u/bc_2006

Hey Xperia community,

I'm looking at picking up a Grade B Xperia 5 III (128GB) for £200 from CeX to use solely as a portable music player.

I run Poweramp with a local FLAC library on a 256GB microSD card (will probably upgrade to 1TB later) and output to a FiiO KA11 USB DAC and Sennheiser HD 599 SEs.

I specifically want the 5 III for the 120Hz display, microSD slot, 3.5mm jack backup, and compact size for scrolling through large local libraries. Since I’m buying from CeX, it comes with a 5-year warranty, which covers display issues if the green line defect ever pops up.

For anyone who uses an older 5-series specifically for audio: how has the battery life held up strictly for local media playback, and does USB audio passthrough behave cleanly on Android 13?

Hi all,

I'm setting up a dedicated offline music playback device and looking for sanity checks. I found a used Sony Xperia 5 III (Grade B, £200 from CeX with a 5-year warranty) and am considering using it purely as a DAP.

Current Setup & Needs:

• Source: Poweramp playing local FLACs.
• Output: FiiO KA11 USB Dongle DAC into Sennheiser HD 599 SEs.
• Storage: 256GB microSD card (planning to upgrade to 512GB/1TB eventually).
• Must-haves: A smooth 120Hz screen for navigating large artist lists and full microSD support.

I want to bypass standard Android 48 kHz resampling over USB and keep my daily phone free from music storage/battery drain.

Is a £200 used Sony flagship still a solid transport/DAP alternative to dedicated entry-level Android players in 2026? Any quirks with USB audio output or Poweramp on this specific device I should watch out for?

Hey everyone,

I’m looking for a secondary device to use strictly as a dedicated music player for local FLACs, and I’m considering grabbing a Grade B Sony Xperia 5 III (128GB) from CeX for £200 (includes their 5-year warranty).

My main listening chain is Poweramp -> FiiO KA11 USB DAC -> Sennheiser HD 599 SEs.

I currently have a 256GB microSD card packed with FLAC files, but I’ll likely upgrade to a 512GB or 1TB card down the line as my library grows.

My main reasons for looking at the 5 III instead of a traditional budget DAP (like a HiBy or Shanling):

• 120Hz Display: Scrolling through massive local FLAC libraries in Poweramp on low-refresh DAP screens feels sluggish. I want a buttery-smooth UI.
• Storage Flexibility: MicroSD card expansion is a non-negotiable requirement for me.
• Audio Routing: From what I understand, Sony's Android build passes bit-exact 44.1 kHz via AAudio over USB to my KA11 without forcing system-wide 48 kHz resampling.
• Ergonomics & Hardware: Slim 6.1" form factor, decent battery, and a built-in 3.5mm jack as a dongle-free backup.

For those using old flagship Android phones as dedicated DAPs over purpose-built hardware, is there any reason not to do this at the £200 price point?

Hey everyone,

I've been pondering something for the last day or two and wanted to get the community's perspective.

For context, I’ve owned a HiBy M300 for about a year. It does its job very well—I use it almost exclusively to store and play my local CD-rip library through Poweramp, which it handles smoothly. I originally bought it to offload my music library because my main phone only has 128GB of non-expandable storage, and I prefer having my entire library on one offline device.

Recently, I picked up a FiiO KA11 dongle DAC to get bit-perfect audio out of the M300, and it works great. Just out of curiosity, I loaded a few albums onto my Pixel 9 Pro to test the new Poweramp beta (build 1028) with USB Exclusive mode.

To my surprise, the user experience gap was noticeable. The Pixel’s 120Hz display was vastly smoother and snappier, and with the KA11 plugged in, sound quality was functionally identical while bypassing Android’s system resampling.

It made me realize that as long as I have a good dongle DAC, I can get the exact same audio output from my phone or laptop. Aside from physical microSD storage, the M300 isn't offering much that a phone can't do better. It feels like I spent ~£200 on a dedicated player when the M300’s entry-level Snapdragon chip and small screen are actually holding back the UI experience.

