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Well that was quick. Just a day after launching in China, the MOONDROP MIAD 01 5G smartphone with HiFi audio features has now launched worldwide.
The Android-powered smartphone is available now from HiFiGo for $399. It could show up at other stores soon: MOONDROP says the phone should be available from “authorized stores” and eCommerce websites.
MOONDROP is a Chinese company best known for making HiFi audio products including headphones, earbuds, and amplifiers. The MOONDROP MIAD 01 is the company’s first smartphone, but it’s also one of the most unusual smartphones I’ve seen in a while thanks to its emphasis on HiFi audio features.
At a time when most smartphone makers are dropping headphone jacks altogether, the MIAD 01 has two headphone jacks: one with support for 3.5mm unbalanced audio cables and a second for 4.4mm balanced cables. This allows for higher power output, which lets you use headphones that wouldn’t normally work well on devices with 3.5mm jacks only. It could also let you use longer audio cables without worrying about signal interference.
But the headphone jacks are just one of the phone’s HiFi audio features.
MOONDROP also equipped the MIAD 01 with dual Cirrus Logic MasterHiFi DACs (digital to analog converters), a 6-layer audio circuit with gold coating and an independent LDO power supply. The company says the result is support for dynamic range up to 132 dB and a signal-to-noise ratio as high as 117 dB.
The phone also supports 100-levels of digital volume controls, and ships with MOONDROP Audio Center Software that lets you control audio features (and brings support for spatial audio algorithms).
But this is a phone and not just a media player. So let’s take a look at the rest of the specs for the MIAD 01:
| MIAD 01 Specs | |
| Display | 6.7 inches 2460 x 1080 pixels Curved AMOLED 120 Hz refresh rate 1920 Hz high-frequency PWM dimming |
| Processor | MediaTek Dimensity 7050 2 x ARM Cortex-A78 @ 2.6 GHz 6 x ARM Cortex-A55 @ 2 GHz Mali-G68 MC4 graphics |
| RAM | 12GB LPDDR4x |
| Storage | 256GB UFS 3.1 microSD card reader (up to 2TB) |
| Rear cameras | 64MP primary 8MP wide-angle LED Flash |
| Front camera | 32MP |
| Audio | 3.5mm unbalanced + 4.4mm balanced jacks Stereo speakers Dual Cirrus Logic MasterHiFi DAC 6-layer gold-plated audio circuit 132 dB dynamic range 117 dB signal-to-noise ratio |
| Ports | 1 x USB 3.1 Type-C (5 Gbps) 2 x audio jacks 1 x microSD card reader |
| Wireless | WiFi Bluetooth (SB/AAC/LDAC codecs supported) NFC 4G LTE / 5G Dual SIM Dual Standby (or single-SIM + microSD card) |
| Network bands | GSM: B2/3/5/8 WCDMA: B1/2/4/5/8 LTE: B1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/17/28(A+B)/38/40/41/66 5G: N1/3/5/7/8/20/28/41/77/78 |
| Battery | 5,000 mAh |
| Charging | 33W (wired) |
| Security | In-display optical fingerprint sensor |
| OS & Software | Android 13 (ships without Google Mobile Services, which users can install manually) |
| Weight | 202 grams |
| Price | $399 |
All told, the MOONDROP MIAD 01 looks like it offers decent bang for the buck. It’s cheaper than mid-range phones like the Google Pixel 7a, but offers semi-premium features like a 120 Hz FHD+ AMOLED display, 12GB of RAM, and a reasonably large battery. It also has a faster USB port than most mid-range phones, and premium audio features that help it stand out in the crowded mid-range smartphone space.
But this is still not a phone for everyone. It’s a phone made for audiophiles, not folks who’ve already abandoned wired headphones for wireless for the convenience factor.
And it’s the first phone from a company that’s never made a smartphone before. It ships with Android 13, which was first released nearly two years ago and MOONDROP isn’t making any promises of future OS or security updates (although the company does promise to bring updates to its Audio Center app).
The phone also ships without Google Mobile Services certification. That means it doesn’t come with the Google Play Store, Gmail, Chrome, Google Maps, or other Google apps and services.
MOONDROP implies that this is a selling point, because it means that the phone ships without any Google data tracking (and indeed, there are some niche companies that make a point of selling phones with Google-free versions of Android in the name of privacy). Users can always sideload apps or install a third-party app store.
But MOONDROP also notes that users who want to use Google Mobile Services can install it themselves (the steps should be similar to the ones I’ve written up for manually installing the Google Play Store on Amazon Fire tablets, (except you’ll want to use Google Services Framework version 13).
Still, the MOONDROP MIAD 01 presents an interesting value proposition as a device that stands out in a crowded field due to specialized hardware and software aimed at audio enthusiasts… but also as a device from a company without a proven track record of providing ongoing support for a device as complex as a smartphone. Oh, and MOONDROP also doesn’t seem particularly confident in the phone’s camera quality.
So while I’d hope that the company will continue to support this device for years to come, it’s probably best to think about whether it does everything you want it to do right now before spending $399 on one.
via Head-Fi forum and @MoondropLab
Alex Mitchell is your go-to expert for all things mobile. With a passion for the latest smartphones, apps, and mobile innovations, Alex provides in-depth reviews, insightful analyses, and breaking news about the ever-evolving world of mobile technology. Stay connected with Alex to navigate the fast-paced realm of mobile devices.
