Portable player Hidizs AP100: review, reviews

Recently, a novelty appeared on the market of portable Hi-Fi equipment, which was immediately talked about by many experts and music lovers. Hidizs, a company that has not been known to anyone, has introduced the AP100 audio player to the world community. First of all, it attracted the buyers' attention to its product - the device is not positioned in the budget class (15,000 rubles). Naturally, the potential buyer was interested in what the Chinese are able to surprise others.

In the focus of this article - a portable audio device Hi-Fi class Hidizs AP100. Overview, user reviews, specifications and comparison with analogues on the market, will provide the reader with all the necessary information about the novelty.

Brand new brand

Any buyer knows that little-known Chinese manufacturers, while providing their innovations to the world market, always try to reduce the price of their product in order to somehow compete with popular products in their segment. At least so, the emergence of brands Xiaomi and Lenovo, which, being in the budget price segment, competed freely in quality and functionality with devices from the middle class.

However, portable players are not a category of goods that have an increased demand among the population, so expecting the manufacturer to make a significant reduction in the cost of products is not necessary. So the user will have to purchase this product at his own risk and risk for the proposed, and very considerable cost. We can only offer as a help a full review of the technical characteristics of the gadget and feedback from the owners.

First meeting

These Chinese people are amazing people - they try to save on everything. Even on the packaging of an inexpensive device. A box of ordinary cardboard looks very unpresentable, which confuses many users even before buying. But the impression of the manufacturer changes when acquainted with the bundle, there is something to be surprised even the most demanding customers. In addition to the device itself, the user will find inside the box: a cover, instructions, a micro-USB interface cable, audio cables and a corporate sticker.

Attention of the buyer deserves a cover for Hidizs AP100. It is made of high quality material, strongly reminiscent of the skin. It is thanks to the case that the portable player looks very expensive. In general, the equipment is worthy and deserves only positive feedback.

Appearance and build quality

At the first glance at the device, it may seem that the manufacturer decided to save on the plastic, from which the Hidizs AP100 gadget is made. The review of the novelty is capable of placing everything in its place and proving to others that appearance is deceptive. The case of the device is made of magnesium alloy. Only on the front of the audio player there are plastic inserts.

As for the dimensions, they slightly go beyond the generally accepted framework of mobile devices (when compared with smartphones). Player Hidizs AP100 more like the old PoketPC Palm - it is thicker than 2 times any modern smartphone. But the width and length of the device allows you to carry the player even in the pockets of outerwear.

Ergonomics

A display occupying the third part of the whole case, large control buttons and open ports for connecting interface cables are created explicitly for the convenience of the owner. In fact, without getting the device out of the pocket, you can touch the songs and adjust the loudness of the speakers, however, there are also negative notes in the user's responses. If you take for comparison similar portable players, you can find that their external beauty in no way affects the infringement of ergonomics. And the product Hidizs, having large dimensions, has too much free space on the case.

Any music enthusiast will agree that by sliding the buttons on the case or by increasing the LCD screen, the manufacturer would achieve greater respect for its product from potential buyers. Trying to make the device exclusive, the company's technologists could not provide a compact size to the portable player Hidizs AP100.

Inconvenience of use

Strange as it may seem, the skin case, supplied with the device, has undergone a negative. The fact that the manufacturer, once again trying to stand out from competitors in the market, gives preference to the appearance, rather than the convenience of the audio player. Thoughtful to the smallest details, the cover fits perfectly into the design, conceived by the company's technologists, but it's worth turning on the player, as soon as there is a defect.

The protective material is too thick, which makes access to the control buttons limited. So, to control the volume, you need to make efforts to press the desired key on the case of the Hidizs AP100 device. Reviews of owners of a negative nature can be understood, because many users will once again have to choose between usability and beauty, which are incompatible in one player.

Hardware

The Cirrus Logic CS4398 digital-to-analog converter supports recording up to 24 bit / 192 kHz. The device has an equalizer built in, which works at the hardware level and is able to adjust the entire range of reproduced frequencies, and not part of them, as it is implemented in low-cost players. The decoder also has hardware support and is able to independently control the sampling. For the set of processes occurring inside the device, two Ingenic 4760B crystals are able to decode any volume of audio data in real time (as in stationary Hi-Fi systems).

After a close acquaintance with the hardware (having dismantled the Hidizs AP100), many users understand that the outer casing is closely related to the internal components of the device - the chips fill the entire internal space of the gadget. In general, it is difficult to imagine a portable player having a stuffing, like a stationary device - it just does not fit into the mind.

The software part

Better start with the fact that the official website of the manufacturer for the gadget has specialized software. This means that the player Hidizs AP100 firmware can not only be updated, but also to change. The ability to control the device programmatically unleashes the hands of many owners who will find flaws in the portable player. That's only with the software part of the gadget, everything is in order - in the feedback of users there is not a single negative about the convenience of management.

The menu, although in English, but quite informative and convenient. In general, it's strange that the player is devoid of the Russian interface, most likely, the problem will be fixed in the near future, since an official representation has appeared in Russia. Many users note that the management of something similar to working with a car radio.

