Conclusions

As noted at the start, we were thoroughly impressed by the sound from all three of these portable units into all the headphones with which we listened to them, which on the face of it would make the cheapest of them, the Fiio X1-II, clearly the biggest bargain. But as noted, the others provide the flexibility of having an Android OS, which is becoming increasingly useful not only for its additional options on the device itself, but in how the device may communicate with the wider world. Plus if the increasing heights of high-res are important to you, especially DSD and its upper echelons, then the lowest of these three may not satisfy your needs, or be able to play all your files. So despite initial impressions, there are reasons to lift your sights to the higher players.

What’s increasingly clear from the comparison is that high-res players are offering ever greater value in what they offer, rising to some extraordinary levels of output and resolution.