HIDIZS AP80 Pro-X Red Copper DAP Review

IMPORTANT OBSERVATIONS

The red copper HIDIZS AP80 Pro-X is a striking color and is limited to 499 units which is printed on the box, get it while you can. Ah the FOMO (fear of missing out) of a limited production run, always an interesting gamble as it surely drives sales, but also at the risk of losing sales for those that miss out. It is a really awesome color in person though and easier to spot in a dark bag. Given that it is constructed of red copper, like Pokemon it will slowly evolve oxidizing to a red brick color making it a collectible artwork according to HIDIZS. How long that takes is beyond my knowledge. In its current form it matches the color of a US penny.

I was totally unprepared for how heavy the HIDIZS AP80-Pro X is constructed, it feels as heavy as my phone but at a quarter of the physical size. If you are worried about damage, they do offer cases but currently only in Black or Blue…maybe a red copper case is in the works?

The Hiby OS 3.0 user interface is loaded with many tuning features and things I find useful like file based browsing and semi-easy playlist creation. However, it does not support M3U8 playlist files. Be prepared to do some conversions to M3U format. Also, you have to create a playlist on the device first so it makes a folder called “playlist_data” and then you can put your M3U playlists into there for it to recognize them. The other option is clicking on playlist files when using the file browser option.

This is a GUI limitation but the Hiby OS has trouble with long song titles/artists and it seems only PowerAmp on Android accommodates long song titles. I do not know if I am alone on this pet peeve, but I wish interfaces would either wrap, scroll or design the layout to fit longer text. The image below shows PowerAmp is slightly better at dealing with it. Note the display on the HIDIZ AP80 Pro-X is not that blurry in real life, my camera was not cooperating late at night.

Another feature I like but seems mundane, the TRRS 4 pin option to allow external controls to change track, play/pause etc. I use this when mowing the yard, out for a hike or generally on the move. The Sony NW-A55 is sorely missing this basic feature that we take for granted in smart phones.

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