The FiiO JM21 was an unexpected release, outside of FiiO's previously announced launch schedule on January 20, 2024. This DAP (Digital Audio Player) was developed by Jade Audio, a subsidiary of FiiO, which aims to "create products with essential features to provide audio enthusiasts with high-quality products at competitive prices."

In addition to focusing on developing high-quality products with the best cost-benefit ratio possible, Jade Audio adopts a direct sales model, which lowers product prices even further, offering greater value. An example of this was the release of the “dongle” (portable USB DAC/amp) FiiO KA11.

Build​

What stood out to me the most when the FiiO JM21 was released was its construction. Its compact and lightweight design reminded me of DAPs like the Samsung YP-P3 and Cowon J3, which feature a touchscreen large enough for music playback control while being slim and light.

The JM21's size is particularly notable for its thickness, as its length and width are similar to the FiiO M11S. At just 13mm, the JM21 is nearly 10mm thinner than the M11S, which is approximately 19mm thick. Additionally, it weighs only 156g compared to the M11S's 271g—nearly half the weight.

The physical buttons were another highlight, as I often accidentally pressed the volume button on the M11S, but this doesn’t happen with the JM21. However, I missed having a tactile mark on the play/pause button to differentiate it more easily from the skip and rewind buttons, something I appreciated on the M11S.

In terms of screen resolution and size, the JM21 features a 4.7" display, slightly smaller than the M11S's 5-inch screen, with a resolution of 1334x750 pixels. The result is a slightly sharper image compared to the M11S’s 1280x720-pixel resolution.

The JM21 feels considerably better in hand due to its slimmer body, and when stored in a pocket, it doesn’t weigh down my shorts while walking, unlike the M11S. This experience was especially gratifying after spending years using larger DAPs like the FiiO X7 Mark II and FiiO M11S.

Battery​

According to James Chung, FiiO’s founder and CEO, the company "deliberately chose a smaller battery capacity to reduce the weight and thickness" of the JM21. While this decision did reduce the DAP's battery life, FiiO compensated by adopting the Snapdragon 680 chipset.

The Snapdragon 680 is a Qualcomm SoC (system on chip) that offers better energy efficiency than the Snapdragon 660, a model widely used in DAPs in recent years. However, as James Chung mentioned, an efficient chipset alone is not enough; optimizing the operating system is also essential to ensure smarter energy usage.

After just over two weeks of use and completing a few full charge cycles [1], the FiiO JM21's battery life has ranged from 8 to 9 hours using Apple Music and the USB Audio Player Pro app to access Tidal. On average, I’ve listened to music at volume 30 with low gain using the JM21’s 4.4mm balanced output.

[1] A cycle refers to the period of use from a fully charged battery until it is completely drained.

User Interface (UI)

Although the touch response of the JM21 is slightly affected by the factory-applied plastic screen protector, occasionally causing issues like failed swipe gestures to unlock the screen, this behavior has become increasingly rare after some use.

As for app navigation fluidity, I’ve observed quick screen transitions and smooth scrolling through album tracks or playlist songs. The exception is the FiiO Music app, which shows a “loading” screen upon opening and takes time to load album thumbnails in folders.

I suspect there is excessive RAM usage when loading album thumbnails in FiiO Music. If you scroll quickly, the app may freeze, and a message appears asking whether to close the app or wait. This might be resolved with future updates to both the FiiO Music app and the OS.

Considering that the FiiO JM21 was launched just over a month ago and is the first DAP on the market to use the Snapdragon 680 and run Android 13, there is still much room for optimization, as James Chung himself has stated.

“The JM21 is the first Android player in the industry to use the Qualcomm 680, which not only has the latest hardware but also the latest Android system. There is still much room for optimization, and our engineers are constantly working on it, but this will take time.”

Sound​

The FiiO JM21's sound quality was unexpectedly impressive in a good way. After transitioning from the FiiO X7 Mark II, which I considered to have a balanced sound leaning toward analytical, the M11S was somewhat disappointing with its “U”-shaped sound signature, featuring prominent highs and lows but recessed mids. Thankfully, the JM21 brought a more noticeable midrange presence.

