usability. Probably just need a recommendation to have users perform their own digitizer calibration.
The suggestion I made is taking advantage of Gboard's scalable keyboard API. I think it was introduced in Android 9 and was meant for dealing with the compatibility issues of larger screens and small hands. Purely a suggestion and may provide no benefit at all, but something something kaizen/six sigma/lean.
The SR25 is a nice piece of kit, but like most DAPs it has it's share of issues. I genuinely hope it works out for you.
If I were looking for a R5 alternative today, I would probably consider the new Shanling M3x. It is quite new so there isn't much info on potential issues from users yet.
I hope so, too, and spec-wise it's about as close to apples to apples as I could reasonably get in terms of hardware. Also had to give a little credence to the Wife Approval Factor on this one and A&K certainly had it on the design front.
Ironically, it's taken me years to get over the iRiver rebranding that became A&K, especially because of their pricing model. Getting to the age where the importance of my money, time, and value of both are practically changing by the day. Merely ran out of excuses to give them a fair shake and make my own judgments. The Lotoo 5000 and Calyx M were also in serious contention.
I have a Shanling M0 still and it's a great and tiny piece of kit. Based on what I've seen, the UI has improved quite a bit as well in the later generations, but wasn't the M3x their problem child when it came to user feedback? That might be me misremembering.
Just figured I'd bite the bullet and see if A&K was just a pretty face or if they've got brains to match. Still being honest that these are DAPs we're taking about and just about every once has limitations. The new entry-level COWON was also on my radar, fwiw.
I've got a HiBy R5 and I love it. Before I had the HiBy R5, I had two iBasso DX160's. For me I could not get good Bluetooth reception from either DX160 but the sound quality was exceptional and a great display. In reality many don't get great Bluetooth reception from the R5 either.....it's pot luck. The iBasso DX160 sounds great and if you can get it for a good price in the US I would seriously consider it, if you cannot get a HiBy R5.
It's silly, but the reason I ended up balking on the DX160 were my color choices. I feel like you have to get that thing in red or blue with that case design. I could get the SR25 in red and, man, is that thing a looker.
I ended up ordering from Bloom after personal recommendations from people at HF I personally communicate with/trust and going though their site with a fine-tooth comb for any red flags. Not a sponsorship of them, but they seem very customer-focused, to an extent where I didn't really doubt I'd be taken care of, even if things don't go well.
Would love to see them carry HiBy as well; matter of fact, perhaps I'll drop a message today with the recommendation.
Make no doubts, I positively loved my time with the R5 Saber and, full disclosure, I'd buy one again in a heartbeat if HiBy ever released another color way than black. Personal preference, but we have too many black rugs and furniture here; black equipment gets misplaced very easily.
@joe Blogs ever thought about just having fun with the colorways? I mean it's called the Saber. Could totally make that case look like blued steel
