[Adrian Yong]

  No, it's way worse. The FiiO X3 beats it to a pulp, there's no comparison to make here. Don't get taken in by all this hype about "audiophile smartphones", there's nothing special going on with the Vivo X5 Max or the LG V10 or whatever the hell else. They all have about the same DAC performance you can find in a random PC motherboard's integrated DAC, which is just mediocre. This level of audio quality has been available for a while now in phones like the Note 3 and nobody thought to make a big deal out of this being "audiophile grade", which of course they had no reason to. It's a good thing that phones are catching up to larger or dedicated music playing devices, but they still have a long way to go. Not a single one of these phones is actually better than your average portable DAC or DAP.
 
Vivo X5 Max:
Noise -93.4dB / Crosstalk -93.8dB
http://www.gsmarena.com/vivo_x5max-6865.php
 
FiiO X3 (2nd gen.):
Signal to noise ratio SNR ≥114 dB / Crosstalk >102 dB
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1137456-REG/fiio_x3_ii_x3_portable_hi_res_music.html

 
Wow...that is a very strong statement....
 
1. You comparing built in Samsung DAC with a Sabre DAC ?
2. You may want to define "average" portable DAC or DAP.....

 

[abm0]

   
Wow...that is a very strong statement....
 
1. You comparing built in Samsung DAC with a Sabre DAC ?
2. You may want to define "average" portable DAC or DAP.....

I may have jumped the gun there a bit - it seems there is a lot of bad information (and lack of good information) about these hi-res audio phones going around. What tripped me up is that it seems to be the same problem with all hi-res audio phones, not just the Vivos. Somebody's lying or withholding data or being incompetent at measuring the specs and I haven't yet figured out who.

 

[BlackShaker]

  No, it's way worse. The FiiO X3 beats it to a pulp, there's no comparison to make here. Don't get taken in by all this hype about "audiophile smartphones", there's nothing special going on with the Vivo X5 Max or the LG V10 or whatever the hell else. They all have about the same DAC performance you can find in a random PC motherboard's integrated DAC, which is just mediocre. This level of audio quality has been available for a while now in phones like the Note 3 and nobody thought to make a big deal out of this being "audiophile grade", which of course they had no reason to. It's a good thing that phones are catching up to larger or dedicated music playing devices, but they still have a long way to go. Not a single one of these phones is actually better than your average portable DAC or DAP.
 
Vivo X5 Max:
Noise -93.4dB / Crosstalk -93.8dB
http://www.gsmarena.com/vivo_x5max-6865.php
 
FiiO X3 (2nd gen.):
Signal to noise ratio SNR ≥114 dB / Crosstalk >102 dB
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1137456-REG/fiio_x3_ii_x3_portable_hi_res_music.html

 
Wow! Some strong statement right there without having owned the phone.. You may to think twice about that. Some of these Smartphones have better specs than $500+ DAPs. Don't get left behind with technology, Mate...
 
1. Vivo XPlay 5 Elite/Ultimate - 2x ESS Sabre ES9028 DAC / 3x TI OPA1612 opamp + crystal oscillators (Flagship DAC by ESS)
2. ZTE Axon 7 - AKM4490(Main) + AKM4961(Recording) / Dolby Atmos (Flagship DAC by Asahi Kasei) (Best Speaker on the list)
3. Lenovo Vibe X3 - ESS Sabre 9018C2M(Main) + Wolfson WM8281 DAC (Recording) / 3x TI OPA1612 Amp / Dolby Atmos
4. Xiaomi Mi Note Pro - ESS Sabre ES9018K2M DAC / 2-stage TI OPA1612 & ADI ADA4896 Amp + dual clock oscillators + 28 high-precision audio resistors (600 ohm Headphones)
5. Vivo X6 Plus – ESS ES9028 DAC / ES9603 Amp w/ Yamaha YSS-205X audio processor

 

[arebiz]

Nobody likely cares at this date, but I have I experience with most of these phones referenced.  I stumbled on this post looking to see if there is something more on the horizon in 2017. I work for the gov (OST and NIST) and we get lots of cellphones to test and try that will be sold in US.  I actually own a Vivo X5 Max and a ZTE Axon 7 (and played a bit with the Vivo X5 Elite and some of the other "audiophile" phones from Chinese manufacturers) and it's really is hard to beat to the listening experience of the Vivo X5 Max I get from my HD600's or my Oppo closed PM-2's without extras.   This is totally subjective on my part, but I can do the measurements for the ZTE and the X5 Max if anybody cares and post even if it disproves my point.  For the money on the grey market and relative availability, however, it's really is hard to beat the X5 Max.  It's a generation old phone at this point, but it sounds incredible for a phone, actually is reliable, and the cell service is cheap for the available bands in the US in 2017.

 

[rikk009]

  Nobody likely cares at this date, but I have I experience with most of these phones referenced.  I stumbled on this post looking to see if there is something more on the horizon in 2017. I work for the gov (OST and NIST) and we get lots of cellphones to test and try that will be sold in US.  I actually own a Vivo X5 Max and a ZTE Axon 7 (and played a bit with the Vivo X5 Elite and some of the other "audiophile" phones from Chinese manufacturers) and it's really is hard to beat to the listening experience of the Vivo X5 Max I get from my HD600's or my Oppo closed PM-2's without extras.   This is totally subjective on my part, but I can do the measurements for the ZTE and the X5 Max if anybody cares and post even if it disproves my point.  For the money on the grey market and relative availability, however, it's really is hard to beat the X5 Max.  It's a generation old phone at this point, but it sounds incredible for a phone, actually is reliable, and the cell service is cheap for the available bands in the US in 2017.

Can you compare X5Max and XPlay 5?