FiiO M5 Portable High-Resolution Music Player - TITANIUM

I have a large music collection that clocks in at 258GB and growing. I used to listen to it on my phone but with many phone makers removing features such as SD card slots, I thought it best to have a backup in case my next phone doesn't have expandable storage.I looked at many music players before deciding upon the M5. The main reason I chose the M5 was the, supposed, support for SD cards up to 2TB which would allow me plenty of expansion and future proofing. Other reasons include the decoding of many file types including .flac, which I rip all my music to.Operation of the unit is straightforward enough, if a little fiddly on the small touchscreen. Sound quality is excellent but will depend upon the quality of the files you use and the type of headphones you have. There are plenty of ways to EQ the sound to your own tastes, especially after updating to the latest firmware as it adds the option of a custom EQ alongside the existing presets.I would like to add a warning to people who want to use this unit while being particularly active. Take some time to hunt down the OEM wrist strap or invest in a third-party case and strap. I used the included belt clip and ended up losing my original M5 on the second day of taking it out. When I bought my replacement M5 I bought a third-party case and wrist strap and have felt much more reassured about using it actively outdoors.While I'm sure there are other media players that are better in terms of features and will satisfy music purists more than the M5 I, personally, have found the ideal player at the right price that is sufficiently future proof for my ever expanding music collection.

This is the 5th Fiio music player that I've purchased over the last few years. For the price this is a decent enough player with good build quality and decent audio quality. Popping in a 256GB micro sd card gives me all of the music I will ever need to carry around with me.Sadly, the firmware (v1.4.7) is reminiscent of earlier, non-android Fiio players. The UI is ok but it's not particularly nice to use. The screen is very small and navigation can be quite awkward, even with my relatively slender fingers. The equalizer is mediocre. Bluetooth connection can be a bit hit-or-miss with my Cambridge Audio Melomania Touch earphones as can the handling of commands from the earphones. Worst of all is the age-old issue Fiio has had with the incoherent presentation of some characters due to some 'interesting' character set support. I have an M11 player that doesn't have this problem so it seems to be something perhaps more specific to Fiio's variants of non-android firmware as I did have a similar issue with my X3 2nd gen.Overall the M5 is fairly good but doesn't quite live up to my expectations.