GUI.
The M11 is an Android-based DAP and as such booting up the player can feel a little different from traditional players and a lot more like booting up a phone. You don’t go straight into a music player, but instead you get the familiar Android environment. A few apps have been pre-installed of which the FiiO Music app is of course the most important one. This is a fairly basic app that has some neat features such as changing background colors based on the color of the album art, but it is not fully refined yet, as (for instance) album art loads inconsistently. I have had times where only a few songs from the same album showed the album art and other times where it was only shown for the main album, but not individual songs. Of course because the M11 is Android-based there is always the option of using a different music player app. I installed the Hiby Music app, which is not significantly better, but I found it a little more intuitive to use.
In either case it was less than optimal and did not feel as intuitive as using traditional DAPs like the AK70 or Plenue 2. For all the versatility that Android brings, it feels like the music player apps focus too much on looking flashy and adding non-essential features while neglecting their core task of managing music libraries and playback, which is what you buy a DAP for in the first place. Using an app for playback also means that some settings are integrated in the app, while others are found in the settings menu of the M11 itself. The settings menu has various options that will be familiar from your Android phone (if you have one) such as connection, storage and security, but there is also a specific Audio menu where you can find DAC filter settings and the ‘All to DSD’ function. I feel this creates the risk of the M11 getting cluttered with too many apps and losing the simplicity of a pure DAP. As such, I can imagine that some people might like the option of booting the M11 up in a pure music player mode. Sure that would defeat the purpose of having a smart-DAP in the first place, but the M11 offers enough performance and value outside of Android that it might still be interesting for some users. I would quite like the option of switching between two modes in order to have a clean and simple interface when I only use it for music and going back to Android mode for enjoying all the benefits that offers. And let’s be clear here, it offers an awful lot.
Apps/Streaming.
Before looking at apps there is something that needs to be clearly stated here: The M11 does not offer Google Play store support at this point in time. This is something that is very important to be aware of because it means apps need to be side-loaded and not all apps will work optimally. As such the user experience will feel different compared to an Android phone with full Google Play store support. I think that this is easy to underestimate and has led to some users being disappointed with the M11. FiiO have clearly been working on ways to make it easier, such as the FiiO Market, where some of the most popular apps such as Tidal and Spotify can be found, as well as third-party app markets such as APK Pure. This helps to make it easier, but can still feel cumbersome for people less well versed in the Android environment. Remember, I am strictly analogue when it comes to this and so I will admit that for me there was a learning curve, although definitely rewarding once I got the hang of it. Mind you, I have not emerged as the “Grand Wizard of all things Android” either.
Another thing that is good to be aware of is that the M11 comes standard with ES File Explorer installed. This app might not be secure and has recently been removed from the Google Play store as a result of various problems. It might be good to look at an alternative instead.
Although I will say that the Android platform is not yet running seamlessly on the M11, it does offer a lot of extras and I had a great deal of fun trying out different things (yes, Solitaire works too!). One of the Apps I really enjoyed using was SoundCloud. The app gave an error, warning me that it would not work without Google Play store support, but being the rebel that I am I just ignored it and contrary to the dire warning it worked just fine. Here the M11 was definitely able to give me more use out of my DAP because SoundCloud allowed me to explore new music more easily. For instance, I was finally able to listen to one of Stormzy’s albums that was freely available on SoundCloud. Having lived in London for a few years, I was curious about it, but I generally don’t listen to grime and so I was not immediately going to blind buy the album. This was a great way to give it a try. I strongly support this type of platform with decent free access because it does help to explore new music, after which you can support your favourite artists by buying their album. Sure, SoundCloud still injects ads to “stimulate” (read: pressure) you to go for the paid Go+ subscription, but it beats free Spotify as that was completely useless when I tried it.
Not all apps I tried would work well and for instance the YouTube app immediately closed every time I tried to start it up. Watching YouTube through the Chrome browser would work and going full screen would rotate the picture to fill the M11’s screen (the M11 does not have the ability to automatically rotate the picture based on how you hold it), but there were serious issues with synchronization. The delay was in the order of several seconds, making it unacceptable to watch.
Twister6 Reviews 
Hi. Thanks for your reviews. Can you please compare m11 vs x5 iii in sound quality?
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Sorry, I don’t have the X5III to compare it with.
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Hi. May I know how does M11 compare sonically with Cayin N5iis or N5ii?
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I don’t have those myself either, but I will send the M11 over to Alex (Twister6) soon and then he might be able to help out with comparisons.
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I have both and I don’t hear much difference between them in terms of sound quality. I would suggest that the M11 is an updated version. The display is larger as is the storage micro SD, The SD card capacity is 2 x 2TB. However there is at least one problem when deleting songs. The tune is deleted but the on screen display still shows that it is there. This causes a problem when on ‘shuffle’ mode. If it happens to select the deleted tune title then is shows ‘file not found’ and stops playing. The only cure for that is to connect the player to a computer and delete it in the usual manner.
Having said that I still prefer the M11 but would love it more if I could discover how to get avi. files to run.
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Have you tried sideloading VLC, that should sort out your avi problems. I have yet to pick up the M11 but I am familiar with android and vlc works great for me.
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Hello, thanks for your informative and comprehensive review.
Were you able to side load either the BBC Sounds or iPlayer apps?
Also, were you able to install TuneIn or any other radio apps?
