When cellphone producers ditched the three.5mm jack on their units, the justification was to create room to fit in bigger batteries and larger antennae. That excuse would not maintain up in 2024, significantly when you think about {that a} small cellphone just like the Zenfone 10 by some means has a 3.5mm jack, a 5000mAh battery, and all of the extras you want in a contemporary cellphone.
However all different manufacturers already moved away from the analog jack, and are as a substitute pushing their wi-fi earbuds as a technique to take heed to music on the go. Exterior of some finances and mid-range units, you will not discover the three.5mm jack on most telephones nowadays. That is what Moondrop needs to repair. The audio producer is nothing if not daring in its imaginative and prescient, and its newest product is the MIAD01, an Android cellphone that has a 3.5mm jack in addition to a balanced 4.4mm port — which is extraordinary.
Along with the ports, the MIAD01 has a good DAC, and the design is intriguing to say the least. I wasn’t certain in regards to the feasibility of such a tool, however I used the MIAD01 for the higher a part of per week, and it has just a few distinctive benefits. Whereas there is no scarcity of dongle DACs just like the Fiio KA13, with the ability to plug in any IEM or headset right into a cellphone is simply rather more handy, and the MIAD01 has standout sound high quality. It is usually capable of drive demanding planar headsets with out breaking a sweat, and that is simply an added bonus.
Nevertheless, the MIAD01 additionally has to do all the opposite phone-related options along with audio playback, and that is the place it would not measure as much as common telephones. The software program would not have any customized options, the cameras simply aren’t definitely worth the problem, and the {hardware} is not fairly the perfect on this phase. However in the event you do not care about all of that and simply want a cellphone for every day use that additionally doubles as a transportable audio participant, the MIAD01 has loads to supply.
Moondrop MIAD01: Pricing and availability
Moondrop launched the MIAD01 in China in April 2024, and the cellphone is now on sale globally. It’s obtainable in a single variant with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, and it prices $399 at audio retailers like HiFiGo. Whereas the cellphone is offered with 256GB of inside storage, it has a MicroSD slot that allows you to add as much as 2TB of extra storage — excellent if in case you have a whole lot of offline music.
Moondrop MIAD01: Design and display
The MIAD01 has a definite visible design, and the cellphone is decked out in a gray colour scheme that has the identical sci-fi aesthetic as the remainder of the model’s merchandise. The orange accents for the facility and quantity buttons give the design slightly little bit of added aptitude, and I like the truth that the cameras on the again do not jut out from the design.
The defining attribute of the MIAD01 is the presence of three.5mm and 4.4mm ports on the prime, and to accommodate the analog connectors, Moondrop elevated the thickness of the highest third portion. It is a good design alternative because it finally would not have an effect on usability, and since it extends to the whole width of the cellphone, there isn’t a wobble when utilizing it on a desk.
The again and sides are made out of plastic, however the construct high quality is respectable, and the buttons have good tactility. There is not a lot in the best way of branding both; you get the Moondrop emblem together with the mannequin title on the again.
One other fascinating design alternative is the dual-curved OLED panel; the curvature is simply sufficient that you simply get the advantages of a curved display, however not a lot that it limits usability. There may be sufficient room on the edges to carry the cellphone comfortably, and this enables the MIAD01 to distinguish itself slightly higher.
What is not nice is that the curved design would not prolong to the again, so that you’re left with an asymmetrical aesthetic that is simply uncomfortable. Certain, the cellphone appears to be like cool, however the flat again tends to dig into the palm, and it makes holding and utilizing the MIAD01 rather more awkward than it must be.
There is a good purpose that each different cellphone that has a curved display has symmetric curves on the again, however that is not the case right here, and it finally makes utilizing the MIAD01 tedious. On that word, there is no ingress safety of any sort, however that is a given contemplating the cellphone has analog ports.
Rounding out the design, the MIAD01 has twin SIM card slots along with a devoted MicroSD slot, providing you with the flexibility so as to add as much as 2TB of storage above and past the 256GB of built-in storage.
Switching over to the display, the MIAD01 has a 6.7-inch OLED panel with 120Hz refresh. It has good colours and distinction ranges, and whereas the brightness stage is not the perfect in its class, I did not see any points on this regard. There’s stereo sound, however because the gadget is restricted to Widevine L3, it would not play streaming content material at 1080p — it maxes out at 720p.
Because the software program itself is barebones, you aren’t getting many customization choices. The cellphone has an always-on mode, however you simply get a digital clock and unread notification icons together with the battery stage. The display refresh is about to Auto out of the field, however you possibly can manually toggle between 60Hz and 120Hz.
On the entire, I just like the design of the MIAD01, and the one challenge with the cellphone is the shortage of curves on the again.
Moondrop MIAD01: Sound high quality
Clearly, a key speaking level of the MIAD01 is the audio potential. As I discussed above, the cellphone has a single-ended 3.5mm jack along with the balanced 4.4mm port, and the latter specifically is fascinating. The cellphone has loads of energy to spare, and having used it with the likes of the Fiio FT5, Moondrop Venus, and different planar headsets, I did not see any points on this regard.
