The FiiO UTWS5 earbuds hook uses a combination of a DAC chip and a flagship bluetooth chip. After connecting to a mobile phone that support Snapdragon Sound mode, the combination of earbuds and FiiO UTWS5 bluetooth earbuds hook can achieve an effect close to the direct connection of wired earbuds to mobile phones. Most importantly, earbuds have become more portable while maintaining sound quality, and also support touch and call functions.
FiiO UTWS5 specs and features:
- Support aptX Adaptive
- Support Snapdragon Sound technology
- Support 24bit/96kHz audio files
- AK4332 professional DAC chip
- 0.78mm 2-pin MMCX connectors
- 8+22 hours of playback
- IPX4 waterproof rating
- $129 – Check latest price on: AliExpress, Amazon US, other Amazon countries
Appearance Design
The FiiO UTWS5 charging case is designed with a rounded square box, the top is a frosted metal upper cover, and the lower case is made of silicone-like material. The top of the charging case is only printed with the golden FiiO brand logo, which implements FiiO’s minimalist design language.
The lower shell of the charging case is made of silicone-like material, which is more skin-friendly. The upper cover and lower shell are also designed with grooves for fingers to open and close. Below the groove is an indicator light that indicates the working status of the device. The Type-C interface is designed on the back of the charging case.
The button for bluetooth pairing, with the left and right signs of L/R on the top, is convenient for users to distinguish the left and right ears.
The part of the FiiO UTWS5 control area is made of fine matte material, and the ear hook part is made of skin-friendly silicone material. Where it is connected to the earbuds, blue corresponds to the left channel of the earbud, and red corresponds to the right channel of the earbud.
The metal contacts for charging are designed on the back of the FiiO UTWS5 ear hook, and the L/R logo is also printed to facilitate users to distinguish the left and right ears.
The part of the earhook in contact with the ear is made of memory metal material, which can be individually adjusted to fit the ears of different users.
The microphone pickup hole on the back of the earbud hook is equipped with a fine dust-proof net to prevent foreign objects from entering the inside of the earhook. The microphone at the bottom of the earbud hook is used to realize the call function after the wired earphones are turned into bluetooth earbuds, and can also play the role of receiving ambient sound.
The button on the ear hook is used to provide control functions for the earphone after connecting the earphone. The inflatable MMCX interface of the ear hook, gold-plated design, reduces the loss of audio during transmission.
After actual measurement, the total weight of FiiO UTWS5 is about 123.5g. The weight of a single earhook is about 8.2g.
Comfort & Battery Life
The FiiO UTWS5 earbuds hook is ergonomically designed and weighs 8.2g. The use of skin-friendly material makes the earbuds comfortable and close to the ear when wearing, and the memory metal on the ear hook allows the earbuds to fit different ear shapes. The earbuds hook also supports IPX4 dust and water resistance, which is also suitable for sports wear.
In terms of battery life, the FiiO UTWS5 has a single battery life of about 8 hours, and the charging case can provide an additional 22 hours of battery life. FiiO UTWS5 also support wireless charging.
Wired charging test for FiiO UTWS5 bluetooth earbuds hook using a portable power tester. The charging voltage is about 4.96V, the charging current is about 0.57A, and the charging power is about 2.81W.
APP & Control
FiiO UTWS5 supports the use of “FiiO Control” or “FiiO Music APP” to customize various functions of the ear hook.
In the APP, you can turn on the charging protection, game mode, ambient sound level adjustment and other functions of the earhook. The ear hook supports 32-level independent volume control, and you can hear a relatively good sound even in the face of earbuds with large impedance. The independent volume control can not only control the volume of the earhook, but also control the volume of the prompt and the audio of the call.
The earbuds hook can turn wired earbuds into wireless earbuds, and the button on the back of the ear hook can control the phone. The operation method is as follows: short press twice to pause, tap once to play when paused. Short press the left earbud for volume -, short press the right earbud for volume +, long press the left earbud to switch to the previous song, long press the right earbud to switch to the next song.
Configuration & Listening Test
FiiO UTWS5 uses Qualcomm QCC5141 flagship bluetooth chip, supports Snapdragon Sound aptX™ Adaptive technology, can realize 24bit/96kHz audio file transmission, 32kHz ultra-wideband clear voice call capability, and ultra-low latency gaming experience.
In addition, the AK4332 professional DAC chip is also used. The output power reaches 38mW under 16Ω load and 33mW under 32Ω load, which can drive most of the small-sized HiFi earbuds on the market.
For listening tests, I used the FiiO FH1S earbuds. The earbuds are positioned as entry-level HiFi products, using a dynamic dual-unit combination. The moving iron part Knowles 33518 armature driver is used as a high-frequency output unit, and the dynamic is supported by a 13.6mm dynamic driver with a polymer composite diaphragm. In terms of parameters, the impedance of FiiO FH1S is 26Ω and the sensitivity is 106dB.
As an entry-level HiFi earbuds, FiiO FH1S has pure tri-frequency quality. In the accepted range, the mid-frequency of the earbuds is clear and clean, and the vocal position is at the back. Because the high frequency is the armature driver, the high frequency of earbuds is sweeter, but it will not extend excessively. The earbuds have relatively neat low frequency, less quantity, and quicker extension and rebound. Compared with earbuds at the same price, FiiO FH1S has the advantages of strong sound resolution, clear sound layers and high sound density.
I used three situations to compare the listening relationship between the earbuds hook and the earbuds: the first one is to connect the earbuds to the Questyle M15 amp and the computer to play music. The second is to connect the earbuds directly to the mobile phone after connecting the converter. The third is to connect the earbuds to the earbuds hook.
In the actual measurement, after the FiiO UTWS5 turns on the Snapdragon Sound function, the comparison of the same song “Hotel California” is close to the state of earbuds directly connected to the mobile phone. Because the ear-hook has a strong driving force and the earbuds are easier to drive, in these two cases, the earbuds hook state and the direct connection state only differ in the background detail sound. For example, the sound of the sand hammer is more obvious in the direct connection state, and it is still necessary to listen carefully in the ear-hook state.
In the earbuds hook state, there is a big gap compared to connecting the Questyle M15 amp, after all, the hardware gap of the device is there. The main difference between the earbuds hook state and the connected Questyle M15 amp is reflected in the sound field, low frequency quality and high frequency extension.
In general, if users want to switch their wired earbuds to wireless mode, and their daily listening to music mainly focuses on direct connection, they can consider using the FiiO UTWS5+earbuds combination mode, which can save money on the purchase of the player. After all, the introduction of Snapdragon Sound technology has enabled earbuds to transmit 24bit/96kHz audio files. For most audiophiles, 24bit audio resources are already the limit.
Check the FiiO UTWS5 price:
- Check latest price on AliExpress
- Check latest price on Amazon US
- Check latest price on other Amazon countries
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