It even comes with not one but two headphone jacks, and at different sizes too!
Are you a Bocchi the Rock fan? Because this is a phone for Bocchi the Rock fans. No, not that the company has collaborated with them, but rather it’s an audiophile’s orgasm complete with anime themes! This is the Moondrop MIAD 1, a phone that sounds like NASA named and designed it, and it’s the complete sound package!
Moondrop is a technology company from China, no surprise. It focuses mainly on audio products and computer keyboards. The MIAD 1 is marketed as the “world’s first HIFI phone” even though the Marshall London, a phone with a similar premise, complete also with two headphone jacks, was released as early as 2015.
Although, unlike the Marshall London which compromised everything else but the sound experience, the Moondrop still has balanced specs that you would see on midrange phones, so techies who like the design can still use it well. Outside of the audio experience, it’s a run-of-the-mill midrange phone.
We really like the unique futuristic design it offers. It stands out fully from the crowd, complete with its metallic grey finish. Not a lot of start ups are willing to go as far as make a unique design but having a design that’s attractive helps build brand identity. Just like Nothing and their fancy glyphs and transparent designs.
It uses a curved 6.7″ 120Hz AMOLED with 1920Hz PWM Dimming complete with a MediaTek Dimensity 7050 chipset, 12GB RAM, 256GB ROM, a 64MP Primary camera with 2MP depth, a 32MP selfie sensor, 5000mAh battery with 33W fast charging, and of course, an in-display fingerprint sensor and 5G connectivity. The phone also has a MicroSD Card slot of up to 2TB so you can store even more music, with some you made yourselves!
But those other specs are not what the phone is about, isn’t it? So we’ll focus on what’s really important: the sound and music experience. So what do we get? According to Moondrop and Shenzhen Audio’s website, the speakers are HiFi, as obvious as that sounds. Specifically, they are dynamic as just they are loud. Four channels worth 132dB of dynamic range is no joke. It comes with two HiFi Quad DACs as well, something LG pioneered. There are two headphone jacks, one for your headphones (3.5mm) and the other for large speakers and microphones (4.4mm Fully Balanced). The phone’s software also has a professional-grade equalizer and mixer, and there are also a six-layer magnetic circuitry to make that 132db of dynamic range really fly out.
The Quad DACs helps in lowering noise levels and distortions and provide experiences highly identical to spatial audio from iPhones or Sony’s Xperia phones.
That’s a lot of features for an audio-centric device. It’s rare to see phones focusing highly on the audio aspect as many would focus on cameras or photos but phones are clearly more than just a camera replacement and a gaming console. If this goes highly successful, then the Marshall London walked so that the Moondrop can run. One step for London, one huge leap for Shenzhen.
It is available in China for an equivalent USD 399 price (~CNY 2831.94 | PHP 23K). So far, no other markets were announced but we won’t be surprised if either grey market sellers or Moondrop Philippines themselves bring the phone here.
Source: Shenzhen Audio, Moondrop Labs