After listening to various music genres, I found the JM21 to offer a more balanced sound while retaining musicality and euphony. Its mids are captivating, with what I consider an ideal balance of lows and highs, showcasing excellent tonal balance.

The JM21's bass has less volume, resulting in a less congested and more enjoyable presentation for extended listening sessions. At the same time, I didn’t feel it lacked depth, texture, or speed. It delivers weight and presence without excess, performing well across most tracks.

The treble offers a good level of brightness, adding clarity and definition to instrument sounds. However, decay can be quick at times, with less extension compared to the M11S. Overall, I found the higher frequencies to perform well in most cases.

Instrument separation and soundstage on the JM21 are slightly smaller compared to the M11S, but this becomes less noticeable after some time listening and is not a critical drawback. In compensation, the background silence and dynamic sound delivery are more impressive on the JM21 than on the M11S.

The level of background silence is especially noticeable in calmer musical genres like classical and jazz, making it easier to perceive sound nuances due to reduced noise interference.

Conclusion​

The FiiO JM21 offers not only excellent sound quality for its price but also successfully returns to the essence of what one seeks in a portable player, proving that quality and portability can go hand in hand.

Hi all, so I’ve had the M21 for about a week now. For reference, my favourite Dac/Amp for sound up till now have been the FiiO KA17, for an energetic, exciting sound (fast roll-off filter) and the MacBook Air, which is my reference for a perfectly neutral, clean sound.

I’ve also owned a good many other DAC/Amps (including the DC Elite) which I didn’t like as much or found too overpriced compared to the KA17. Also owned a HiBy M300, which was a bit disappointing (bad buttons, slow performance, unimpressive sound, although the battery and form factor are top-notch).

So, for my summary of the M21: the build is amazing, though a little thicker than I’d like, and I use it with the included silicone case (the leather and cassette case are way thicker, plus I don’t care for the cassette gimmick). The buttons are great, relatively easy to find, very clicky, although I wish they were harder to press or more sunken (occasional accidental presses). The software feels fast and responsive, much better than the M300, and the overall experience is agreeably smooth (I stream on Apple Music, use audiobook apps, meditation apps, and a few other things, so good performance is necessary).

The sound is surprisingly good, very nearly as good as the KA17 to my ears. Fast roll-off linear phase sounds the cleanest out of the filters, I love it. I was expecting the KA17 to still sound quite a bit better, but I can safely say I can now retire the dangling dongle and just use this DAP or my MacBook, as the M21 gets really close. However, if you’re fine with using a dongle and your phone (I hate how clunky that is), then the KA17 sounds ever so slightly better and is way cheaper.

Now for the caveats. It’s not perfect. I hope FiiO can make the ideal DAP in the future.

• Slightly thick and heavy. It’s smaller and lighter than many other DAPs, but coming from the M300, it’s noticeably bigger.

• The EQ works fine (doesn’t work on Bluetooth, though), but the multifunction button is disappointing. You can assign it to change EQ, which I was excited for, but it gives no visual queue and forces you to go through all the rubbish default EQ presets, such as Rock, Pop, etc, to get to your own presets. No way to delete the preset EQs… FiiO is generally very good with updates, hope they fix this. “Add to favourites” multifunction button does not work for Apple Music, so I just have no use for this button.

• Battery life is just OK. I wish FiiO would stop focusing on having meme-numbers of output power and actually having good battery life. Very, very few people actually need 900mW of power. The M300 has 100mW and is enough to power all IEMs and many headphones. 300-500 mW is enough for nearly all headphones. Remember when MP3 players had 20-30+ hours of battery life? On the M21, I get about 10-12 on single-ended, low gain. Please shift the numbers war from output power to battery life.

• The amp in here makes a slight noise for a second when starting up from silence. It doesn’t interfere with the music or make a noise when changing tracks, so I don’t really mind. But what happened with including THX AAA-78 amps in FiiO daps? I’d have preferred a slightly more expensive DAP with this great amp in it.

Anyway, if the above-mentioned caveats are no problem for you, I heartily recommend this DAP; the hype is justified. Can’t provide a comparison vs DX180, R4, U3+, and others in this range, but I generally like FiiO for their sound and software, so I went with the M21 in the end. Also, other options are generally bulkier.

Cheers.