GUI.

Here very little has changed from the M11 and the few things that have changed, were also added via firmware updates to the M11. So in this regard there is nothing to differentiate between the M11 Pro and the M11. The M11 Pro still has the super-fast and smooth interface I loved so much with the M11. I did make sure FiiO did not sneak in any additional boosts to the Pro’s performance and used both side-by-side simultaneously to test that. Start-up time was exactly the same and apps launched with the same speed as well.

One interesting addition FiiO has made since I reviewed the M11 is that there is now a ‘Pure Music’ mode available in the drop-down menu. This will take the M11/Pro out of Android mode and run only the FiiO Music player, meaning there are no other apps running in the background and you don’t have to start up the FiiO Music player because upon starting up the M11/Pro it will automatically go there. This is a nice option to have for people who like the M11/Pro, but do not care for the Android environment and want to use it purely as a music player.

The FiiO Music app is also constantly being updated with features that can be helpful, although the execution of them is not always flawless just yet. I quite liked the idea behind the featured that allowed the FiiO Music app to automatically search for album art and so I made the mistake of putting it on. I say “mistake” because what happened was my inner-OCD’s worst nightmare. The app indeed started adding album art, but this seemed to be completely arbitrary and so my darling dearest Caro Emerald had her exquisite ‘Acoustic Sessions’ album defiled by having album art uploaded from the ‘Karaoke Version’. Some of my favorite classical music albums took on a quilted appearance with various album art files being applied to tracks on the same album. Now every time I start up the M11 Pro my OCD gives off a panicked scream and hyperventilates for 10 minutes before I can use it.

Other features though work fine, like FiiO Link that allows you to control the M11 Pro from your mobile phone. While I would never use it myself, I know a lot of people really love this sort of feature. So, I gave it a whirl nonetheless and actually got it to work! That says a lot about how well it works because I am a complete doofus and FiiO can now safely add the label “fool proof” after having me test it.

Apps/Streaming.

Here I will refer to my M11 review because nothing has changed as far as I can see. The M11 Pro still runs on a custom version of Android 7.0 without proper Google Play store support, meaning that for some very popular apps, such as the Neutron player, alternative ways of installing and verification must be found. The M11 Pro also still comes standard with ES File Explorer installed. As I mentioned in my M11 review, 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. Beyond that the M11 Pro delivers the same versatility of the M11 and those apps that do not require Play store support run fast and smooth.

Page 3 – Sound analysis, and Comparison.
Page 4 – Pair up, and Conclusion.