FiiO FW5: Fully wireless earphones promise high playback quality thanks to Qualcomm chip

Audio specialist FiiO is offering new and completely wireless earphones in the FW5. Although currently unavailable at Amazon, HiFiGO has the earphones listed at US$243.07.

The FiiO FW5 are completely wireless earphones with particularly high audio quality, according to the manufacturer. 10 millimeter dynamic drivers are installed for the low and medium frequencies and two BA drivers are used for high frequencies - one for each channel. According to FiiO, this means that sounds at 16 kHz can still be reproduced clearly and distinctly.

Wireless transmission is handled by a Qualcomm QCC5141 Bluetooth chip, which should enable a stable, high-quality connection at all times. Bluetooth formats such as LHDC and aptX Adaptive are also supported. The AK4332 DAC is said to be able to achieve a signal-to-noise ratio of up to 106 dB, a dynamic range of up to 102 dB and distortion of just 0.0016 percent.

In contrast to most other fully wireless in-ear headsets, FiiO does not use touch surfaces, but rather two physical buttons per ear, which should prevent incorrect inputs. The total battery life is stated as up to 21 hours: as is often the case, this applies to interim charging with the included charging case. The headphones themselves should last up to 5.5 hours. LED displays are installed. Two microphones are installed in each case, which should reduce bothersome background noise during conversations. However, the model does not have active noise suppression in regard to sound reproduction.

Alternative: Buy the FiiO FH3 at Amazon.