The FiiO FW5 was kindly provided free of charge in exchange for an honest review. I didn’t receive monetary or any other kind of compensation and I don’t use affiliate links. The price of the FiiO FW5 is $150 and you can buy it from FiiO.eu.
FiiO FW5
The FiiO FW5 is a specially developed fully-integrated TWS designed with a high-end QCC5141 Bluetooth chipset from Qualcomm.
It features a three-driver hybrid configuration with a full-frequency DLC Diaphragm dynamic driver and two high-frequency Knowles RAD BA drivers on each side.
The FiiO FW5 features a 10mm dynamic driver for the low – mid frequencies and two balanced armature for the highs.
The fully integrated HiFi architecture of the FW5 brings HD Bluetooth connectivity with a top-level Bluetooth chipset, professional AKM DAC chipset, precisely adjusted crossover circuit, and top-quality drivers, all this ensures the best-in-class experience with unparalleled sound clarity and impressive Bluetooth connectivity.
With the help of Qualcomm’s latest QCC5141 Bluetooth processor, FiiO FW5 supports all the latest high-resolution Bluetooth codes SBC/AAC/aptx/aptx Adaptive/LHDC and LDAC. It supports high-res 24Bit/96kHz sampling rate streaming. The Qualcomm chip also offers a multi-point connection for up to 2 devices at the same time.
Independent audio architecture
The FiiO FW5 features an AK4332 high-performance DAC chipset from AKM Technologies. It enables stronger decoding capacity, presenting the listeners with top-quality sound performance. The circuit of the FW5 continued the design concept of DAC and headphone amplifiers which feature an independent volume control system. There are 32 volume levels, allowing for a more precise adjustment. When connecting the FW5 to the mobile phone (transmitter), it is suggested to set the volume of the phone (transmitter) to the maximum level, and adjust the volume through the FW5, so you can acquire complete audio dynamics from the Bluetooth transmission process and better sound quality.
As the first TWS earphones fully developed by FiiO, for the FW5 they did not put their focus on features such as active noise canceling (ANC). Instead, FiiO focused on bringing the ultimate in sound quality in a fully integrated TWS earphone. And while it is easy to adjust the frequency response curve via DSP, they chose not to do so. They instead chose to refine the physical design of the unit to reduce distortion, retain the unique sound of the drivers – to maximize the sound quality through good design to fully respect the original music.
In order to provide the user with excellent clarity and resolution during voice calls, FiiO has equipped the FW5 with the latest-generation cVc noise-cancellation technology using dual silicone microphones. Call quality was reported as crystal clear and clean.
Appearance and fit
Readers familiar with the FiiO FiiO FD5 or FD7 earphones will definitely notice a resemblance, the FW5 follows the same design language and is just slightly bigger than its wired counterparts. The FW5 is not that bulky for a TWS earphone and additionally it is very lightweight, weighting 6.4g, because of the plastic construction. They are super comfortable and they literally disappear to the point that you will forget that you are wearing them. They are also IPX4 water resistant certified so they can be used at the gym or during outdoors workout. The charging case is also compact sized and lightweight and despite being made from plastic it proved to be durable and scratch resistant.
Battery duration
The FW5 is equipped with a 60mAh battery on each earpiece and a 380mAh battery on the charging case. The earpieces played continuously for about 6 hours on a single charge with the aptX codec and the volume set about 80% of its maximum value. The charging case allowed for about three extra full charges to the earbuds. Four white LEDs in front of the case act as the battery life indicators.
Accessories
The FiiO FW5 comes equipped with two sets of ear-tips, balanced and FiiO’s HS18, in three sizes each, a USB charging cable and a cleaning brush. The HS18 eartips are very comfortable but they make the overall sound signature leaner, bass light and slightly mid-forward. The FiiO SK+FW5 carrying case is separately available for $10.
The FiiO control application
The FW5 is compatible with the FiiO control application which allows the user to adjust various parameters and perform OTA firmware updates. The application supports a 10-band parametric equalizer and many other settings, like Bluetooth codec preferences, low pass filter selection etc. One notable option is that you can limit battery charging to 85% in order to extend its lifespan.
User interface
Based on user feedback from the UTWS Bluetooth series, the development team chose to employ 2 physical buttons per ear unit for operation. The 2 physical buttons make it easier to control play and pause of the current track compared to the traditional 1-button setup. In addition, the 2 buttons are placed perpendicularly to the wearing angle making them easier to press without resorting to too much force. I much prefer physical buttons rather than touch panels because they are more unlikely to accidentally press while you fit the earshells and they offer a much simpler user interface . For a detailed explanation of the various functions please visit the FiiO website.
Wireless connectivity
The Bluetooth connection is really stable and I didn’t experience any disconnections or stuttering audio. I watched a couple of movies on Netflix without any significant latency. There is also a dedicated gaming mode that lowers latency and can be enabled from the FiiO control application.