Now I’m tempted to sell/ditch the M300 and replace it with a refurbished older Android flagship that has a microSD card slot (e.g., a Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G, LG V60, or Sony Xperia 5 III) purely to serve as a dedicated 512GB/1TB music transport with a much faster screen and processor.

Has anyone else ditched an entry-level DAP for a repurposed older Android phone? Would you recommend making the switch, and if so, which older device makes the best dedicated music transport?

Thanks in advance! :-)

Hey everyone, I’m looking at picking up the Beelink SER8 (Ryzen 7 8745HS, 16GB DDR5, 500GB SSD) on Amazon UK, where it’s currently sitting at £539 after an on-page voucher. I’m planning to buy around October, hoping the price stays roughly in this range. My intended daily use is fairly straightforward: Web browsing and 1080p YouTube streaming General light office work Retro/Console emulation — specifically Xbox 360 (Xenia Canary) and PS2/PS3 at 1080p Running a few Linux and Windows Virtual Machines (just for fun / light testing) Before committing, I’d love some real-world feedback from anyone daily-driving the SER8: Linux Mint Compatibility: How is out-of-the-box driver support for Wi-Fi, audio, and Bluetooth on newer Linux kernels with this hardware? Hardware Reliability & Thermals: How does the vapor chamber cooling hold up over time? Any issues with fan noise, component failures, or coil whine? Xbox 360 Emulation: Does the 8745HS and Radeon 780M handle 1080p Xenia Canary smoothly for 3D titles? Price Check: Is £539 a fair price for the 8745HS variant on Amazon UK, or should I hold off for better voucher drops? Appreciate any insights or advice!

Hey everyone, I’m looking at picking up the Beelink SER8 (Ryzen 7 8745HS, 16GB DDR5, 500GB SSD) on Amazon UK, where it’s currently sitting at £539 after an on-page voucher. I’m planning to buy around October, hoping the price stays roughly in this range. My intended daily use is fairly straightforward: Web browsing and 1080p YouTube streaming General light office work Retro/Console emulation — specifically Xbox 360 (Xenia Canary) and PS2/PS3 at 1080p Running a few Linux and Windows Virtual Machines (just for fun / light testing) Before committing, I’d love some real-world feedback from anyone daily-driving the SER8: Linux Mint Compatibility: How is out-of-the-box driver support for Wi-Fi, audio, and Bluetooth on newer Linux kernels with this hardware? Hardware Reliability & Thermals: How does the vapor chamber cooling hold up over time? Any issues with fan noise, component failures, or coil whine? Xbox 360 Emulation: Does the 8745HS and Radeon 780M handle 1080p Xenia Canary smoothly for 3D titles? Price Check: Is £539 a fair price for the 8745HS variant on Amazon UK, or should I hold off for better voucher drops? Appreciate any insights or advice!

I recently ripped my entire CD collection to my HiBy M300 and I'm wondering if it's possible to achieve true lossless audio on it (16-bit/44.1KHz), I know Android resamples the audio to 48KHz, which is fine, but it would be nice to have true lossless audio through a decent pair of headphones.

I've done some light research that suggests a USB-C dongle DAC like the FiiO KA11 could give me true lossless audio. Is this true? And if so, can I get true lossless audio when listening to my music on Poweramp? Even if I need to tweak some settings to achieve this. If anyone has an answer, please let me know in the comments. Thanks in advance. :-)

I recently ripped my entire CD collection to my HiBy M300 and I'm wondering if it's possible to achieve true lossless audio on it (16-bit/44.1KHz), I know Android resamples the audio to 48KHz, which is fine, but it would be nice to have true lossless audio through a decent pair of headphones.

