FW3 is the second model of TWS headphones from FiiO . The first model, FiiO FW5 , in general, received favorable reviews for the sound quality, but also a portion of criticism for the lack of active noise reduction and the plastic case, which did not really fit with the status of the flagship model. The headphones did not receive revolutionary technologies, but it uses most of the technologies of the older model and costs less.
FiiO FW3 received a 10 mm dynamic emitter. A well-tuned single speaker can handle all the audio frequencies you’ll hear with ease, so this isn’t much of a problem. FiiO aren’t new to setting up single-speaker headphones. In fact, some of their most popular wired headphones are single-speaker models like the FD5 and FD7. Imagine a pair of wireless headphones with similar speakers used in the FD5, but with its own AK4332 DAC chip, wireless support, microphone and remote control features, and you’ve got the FW3. At the time of writing, FW3 is limited to Aptx and LHDC codec support, LDAC support is promised in future firmwares.
Additional features can be adjusted using the Fiio control app if you wish to adjust the FW3’s sound curve using the equalizer. To use the 10-band EQ functionality, you need to download and run the Fiio control app from Google Play or the Apple App Store. It allows you to flexibly adjust the equalizer, and also has additional functions of post-processing and volume control.
The housings of the headphones are identical to the FW5 and have four mechanical buttons for controlling music, volume and calls.
Headphone autonomy when using LHDC is up to 5-6 hours, and up to 7 hours when using Aptx. The battery in the charging case provides four more full charges.
You get Fiio headphones with a harmoniously tuned balanced sound with an emphasis on bass, a slight increase in the upper mids for vocals and clarity of tone, completed with a moderate emphasis on high notes. At the same time, the expansion at both ends of the sound spectrum is surprising. Sound quality is consistent with full, balanced, smooth and expressive music sound right out of the box.
