HIDIZS H2 Bluetooth AMP – Smallest Receiver Out There
We sometimes work on reviewing something that’s so tiny it gets lost in the queue, and this is the case with the 50 USD H2 Bluetooth Amplifier / Receiver from HIDIZS. This one doesn’t really have any comparisons I can make given its price, and the closest Bluetooth receivers I reviewed are FiiO BTR3K, and Earstudio ES100 MKII, but both are considerably more pricey, relative to H2, which is the most affordable Bluetooth Receiver I reviewed to date.
Introduction
HIDIZS is one of the companies that makes high-quality products, both IEMs and DACs, and DAPs, but at a good price. The only disadvantage is that most of their products are contracted by a sub-brand, and most of the time they are limited run products. Some HIDIZS products became legendary though, and they had had a lifelong partnership with the Chinese maker Temptoec, HIDIZS also being from China. They offer amazing support for their products, but you could still make your life easier by purchasing their products from Amazon, Linsoul or other shops that can offer quicker support.
It should be noted that I have absolutely no affiliation with HIDIZS. I’d like to thank HIDIZS for providing the sample for this review. This review reflects my personal experience with HIDIZS H2 Bluetooth Receiver / Amplifier. Every opinion expressed is mine and I stand by it. The purpose of this review is to help those interested in HIDIZS H2 find their next music companion.
Product Link
You can grab one from www.amazon.com here: https://amzn.to/2ZuzaZs
If you’re in the UK, you can grab one from www.amazon.co.uk here: https://amzn.to/3jM6hz5
And if you’re from Europe, you can grab one from www.amazon.de here: https://amzn.to/3nCqOXR
Packaging
First things first, let’s get the packaging out of the way:
This one product is so small, I almost lost it during the unboxing, but the package is not entirely empty, and it comes with a short Type-C to Type-C cable, a longer cable that is ended in one Type-A connector, and a plastic case.
You will need that case with H2, and it will make the usage much better.
Build Quality/Aesthetics/Functionality
While it isn’t exactly clear why HIDIZS felt it was a better idea to call H2 a Bluetooth amplifier at first, they now call it a Lossless LDAC Bluetooth Receiver, which helps a lot with customers interested in it. The tiny unit sports a MAX97220 AMP Chip, a CSR8675 Bluetooth Chip that allows for Bluetooth 5.0, aptX, and LDAC, and USB DAC functions. While MAX 97220 is the power amplifier, bot the DAC and the Bluetooth protocols are handled by the CSR 8675 (this is a chip also often used in smartphones).
The usage is simple, and for a device this tiny, it has 3 buttons, a little light to highlight what format you’re currently using. That light can go either Green for normal music files, and Blue for High Resolution files (mainly available in USB DAC connection). It is usable with Hiby’s Blue services, an app for a more seamless integration. You will need Hiby Blue to configure H2, and you can do quite a few tricks using it, including a basic EQ and do firmware upgrades.
H2 has a microphone, and it also features Qualcomm cVc noise cancelling which works ok, and it has a decent phone call quality and microphone quality. It also has a battery, of a tiny 160mAh size, and has a decent life of about 6 hours in practice. This can drop a bit to 5 hours, if you’re using LDAC and the maximum volume it allows, which is actually a likely scenario. It takes around 1.5 hours to charge H2.
I can’t emphasize this enough, but the highlight is the size, and H2 has the size of a coin. The USB-C port occupies almost half of its bottom, so it is almost like two – three USB-C ports in width, being the smallest Bluetooth I reviewed to date. It is also extremely light, and you could easily put it in the collar of your shirt and forget about it. Having around 10 meters of Bluetooth range, you’re likely to lose it if you’re not careful, and the connection is fairly stable as long as you don’t pocket it or have a wall in between it and the source.