I've done some light research that suggests a USB-C dongle DAC like the FiiO KA11 could give me true lossless audio. Is this true? And if so, can I get true lossless audio when listening to my music on Poweramp? Even if I need to tweak some settings to achieve this. If anyone has an answer, please let me know in the comments. Thanks in advance. :-)

For the past 2 months, I've had a very serious issue with my Pixel 9 Pro, I can't answer calls through the phone app when my phone is locked, it rings, I answer the call, the incoming call UI goes away, but the phone doesn't stop ringing, it's happened several times; even when I got a call from the doctors, I couldn't call back. I cleared the cache and storage once, but that only worked temporarily, so for now, I'm using the Fossify Phone app to see if that fixes it.

Does anyone know of a fix, or am I gonna have to get a new phone? I hope I won't need to upgrade, because I've only had my phone for 8 months and it was nearly £700.

Please tell me in the comments if you have any advice. Thanks in advance! :-)

I was on my lunch break at work when the pre orders started and I decided to pre order the CD of Interpol's upcoming record. I've only been a fan of the band since last year, so it's kind of exciting being witness to a new release from them.

After the last record, which I find to be a bit dull, I can't wait to see if Interpol can redeem themselves with the new record, I've only listened to the new singles once so far, but I think they're at least as good as the best tracks on Marauder, which is a great thing.

Is anyone else excited for the record to drop?

https://preview.redd.it/7mbtu4cfmb5h1.jpg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=768d50dd4b630cc449d4b85babfc02ebe48852cb

On this day 13 years ago, the Queens released one of the defining rock albums of the 2010s, ...Like Clockwork, and I figured I'd pay tribute to the album that changed my life in many ways by sharing my story. To me, this album is the ultimate testament to resilience.

It all started on a random Tuesday in March. I was coming home from work when my bus broke down at the town centre. On a whim, I went to HMV and picked up a few CDs, one of them being ...Like Clockwork. I had actually discovered the Queens a month prior, after sleeping on them for nearly 2 years.

When I eventually got home that day, I immediately put ...Like Clockwork in my CD player and pressed play. I loved the album from the very first listen. I distinctly remember getting shivers down my spine when listening to "Keep Your Eyes Peeled," especially from the lyric: "If life is but a dream, then wake me up." That's deep.

Since that first listen, this album has become a staple of my commute to work; it's become my most streamed album in recent times. There are so many emotions on display on this album. There's absolute paranoia on "Keep Your Eyes Peeled"; extreme cockiness and arrogance on songs like "I Sat by the Ocean," "If I Had a Tail," and "Smooth Sailing"; heavy despair on "The Vampyre of Time and Memory"; pure adrenaline on "My God Is the Sun"; deep isolation on "I Appear Missing"; and finally, a sense of peace and resilience on the title track.

This album has a very special place in my heart. As an autistic person, I've always felt like a misfit—like someone's trying to force a square peg into a round hole. Because of this, I've had times where I've questioned everything in my life. Particularly after a stressful day at work, I find myself asking if I hate my job and my life. I question whether I actually like where I am in my life. Hell, I've contemplated just giving up and leaving my job.

Whenever I feel the pressure building up in my head during a busy lunch rush, I tend to use my break to escape into the Queens' music. I just sit down, put my headphones on, and play a song from ...Like Clockwork—usually "Keep Your Eyes Peeled," "The Vampyre of Time and Memory," or "Kalopsia." Sometimes, the sheer emotion of the music breaks me—even when I'm surrounded by customers on their breaks. It's usually after I clock out that I head to the lake. I let the album do its work while sitting by the water. This is where I truly let go of the emotional baggage, let it all out, and completely fall apart mentally. I become a crying mess.

Looking back, I've never learnt so much about myself than I have through the Queens' music. My journey with them began in 2024 when I was 17 and heard Songs for the Deaf for the first time. I didn't think much of it at the time, but it left its mark and I've come to appreciate it more in recent times. The journey truly started when my twin brother found Rated R and Era Vulgaris in the local charity shop, and it truly set off when I discovered ...Like Clockwork. This album, along with songs like "Suture Up Your Future" and the album Villains, have helped me figure out who I am. Before I found the Queens, I felt like I was losing touch with who I was. I see so much of myself in Josh Homme's energy and spirit.

