Both are portable players, $699 against $1799. This page puts them side by side on the only three things a maker can be held to — power, output impedance and noise — and then asks the question that actually matters: which headphones do they treat differently?
The FiiO M27 reaches 100 dB on 567 of the 567 models here, the FiiO M23 on 566.
| Specification | FiiO M23 | FiiO M27 |
|---|---|---|
| Power into 32Ω | 125 mW | 1.8 W |
| Power into 150Ω | 28 mW | 391 mW |
| Power into 300Ω | 15 mW | 200 mW |
| Power into 600Ω | 7.5 mW | 100 mW |
| Output impedance | 1 Ω | 0.5 Ω |
| Output noise | 1.9 µV | 3.9 µV |
| Price | $699 | $1799 |
| Headphones it reaches 100 dB on out of 567 | 566 | 567 |
A figure marked not published is missing from the maker’s own material, which is not the same as being good or bad. Where one of these two publishes a number and the other does not, the comparison on that axis cannot be made at all — and saying so is more useful than guessing.
1 headphone reaches 100 dB on the FiiO M27 but not on the FiiO M23 — Symphonium Titan.
14 headphones are left alone by the FiiO M27 under the one-eighth rule but coloured by the FiiO M23 (64 Audio Nio, 64 Audio Volur, Campfire Audio Andromeda 2023, 11 more).
32 headphones stay below the audible-hiss threshold on the FiiO M23 but cross it on the FiiO M27 (64 Audio Fourte, AFUL Performer 8, Audio-Technica ATH-CKS1100, 29 more).
566 of the 567 models here reach 100 dB on both. That is a power count and nothing more; whether either source suits a given headphone also depends on the two lines above.
Each has a page of its own with every power figure traced to what the maker published and a full headphone list: FiiO M23 and FiiO M27. Or put either against your own headphones in the source comparison tool.