About eight months ago I introduced you to a new HiFi brand called ONIX, which has been collaborating with Shanling for a while now. Their first XM5 digital audio player impressed on several accounts, having a rock-solid build quality, a high-quality OLED display, a small form factor, and most importantly, great sonics to boot. They recently revealed a slightly higher-priced unit that feels similar yet very different from the XM5. It’s called the XM10 Limited, it features a much larger 6” screen, and we finally have an open Android 13 platform, which is something new in the world of portable DAPs. It’s also incredibly thin – so thin that a 4.4mm balanced jack was impossible to implement, and that’s precisely why they opted for a 5-pole 3.5mm jack and included a short adapter to connect your precious 4.4mm balanced cables. It goes for $899 in the US and €999 locally, and it’s the right time to check it out.
