HiBy Digital M300 Review – $199 Android 13 DAP
HiBy also known as HiBy Music has come up with a new sub-brand recently, the HiBy Digital. This new brand will be focused primarily on pocket-friendly portable audio solutions offering quality products including portable music players, in-ear monitors, etc. HiBy Digital has entered the market with two first-day launches, the M300 portable Android music player, and the XOE IEMs.
M300 is a portable Android audio player with the latest Android 13 operating system. It works like a smartphone where you can install any application whether it be for watching movies, listening to music, or even playing 3D games. Its ultra-compact form factor makes the M300 the perfect choice for an easy carry-on-the-go. HiBy Digital M300 is launched officially for just 199.99$ in 3 color options.
The body consists of CNC-machined aluminum on the sides, plastic parts on top and bottom, and a glass panel at the back.
Packing a 2000mAh battery with fast charging capability, the M300 has a rated battery life of up to 29 hours. It has wireless Bluetooth V5.0 connectivity supporting almost every codec including Qualcomm’s aptX series and Sony’s LDAC.
The M300 is one of the few (maybe the only?) Android digital audio players in the market with a built-in loudspeaker. It features a speaker that provides output when no earphone is connected. Well, the sound quality is not the best coming out of this mono speaker but it gets the job done when watching movies, playing games, or listening back to sound recordings. It’s certainly better than not having.
The M300 has also an old-school analog FM radio with a recording function that uses the attached earphone as the antenna. Sadly the reception wasn’t so good indoors.
The device features a 4” display screen with 1280*640 resolution. I must say that the screen is a quality one with 178-degree viewing angles and deep blacks. The M300 also has a customizable Fn key on the device as well as a voice recording function. The M300 comes with two microphones placed on top for recordings. The quality of the recordings is at mediocre levels if the source is far away from you. You need to be close or speak directly for good results.
What does the latest M300 do differently from the other devices available in the market? HiBy has made sure that your experience with the M300 goes buttery smooth. For this, they have equipped the player with a Snapdragon 665 SoC and 3GB RAM.
This is where things are getting interesting. Let me give you an example here. The second cheapest DAP on the market after HiBy Digital M300 with the same core specs costs close to $500 and it does not have even Android 13, it comes with Android 10. There are many flagship DAPs out there from various brands that also come with Snapdragon 660-665 SOC and 4GB RAM max. So when it comes to fluidity and performance, the $199 M300 is on par with those expensive DAPs. I think you get the idea.
The M300 comes with a single Cirrus Logic CS43131 DAC chip onboard. As for sound output, we have a standard 3.5mm headphone output with a maximum output power of 103mW at 32 Ohms. Perfectly enough for many IEMs and headphones out there. And if you want an upgrade in sound performance, it is as easy as plugging in an external dongle or USB DAC to M300. Let me show you.
Here is an example of a killer combo with an M300 connected to the FiiO Q15.
Here is another example. You don’t need a PC or a slow tablet to hook up the FiiO K9 AKM. The M300 gets the job done perfectly serving as the source for your streaming or local files.
M300 Unboxing
M300 Specs
Operating System: Android 13
Logic SoC: Qualcomm Snapdragon 665
Audio Codecs: DSD 256 PCM768kHz/32Bit
Audio Ports: 3.5mm headphone out / USB DAC out
Wireless
WiFi: Supports 2.4GHz, 531-1z
Bluetooth: Bluetooth 5.0
Bluetooth Protocols: LDAC/AAC/SBC (aptX via firmware update)
Wireless Control: HiByLink
Screen
Screen Size: 4″
Screen Type: Hi-res IPS with slimline OGS touchscreen
Resolution: 1280*640
Storage
RAM: 3GB
Internal Storage: 32GB
Storage Expansion: Up to 2TB via micro SD card
Body
Colors: Black, Silver, Blue
Body Materials: Unibody Aluminium chassis with glass front and back faces
Dimensions: 113*58*13 mm
Power
Battery Capacity: 2000mAh/3.8V
Uptime Per Full Charge: >29h
Charging Power Supply 5V/1.5A
I would like to thank HiBy Digital for providing me with the review sample of the M300 DAP and XOE IEM.
M300 Sound
The Cirrus Logic CS43131 DAC is quite satisfactory for a DAP at this price and I also think it is the better choice as sound quality goes compared to budget ESS solutions.
HiBy Digital M300 sounds quite neutral and balanced, with no dramatic coloration to the sound, which is a very good thing as a result. The overall signature can be described as clean, and crisp with no roll-off in the bass or treble, but with an excellent dynamic, a wide soundstage, and a great amount of details. The M300 is entirely silent, with no hiss or any background noise even with low impedance and sensitive IEMs.
