Verdict
There ’s plenty to love about the FiiO FW3 , from the style they see to the sky - high item levels of their sound . But their transonic balance is n’t all it might be , and they ’re the first TWS I ’ve discover in who knows how long that have imperfect wireless connectivity .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
For those who have n’t been paying tending , and for the shunning of doubt : FiiO is lifelessly serious .
Its ever - flourish range ofdigital audio recording players , desktop amp / DACsand , lately , headphoneshave all impressed to a lesser or greater extent and all sport center - take in damage when compared to likewise specify rivals .
Ordinarily , the sight ofyet anotherpair of reasonably low-priced true wireless in - ear earpiece would n’t be all that exciting – but this is FiiO. What has the Formosan medical specialist managed to deliver for less than a ton this time ?
Availability
The FiiO FW3 truthful wireless in - ear headphones are on sale in the United Kingdom they cost no more than £ 95 per duad . In America they deal for $ 99 . No monetary value has been confirmed for Australia just yet , but if today ’s exchange rates are anything to go by you ’re seem at AU$189 or something quite like it .
In the interests of both brevity and saneness , I wo n’t lean all the very many pairs of dependable radio in - spike headphone , from all the very many unlike brands , that you may buy for this sort of money . Some of them are fantabulous , some of them are rotten – but they are all competitors to the FW3 , and will all have to be trump if these FiiO are going to make it to the top of your shortlist …
Design
Ordinarily , the conversation about the design ( or otherwise ) of a pair of unfeigned wireless earbuds is bound to whether or not they ’re the Apple - tastic dangly stem intention or not . So FiiO is to be congratulate on serving up a pair of TWS that genuinely do n’t depend like anyone else ’s . Whether or not you ’re into the noteworthy ‘ oystershell - meets - Asian - railcar - producer - logotype ’ loom is entirely a doubtfulness of taste perception .
The earbuds are a trim 6 gravitational constant each , and thanks to the six - solid pick of ear - tips in the publicity should be simple enough to fit both firmly and well . There ’s a fairish act more earbud happening outside the wearer ’s spike than is common , but as long as you savour the design that ’s almost certainly a good thing .
The charging fount is , like the earbuds , made of everyday plastic and is , at 45 gram , right lightweight . Unlike the earbuds , though , it ’s dead bland in its designing – it ’s a politic picayune pebble , and if it was n’t for the quite assertive FiiO branding on the lid it could be by any maker you care to mention . It has a utilitarian little dustup of LEDs on the front to indicate charging grade , and aUSB - Cinput on the back to do the actual charging .
Features
Not for the first time where one of its products is relate , FiiO has set apart the FW3 rather more profusely than the request Leontyne Price would suggest .
For instance , the FW3 use Bluetooth 5.2 for wireless connectivity , and are compatible with SBC , AAC , aptX , aptX Adaptive and LHDC codecs withLDACat the beta stage at the time of writing .
Once the audio information is on board , it ’s pored over by a extremely capable AKM Velvet Sound ’s AK4332 digital - to - analogue convertor chipset – which means if you ’ve some appropriately chunky audio files available , and you utilise an LHDC - able source player , the FW3 are quick to endure 24 - bit/96kHz playback . And by agency of an encore , they’reSnapdragon Sound - certify too .
take the decoded strait to you is the province of a pair of 10 millimeter C - base full - image dynamical driver . FiiO is claiming a frequency reply of 20Hz – 20kHz , and suggests the use of the carbon copy - based material for the machine driver contraceptive diaphragm offers superior transient answer and exceptional resolution .
All of these arrogate sonic advantage can be enjoyed for seven hour at a clip – that ’s the amount of charge store in the earbuds . There are a couple of full charges hold in the showcase , giving an OK - but - nothing - special all - in total of 21 hour between visits to main power . There ’s no wireless charging here , and from flat to full takes around 100 minutes .
