Fiio X3 (third generation) review: For those who care about audio quality
since the rise of smartphones, the market for dedicated audio players
has reduced dramatically considering your phone allows you to not
only play audio files but also stream unlimited music from services like
Apple Music, Gaana, Saavn and so on. Even Apple has discontinued its
entire iPod lineup except for the iPod touch.
But over the last few years, with rising awareness of high-resolution audio
and reduction in price of Hi-Fi Digital Audio Players (DAP for short), people
are beginning to realize the benefits of a dedicated DAP. They can play
lossless audio files, have better amplifiers and DACs than flagship
smartphones, support expandable storage, and at the end of the day
sound better than most smartphones.
The Fiio X3 is the mid-range DAP in Fiio's lineup, slotting between
the budget X1 and the high end X5 and X7. The third generation X3 or X3 Mark
3 as Fiio calls it, offers a lot of improvements over the second generation
model including Bluetooth 4.1 connectivity, a touch sensitive scroll wheel,
dual DACs, balanced 2.5mm output and a sleeker, more refined design.
With its glass and aluminium construction, the Fiio
X3 Mark 3 looks and feels incredibly premium
The Fiio X3 uses dual high performance DACs and supports up to 256GB
microSD cards with no internal storage of any sort. The DAP has a 10 band
equalizer and supports almost all lossless and lossy audio formats (like mp3s).
Design
Fiio has come a long way in terms of design. From the all plastic days of
the Fiio E6 amplifier to the metal infused products that form a part of its
current product portfolio - Fiio has been constantly upping the game when
it comes to design and build quality.
With its glass and aluminium construction, the Fiio X3 Mark 3 looks and
feels incredibly premium - much more so than its predecessor. The build
quality is also spot on with the device surviving all the (numerous) drops it
encountered during my two months plus of use. The controls are laid out
ergonomically and all the buttons feel well made and of high quality. They
are slightly hard to press however and are a bit too recessed.
Display, slightly slow interface
The screen is a 2.3-inch TFT panel with a resolution of 320x240. It has
good colour reproduction, decent viewing angles and adequate
brightness. The screen is good enough for browsing the interface and
displaying album art - just don't expect the colours or crisp HD quality
associated with current smartphone displays.
Unlike the more expensive X5 and X7, the X3 is not a touch screen device.
Instead, it uses the tried and tested scroll wheel (remember the iPod
classic anyone?) to navigate. The new touch sensitive scroll wheel is
a major improvement over the mechanical scroll wheel in previous
generation Fiio players - it is fast, accurate and responds to the lightest touch.
The scroll wheel tends to be extra sensitive sometimes. Thankfully, you
can adjust the sensitivity to a level you are comfortable with. There is also
an extremely useful multi-function button located on the left side of the
device which can be used to play, pause, fast forward and even skip tracks
without needing to wake up the device.
The interface is logically laid out and you can browse your library either
through folders or through categories like album, artist and so on.
Browsing through the OS is relatively fast and hassle free although
sometimes the player does take 1-2 seconds to switch between tracks if
they are High Res FLAC files. The X3 does lag a little compared to the
previous generation X3 but it is not a deal breaker. Scanning the library
for files takes about 2-4 minutes which, while not being super-fast, is
still quite acceptable.
Bluetooth
The X3 uses the standard Bluetooth 4.1 protocol to connect with
your wireless headphones and speakers. It is a pity that being a
High-Res audio player, it doesn't have support for AptX which
supports uncompressed (mostly) audio streaming wirelessly.
As a result audio quality through Bluetooth is good but not
great - dynamic range, clarity and detail take a hit as
compared to audio through the headphone jack.
Switching on Bluetooth from the settings takes a good 5-6 seconds and
then it takes even longer for the X3 to actually find and pair with a
Bluetooth device - which becomes quite infuriating after a while.
Thankfully, the Bluetooth range is quite good and I experienced no
dropouts and stuttering during my use. It is indeed nice to have
Bluetooth functionality on a midrange DAP but as of now, it needs
a lot of work.
Sound Quality
With two DACs and a better amplifier than its predecessor, the X3 Mark 3
sounds much better than it should at this price point. The player provides
a well-balanced and detailed sound. It sounds rich and musical - but not
overly warm and bass heavy, with excellent clarity and instrument separation.
With good quality headphones, you will be able to hear every layer of music
individually with each instrument sounding distinct.
The X3 has excellent tonality and resolution with every little detail of the song
being reproduced exactly as it was intended to. The sound signature is smooth
and full bodied with equal emphasis on lows, mids and highs. The bass is
tight and well defined and the highs are crisp and precise without being sibilant.
The mids are prominent with vocals sounding forward and realistic. The
soundstage on offer is pretty wide and spacious but this heavily depends
on what headphones or earphones you are using.
With good quality headphones, you will be able to hear every layer of music
individually with each instrument sounding distinct
A balanced 2.5 mm port is also offered with which you can connect earphones
with a 2.5mm headphone jack like the Fiio F9. Through the balanced port,
the sound becomes a touch more detailed and refined with the bass
being more controlled and the treble sounding richer.
Using the line out functionality, you can even connect the X3 to an external
amplifier and bypass the internal amp. There is an option to select high or
low gain where high gain provides more output power and can be useful to
power high impedance headphones. With low impedance earphones though,
the low gain option provides sufficient volume and consumes less battery life.
Battery Life
The Fiio X3 Mark 3 is powered by a 2350 mAh battery which Fiio claims
can provide for 10 hours of battery life. In my testing I easily got around
10-11 hours of playback with wired headphones - at about 60% volume .
Switching on Bluetooth decreases the battery life by around 40 per cent.
The X3 also has a power saving standby mode and 'Deep Sleep'
functionality which provides 19 days of standby. The player uses
the age-old Micro-USB port to charge and a full charge takes
approximately 3 hours. A modern USB -Type C port would have
been appreciated.
Should you buy the Fiio X3 Mark 3?
If sound matters to you , the X3 provides excellent sound quality
with exceptional detail and clarity and a well balanced sound signature
. The sound quality along with Bluetooth functionality, a decent user
interface and a sleek and refined design make this one of the best
digital audio players at this price point.
Simply put - if you care about sound quality, buy the Fiio X3
(or even the cheaper Fiio X1). Listening to music from your
smartphone will never be tolerable again.
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