When Z was just talking about where the Hi Res cert comes from and I find a pair of “Hi Res Certified” earbuds for $1.53 USD on Aliexpress
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Here are some links that essentially describe the criteria for meeting Hi res Audio certification.
https://www.jas-audio.or.jp/english/hi-res-logo-en
https://www.samma3a.com/tech/en/hi-res-audio-logo-mean-now-seen-new-audio-products/
With the info from that in mind there are some things that the standards do not cover.
It makes no mention of quality or sound pressure level etc.
All it cares about is if a thing can hear up to or produce up to the frequency. Or in the case of a dac up to a certain decoding rate.
There is also a lot left up to the company creating the hardware to put that certification there.
Of course the biggest issue is that outside of Japan and America, there are no regulations.
And let’s not forget China does not give a fuuuccccckkkkkk.
Unless you are a well known Chinese brand, chances are you are just putting it there because you can.
Repercussions for falsely labeling something as hi-res is also minimal to non existent.
If you want to trust a company’s hi-res sticker, then make sure it is a big brand or at least something well known like SMSL, Fiio etc.
Xiaomi Pro HD (QTEJ02JY). 30$-ish.
Apparently they sound great… But, yeah.
Enjoy sticking that to your dogs ears or whatever. 
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I have heard them and they do sound good. But not great. TBH there are better things out there for cheaper.
At that price range it really always comes back to the Tin t2 and t2 pro. There you are getting something a bit more comfortable (in my opinion) and you are getting detachable cables. The Tin t2 also has a better default cable. A non removable shitty cable on an IEM is a deal breaker for me because that is always the first thing to break from my experience.
The one thing I will give to the Xiaomi “pro” hd is that it has a good triple button control and a decent mic. But nothing that can’t be matched with a replacement cable for the T2/pro.
Enjoy sticking that to your dogs ears or whatever.
I HEAR you on that brother lol.
Hi res doesn’t have any real use for headphones or IEM’s.
The only place it is maybe useful is audio recording and decoding hardware.
Hi-res audio has just become a marketing thing now that has no meaning.
Personally I think it should be changed to be used for audio gear only and be a test of thd+n as well as SNR