Interesting transformations

High-quality portable player Hidizs AP100 is quite suitable for connection to a home theater or active home acoustics. However, to get the best sound quality, the user needs to use a coaxial connection (the corresponding output is on the player's case). In their responses, many users claim that comparing portable devices with home theaters is quite interesting.

The player can be connected to the receiver, TV, computer speakers or even to the car stereo - no restrictions to the owner of the portable device does not exist. A pretty handy gadget, given its portable capabilities and support for all types of audio files.

Skills and opportunities

Portable device Hidizs AP100 is capable of one battery charge for 10 hours. For a home user this is quite an acceptable indicator, but music lovers who prefer to listen to high-quality music on a long journey can not be enough for ten hours. Fortunately, portable high-capacity charging modules can solve the problems of demanding users.

As for the playback formats, the manufacturer managed to surprise not only the buyers, but also many experts - the player plays all known audio formats, including Apple Lossless and AAC. It is no longer necessary for owners of a portable player to experience not only compatibility, but also about discretization of an audio file. Regardless of the format, the device at the hardware level will decode the file and give the listener sound in the highest possible quality.

Features of the firmware

Fans of updating the software to the latest version should be extremely careful with the audio player Hidizs. The fact is that, in trying to please users, the manufacturer reacts to almost all the wishes of the owners, left in the responses to the product in the media. Yes, this feedback allows you to quickly improve the performance of the device, but there are also software failures that can completely disrupt the performance of the Hidizs AP100 player. It does not turn on, hangs up at startup, does not work with the library of music files - this is only a small list of problems that a user can get that downloaded the raw firmware from the official website of the manufacturer.

Before updating the software it is better to read user reviews, and only then you can install a new firmware. By the way, the owners are better at once to understand the settings of the player and remember the algorithm of actions, which allows changing the interface language. The fact is that all firmware are installed in Chinese by default.

Ease of learning

Not detached from the topic of the language barrier, it is worth noting that the device Hidizs AP100 instruction is also written in two languages - Chinese and English. In the manual, all functions, in addition to the description, are provided with images, so with management users should not have questions. But the global settings of a portable player without knowledge of foreign languages is better not to touch - many users in their reviews note that because of incorrectly set parameters, the device has ceased to produce high-quality sound. Reset the problem to the factory default settings.

Interesting functional

Quite an interesting display is equipped with a gadget Hidizs AP100. Overview of the screen in the media is almost ignored. The fact that the primary features of the liquid crystal matrix is monochrome, but it's worth downloading the whole album with the cover to the player, as a color picture appears before the user. Quite a strange decision of the manufacturer, after all it would be more logical to equip the device with a monochrome display, whose power consumption is much lower.

Touching the theme of the liquid crystal matrix in the player, it is worth noting that the absence of the sensor was not practically displayed on the ergonomics of the device. First, the physical size and resolution of the screen does not allow you to work comfortably with touches. The second factor is the battery saving.

Liked lovers and sleep timer, which is able to turn off the device not only at a specified time, but also during idle time. In their reviews, many users attributed this feature to the merits of a portable player.

Analogues and competitors

In the media, many potential buyers try to compare two devices in different classes. "What is better -Hidizs AP100 or Fiio X5?" - users ask. The answer here is obvious: in terms of sound quality, the modification of the Fiio X5 outperforms the competitor. However, it should be noted that the advantages are limited only to high-quality sound, in all the rest (price, convenience of management and settings) AP100 will be the best purchase.

But the analogues in the budget price category for the Chinese representative Hidizs will be FiiO X3, iBasso DX50 and HiFiMan HM-700. Comparison of the listed portable players leads many enthusiasts to very interesting conclusions. The fact is that each device has a certain peculiarity of sound reproduction at different frequencies. Music lovers are given the opportunity to choose a device for their taste.

Accessories for the player

Many buyers believe that the headphones for Hidizs AP100 should be special, at least, most users preferred expensive products. Experts recommend that owners of portable players focus not on the brand, but on the convenience of listening to music. Headphones should not cause discomfort. It is clear that consumer goods will be uninteresting to buyers, but it is not necessary to pursue high prices (at least, acoustic systems should not be more expensive than the player itself).

Fans of wireless technology are also encouraged to think about before giving preference to headphones working on the radio. It is possible that audio quality may be lost when playing audio files. Experts recommend trusting only wired devices.

Finally

Quite an interesting solution came from the Chinese, who decided to surprise the world with their Hidizs AP100 product. Satisfying the market of portable devices, a little-known manufacturer has created a device capable of superseding from the market stationary audio equipment of the middle class. Affordable price, convenient management, full support for all existing audio formats, make this device quite attractive in the budget class of Hi-Fi equipment.

There are, of course, negatives. Almost all users noticed the lack of Russification. Many owners of the device hope that in one of the firmware the manufacturer will fix this problem. Some users would like to see and support touch input with a liquid crystal screen, however, in their reviews they could not explain to readers what is the inconvenience of exploitation.