Audiophile brand Moondrop teases its first smartphone, the MIAD 01

22 April 2024
Features dedicated 4.4mm and 3.5mm headphone jacks.

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Moondrop MIAD

Mine is arriving Monday.

Yay!

As an avid owner of 2x LG G6 (both bought in Seoul from SK Telecom with the HiFi Quad DAC years ago, literally) and 3x LG G7 (including the higher storage version, in magenta, brand new, received yesterday), I totally get the concept of Phone + good DAC + 3.5mm output). They all perform admirably and at a level much higher than eg the FiiO KA1, HiBy FC1 or 3).

This new MIAD 01 takes that to the next level with balanced output 4.4mm as well as 3.5mm, plus a great screen for the price and fairly decent performance from the Mediatek U7050 CPU (inc. 5G support), 12Gb RAM, 256Gb storage. On top of that a battery that's almost 2x the size of my 3 LG G7.

I do think this device deserves to be successful.

As a mobile tech reviewer, stage and studio musician / producer over 25 years, and sometimes pro audio (not consumer) tester and reviewer - this is a device that builds on the best the LG G7 can provide (except for flagship, at the time, SD845 chip) and smokes it with 4.4mm balanced output and better battery life.

As I said at the beginning, my MIAD is arriving in the next 10 hours and my thoughts might change. But as a concept, I do hope Moondrop has a big success here that will hopefully spawn other brands to take the idea forward just as Microsoft did with the OG Gen1 Surface.

It's also worth pointing out that both the screen tech (120Hz AMOLED at 6.7") and the CPU beat any DAP on the market including any A&K DAP with terrible screen, questionable battery, poor storage performance and a terrible 5 years old SD 660 or 665 CPU midrange chip that is blown out of the water by the 7050 in the MIAD (plus 12Gb of very fast RAM)...

... what I'm saying is that on any reasonable technical measure (beyond internal shielding, Op Amps etc) the MIAD makes a USD3,000+ A&K DAP mostly redundant, plus you only need to carry 1 device.

    SuperSpruce, 24 Apr 2024I'm hoping this is gonna be a premium phone with a pre... moreOne can hope that they offer decent years of software support. Sony lineups have proper camera quality and a headphone jack but do not measure well when it comes to Android upgrades.

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • 8mk
      • 25 Apr 2024

      Cpt.Power, 25 Apr 2024Bro you funny. Maybe you dont know but since 2019 Eu made... moreSince 2021, and yes, I do know because ordering from Croatia became 25% more expensive. But in my case, there weren't any additional import taxes, just VAT. I order a lot from Aliexpress and I never had any additional costs. Maybe Czech Republic has different import taxes, but you can't apply laws from your country to the whole world. In majority of the world, if you order a 5€ cable, you are going to pay 5€ , not 5€ + 20€ import tax. As far as I know, items below 150€ are exempt from custom fees, but it might depend on the country. (I'm talking about the EU)

      So my point still stands. There are replacement cables and you can get them for a reasonable price.

        Anonymous, 25 Apr 2024Ordering online is very cheep nowdays. You can literally o... moreBro you funny.
        Maybe you dont know but since 2019 Eu made taxes for import from countries outside of EU.
        In other words cable from alliexpress worth 2 euros and paid 2 euros will end in a state duty warehouse where i will be forced t pay another 20-30 for acable i already paid 2 euros.
        More expensive and more heavy things will cost more.
        Just to let you know.

          YUKI93, 24 Apr 2024Yeah, we get it. You like to pay more because of "ecos... moredon't give him attention next time. he's an arrogant bootlicker type of troll. he has no experience in audio as long they look attractive as shoving jeweleries into ear canal 😂😂😂😂

            Cpt.Power, 24 Apr 2024Yes yes yes i bet youz are the Dude who still uses cassetes... morewhat does it have to do with 3.5mm jack with older audio format. have you ever heard of DACs?
            try to play competitive games or do some serious video editing with wireless earphones. i doubt you did none of these

              • ?
              • Anonymous
              • 8mk
              • 25 Apr 2024

              Cpt.Power, 24 Apr 2024Well maybe but here in Slovakia we have gadgts from Monndro... moreOrdering online is very cheep nowdays.
              You can literally order cables from Aliexpress or any other online site for very cheep and often with free shipping. Google 0.78mm 2pin cable and there are hundreds of cables for IEMs to choose from.
              Same goes for any other cable. Sennheiser HD600 are in production since 1997 and you can still buy them or get their replacement parts since they are still one of the best headphones in their price range. So your claims about headphones or cables being expensive is a straight up lie.
              You can order something like Salnotes Zero from Aliexpress for 20-30 usd and it's going to be miles ahead of any wireless earbuds of the same price. And they have replacable cables.

              I get the appeal of everything being on cloud and wireless, but shitting on something just because it's old makes no sense. Every technology has it's place, including SD cards and 3.5mm jacks.

