Verdict
The FiiO SP3 BT are elaborated and all the way - fathom speakers that can fit into all form of home office scenarios . They are small but hefty - sounding , have heaps of cabled and wireless connectivity options , and the bass dial on the back can move like low - fuss room chastening . They sound sparky rather than electroneutral and would be better without the hissy noise bed , but they pair beautifully with a laptop or background PC .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The FiiO SP3 BT are plucky little utterer made to accompany a laptop or desktop personal computer . But they could be the right burst for a whole consignment of other position .
These are active speakers , mean there ’s an amplifier within , and they supportBluetooth wireless transmissiontoo .
In typical FiiO fashion , the SP3 BT are prominently tough and have a smashing gap of characteristic . That let in a full array of supported codecs , include aptX HD and aptX Adaptive .
How do they fathom ? dependable , although studio apartment monitor lizard - like disinterest is n’t the aim . The FiiO SP3 BT instead have quite pronounced treble , for a detail - forward and sparky impression . And the degraded and , for the speakers ’ size of it , punchy bass is a joy . Mids do n’t get the same variety of attention , though , so ensure the dash is a match for your predilection . The slight bottom of hissy noise will get on some ethnic music ’ nerves too .
Do n’t necessitate radio ? you could deliver a chunk of change by buying the stock FiiO SB3 , without Bluetooth .
Design
FiiO bang alloy . Almost all the FiiO merchandise I ’ve reviewed have been made of the stuff , in decree to exude the sense of tough shape lineament you might not gestate from what was traditionally considered a budget or time value - led brand .
The FiiO SP3 BT have tough metal casing , with a sort - of corrugated outcome to twice reinforce how severely they look . As a result , these speakers are far heavier than the otherwise jolly similar plasticKanto Oraspeakers I review recently .
There ’s no optional lattice here , so the woofer driver are exposed to the elements , and young kids ’ probing digit . But the far more slight tweeter sensibly sits behind a sheet of tough metal armour .
All that ridge alloy and the carbon fiber weave of the speaker driver supply up to an aggressive look not everyone will appreciate . We ’re miles off the Scandi minimalism of the Kanto Ora . But they utterly are flyspeck , hard and — as far as I can tell — well construct .
The FiiO SP3 BT also only require one power adapter . A lace cable connects the left talker to the right one , which is home to all the connector , include the power socket .
Here we see another classic FiiO trait : using thick woven cable to , again , endeavor to bring a sense of eminent shape quality .
There is also an light-emitting diode strip at the bottom of the speaker . This can expose different semblance to signify the source presently in use : Bluetooth , USB , ocular and so on .
you may see the diffusor by just pick up a FiiO SP3 BT unit of measurement , as the cartilaginous bottom is promiscuous , permit you see the credit card diffusor bed . It ’s only designed like this because some folk will want to use a speaker system - shift rubber wedge base rather of the thin and 2-dimensional one you see here .
The LED strip looks neat and is handy . And , yes you could dim it or flip-flop it off entirely . A push on the back of the right verbaliser toggle it , while the FiiO mobile app has an intensity skidder . It ’s not going to get on your nerves if you care gambling or listening to music in a darker room .
I would have preferred some shape of control on the front , though . To swop between sources you have to turn over around the back to conjure a button . And you might call for to do that fairly often if you need to utilise the FiiO SP3 BT for both laptop audio and to play music from your phone . An easy - to - reach volume control would be welcome too .
Features
The FiiO SP3 BT have a adept spread of physical connection as well as the alternative of Bluetooth . There ’s a coax input , optical , a dyad of classical stereo RCA connectors and a 3.5 mm aux input .
You ’ll likely want to expend the USB - ascorbic acid connector for a personal computer , though . This plough the FiiO SP3 BT into a sound card , flow the verbalizer a pure digital signal .
The Bluetooth wireless side is even more impressive in its comprehensiveness . As well as good old SBC and AAC , the FiiO SP3 BT financial support aptX HD , aptX Adaptive andLDAC , for truly gamy - timber cyclosis even though we ’re using Bluetooth .
What we do n’t get , though , is another form of non - Bluetooth wireless cyclosis . The rival Kanto Ora utilise a dongle for super low reaction time wireless transmission , and that ’s just not potential here .
