Moondrop MIAD01 Review: A Smartphone Built for Audiophiles

The Moondrop MIAD01 positions itself as a distinctive smartphone, primarily catering to audiophiles with its dual headphone jacks and high-fidelity audio components. While it excels in delivering exceptional sound quality through its built-in DACs, the phone struggles in several key areas that affect its overall usability and appeal.

Design and Build The MIAD01 boasts a bold and refreshing design, featuring sharp aesthetics complemented by an orange accent on the buttons. However, the plastic build feels awkward in hand, with sharp edges that detract from comfort. The absence of a pre-installed protective case and an IP rating for water and dust resistance further compounds the user's experience. Additionally, the lack of dedicated mechanical buttons for playback control is a notable omission for a phone designed with audio in mind.

Display The display is a 6.7-inch AMOLED panel with Full HD+ resolution and a smooth 120Hz refresh rate, offering vibrant colors and decent outdoor visibility. However, the touch response is sluggish, with a 120Hz touch sampling rate that feels slow by today's standards, making typing and navigation frustrating. The curved screen design may not appeal to everyone, and the phone's limited media consumption capabilities, due to Widevine L3 certification and trouble with HDR playback, are additional drawbacks.

Performance Powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 7050 5G processor, coupled with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage (expandable via microSD), the MIAD01 handles everyday tasks and multitasking smoothly. The near-stock Android 13 interface avoids excessive background app killing, ensuring a stable experience. However, battery life is merely average, with around 6 hours of screen-on time under regular use, despite the 5000mAh battery and 33W fast charging support.

Cameras The camera setup includes a 64MP primary lens, an 8MP ultrawide, and a 32MP selfie camera. While the phone can produce decent photos in well-lit conditions, it consistently struggles with detail, producing soft and noisy images. Low-light performance is particularly poor, and focusing issues, slow post-processing, and erratic shutter speeds further diminish the photography experience. Video capabilities are equally underwhelming, with decent stabilization but poor exposure control, lack of detail, and unusual artifacts in outdoor footage.

Audio The MIAD01 truly shines in its audio capabilities, featuring both a 3.5mm and a 4.4mm "balanced" headphone jack, making it the first smartphone to include the latter. The built-in dual Cirrus Logic MasterHiFi DACs deliver clean, neutral sound with excellent clarity, a wide soundstage, and strong mid-bass extension. The phone effortlessly drives high-impedance headphones and offers a granular 100-step volume control, making it an exceptional choice for wired audio enthusiasts.

Conclusion While the Moondrop MIAD01 offers an unparalleled wired audio experience, its shortcomings in camera performance, software support, and overall usability make it a challenging choice as a primary smartphone. The lack of information regarding software updates and the company's inexperience in the smartphone market raise concerns about long-term reliability and after-sales service. For audiophiles willing to use it as a secondary device purely for music listening, the MIAD01 could be a compelling option, provided they verify network band compatibility with their carrier.