A solid, affordable Android based player with great sound processing and decent battery life
I fell in love with it after only a few hours. This is my fourth Fiio player and I mostly knew what to expect when I purchased it. For the most part I am very satisfied with the JM21. My disappointment is with documentation and support from Fiio (more on that at the end of the review). The size and weight of the JM21 feels comfortable. It feels solid like my other Fiio players (X1, X3, and X5). Those players have held up to heavy usage and survived getting dropped too many times and all of them are still functional. I can't in all honestly say that the JM21 is easy to get used to and easy to use because I have used a Fiio Android based player before and find very few differences with the old interface. That said, I didn't have trouble adjusting to the old interface so I don't see most people who are used to android devices having much trouble. I have never used the iOS so I can't advise on the difficulty for those who are not used to Android devices. I like that it came with at least a silicone case and a pre-installed screen protector. I ordered a second protector but passed on a better case. I had the leather case for my X5 but found that it made access to the edges of the screen difficult without a stylus. The technical details of the audio processing capabilities are a bit much for a review but I can tell a definite difference in audio quality when comparing the JM21 to that quality of music on my phone or on the no-name player I have been using. I have tested it with JBL 770 Live headphones connected with Bluetooth and with Status CB-1 headphones connected with a cable. An added bonus is that as unlike when listening on a phone I don't have to worry about the music cutting out if a text or call comes in. I have mostly been satisfied with the battery life. I recently listened to an 8 1/2 hour audiobook on the Audible app and maybe an hour of music using the Fiio app (without using a headphone amp). I used wired headphones for the music and the Bluetooth connection for the audiobook. Wi-Fi was only turned on long enough to download the book. At the time I started listening the battery had a 100% charge. After about 9 1/2 hours of use and sitting idle overnight there was still 34% battery power left. For some reason the player dropped to 9% over the next 11 hours while it was sitting idle. Hopefully turning on battery saver and using the "Enter Sleep" app that is pre-installed will help with that. I do not have the feature that turns the player off after a certain time enabled but will do so if necessary. The JM21 has Android 13 (customized) installed and uses the Google Play Store as well as Fiio's app store. This opens up options to use most any software you want. I use my player for listening to audiobooks and podcasts in addition to using it for music and have been able to install my favorite podcast app, a player for local audiobook files. The Audible app was preinstalled. The JM21 does have a micro SD port for expandable memory (up to 2TB). Even if I wasn't concerned with audio quality finding a modern phone or with enough storage to keep my music on it isn't possible. I have more than 400GB of music in FLAC format and over 100GB of music purchased from services that don't offer lossless files. iPhones and the newer Galaxy phones don't have the capability to expand storage with a memory card. I listen to a lot of music digitized from old albums or from independent artists that are not available on any streaming service so the extra storage is a must. Even if all of it was available streaming there is always going to be a time when Wi-Fi isn't available. I have heard the argument that I don't need carry all of that with me but if I get the urge to hear a song I don't want to have to wait to be able to move it from my computer to be able to listen to it so the storage is a must for me. I gave the player a 5 star rating only because 4 1/2 wasn't possible and I feel it is too good for a 4 star rating. My reason for wanting to give it 4.5 is not because of dissatisfaction with either hardware or software but for lack of support from Fiio. There is no manual available for the JM21 at this time. Yes, it ships with a quick start guide and there is a FAQ on Fiio's web site but they don't list all of the features. I needed to find a way to lock some of the side buttons when the screen is off. I have not been able to find how to do that in any available documentation. I finally stumbled across how to do it when looking for something else in the settings. As soon as I got the JM21 I sent a request to Fiio asking for an actual manual and got a reply that gave links to the quick start guide, the FAQ, firmware download, two different trouble solutions, and an apology for being slow because of a higher than normal volume of help requests. This also happened when I contacted support for a problem with my X5 player about six years ago so if you purchase this be aware that you will need to rely on third party information for anything that is not in the in the FAQ or quick start guide. The quality of the player itself, however, makes the lack of direct support and information from Fiio worth the trouble. If you are looking for an affordable portable player with sound that is equal to that of the high end, expensive players and better than you'll get from any phone give the JM21 a try. It's not perfect but I doubt you will be disappointed. Read more
