Hidizs AP80 PRO-MAX Review: Portable and Feature-Full

Hidizs is a well-known player in the audiophile market. They’ve been around for over ten years now and offer a wide variety of personal audio products. From IEMs to DAPs, they’ve got a lot going on. Today we’re taking a look at the AP80 Pro Max: an iteration of their AP80 platform.

There’s a few versions floating about, but mine is the Linsoul collab edition. You can find that version, in three colorways, on Linsoul for $189.

The Big Picture

Pros

• Avoids Android OS bloat
• Vibrant and sharp IPS screen
• Solid construction
• Very low noise floor
• Modern Bluetooth codecs supported
• Supports 2TB SD-Cards
• Compact form-factor
• Strong EQ implementation
• Lengthy battery life
• Priced well

Cons

• Limited to USB-2.0 transfer speeds
• Skipping tracks in quick succession can lead to UI confusion
• Slow or near-full SD-cards can cause occasional hitching
• UI latency when scrolling “all tracks” menu
• No support for 5GHz WiFi networks
• Lacks built-in storage
• Insufficiently-powered for demanding headphones

Tech Specs

• SOC: Ingenic X1600E
• DAC: Dual ES9219C
• Display: 2.95″ IPS HD Touchscreen (480×640)
• Maximum SD-Card Size: 2TB
• OS: HiBy OS (Linux-based)
• Bluetooth: 5.1: SBC, AAC, aptX (Send Only), LDAC, HiBy UAT
• Wi-Fi: 2.4GHz
• USB Port: USB-C (USB 2.0, Data/Charging/USB Audio)
• DSD Support: DSD64 / DSD128 / DSD256
• PCM Support: 32bit / 384kHz
• MQA: MQA 16X
• Output Power: Balanced: 340 mW @ 32 Ω, Single-Ended: 112 @ 32 Ω
• Output Impedance: < 1 Ω

Hidizs AP80 Pro Max: Prologue

I’ve crossed paths with Hidizs DAPs before. In 2016 I covered the AP100 and AP60 — two old-school devices with their own quirks. Neither were particularly powerful, but each had character and solid material design. I was a daily user of the AP100 for years and years and dragged it into the 2020s with meticulous cleaning and maintenance.

I did retire The AP100 in favor of the SuperMini back in 2021, but brought the it with me to CanJam SoCal 2025 on a whim. I thought it would be nostalgic, and a little funny, to rock my heavy, bloated DAP + external amp block, artisanal rubber-bands included. Not many audiophiles stick with older audio players for 5 years, let alone (nearly) 10!

As I meandered around rows of gear-packed booths, I stumbled across a welcome surprise: Hidizs had a dedicated booth! I caught up with the fine folks from the brand and reminisced with them about the AP100. Let me tell you, I’ve never seen anyone more excited to see this, well, ancient hunk of tech, still in tip-top shape. Battery life, though degraded from new, was still sufficient for a day of demos. The screen worked, and each button was still tactile and, dare I say, like-new.

Needless to say, they offered me an AP80 Pro Max review sample on the spot. I was skeptical at first, as I was under the impression that this was yet another generic forked-Android device. But my assumption was incorrect: the AP80 Pro Max runs HiBy OS: a specialized Linux-based OS developed by HiBy. With my largest reservation about modern DAPs cleared, I took them up on their offer. Since then, I’ve spent about a month using the AP80 Pro Max every single day and with over a dozen IEMs.

What Qualifies as a Good DAP?

Before we dive into my assessment, allow me to put my thoughts into context. Everyone has different priorities when it comes to portable audio. For me, however, portable audio must be portable. There’s a good reason I retired my AP100+amp brick — I simply do not want to have to modify the way I go about my daily business to accommodate my audio gear. Too heavy to carry comfortably? Out. Too large to fit into a pant pocket or backpack compartment? No thanks. Too fragile and requires a bulky case? I think not.

You many not have the same expectations from your audio gear, and that’s fine. But my assessment of digital audio players is centered around the core belief that portable audio must retain some degree of convenience and lifestyle ergonomics to truly be “portable”.