Regards, Ian
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I just went ahead and tried to install BBC Sounds and iPlayer Radio, which went fine and both seem to work smoothly. If you go to “Applications” it will open up the FiiO Market from where you can install APKPure, which has a number of radio apps such as iPlayer Radio. BBC Sounds I got by using the Chrome browser and downloading from apkmonk. Hope this helps!
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Great that the BBC Sounds app works as this and Tidal are essential for me. I was one that was very disappointed about the lack of Play Store support and ended up getting the X5iii because of it. However, now I realise it is actually quite nice not to be signed in to Google as it seems to get ever more pervasive. In it’s place it is very useful but somehow it just feels better to be ‘off grid” when using this DAP. I really don’t need emails and numerous other notifications arriving when I am lost in a Dylan masterpiece and I have a feeling that even if we get upgraded to a customised Pie which will have the Play Store I will disable most of it !
Also fully agree about ES explorer. First thing I did was put something decent on – the only problem is that I have not found one single Explorer in Android that ticks all the boxes despite having tried many – any suggestions welcome 🙂
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I know what you mean and agree that there is an advantage to not being connected to the Play Store all the time, it gives a feeling of being more in control yourself.
I don’t have an alternative for ES Explorer. I left it on there because of the review (to show accurately what you get with the M11) and have not yet got around to replacing it.
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I switched from ES Explorer to Solid Explorer and find Solid Explorer to be an improvement, Solid Explorer has some odd behaviors that need to be learned, SMB shares require some non-intuitive clicks on icons that appear disabled (but aren’t), My Chromebook requires double-clicks rather than double-touches. Lastly, the paid version must authenticate each time launched. If you don’t have internet, Solid Explorer won’t run.
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Thank you for a thoughtful review. I have been using the M11 for about a month with a 400 GB SanDisk in slot 1 and a 512 GB Samsung in slot 2. I have about 25000 songs in lossless format with room for 10000 more. I hope that Fiio does not remove or disable the second slot as I love having my entire digital collection mounted. I have had no problems with performance. I would be curious if you are your followers have been able to get Neutron or Poweramp licensed on the device. I have already bought both apps on the Play store. I have seen threads on validating Neutron but they involve changing settings in your Google account which I am loathe to try.
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Thanks! I have not come across an update from FiiO concerning the card slots. They were talking about future batches possibly loosing one slot, but I agree that the M11 seems to work fine with both slots (I have used each). I have seen a few people use Neutron and Poweramp, but I do not know if they changed the settings in their Google account. Unfortunately I can’t help you with that myself.
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Hi!
Thank you for this review. As intrigued by the M11 as I am, I’m wondering what you would recommend to someone who is looking to solely stream (mostly offline) and actually prefers to *not* have all the bells & whistles? I do need to drive 300ohm headphones, though..are there older versions of DAP’s that, from your knowledge, would fulfill this requirement?
Thank you so much!
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I will let Erik to chime in since it’s his review, but I couldn’t help myself and wanted to mention that I don’t think you will find anything cheaper or better for streaming even without bells’n’whistles.
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I agree with Alex, the M11 is a really nice DAP to use even if you ignore all the bells and whistles. It offers a lot of power, good sound quality and the user interface is very smooth and responsive. You also get a lot of options to connect for streaming online and (at least for now) you still get two micro SD card slots for lots of storage. Like I said in the review, it is a value for money DAP and I don’t really know any alternatives without going a step up in price.
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Is it possible to load videos onto the M11? I have ripped several films and tried to load them but without success. If it is possible which format will work please?
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I have not tried loading movies, but YouTube did work through the Chrome browser (the YouTube app did not), so it works for video. Do you have a movie app installed to play your files? Natively the M11 won’t do that because it does not have an app for it pre-installed.
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Hey, great review, appreciate you taking the time to answer the follow up questions. Any thoughts on the M11 vs X7 Mkii?
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I don’t have the X7 mkII, but the M11 is now with Alex and maybe he can say more about it.
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Thanks for your review. I have been using FiiO M11 as a replacement for my iPods. Music transfer worked well. For several reasons I am unhappy with the FiiO Music App and I am looking for an app with a more userfriedly interface. I have been using Rocket Player from JRT Studio on my phone for years and also installed it on the M11. Unfortunately, there is no BT- or WiFi connection between the 2 devices in this software. Anything you can recommend?
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Sorry, I am not familiar with Rocket Player and don’t have the M11 at hand at the moment to try it out.
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Read your review on the Westone ES80 and now I m wondering if these could replace my etymotic err as my daily more comfortable driver and first CIEM. What do you think? Any other CIEM you consider to be good replacement as a more comfy Etymotic (SQ detail, nice vocals) meets Campfire Andromeda (soundstage and holographic presentation) sound or should I be good with the Westone ES80?
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Would have been a better idea to post this question after ES80 review 😉 I do enjoy ES80 tuning a lot, and the only reason I don’t use these ciems as often because I prefer universal design. Sorry, I’m not familiar with Ety sound, thus can’t compare, but you will not be disappointed with ES80.
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Thanks again for your great reviews. now that you reviewed iBasso dx160, could you compare it with fiio M11? The only thing that matters for me is sound quality.
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https://twister6.com/2019/11/06/ibasso-dx160/6/ it was already compared in dx160 review. Maybe you missed it?
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Yes. After i posted my comment i remembered. Sorry 🙂
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Bonjour, je voudrais savoir si la société Fiio a réglé le problème du Fiio m11 qui chauffe énormément. Merci
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Sorry, I am not aware of any problems with heat in the M11. It can get a little warm, but like I said in the review, it is nothing to worry about. It does not get especially hot.
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