I blame you, George...your was long and QUITE good. Mine is well...just long...

That was informative, and quite entertaining. Well done.

@ngoshawk I think that your review's very good as well! Your comparisons are well explained and nice to read!

I might miss some references though...

LOL, different cultures, that's all. And thank you for the kind words.

Thanks for the review!
 
I see a lot of references to Tidal streaming.  Did you try playing Tidal offline (with music stored in the SD card)? How well did it work? Other Android-based apps have had skipping problems with Tidal off the SD card.

Your reviews are getting better and better with each go. Excellent work!

erich6: Unfortunately, I did not. According to FiiO, the new update 1.1.1, has taken care of the offline use of streaming apps. That does appeal to me, and I will definitely test that when mine arrives.
 
Pinky: awww, shucks. Thanks for the thumbs up. Maybe I am supposed to get the unit to you?...
 
The x5iii is an excellent unit, overall. One I can live with happily.

Thanks for the review, that was a lot of effort.

Great review and video

Great review and video! This might seem like a silly question but I shall ask away. With the firmware update, did you do this by connecting it up to your mac, downloading the firmware and updating the x5iii? Or is it downloadable via a wifi connection straight through the x5iii? Secondly, do you have to install a driver to connect it to a mac? 

@Krisna13
 
You can download the firmware on your mac/PC then copy it to a microSD card and manually upgrade or download the update directly on the X5 via WIFI (OTA). 
 
No drivers needed for mass storage or DAC mode on a mac. 

@SoundSquare Thank you for the clear and concise explanation. 

nice review mate! thx for the comparison with The Cayin I5, I enjoyed that DAP a lot when I had it.

Seems like the settings need an option to tweak that volume wheel.

Great review btw.! Loved the video as well.

Inof: that is a great suggestion for a FW update. I will pass that along to FiiO. And yes, the i5 is an excellent unit, which I sincerely hope grows out of its teething pains. Such choices!

Great review with a lot of information and comparisons are great too. Thanks lot for the review.

Very entertaining review.  I am waiting for my x5iii.  No stock. All sold out.

forgive my ignorance (my mother always did), but how do you lock out the left-side buttons????

@Preachy1 : no problem. My mom says the same thing!
 
Go into the "Settings" menu, then "Key-lock Settings." Then click the "Custom lockscreen settings," which will allow you to set the lockcreen functions.
 
Cheers!