Portable player FIIO M11s

The new FiiO M11S is the first true successor to the brand's mid-range DAC.

What's new?
The FiiO M11S is reminiscent of other models in the M11 series, especially the FiiO M11 Plus. However, it has a 5-inch display with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels and wider bezels than the FiiO M11 Plus.
The FiiO M11S has a capacitive volume rocker, an unusual move for a media player. In addition, FiiO has included playback controls on the right side, located next to the microSD card reader.
The FiiO M11S relies on cheaper components than its more expensive cousins. The new model has two ESS ES9038Q2M DAC microchips. The M11S will be able to decode 32-bit files at 384 kHz, as well as support Qualcomm aptX HD and LDAC codecs. FiiO M11S uses OPA1642 and 0PA926 chips.

The media player has 3GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable storage. At first glance, the layout of the FiiO M11S hasn't changed a bit, but as we'll see, these are welcome upgrades.

On the left side you have:

classic on/off button
volume control that can be controlled by a click
and an empty button that works like a powerful "do it all" button.

On the right side you will find:

Pre/Next and Play/Pause buttons.
opening for a micro-SD card (it's not a tray anymore!)
And finally at the bottom you have:

3.5mm headphone output / line / digital output, so you can connect headphones, headphone amplifier or even DAC,
balanced headphone output 2.5 mm, classic
Balanced Pentaconn 4.4mm headphone output that doubles as a balanced line output
USB-C port

The two real upgrades are the new balanced output, which may be useful for those using an amplifier with the aforementioned port, and the new all-in-one button is missing from the first generation FiiO M11.

Android 10.0

The new M11S runs on version 10 of the popular OS. Thanks to this, the player has various optimizations such as dark mode, gestures, and support for the Google Play Store. This means that you can install all third party software such as Qobuz, Tidal and… Apple Music.

Streaming / DNLA / FiiO Link

Now that every FiiO has been certified by the Google Play Store, all it takes is a Wi-Fi connection and you can directly install all the apps you need.

FiiO Link is still available: with Bluetooth, you can control the player directly from your phone.

DNLA works in the usual way and you can access your remote drives from the FiiO Music program. Or any compatible app like HiBy music or Audio Player Pro.

FiiO Music

Of course, you can use any android music player app you want, but the FiiO Music app is the most competent solution available for the player and is perfect for the FiiO M11S. It's fast, reliable, easy to use, and remains one of the best player apps out there.

From there you can:

-scan your SD card or internal storage to access all your music neatly sorted by album/artist/genre/folder
- access NAS and use FiiO M11S as network player
-transfer files from the player to a computer/smartphone wirelessly
-change equalizer

Battery life and charging

The FiiO M11S battery is significantly larger than the M11 or even the M11 Plus. The new M11S is equipped with an ultra-high capacity lithium cobalt oxide battery of no less than 7490 mAh!

FiiO advertises 15 hours of continuous playback and 75 days of hibernation. The player will need up to 3.5 hours to fully charge.

USB-C and SD card

As expected, the FiiO M11S features a USB Type-C port, an all-in-one socket with a reversible design, fast data transfer, and fast charging to fill the massive battery.

Once again, the USB port works as an input and gateway: you can either connect the M11S to your computer and use it as a DAC, or connect a DAC and use the player as a source. A cool option that we're seeing more and more on DAP and I use it a lot more than I expected in my actual setup.

M11s supports USB 2.0. If you have a huge audio library to carry around, it's best to use a micro-SD card reader rather than the player itself. The M11s has the classic micro-SD slot, but without the tray system, making it easy to insert/remove the card.

Sound

M11s are excellent low frequencies, bright voices and clear high frequencies. It's much more accurate than the M11, which now feels a little dated even if it's only 3 years old, and the high frequencies are now certainly more realistic than before.

Why buy M11s

FiiO did it again what they do best: they took a good player and improved every part of it to restore their leadership positions.

The FiiO M11S is a real breath of fresh air, offering 80% of the performance of the M11 Plus at a fraction of the price.

In addition, FiiO M11s has the following advantages: the user interface is fast, the sound is great, the battery life is quite impressive, and the build quality remains at the highest level, even compared to its older brother.

Full Specs:

Model: FiiO M11S
Type: digital audio player
OS: FiiO OS
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 660
RAM: 3GB LPDDR5
ROM: 64GB (4GB for system)
Output power 670 mW

DAC: 2x ES9038Q2M

Sampling Rate: PCM: 8Hz - 768Hz (8/16/24/32bit) Native - DSD64/128/256/512 - MQA 8X
System clock: Full synchronization technology with 4th generation FPGA processor and double Japanese crystal clock
Outputs: 3.5mm headphone out - line out - coaxial out / 2.5mm TRRS / 4.4mm Pentaconn
Input: USB Type-C
Screen: 5.0″ 1280×720 IPS screen from LG
Micro SD: SDHC/SDXC (one slot)
WiFi: support 2.4GHz/5GHz
Direct Streaming Support - Full Google Play Support
Bluetooth support: SBC, apt-X, HD-apt-X, LDAC, HWA (AAC receive only)
Duplex Bluetooth: The player can send and receive music
Battery: lithium polymer 3.8V 7490mAh
Fast charge: yes, QC2.0/3.0, PD2.0, DC12V/1.5Ah, 9V/2A, 5V/2A
Battery life: 15 hours with wired headphones, 25 hours with Bluetooth headphones
Charging time: about 3.5 hours
Size: 134mm x 75mm x 18mm
Weight: 307 g

In the box you will find:

FiiO M11S
case
USB cable
documentation
tempered glass installed directly at the factory