FiiO FB1 review: In-ear monitors with a touch of flair

When it comes to purchasing earphones, the most important factor considered is the audio performance and the style. 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. 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.

FiiO is quickly becoming a brand that needs one to stop and take notice. 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. 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. The brand’s aspiration is to raise the reputation of ‘Made in China’ as they claim to offer innovation, quality, and service. 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.

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. The packaging is somewhat similar to that is usually found with Apple accessories giving it a minimal yet stylish appearance.

The FiiO FB1 is a pair of white in-ear monitors with silver accents that look pretty chunky. Having reviewed the F9, and absolutely loving its design, we found the look of the FB1 to not be as pleasing to our taste. With that being said, looks are subjective and people might find these earphones to look pleasant. 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. 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. The design does not allow the earbuds to enter deeper into the canal, allowing ambient noise to seep in too.

The earphones come with seriously slim cables and this is not necessarily a bad thing. 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.

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. This casing appears to be sturdy and adding rubber makes the buttons feel quite tactile. 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, the overall build quality of the casing could have been better.

The FiiO FB1 comes with 13mm dynamic drivers which are quite large for an in-ear monitor. The largest drivers are found on the Sony MDR 7750 and they have 16mm drivers, but they cost a whole lot more. 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. These drivers are claimed to be tuned for popular music genres thereby giving us ample bass and reaching highs.

These in-ear monitors come with support for aptX support, which does a great job of compressing and decompressing music. With this feature in tow, we can experience a significantly reduced amount of latency in comparison to other codecs. aptX is only found on a few flagship Android handsets and iPhones don't support for it for now. However, FiiO hasn’t left Apple out completely — it comes with support for the AAC codec. To simplify this, the FiiO FB1 is capable of delivering high-quality audio wirelessly.

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. 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.

While the overall build quality may not be to our liking, the feature set is pretty decent.

The FiiO FB1 was tested on both iOS and Android phones and one issue we faced was the intermittent loss of connection. Considering the Bluetooth module has been made by Qualcomm, we expected them to not have this issue. With that being said, when the connection is good, they work great as long as the source is in line with the earphones.

At first, when we powered on these earphones, the audio quality was less than impressive. It was flat and the bass had absolutely no thump. We then gave it a burn-in for a few days and that’s when the quality of the earphones started to shine. 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. This, in fact, goes out to all earphones where a burn-in period will help them sound better in time. 

While we were not initially impressed with the audio quality, after the burn-in was a different story. The bass thereafter was well balanced while having a good extension and sufficient impact. 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. 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 vocals sound clear and instrumentals are amply audible giving it an overall spacious soundstage.

The battery life here is pretty good. They come powered by a 110mAh battery and with continuous usage at about 70 per cent volume, they lasted us about 7 hours. For the battery to be topped up, the earphones require just a couple of hours of charge. Unfortunately, there is no fast charge support here.

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. Additionally, the build quality of the cable and the intermittent loss in connection needs to be addressed too. 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.

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