It genuinely amazes me that despite flatlining on the operating table, and being bedridden and depressed for months, Josh didn't give up on his passion and recorded this masterpiece. I have so much empathy for what he went through, and I think about his fight a lot whenever I face my own setbacks. Josh is a massive inspiration to me, and I genuinely look up to him. I know you'll never see this, but I want to thank you, Josh—for never giving up, for defying expectations, keeping it real, and for showing us that we can still succeed when we carve our own path. You'll never truly know how your music has changed the lives of many fans.

https://preview.redd.it/v2vo1tuvlb5h1.jpg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fcb230c5b51706d9730e069e29ea8385227ed8bb

On this day 13 years ago, the Queens released one of the defining rock albums of the 2010s, ...Like Clockwork, and I figured I'd pay tribute to the album that changed my life in many ways by sharing my story. To me, this album is the ultimate testament to resilience.

It all started on a random Tuesday in March. I was coming home from work when my bus broke down at the town centre. On a whim, I went to HMV and picked up a few CDs, one of them being ...Like Clockwork. I had actually discovered the Queens a month prior, after sleeping on them for nearly 2 years.

When I eventually got home that day, I immediately put ...Like Clockwork in my CD player and pressed play. I loved the album from the very first listen. I distinctly remember getting shivers down my spine when listening to "Keep Your Eyes Peeled," especially from the lyric: "If life is but a dream, then wake me up." That's deep.

Since that first listen, this album has become a staple of my commute to work; it's become my most streamed album in recent times. There are so many emotions on display on this album. There's absolute paranoia on "Keep Your Eyes Peeled"; extreme cockiness and arrogance on songs like "I Sat by the Ocean," "If I Had a Tail," and "Smooth Sailing"; heavy despair on "The Vampyre of Time and Memory"; pure adrenaline on "My God Is the Sun"; deep isolation on "I Appear Missing"; and finally, a sense of peace and resilience on the title track.

This album has a very special place in my heart. As an autistic person, I've always felt like a misfit—like someone's trying to force a square peg into a round hole. Because of this, I've had times where I've questioned everything in my life. Particularly after a stressful day at work, I find myself asking if I hate my job and my life. I question whether I actually like where I am in my life. Hell, I've contemplated just giving up and leaving my job.

Whenever I feel the pressure building up in my head during a busy lunch rush, I tend to use my break to escape into the Queens' music. I just sit down, put my headphones on, and play a song from ...Like Clockwork—usually "Keep Your Eyes Peeled," "The Vampyre of Time and Memory," or "Kalopsia." Sometimes, the sheer emotion of the music breaks me—even when I'm surrounded by customers on their breaks. It's usually after I clock out that I head to the lake. I let the album do its work while sitting by the water. This is where I truly let go of the emotional baggage, let it all out, and completely fall apart mentally. I become a crying mess.

Looking back, I've never learnt so much about myself than I have through the Queens' music. My journey with them began in 2024 when I was 17 and heard Songs for the Deaf for the first time. I didn't think much of it at the time, but it left its mark and I've come to appreciate it more in recent times. The journey truly started when my twin brother found Rated R and Era Vulgaris in the local charity shop, and it truly set off when I discovered ...Like Clockwork. This album, along with songs like "Suture Up Your Future" and the album Villains, have helped me figure out who I am. Before I found the Queens, I felt like I was losing touch with who I was. I see so much of myself in Josh Homme's energy and spirit.

It genuinely amazes me that despite flatlining on the operating table, and being bedridden and depressed for months, Josh didn't give up on his passion and recorded this masterpiece. I have so much empathy for what he went through, and I think about his fight a lot whenever I face my own setbacks. Josh is a massive inspiration to me, and I genuinely look up to him. I know you'll never see this, but I want to thank you, Josh—for never giving up, for defying expectations, keeping it real, and for showing us that we can still succeed when we carve our own path. You'll never truly know how your music has changed the lives of many fans.