HiBy R6 DAP: the “Most Advanced Android Hi-Fi Player” – Should You Get One?

by Jeany Jane · Published June 6, 2018 · Updated June 8, 2018

The HiBy R6 is the company’s first Android-based portable digital audio player. HiBy is behind the HiByMusic app you can install on your Android phones to play and listen to your music. It’s a good app and I have been using it personally. The company has decided to venture on the portable DAP market and they came with a bang. The HiBy R6 sound very promising on paper and its Indiegogo fund was a (huge) success as well; reaching over 500% of its target. Now, it’s already available in the market and you can buy one on Amazon.com here if you’re ready to pull the trigger. But for those who don’t have any clue or idea about the HiBy R6 yet, please continue reading our article below. Find out how the HiBy R6 became popular and why you should consider getting one.

HiBy R6 Hi-Fi Android DAP – A Must Buy?

First of all, let’s take a look into the technical details of this portable Android player. The HiBy R6 features a dual ESS ES9028Q2M DAC chips and supports various audio formats, from lossy to lossless and up to DSD256. The dual DAC chips are paired with two TPA6120A amplifier and two OPA1612 LPF. It has a 22.579MHz and 24.576 MHz dual crystal oscillators with 2.5ppm precision. It also supports Native DSD256 and DST decoding.

If those specs haven’t impressed you yet, the HiBy R6 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 SoC; making it one of the fastest (or currently the fastest) portable DAPs around. User interface is so smooth and fluid thanks for its processor. Aside from the processor, it has 3GB of RAM and 32GB of built-in storage. It has a microSD card slot that supports up to 400GB of microSD (microSDXC). The R6 features a nice 4.2-inch touch screen display with a resolution of 1280×768 and 300dpi.

The HiBy R6 runs on Android 6.0 operating system and its main player is a customized HiBy Music player app. Unlike most Android DAPs or smartphones, the R6 features a Bit-perfect output that bypasses Android SRC resulting to a cleaner and unaltered signal. As for connectivity, it has a 3.5mm line out and coaxial digital output, a 2.5mm balanced output and a standard 3.5mm headphone out. It also has 2.4/5G dual-band WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0. It has a USB Type-C (USB 2.0) at the bottom for its primary wired connectivity and charging.

The body is made of an all rounded CNCed stainless steel chassis and it’s powered by a 4000mAH battery. The player itself measures 116mm x 66mm x 15.5mm and weighs around 275 grams. It’s not too big and not too small, plus you feel the weigh and feels premium on hand. Unlike other DAPs in the market, the HiBy R6 features Qualcomm’s QC3.0 quick charging; you don’t have to wait for several hours for it to be fully charged. Battery life is around 12 hours, or less depending on use.

The HiBy R6, aside from being a dedicated portable audio player, it can also be used as a DAC or just a transport, or even a DAC for another player. It sounds really good on paper, but how does it sound? For its price, the R6 sounds really well. It’s clear, detailed and rich; and compared to other portable DAPs in the same price range, it definitely better overall. Early firmware definitely needs some work. But I think the current firmware is stable and good already. Perhaps by the time you have read this article, HiBy has already released a better firmware version with more or improved features.

What truly makes the HiBy R6 a great Android Hi-Fi player is the combination of its sound quality and set of features at a really good price. If Astell&Kern made a DAP with the same specs and features, expect they would price it way above the $1,000 margin already. It certain does offer a good value for money and price to performance ratio that other DAPs do not possess.

If you’re looking for an Android-based player with WiFi/BT connection, smooth and fast user interface, quick charging feature and offers a good value for money; I think you should consider checking this HiBy R6 out. There are other Android-based DAPs in the market, like the Fiio X7 Mark II, but if you’re budget is around $600 USD and below, this is definitely worth checking out. It guess its main competitors now are the Onkyo DP-X1A and Pioneer XDP-300R.

HiBy R6 Price and Where to Buy

The HiBy R6 Hi-Res Certified Android portable digital audio player is now available with a current retail price of $569. It’s available in Black Aluminum alloy or Bare Stainless steel. You can grab one on Amazon.com here.