The MIAD01 is simply as dependable at driving delicate IEMs, and there is no background hiss in any respect. I examined it with the Fiio FX15, Thieaudio Status LTD, Sennheiser IE200, and a half-dozen different IEMs, and it was terrific all through.
You get twin Cirrus Logic DAC {hardware}, and the MIAD01 is much like the MoonRiver 2 dongle DAC on this regard. If something, the sound is nearly similar, and also you get a impartial sound with a touch of heat. The DAC has good dynamics and imaging, and the general sound is refined — it’s equal to the finest dongle DACs.
Should you want a heat signature, there is a service dubbed AudioConsole that comes bundled with the cellphone, and it permits you to emulate a tube amp sound. The distinction is noticeable, however I want the default sound attribute. The cellphone would not have AptX codecs, so that you’re restricted to the standard SBC and AAC along with LDAC.
What I like the perfect is that the cellphone has granular quantity adjustment, not like Android’s asinine slider. There is a nifty toggle that permits you to stream music within the background, and you need to use it with any audio and video streaming service.
Moondrop MIAD01: {Hardware} and battery
Moondrop says the MIAD01 is powered by MediaTek’s Dimensity 7050, however the gadget information reveals it’s utilizing the MT6877V (Dimensity 1080) as a substitute. Each platforms use the identical set of cores: there are two Arm v8 Cortex A78 cores that go as much as 2.6GHz, together with six Cortex A55 cores that hit 2.0GHz. You get a Mali-G68 GPU, and it undoubtedly reveals its age when taking part in demanding titles.
To Moondrop’s credit score, the MIAD01 would not have noticeable lag in every day use. It handles mundane duties like searching and social media with relative ease, and since the interface would not have any overt customization, it’s fluid. Nevertheless, this isn’t a gaming cellphone, and in the event you play something however informal titles, you will see a whole lot of jitter and unstable framerates.
| Class | Moondrop MIAD01 |
|---|---|
| OS | Android 13 |
| Show | 6.7-inch 120Hz OLED, 2400 x 1080, HDR10+ |
| Chipset | MediaTek Dimensity 1080, 6nm |
| RAM | 12GB LPDDR4X |
| Storage | 256GB UFS 3.1, MicroSD slot as much as 2TB |
| Rear digital camera 1 | 64MP Sony IMX686, f/1.9, 4K at 30fps, EIS |
| Rear digital camera 2 | 8MP OmniVision OV8856 wide-angle lens |
| Entrance digital camera | 32MP OmniVision OV32B |
| Ingress safety | ❌ |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, restricted Sub-6 5G bands |
| Safety | Optical in-screen sensor |
| Audio | Single-ended 3.5mm, balanced 4.4mm, built-in DAC, stereo sound |
| Battery | 5000mAh, 33W USB PD 3.0 charging |
The cellphone is offered in a single variant, and it has 12GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. Once more, it is not the newest storage or reminiscence customary obtainable at the moment, however there are not any points in usability, and with the MicroSD slot, you possibly can simply enhance the addressable storage to as much as 2TB.
Coming to the connectivity facet of issues, the MIAD01 has Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, and a restricted number of 5G bands: 1/3/5/7/8/20/28/41/77/78. The in-display fingerprint sensor is quick to authenticate and would not have any points with reliability, however it’s situated slightly decrease on the display.
Switching over to the battery, the MIAD01 has a 5000mAh battery that lasts a day persistently. There is no charger within the field, however the cellphone makes use of the USB PD 3.0 customary, and goes as much as 33W. It is annoying that Moondrop did not bundle a charger within the field, however as you need to use any USB PD charger, it is not an excessive amount of of a problem.
Most different mid-range telephones have higher {hardware} and connectivity, and it is clear that Moondrop did not got down to create a strong cellphone; the main focus is as a substitute on delivering the perfect audio efficiency, and it managed to realize that.
Moondrop MIAD01: Cameras
Tuning the cameras on a cellphone takes a whole lot of assets and energy, and it is not one thing smaller manufacturers can handle. That is evident when utilizing the MIAD01; the cellphone has outdated sensors and no digital camera tuning in any respect, and the result’s that it takes sub-par pictures in any given scenario.
What’s significantly telling is that even the model would not suppose the cameras are as much as scratch, because it notes in its advertising and marketing supplies: it is not good, but it surely works. That sums up the state of the cameras on the MIAD01, and I do not actually have a lot so as to add to that.
The MIAD01 has a 64MP f/1.9 important digital camera that makes use of a Sony IMX686 sensor, and it’s joined by an 8MP OmniVision OV8856 wide-angle lens, and a 32MP digital camera on the entrance that options OmniVision’s OV32B sensor. The interface is much like what you get on most telephones; the capturing modes are organized in a ribbon on the backside, and also you get toggles all through the viewfinder.
