Also nice DAPs vs. phones argument there. I used to use DAPs, but eventually went back to smartphones because they provide a better experience. Fast, fluid and convenient UI (something not found in DAPs a few years ago, maybe except Sony) is the biggest factor for me, plus the battery life is good (far ahead of the shanling M2 I had, despite its 2200mah battery it would last only ~8hrs).
Good audio is great and all but for me usability and practicality stand above that, software kinks and hardware issues will easily muddle your experience.
@Tks Apple put PCIe NVMe drives in their phones and tablets (and almost everything else really). In the Android space UFS is the de-facto but it's about as fast.
Thing is most of these DAPs, while positioned as premium products, have specs comparable to a low-end phone (not even mid-range). Only high-end phones get fast storage.
Also I think Android is supposed to index files as it is transferred to the phone, but this doesn't work if the files just suddenly pop up on a micro SD.