Beyond that, a DAP doesn’t need to emulate a smartphone, feature-wise, to be good. The HiFiMAN SuperMini is my benchmark on that front. It doesn’t even have a color display, instead opting for a simple black-and-white UI to maximize battery efficiency. It doesn’t have Bluetooth, can’t connect to WiFi, and uses a garbage Micro-USB charging connector — but it plays back local music really well. Not only does it perform well, it also has a ton of power on tap and maintains a tiny physical footprint. To me, that’s all a DAP really needs to offer. Anything else is just the metaphorical cherry-on-top. But the cherry, though an appreciated addition, must not come at the expense of the shake.

Basic Usage

A DAP that cannot properly and efficiently play-back local music isn’t worth much. The bulk of my usage is concentrated around this basic use-case. Hidizs quotes 10–12 hours of playback via single-ended (3.5mm) output, and I was able to get an average of 10.13 hours of playback at moderate volumes on a single charge. Balanced playback with similar loads at the same volumes came back at an average of 9.4 hours. I didn’t throw anything particularly difficult to drive in there, so be aware your results will vary depending on which transducers you use with the AP80 Pro Max.

The AP80 Pro Max’s playback quality is plenty-good. It is transparent and reliable, acting as an impartial middle-man rather than an opinionated part of the audio chain. This is an absolute requirement for me, as modern audio tech has become sufficiently-sophisticated to be entirely transparent. If I desire change to the output signal, I’ll do it myself via EQ.

I’ve accumulated a number of Micro-SD cards over the years, and some of them are complete garbage. They read and write slowly and have abysmally-small capacities, by modern-standards. I made it a point to test out how the AP80 Pro Max handles them, as it’s not always easy to write software that accounts for an unpredictable storage device. Broadly-speaking, the AP80 Pro Max does a pretty good job of handling these low-quality storage devices. However, it can occasionally hitch when pre-loading heavy tracks (think FLAC, DSD). Particularly-large album art files can also load with a bit of delay. In some cases, the AP80 Pro Max can simply fail to load the image and keep the previous track’s art on-screen. This issue is temporary and can be solved by swiping away from the “Now Playing” interface, then swiping back into it. You can also simply skip to the next track. I advise you to stick with larger, higher-quality SD cards to minimize this issue. I found that my various 500GB+ Samsung and Sandisk cards performed much better.

Digital Signal Processing Features

HiBy OS features a built-in, OS-wide DSP (digital signal processing). They offer a variety of effects, but the most-important ones are a parametric EQ and graphic EQ. For those uninitiated, these are tools that allow you to bias the way the AP80 Pro Max outputs audio so that you can tweak it to your specific preferences. The Pro Max’s implementation is easy to use and provides enough functionality to satisfy more-advanced users.

Wireless Goodies

Like any “modern” device, the AP80 Pro Max is crammed full of wireless features. I don’t use DAPs for wireless applications, but there appears to be a non-negligible group of users out there who do.

Bluetooth

The AP80 Pro Max features Bluetooth 5.1 and supports major audiophile-centric codecs such as LDAC and CSR aptX. I was able to connect the AP80 Pro Max to all of my wireless headphones and IEMs, including a suite of older ones. I could walk around my room and step away from the DAP without any stuttering or abnormal disconnects. I was able to easily verify that the AP80 Pro Max was indeed using LDAC for my compatible devices, which was nice.

WiFi

For all its sophistication, the AP80 Pro Max does not support 5Ghz WiFi, only 2.4 GHz. That said, it was easy to get it on to my home network. Its antenna works pretty well, and it was able to connect to WiFi in any room my Pixel 10 Pro could. Once connected, you can take advantage of streaming service integrations for Quobuz and Tidal. The Pro Max’s first-party integration with these lossless streaming services is a major selling point for their users, but can be safely ignored for anyone who prefers local music.