There are no touch - controls on these earbuds . Instead , FiiO has fitted each with a yoke forcible push controls that take care of major power on / off , frolic / pause , volume up / down , vamoose forwards / backwards , answer / end / cull call , summon voice assistant and , rather disturbingly , readjust . They ’re quite positive in their action , but position them on the top sharpness of what are quite large earbuds means order your finger inside your pinna – or , at least it does in my display case . Perhaps my ears are strange , but no one ’s mentioned it before …
There ’s a mic in each earbud , which takes care of telephone and voice - assistant interaction . In both cases , intelligibility seems ok – so it ’s easy to have a conversation and/or to control your FW3 but by speaking .
you’re able to also exert a bit of influence using the FiiO Control app that ’s detached for Io and Android . There are no playback control here , admittedly – but what there is proves utile , and the app itself is clear and stable . It gives you an reading of electric battery life , verification of the codec take ( plus the ability to incapacitate any or all of the codecs the FW3 are compatible with ) , and select how long you ’d like the earbuds to stay powered up while they ’re motionless .
you could rick the LED on each earbud on or off , take Battery Protection ( switch over it on and the barrage fire will only ever charge to 85 % capacity ) and turn Game mode on or off . There ’s a 10 - band equaliser , allowing you quite a lot of influence on the speech sound , and a control to dress a maximum volume horizontal surface . There ’s even a Balance controller , which is something you do n’t see every day .
Sound Quality
All in - capitulum headphones , telegraph or radio , depend on the character of their burst when it come to healthy quality – and the FiiO FW3 are no different . In fact , they ’re one of the most fit - dependent pairs of in - pinna headphones I ’ve ever hear – and I ’ve discover my fair percentage .
So it ’s deserving taking just a little time to check that you ’ve got the most appropriate capitulum - crown impound , and that you ’ve dominate the twist and mesh fitment method before you rush to approximate . Because it ’s well-to-do to do these true radio receiver in - ears a disservice than it is with almost any alternative .
Once they ’re in good order position , there are aspect of the FW3 strait that are uncomplicatedly gratifying . With a 16 - bit/44.1kHz file of Handsworth Revolutionby Steel Pulse alongside , there ’s wad of point uncommitted throughout the frequency range and a nice sensation of unity to the presentation . consolidation of the frequency range is nice and even from top to bottom , and the soundstage the FW3 create is reasonably spacious and properly defined .
The top of the frequency has good lengthiness and spate of meaning to poise the nice levels of snack and attack that three-fold sounds bask . There ’s refulgence to the top end , but it ’s never surd or edgy – even at pregnant volume . Detail degree are in high spirits here , as they are everywhere , and the humiliated - level sympathetic variations that some less capable figure ignore are break due prominence by the FiiO.
The midrange , too , is informative and quite explicit . Certainly vocalists of every competence are throw full expression , and the amount of space the FW3 yield them on the soundstage means there ’s no hiding - station when it comes to character , commitment or emotional shape . No matter if it ’s the close - mic’d intimacies of Nick Drake ’s Which Willas a 24 - bit/96kHz file or the ranting on two chords of I am a Poseurby X - Ray Spex via Spotify , the FiiO communicate freely .
The bottom of the frequency range is a little more problematic , though . FiiO ’s claim for denotation down to 20Hz seem affirmative in the extreme point , and the small - frequency presence the FW3 create is tentative and altogether too civilized . There ’s a profound famine of puncher and ram to the way these earbuds deal with bass sounds , and while the low - last stuff they report is just as detailed as the rest of the frequency range it ’s sorely lacking in animation . There ’s something quite matter - of - fact about the way the FiiO address the lower relative frequency that saps rhythms of energy and drive .
And this is n’t facilitate in the flimsy by the FW3s ’ deficiency of dynamic impetus . Everything that occurs in a transcription , according to the FiiO , occurs at a set level of intensity and does n’t vary from there – not ever . The result , again , is a presentment that ’s short of animation and excitement – and the FW3 are an unengaging listen as a result .
The other major problem here has nothing to do with the direction the FW3 sound . The wireless joining between the two earbuds is n’t perfect – in fact , one or other of the earbuds will very briefly crackle or drop out as a topic of routine . It ’s not unlike the disruption that pass if you wander out of range of your source role player , except that it happens here when your smartphone or what - have - you is decently next to you .
Latest deals
Should you buy it?
FiiO has n’t shy away from trying to make the FW3 typical .
It ’s safe to say the FW3 do not .
Final Thoughts
You ca n’t attain the bull’s - eye every time , of row , but I admit I had start to think FiiO might be the exception to the rule . So I suppose it ’s good , in some room at least , that the FW3 are n’t the market - interrupt buy so many FiiO products are . That does n’t mean I ’m not disappoint though , obviously …
Trusted Score
How we test
We test every exercise set of earphone we review thoroughly over an extended period of time . We habituate industry stock tests to equate features properly . We ’ll always tell you what we find . We never , ever , accept money to survey a ware .
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FAQs
The FW3 support a stove of codecs that includes SBC , AAC , aptX , aptX Adaptive and LHDC codecs withLDAC
