If audio quality is what you&
plugs039;re looking for, these earphones need to be heard out. Having reviewed the F9, and absolutely loving its design, we found the look of the FB1 to not be as pleasing to our taste. For the battery to be topped up, the earphones require just a couple of hours of charge.The FiiO FB1 is a pair of white in-ear monitors with silver accents that look pretty chunky.The FiiO FB1 is priced in India at Rs 2,990 and for the price, we feel that these earphones offer great audio quality, battery life, and feature set, albeit at a slightly higher price. When it comes to purchasing earphones, the most important factor considered is the audio performance and the style. These drivers are claimed to be tuned for popular music genres thereby giving us ample bass and reaching highs. Additionally, the build quality of the cable and the intermittent loss in connection needs to be addressed too.The FiiO FB1 comes with 13mm dynamic drivers which are quite large for an in-ear monitor.(Source). They come powered by a 110mAh battery and with continuous usage at about 70 per cent volume, they lasted us about 7 hours.The battery life here is pretty good.These in-ear monitors come with support for aptX support, which does a great job of compressing and decompressing music.
This casing appears to be sturdy and adding rubber makes the buttons feel quite tactile. With that being said, when the connection is good, they work great as long as the source is in line with the earphones. While the market may be dominated by the likes of Apple, Sennheiser, Bose, JBL, and the other big names, smaller brands are continuing to disrupt the market with their own offerings that are definitely worth considering. So those who purchase these earphones, don’t be disappointed when you first fire them up, give them some time they will start to sound a lot better. The bass thereafter was well balanced while having a good extension and sufficient impact. With the price of wireless earphones dropping ever so significantly, a lot of smaller players are launching products that feature great audio performance along with style. A nice touch here is that the charging port has a flap that prevents external elements such as dust or sweat from seeping in. However, FiiO hasn’t left Apple out completely — it comes with support for the AAC codec.A handy feature here is that these earphones support connecting two smartphones/devices simultaneously; this helps in negating the time it requires to pair with either device. To simplify this, the FiiO FB1 is capable of delivering high-quality audio wirelessly. These earphones come with Qualcomm Bluetooth CSR8645 chip that is claimed to offer greater stability and compatibility in high-quality music # from a distance as much as 20 metres. However, though the connection to the in-line remote look secure, we feel that tugging the cable accidentally or getting them snagged on some gym equipment may pull the wires apart. However, the overall build quality of the casing could have been better.The FiiO FB1 was tested on both iOS and Android phones and one issue we faced was the intermittent loss of connection. If you are looking for a pair of earphones that offer great audio quality and can ignore the slight Bluetooth connection issues, then you will get headphones that can deliver truly great sound. The sub-bass has a lot of emphasis without them spilling on over to the mids; this was especially apparent in genres such as Rock and Hip-Hop. So, by FiiO adding this feature, we hope to get a better output than most of the competition that’s currently available in the market.
As for the in-line unit itself, it’s made of a combination of plastic and rubber, with the controls made from the latter material. The packaging is somewhat similar to that is usually found with Apple accessories giving it a minimal yet stylish appearance. The design does not allow the earbuds to enter deeper into the canal, allowing ambient noise to seep in too. Considering the Bluetooth module has been made by Qualcomm, we expected them to not have this issue. We take a look at the FB1 to see if their ambition holds true or if you should give these in-ear monitors a pass. Recently the brand launched the FB1 and its main USP is that it features large 13mm drivers, ability to support aptX and sport a design that looks modern and minimalistic. With this feature in tow, we can experience a significantly reduced amount of latency in comparison to other codecs. The largest drivers are found on the Sony MDR 7750 and they have 16mm drivers, but they cost a whole lot more.The FiiO FB1 comes in a minimalistic packaging that includes the earphones, a USB charging cable, a warranty card, a user manual, a pouch, and different sized ear tips. It was flat and the bass had absolutely no thump.While the overall build quality may not be to our liking, the feature set is pretty decent. While we were not initially impressed with the audio quality, after the burn-in was a different story.
The vocals sound clear and instrumentals are amply audible giving it an overall spacious soundstage. We then gave it a burn-in for a few days and that’s when the quality of the earphones started to shine. Though the earphones remain secure in the ear, the earpiece does not extend deep into the canal, and because of this, you may not get the optimal sound that the 13mm drivers can produce.FiiO is quickly becoming a brand that needs one to stop and take notice. This, in fact, goes out to all earphones where a burn-in period will help them sound better in time. In the recent past, they have launched products such as the F9 and the FH1 which produce great audio quality and yet being pocket-friendly.
The brand’s aspiration is to raise the reputation of ‘Made in China’ as they claim to offer innovation, quality, and service. Flashy in-ear headphones with great audio quality. With that being said, looks are subjective and people might find these earphones to look pleasant. Unfortunately, there is no fast charge support here. As far as the mids go, we found a lot of distinction and they weren’t drowned out by the thumping bass or the sparkling highs. The ear units by itself are pretty sturdy and coming with ear hooks, these can be worn for extended periods of time while running or workouts without the worry of them popping out.The earphones come with seriously slim cables and this is not necessarily a bad thing.At first, when we powered on these earphones, the audio quality was less than impressive. aptX is only found on a few flagship Android handsets and iPhones don't support for it for now