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Daylight pictures are satisfactory at finest, with the cellphone capable of ship respectable colours in outside situations with good lighting. There are points with focusing, foliage rendition is not correct, and the AI mode tends to oversaturate colours. The wide-angle lens is not definitely worth the problem; it’s barely usable in daylight conditions, and the resultant pictures have muted colours and graining.
Relating to low-light circumstances, the MIAD01 is objectively the worst digital camera I’ve utilized in a really very long time. There’s a lot noise that it jogs my memory of telephones from over a decade in the past, and you do not even get a Night time mode.
I used telephones with the IMX686 fairly a bit, and the sensor itself is not at fault — it has the potential to ship nice photographs. That is all the way down to the software program, and it’s doable to get respectable pictures by putting in a unique digital camera utility. On that word, the MIAD01 has stage 3 Camera2 API integration, so it’s best to be capable to set up an aftermarket utility like GCam and get a lot better photographs.
Moondrop MIAD01: Software program
It is a monumental enterprise to design a customized Android pores and skin, and most smaller manufacturers select to make use of a vanilla interface with restricted customizability. That is the case with the MIAD01 as properly; it has a plain UI that does not have any overt styling, and that is a very good transfer. You get an ordinary notification pane, giant toggles, and Materials You accent colours.
The largest annoyance is the stylized icons, and this makes the UI look a bit chintzy; that is much like what Chinese language producers did a half-decade in the past. The gadget runs the November 2023 safety replace out of the field, however there’s an OTA obtainable that installs the Might 2024 replace. Nevertheless, you are still restricted to Android 13, with no point out of when Android 14 will turn into obtainable.
There is not a lot else to speak in regards to the software program. The general UI is unfinished, and it jogs my memory of the Nothing Telephone 1 again when it launched; you get all of the requisite options, however there is no customizability.
One other egregious omission is the Play Retailer and related Google providers — you will have to sideload these onto the gadget, so if that is not one thing you are keen to do, it’s best to contemplate one other cellphone. After you have it put in, it is simple sufficient to arrange the cellphone the best way you need.
Updates are additionally an unknown, and whereas the model hasn’t shared what number of platform variations the gadget will obtain, it is a good wager that it will not transcend Android 15 — if that.
Moondrop MIAD01: The competitors
The Pixel 7a continues to be an ideal alternative if you’d like a nice mid-range cellphone. The Pixel 8a is now obtainable, however that gadget is costlier at $500, and whereas it has higher {hardware}, the Pixel 7a is a good worth — significantly if you will get it at a reduction. As with most telephones nowadays, there is no 3.5mm jack on the gadget, so you have to to put money into a dongle DAC in the event you’re excited about pairing the cellphone with IEMs or a balanced headset.
The OnePlus 12R is a terrific choice to contemplate, with the cellphone providing standout {hardware} and respectable cameras on the again. Just like the Pixel 7a, you will want to purchase a USB DAC to get probably the most out of the gadget, however if you’d like a strong cellphone with a lot of helpful options, the 12R is my advice.
Moondrop MIAD01: Must you purchase it?
You should purchase this if:
- You want a cellphone with 3.5mm and 4.4mm jacks
- You want nice sound high quality
- You desire a cellphone that is additionally a digital audio participant
- You want a MicroSD slot
You should not purchase this if:
- You need polished software program
- You utilize the cameras loads
- You need the Play Retailer preinstalled
- You want well timed updates
The way in which I consider the MIAD01 is that it’s a modern digital audio participant with a 5G modem. The design is nearer to different mid-range telephones, and whereas the in-hand really feel is not nice due to the asymmetrical curves, it’s mild. The largest promoting level of the gadget is the truth that you get 3.5mm and 4.4mm ports, and the sound high quality is on par with most dongle DACs — no small feat. The MIAD01 can simply drive planar headsets, in order that is not a problem.
There are different issues the gadget will get proper; the 6.7-inch 120Hz OLED panel has good colours and is nice in every day use, and the 5000mAh battery lasts a day with ease. I’d have appreciated higher {hardware}, as a result of because it stands, the Dimensity 1080 would not fairly measure as much as demanding duties. Equally, the cameras simply aren’t in the identical league as different $400 telephones.
Then there’s the software program. You get a clear interface with out an excessive amount of bloatware, but it surely would not have a lot in the best way of options. You will have to sideload Google’s providers earlier than the cellphone turns into usable, and it is nonetheless on Android 13. Contemplating the state of the software program, there is no telling when it is going to change to Android 14, a lot much less Android 15.
That stated, the built-in ports and respectable DAC make the MIAD01 stand out fairly a bit, and in the event you’re excited about a digital audio participant that doubles as a cellphone, then sure, it’s worthy of consideration. It is not pretty much as good as a standalone participant or an everyday cellphone, however as a two-in-one gadget that allows you to take heed to high-res music on the go, the MIAD01 is unequalled.