Sound Quality
I want to emphasize the fact that H2 has the smallest size out there, because the power is as tiny as the physical size, at just 8mW + 8 mW. This means that H2 is effective at driving just the most sensitive of IEMs and Earphones, and no full sized headphone, or hard to drive IEMs will match well with it. The company knows this and is honest, recommending an impedance between 8 and 60 OHMs, but again, for a net weight of just 12 grams, it has enough drive power. It is mainly made for smartphones that have no 3.5mm output, or which have a noisy output.
The whole list of abilities is slightly limited, and using that Qualcomm chip as the DAC means a SNR of 92dB, a Crosstalk of 68dB, and a THD of 0.008 at 1kHz. While I don’t always read the technical spec of the items I’m reviewing, H2 is not an overwhelming experience and can be slightly underwhelming with a really warm, low power and intimate presentation of music.
HIDIZS H2 presents a good amount of bass, and the entire sound is fairly warm and colored from the bass, especially the upper bass. We get a good amount of thickness and especially if you had brighter or more sibilant IEMs, HIDIZS H2 should be able to tone them down a bit.
The midrange of H2 is tinted with the warmth coming from the bass, and it has a more intimate presentation. The dynamics are on the restrained side, so H2 can sound a bit walled in at times, but it has a good amount of punch in the midrange, and voices are not recessed or left behind. H2 has a slow overall speed, and the details are fair for the price, but the sound is fairly nuanced for the price.
We get a really smooth and gently rolled off treble, which means that you’re best with H2 if you already have a bright, sibilant or harsh pair of IEMs. If you’re using smooth and warm IEMs already, the extra butter from H2 may thicken the sound too much and slow its speed too much.
Comparisons
The only Bluetooth receiver I find fair to compare the H2 to is FiiO’s BTR3K, which is priced at 60 USD. There are many much better options when it comes to the sound, for a few USDs more, and even wired type-c USB DACs, but nothing and I mean absolutely nothing out there can match H2 in versatility and size, nothing quite as small exists yet.
HIDIZS H2 vs FiiO BTR3K (50 USD vs 60 USD) – You can spend 10 USD more on BTR3K, but it is not smaller than H2, and it offers more or less the same amount of power, so what H2 can’t drive, BTR3K won’t really do either. This is one of the main reasons H2 is easy to recommend, it has all the Bluetooth codecs, it is ergonomic, and it has Hiby Blue support, so you can even use simple EQ with it. Between BTR3K and H2, they even have fairly similar sounds, warm, more intimate and fairer for the price, but that would be it. Choosing between them should be based on which design you like more, the sound in practice is too similar to recommend either because of sonics alone.
Value and Conclusion
HIDIZS H2 can’t do much when it comes to its driving power and the battery life isn’t the highest out there, but the price is extremely low, and it is versatile, offers a decent solution if you don’t have a headphone output, and can work as a USB Type-C DAC while it is charging, so basically you have an all-in-one solution even if it is charging, making it an excellent price / performance ratio at 50 USD, and given its size.
If you’re into versatility, a warm sound, and if you don’t have anything hard to drive, but if your phone can do LDAC, aptX, and if you want to hear music, but don’t have anything else to power your IEMs, HIDIZS H2 is a really versatile, sweet and fun to use Bluetooth Receiver.
Product Link
You can grab one from www.amazon.com here: https://amzn.to/2ZuzaZs
If you’re in the UK, you can grab one from www.amazon.co.uk here: https://amzn.to/3jM6hz5
And if you’re from Europe, you can grab one from www.amazon.de here: https://amzn.to/3nCqOXR
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Full Playlist used for this review
We listened to more songs than those named in this playlist, but those are excellent for identifying a sonic signature. I recommend trying most of the songs from this playlist, especially if you’re searching for new music! The playlists are different for Spotify, Tidal and Youtube, and based on the songs I enjoy and are available on each!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_cjBXGmwSHSdGcwuc_bKbBDGHL4QvYBu
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5J3oloz8Riy9LxEGenOjQ0?si=979ba4f082414be7
https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/330fd544-8e5b-4839-bd35-676b2edbb3d5
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