Special thanks to William from HiBy Music for sending us a sample R6 Pro II for review. You continued support, knowledge and enthusiasm is greatly appreciated!
Introduction
While most people are content with a smartphone and a streaming subscription, DAPs remain the tool of choice for listeners who want their music served with more finesse than convenience can muster.
If you’ve ever found yourself wincing at a shrill cymbal splash on Spotify or yearning for a bit more chest-thumping drama from your favourite rock anthem, you’ll know why.
HiBy has carved out a strong corner of this market, offering players that marry sleek industrial design with a thoroughly modern Android platform. They are among the few brands to really get the “music player that behaves like a smartphone” brief right.
The original R6 Pro II, launched in 2023, won fans for its bold aesthetic and lush, musical sound. But it wasn’t perfect: some felt it lacked a bit of grunt with tougher headphones, and the battery life was never a talking point unless you were complaining about it.
Enter the HiBy R6 Pro II (2025). On the surface, it looks much the same. But inside, HiBy has given the machine a healthy tune-up: new DACs, a beefier power stage, more storage, better memory, and a larger battery. In short, it’s the same sports car with a more refined engine, the suspension sorted, and a bigger fuel tank.
At $699, it aims to sit comfortably in that sweet spot below the four-figure mark, where expectations are high but the law of diminishing returns hasn’t yet bitten too hard.
So, is it merely a cosmetic facelift, or has HiBy delivered a meaningful refinement that could tempt both owners of the original and first-time buyers alike?
To find out, I spent several weeks with the new R6 Pro II, loading it with my usual rotation of test tracks – from Lana Del Rey’s cinematic ballads to Def Leppard’s towering stadium anthems – and lived with it as both a portable and desktop companion.
Continue to design and build…