Protocol Galore

If you’re a more-sophisticated consumer of wireless audio, you may make frequent use of local media-streaming protocols at home. You’ll be glad to hear that the Pro Max supports AirPlay, DLNA, and even HiBy’s own HiByLink. I tested AirPlay and DLNA with some of the TVs in my house and found that it worked pretty seamlessly. I had to cycle WiFi on/off before getting AirPlay to work, though.

Build Quality

The AP80 Pro Max is built quite well. It is compact, and easy to store in a pant pocket. Its aluminum chassis is sturdy in the hand and has no perceivable flex. The back of the Pro Max features a glass panel, laid atop a patterned inlay.

The left side of the device hosts a high-quality metal volume knob, a forward button, and pause/play button, and a reverse button. They’re designed well and don’t rattle around. They aren’t quite “tactile”, but aren’t outright-mushy, either. The bottom of the AP80 Pro Max hosts the 4.4mm output, 3.5mm output, and USB-C port. It’s worth noting that the Pro Max only supports USB-2.0. This is an ancient data standard and is simply not fast enough to effectively transfer files to and from a device with a 1–2TB capacity. USB 3.0–3.1 support is notably pricier than USB 2.0, so I’d recon that it was excluded to keep costs down.

Linsoul also stocks a faux-leather case that you can purchase for $25. It feels pretty nice in the hand and fits well. My one reservation with it is that it can obstruct chunky cable-housings. I wasn’t able to get the stock EarAcoustic Audio VSA-PM cable to sit flush while the case was applied. While I do like the case, I usually store my Pro Max in a padded baggie; the case doesn’t do much heavy lifting to protect it in that scenario. The corners are also exposed, meaning it provides minimal protection if you drop the AP80 Pro Max on its corner. You’re probably better-off allocating your $25 elsewhere, unless you like the hand-feel of the case better than anodized aluminum.

Usability, Stability, and Performance

The AP80 Pro Max is stable and did not crash, nor suffer a serious bug, once. It does, however, have some minor UI bugs. For example, quickly skipping from track to track can sometimes confuse the “Now Playing” screen. Incorrect track info and album art sometimes appear, which is resolved by just skipping forward or back. The interface has a little extra latency while scrolling through tracks, albums, or artists, that seems to scale with library size.

My eyes are accustomed to ultra-low-latency devices, so I imagine I’m more-sensitive to interface latency than the Average Joe. I daily-drive a high-performance PC with a 165Hz display, my phone runs a buttery-smooth 120Hz, and even my TVs were carefully selected for their refresh-rate and input latency characteristics. At $190, I don’t expect the AP80 Pro Max to compete with those experiences, but it’s worth being transparent about it to ensure you have realistic expectations.

There’s some optimization needed, for sure. Thankfully, the Pro Max supports OTA updates, so these improvements should be easy to distribute. I’ve formally reported all of this to Hidizs, including reproduction steps, and have received confirmation that fixes and improvements are on the way.

Conclusion

For $190, the AP80 Pro Max offers a solid mix of premium build quality, a good-looking screen, and software features. Its high-quality audio hardware chain, respectable power-output, and diminutive footprint give audiophiles a highly-portable solution to transcend the limits of their phone or laptop’s built-in audio. The AP80 Pro Max’s emphasis on convenience make it a suitable companion while biking or working out, and even supports Bluetooth so you can use whatever audio solution suites your fancy. As such, I’ve adopted the AP80 Pro Max as my daily-driver for out-of-the-house audio; my AP100 and SuperMini can now, finally, enjoy a long-deserved rest.

Who This is For

• Buyers seeking high-portability audio
• Those who prioritize convenience over power output
• Audiophiles that primarily stick to IEMs and less-demanding headphones
• Listeners that use a mix of local and streamed audio
• Those seeking a high price-to-performance/feature DAP

Who This isn’t For

• Audiophiles that demand modern smartphone UI performance
• Listeners that are already satisfied with a smartphone + USB-C dongle setup
• Music-streaming users that only have 5GHz WiFi in the home
• Those looking for a one-stop solution for demanding cans

As always, happy listening!