The sound stage is reasonably wide, with a great sense of depth. Imaging is also spot on.
The bass on the M300 goes deep and has a great amount of control. Lows are well-defined, managing to provide a well-built base to the rest of the frequency range, but also a very good insight into details and texture. Moving a bit higher, mid-bass continues in the same language.
There’s no bloating or blooming, just well-judged and full-sounding notes. Bass comes with a neutral amount of body, but it’s punchy and impactful. Layering on the other hand is impressive compared to dongle DACs.
The midrange also successfully combines a full-bodied tone with plenty of micro-details. The vocals sound clear and present. There are plenty of details which can described as rich sounding.
The mids perfectly connect to the bass with the same presence, body, and impact. Mids have a neutrally musical presentation with a nice airiness and spacious feel to it. What I love about the mids are the dynamics, the energetic presentation, and the stereo imaging.
The same, musical approach, continues in the highest region that offers plenty of fine details, but never in a sharp or tiring. The highest frequencies are crisp and make the M300 sound open and airy.
Perfectly connecting from the mids, the M300 is balanced in the overall presentation. The amount of body is the same as before and what is remarkable here is the liveliness and energy in the delivery. The M300 has a good amount of sparkle and energy on top.
HiBy Digital XOE IEM
The second launch product from HiBy Digital is this set of IEMs called, HiBy Digital XOE. This IEM houses an 8mm dual-magnetic dynamic driver unit. This compact driver features a high-power dual-magnetic circuit and high-quality DLC material diaphragm. The dual-magnetic circuit here adopts high-power Neodymium magnets producing strong magnetic flux ensuring efficient performance with low distortion.
HiBy Digital XOE is available in Type-C and 3.5mm termination options, with the Type-C variant housing the ES9270C high-grade ESS Sabre decoding chipset. It supports exclusive USB mode with native DSD128 signal and 32-bit/384kHz PCM sound signal decoding. It is launched at a budget-friendly price of $29 ($9.90 when bought with M300) for the 3.5mm and $39 ($19.90 when bought with M300) for the Type-C variant.
HiBy Digital has designed the XOE with a lightweight shell design. The pair features proper airflow control with a semi-open back design that introduces smooth airflow and manages the air pressure build-up inside the cavity structure. Each shell weighs just 2.4 grams. HiBy XOE features a non-detachable cable which is made up of high-quality silver-plated OFC cable.
Both 3.5mm and Type-C variants feature in-line three-button media control keys and a MEMS omnidirectional microphone.
XOE IEM Specs
Drivers: 8mm DLC Diaphragm Dynamic Driver
Impedance: 21 Ohm
Frequency Response: 20-20,000Hz
Sensitivity: 104dB/mW
Max Input Power: 5mW
Length: 1.10m
Wire Material: Silver-plated OFC
THD: <3%
XOE IEM Sound
Bass, lots of bass. Who does not like bass? HiBy Digital should have thought the same way and tuned the XOE that way. The elevation levels on the sub-bass and mid-bass are high, okay I can live with that. But when the curve continues elevated on the low mids, this makes the sound a bit bloated, making bass notes overpowering the rest of the spectrum. Thankfully we see linearity starting 800Hz until 2Khz and this gives us rather a clean sounding upper mids, rescuing the tuning for the good.
The treble region on the other hand has good extension up until around 9Khz and then starts to roll off. This extension helps the soundstage to be wide and for the high notes to keep up with the lows in the name of balancing the sound. Starting from the upper mids I like the tuning, speaking of my taste.
The M300 DAP has been firstly designed for young people in my opinion and the tuning of the XOE kinda proves this thought of mine. And if you buy the XOE IEM with the M300 it will just cost you an extra $9.90 (for the 3.5mm variant) and who can argue with that, just get it and start your Hi-Fi journey on the go. I’m sure many will love this tuning (don’t count me in), who doesn’t love bass, right?
Sum-Up
The HiBy Digital M300 is the right move for the market that I have been waiting for. A small factor DAP with the latest Android OS with good core specs for a reasonable price.
I’ve been using the M300 for the past 3 weeks and it has got two OS updates already, including adding the missing “previous track” key combination (double click play/pause), making LDAC the default system codec, and some important bug fixes. That shows that HiBy Digital is serious about its products and consumer feedback. That is a good sign for the future of this new brand.
If you are interested in digital audio players but don’t know where to start, buying the M300 might be the best $199 to spend in the name of listening to Hi-Fi music.