Listening impressions
As per usual practice I left the FW5 playing music for about 100 hours. The FiiO FW5 doesn’t have a volume limiter and the independent audio architecture allows them to get very loud, reaching full dynamics like a cabled set.
The FiiO engineering team did a pretty good job at giving the FW5 a popular V-shaped tuning but with more audiophile standards than most of the competition. The sound is musical and engaging with a mostly natural timbre and great technicalities for the category. With the FiiO FW5 you can have absolutely great fun listening to modern tunes and at the same time go through some classical tracks without compromising too much in tonal accuracy. The three drivers are well integrated so the sound is cohesive and homogeneous without much of an artificial timbre, not in the mids nor in the treble.
Sub-bass extension is really great and then the bass is moderately emphasized up to the mid-bass but without causing any bloating or bleeding to the mid-range which sounds very clean and well defined. The sound is warmish but not dark or veiled, the bass is clear and well defined, fast and sufficiently layered with some great dynamics and excellent physical impact from the 10mm dynamic driver. The bass is full bodied and weighty while you can always use the HS18 ear-tips for taming the mid-bass and get a more neutral low-end tuning but the texture will become a little leaner and drier.
The mid-range is slightly recessed with a given prominence to the upper mid-range. Despite that, the FW5 is not aggressive but it is rather smooth and full sounding with good clarity , transparency, excellent vocal intensity and a mostly realistic instrumental timbre. The treble is extended, crisp and lively with plenty of energy but it doesn’t become harsh or bright. The FW5 is surprisingly resolving and refined, it sounds clean, airy and transparent enough especially when considering that it is a TWS earphone that suffers from the lossy nature of the Bluetooth transmission. The treble timbre is not as natural as in the mids and lows but still far from sounding artificial and metallic.
The FiiO FW5 really excels in the soundstage presentation, it is very wide and open sounding with plenty of air around the instruments and great positioning accuracy for a TWS earphone. It can tackle symphonic works with ease and reward the listener with a grand and quite holographic soundscape.
The design choices of the FiiO engineering team paid well as they managed to make a TWS earphone with a sound quality that is close to that of a well amped wired earphone of the same category. The FiiO FW5 is cleverly tuned to match with most kinds of music and appeal to a wide target of listeners while maintaining a strong technical performance to satisfy people with more audiophile criteria.
Compared to the FiiO FW3 ($100)
The FiiO FW3 is a stripped down version of the FW5 with only one dynamic driver per side but with the exact same audio architecture regarding the electronics and topology used and they also look pretty much identical except for the color. The attentive reader will also notice that the notification LEDs are positioned at the upper part of the FW3, the finish is of higher quality on the FW5 and their cases have a slightly different shape.
Functionality, user interface and accessories are exactly the same for both earphones except the cleaning brush that is missing from the FW3 which also comes in a much simpler and compact package.
Their overall sound signature is quite close, they share the same kind of tuning but the FW5 has a more aggressive V-shaped curve with deeper sub-bass and a little more boosted bass, more recessed mid-range and a clearly emphasized upper mid-range and treble. As expected there are also differences regarding the technical performance where the FW5 has the upper hand. The FW3 is not that refined and resolving in the mids and the treble, the FW5 is more airy and extended with sharper definition, better clarity, increased transparency and detail retrieval while it is also more controlled and tight in the bass. The FW5 is also wider sounding by a fair margin with better imaging and grander presentation. Two very competitive TWS earphones by FiiO with emphasis on the sound quality alone, the FW3 is an excellent budget option while spending the extra $50 for the FW5 will buy you better technicalities and a slightly different tuning.
In the end
The FiiO team were pretty clean with the marketing of the FW5. They wanted to make an affordable TWS earphone solely concentrated in sound quality without adding something that could compromise the project. And they have greatly succeeded in doing so because the FiiO FW5 offers surprisingly high audio standards while keeping size compact, weight low and functionality simple. The truth is that for the same amount of money you can buy another TWS set with ANC but you will be hard pressed to find something as good sounding as the FiiO FW5 which represents an innovation as its audio performance closely matches that of a wired earphone of the same category with a separate DAC/amp.
Copyright – Petros Laskis 2023.
+ Excellent sound quality for the category + Fun and entertaining tuning + Great bass extension with good technicalities + Good levels of overall transparency and resolution + Loud and dynamic with good physical impact + Wide and spacious soundstage + Good passive noise attenuation + Excellent call quality + Lightweight and comfortable + Customizable through the FiiO control application + Stable connection with low latency + Good build quality and IPX4 certification + Physical buttons + Lightweight charging case - No active noise cancellation - Rather short battery duration - Doesn't support aptX HD - The case feels fragile and plastic
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