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • vaS
                • 24 Apr 2024

                YUKI93, 24 Apr 2024Yeah, we get it. You like to pay more because of "ecos... moreHe prolly had only limited experience with wired earphones. Because he didn't believe some wired sets have cables that are actually replaceable. Along with other factors to consider that will affect audio quality.

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • vaS
                  • 24 Apr 2024

                  Welp-its-been-fun, 24 Apr 2024Dimensity 7050, ok I must have to tune my expectations a bi... moreThese things have become so commoditized it's no longer worth the word war.
                  Wireless/cloud users will insist theirs is right since the market caters to them. While us wired/sd card slot users make do with what's little available for us to choose from.
                  Like Xperias, Motos, cheapo Xiaomis and the occasional niche stuff like this phone.

                    YUKI93, 24 Apr 2024Yeah, we get it. You like to pay more because of "ecos... moreYes yes yes i bet youz are the Dude who still uses cassetess, vynyls, Edisons cylinders and disketes or floppy disk like its a modern thing.
                    Bro you funny as always.

                      Cpt.Power, 23 Apr 2024No i am not maybe you. Something like Bose, Yamaha and s... moreYeah, we get it. You like to pay more because of "ecosystem" nonsense. Real smart people don't do that kind of thing. Just because wireless earbuds and cloud storage are being used widely doesn't mean it automatically renders the headphone jack and microSD card slot "outdated" or "irrelevant". Not everyone wants to pay more for something more cumbersome instead of far more simple and reliable plug-and-play solutions. Imagine recharging wireless earbuds every four to eight hours when one can easily use the wired earpiece for as long as the phone's battery. Same thing with microSD card slot, imagine using cloud storage on places without fast and stable internet connection in the first place.

                      Also, "wireless earbuds lasted for 5-6 years without issues"? Don't make me laugh. You're clearly fantasizing about yourself (😂🤣😂🤣). I spent almost $200 on my wireless earbuds collection, and none lasted more than three years. Some already started going wrong right after the warranty ended. By contrast, my five-year-old budget-tier wired headphones is still going strong with the same superb audio quality as day one.

                        Anonymous, 23 Apr 2024As someone very much into audio of all sorts, headphone jac... moreIt doesn't mean it's still not relevant for everyday use. Most average consumers aren't even into audio, yet they don't want the hassle of using Bluetooth that only drains the battery faster. Simple as that.

                          kaien, 24 Apr 2024um they literally sell replacement cable...just the cable, ... moreWell maybe but here in Slovakia we have gadgts from Monndrop but no such company. In other words you get your earphones but not the cables.
                          Ordering online plus delivery cost aint cheap.

                            Anon237, 23 Apr 2024This is false... Look up literally any iem with a 2-pin 0.7... moreHmmmm maybe but dont like amazon last time i bought a 300 eur item from there it came broken. Maybe the amazon were problem maybe the delivery company.

                              Norm7867, 23 Apr 2024With an iem You can just unplug the cable and plug in a new oneWell thats correct but most cheap or under 50-100 bucks earphones does not come with removable cables and most companies which sells those earphones or earplugs dont sell spare parts as cables for earphones.

                                • ?
                                • Anonymous
                                • JYi
                                • 24 Apr 2024

                                SuperSpruce, 24 Apr 2024I'm hoping this is gonna be a premium phone with a pre... morefail. it has Mediatek Dimensity 7050 SoC (Rebranded Dimensity 1080 chip)

                                  • W
                                  • Welp-its-been-fun
                                  • D02
                                  • 24 Apr 2024

                                  Anonymous, 24 Apr 2024More specs announced on Moondrop's twitter: - Mediate... moreDimensity 7050, ok I must have to tune my expectations a bit low here. Hope they go with stock android to make it feel snappy while adding a few audio specific additions here and there...like a good interface hi res audio player and an system wide global EQ for customisation, They could have gone with a much recent processor like D7200/8200 but if this really keeps the price in check, might be a worthwhile buy. I do really hope they release what DAC they are specifically planning to use and its output specs

                                  Hoping this retains the pass through DAC via USB C for pc like some dedicated DACs like Sony Walkman and Fiio BTRs do

                                  Edit: I was expecting a few fireworks on the comment section but damn not a full fledged war between Audiophiles and casual listeners

                                    • ?
                                    • Anonymous
                                    • YbV
                                    • 24 Apr 2024

                                    More specs announced on Moondrop's twitter:
                                    - Mediatek Dimensity 7050 8-core processor
                                    - 12G LPDDR4x RAM
                                    - 256G UFS3.1 flash storage
                                    - Storage Expansion Card: up to 2TB capacity

                                      • k
                                      • kaien
                                      • XNR
                                      • 24 Apr 2024

                                      Cpt.Power, 23 Apr 2024Detachable on yes. But your casual Vendor will not sell it ... moreum they literally sell replacement cable...just the cable, without those iems. And I myself bought a replacement to my iems cable. Even Moondrop themselves sells earphones cable

                                      https://moondroplab.com/en/accessories

                                        • O
                                        • OlSalty
                                        • 0U}
                                        • 24 Apr 2024

                                        Damn for an audio-phone thing sure has a big@ss screen too..

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