Hong Kong-based consumer electronics manufacturer Hidizs launched a Kickstarter campaign for a new music player powered by the Android operating system. The product is called the Hidizs AP200 and is a successor to the AP100 launched in 2014. The new model promises to deliver high-end audio quality comparable with premium portable music players but at a lower price point, with its crowdfunding campaign already meeting and surpassing its goal of HK$ 100,000 (around $12,800) more than seven times in just a couple of days, having originally been funded in only 30 minutes after its launch.
According to the manufacturer, the Hidizs AP200 portable Hi-Fi music player is the result of two years of development including more than 50 design sketches and ten prototypes. The device features a unibody design which relies on stainless steel and is equipped with a USB Type-C connector, as well as a microSD card slot supporting up to 256GB of external storage. The front of the device accommodates a 3.54-inch touchscreen with a resolution of 960 x 640 and a pixel density of roughly 325 pixels per inch, and underneath is the Rockchip RK3188, a 28nm system-on-chip (SoC) comprising four ARM Cortex-A9 CPU cores clocked at up to 1.4GHz, promising a 35-percent performance increase compared to the company’s previous music player. The Hidizs AP200 also conceals 1GB of RAM and 8GB or 64GB of internal memory, in addition to supporting two-way transmissions for both the apt-X lossless transmission protocol and Bluetooth 4.0. Additionally, the Hidizs AP200 is the first high-resolution music player to make use of two individual high-end ESS ES9118C DAC chips for each audio channel, according to the manufacturer. Both chips have been treated with a 24K gold-plated shield in order to eliminate interference and provide a cleaner audio experience, and furthermore, the player makes use of two separate crystal oscillators – each for different sampling rates – in order to reduce jitter and improve clock accuracy. As expected, the Hidizs AP200 supports a wide variety of Hi-Res lossless audio formats including FLAC, ALAC, APE, WMA, WAV, DSF, DSDIFF, and Apple LOSSLESS.
The early bird Kickstarter package is available for the equivalent of $239 and includes one Hidizs AP200 wrapped in an aluminum alloy body with 8GB of onboard memory. The variant made of stainless steel and featuring 64GB of internal storage can be reserved for $309, however, there are other packages available at various price points alongside different bonuses. The Hidizs AP200 is available globally and its manufacturer is hoping to start shipping the product this September.
Hidizs AP200 On Kickstarter