However , the app does let you manually select the codec used , should you desire to try for the practiced latency result .
The FiiO SP3 BT are not at all for portable use , despite their diminutive size of it . There ’s no assault and battery at heart , and their 24V laptop - way adapter is passably chunky . They are rather made to not take up too much space . There are quite tiny .
Sound Quality
The FiiO SP3 BT have a 3.5 - inch woofer , a 56 mm silk dome tweeter and a bass port on the back . This is a traditional arrangement that , unlike most lifestyle Bluetooth speakers , does n’t have a peaceful radiator to increase bass profoundness and output .
As such , the FiiO SP3 BT are incapable of interpret much in ace - low sub - bass region . Despite that , I mean the bass might be my favourite component of these speakers ’ auditory sensation .
It ’s punchy and fast , with a taut decomposition that avoids any sense of flabbiness . If you buy the FiiO SP3 BT you should also inquire the bass pommel around the back . You might consider this manual room chastisement as I institute these speakers sound better with the basso dial back a reasonable amount in my trial position , near the corner of a small - to - mid - size room .
This bass mastery is well designed enough to even at the full -8dB place the FiiO SP3 BT do n’t vocalise tenuous or bass - free . A declared bass part floor of 65Hz tells you everything you necessitate to roll in the hay about the limits here : there ’s no torpedo - bass .
triple is the clear focus of the FiiO SP3 BT character , though . These speaker have quite enounce , searching treble that drive to institute crystalline limpidity to music . The telling part is they do this without introduce obtrusive cruelty or sibilance .
FiiO makes a sight of noise about the tweeter ’s power on its website , punctuate its wide oftenness range ( down to 800Hz ) , so a good chunk of the budget may have break down into this driver .
I do n’t think it has the transparency and sweetness of a great electrostatic tweeter , for example , but if you delight a brighter audio signature , you ’ll love the FiiO SP3 BT .
Between these two strength areas , the mids do not seem all that equal to of gaining much attention . The mids are not vacuous , but it ’s a classic caseful of the treble having so much energy that it naturally dominates in representing detail to your ear .
you may modify this a niggling in the FiiO SP3 BT app , which has a 10 - band parametric EQ . However , after boil down the treble a little in one seance , I found it sound a bit too much like an obviously EQ’d inflect the next day and switch it back to the default . And , well , if you are n’t plot for the treble - forward way you in all probability should n’t be weigh the FiiO SP3 in the first stead .
There ’s another black Gospel According to Mark against the FiiO SP3 BT everyone should consider . These speaker ’ amplifier electrical circuit is not the quiet . There is a randomness floor , a thin hiss , that is noticeable because of the near - field way you typically expend these speaker system .
While there ’s a class of noise gating , the hiss popping out of creation a few seconds after they ’re left without any audio recording to play ( likely the amp circuit reverting to standby ) , I feel it disappointing in speakers of this level .
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Should you buy it?
Like a shrunk down studio monitor , these FiiO speakers can fit on little desks , no problem . They depend correctly even next to a pocket-sized laptop computer .
The FiiO SP3 are quite soprano and detail - centric , which does n’t give them an solely neutral step , even if reasoned snobs may still savor it plenty . There ’s also a slim hissy stochasticity bed , which some will hate .
Final Thoughts
The FiiO SP3 BT are speakers ideally place to survive in habitation office , stake dens or laptop cubby mess . They ’re small-scale but brawny , and can be plug into all sort of sources and plug into to your phone wirelessly too .
They sound smashing too , but have a specific style rather than one aimed at flat , pro studio - alike presentation . need a high contingent sound that also take taut freshwater bass ? You ’ll get on with the FiiO SP3 BT .
Those who think the mids are the heart and soul of any speaker ’s sound , hate boo , or who require verbalizer for mastering audio , may want to think other option .
Trusted Score
How we test
We screen every wireless utterer we retrospect thoroughly over an extended period of time . We apply industriousness standard tests to equate feature film the right way . We ’ll always tell you what we find . We never , ever , have money to critique a product .
discover out more about how we test in ourethics policy .
FAQs
There ’s no 2.4GHz dongle , and all wireless transmission takes place over Bluetooth .
There are two translation of this speaker , the non - wireless SP3 and the SP3 BT with Bluetooth wireless .
They are 165 mm improbable .
