FiiO, the brand based out of CHINA is a well known brand among the Audiophiles since they are one of the big expertise in the IEM, Cables, DAC AMPs segment. Their FH and FD series are known for their impressive sound quality while the K5 desktop grade Dac Amp is very famous too.
Rather than investing much in the TWS segment they thought differently to provide some high end Bluetooth adapters to give the freedom of using the favourite IEM wirelessly since audiophiles are not that positive towards the TWS. In order to bring that in reality they have introduced the UTWS3, their Bluetooth adapter which can turn your favourite IEM’s into an wireless IEM and in this review let’s check out how well this adapter performs in the real world.
Table of Contents
SPECIFICATIONS:
| OUTPUT POWER | 38mW（16Ωload） 25mW（32Ωload） |
| NOISE | ＜8μV |
| DRIVE ABILITY | 16~100Ω |
| THD+N | ＜0.06% |
| SNR | 100dBr”A“ |
| WORKING TIME | TWS+: 7hs Of Use Each Charge TWS: 5.5hs Of Use Each Charge Overall Battery Life 30h(4-5 Times Recharge From The Case) |
| OUTPUT IMPEDANCE | About 0.7Ω |
| CROSSTALK | 94dB |
| BALANCE | ≤0.5dB |
DESIGN AND FIT:
CASE: The case is completely made out of plastic but the quality of the plastic is made top notch. They feel premium in the hand. Even though they are made of plastic, there are no cracks or cheap feel. The lid is magnetically closed and gives that nice satisfying close. The case has a big adequate space for storing the IEM hence no need of worrying to plug out the IEM every time before placing them in the case. Has a nice led indicator on the front and USB C port on the back.
The adapters look sleek, slimmer and stylish. They don’t have that chunkiness rather they are slimmed down yet having that nice look overall. Feels premium in the hands and at the same time it has that nice feel of wearing. The ear guides are soft enough and the button control is placed in an accessible position hence one would not find it difficult to operate them. The buttons are tactile enough and soft to press. Has an IPX4 certification hence splashes of water on this unit are not an issue at all.
Fit wise they are nice but for my ears they are not the best since the ear guides don’t settle on my ears perfectly making them prone to fall during vigorous activities hence for workouts they are not a big go for me.
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SOUND:
The sound delivered by the UTWS3 is more on a neutral side with some slight bass boost. The bass boost is slightly done thus leaving the rest of the sound in the hands of the default nature of the IEM which is a pretty good thing considering most of the DSP in the TWO’s out there which has the boosted frequency presentation all over.
The UTWS3 has the SBC, AAC and AptX codec thus the resolution of the audio is not highly compromised. I have tested this with both the iPhone and Android and definitely the AptX plays a role in the audio output where in the android they definitely sound richer and the technicalities are slightly better compared to the connection via iPhone.
The UTWS3 is powerful enough to drive most of the IEM’s but definitely not the power demanding one like the planar and high impedance one’s. The power is rated at 38mW (16 ohms) 25mW (32 ohms) which is pretty decent for a Bluetooth adapter.
BASS: The bass here is slightly emphasized as I said before starting this review and mostly they are concentrated in the mid bass region. The slight hump in the mid bass gives that more fuller sound with nice texture and separation. Pairing some neutral to bright earphones would definitely benefit the IEM by providing engaging and fun sound to the table.
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The sub bass could have been boosted a bit to give that satisfying rumble and reach in the low end but overall pretty satisfied with the low end presentation.
MID RANGE: Surprisingly they don’t affect the tonality and timbre of the IEM thus the default nature of the IEM is nicely preserved. The midrange is presented well and forward accompanied with that nice mid bass hump making the sound fuller and thick enough for pleasing listening sessions.
The instruments are presented well with default timbre and the presentation feels nice and wide. The detail retrieval and the technicalities aspect are preserved and do sound better when compared to the same iem connected to some cheap dongle dacs.
The tonality sounds neutral and represents the nature of the IEM without any added colouration or masking. Overall the default signature of the IEM is represented well making this device a versatile one to be paired with any of the IEM that you wish.
TREBLE: The treble here is kept to the IEM’s default state without any sort of boosting or masking. The treble however could have been done better in such a way that the sibilance of the IEM are masked out but rather they are just amplified out hence IEM that suffer from the sibilance are not a very good pairing with this unit.
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The timbre of the instruments are however maintained pretty good which is near to the neutral signature of the IEM. If this adapter had been made to deliver a smoother treble section then it would have been even better but still considering the intention of this adapter to deliver a neutral and default signature of the IEM, the UTWS3 just does a fantastic job in the overall sound.
TECHNICALITIES: The technical aspect of the UTWS3 is above average considering the budget dongle dacs out there. Even though this is a Bluetooth device the technical aspect of this adapter is sublime. This is comparable to the wired counterparts and if not it’s a lot better than a lot of TWS out there.
The DSP’s out there are most of the mainstream TWS are not great when compared to the UTWS3 where a separate powerful AMP is present inside the UTES 3 namely TPA6140A2 instead of the usual QCC3020 series of amp.
Overall pretty impressed with its technical aspect where the staging, imaging, layering and detail retrieval are just above average when compared to the mainstream TWS out there making this adapter a must buy over the TWS itself to get an excellent audio output.
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CALL QUALITY:
The call quality has been fantastic via the UTWS3 where this has the best mic in this price range considering all the TWS out there. There are 2mics channels with noise cancelling features hence both the indoors and outdoors calls sound crisp and clean. The person at the opposite end can hear me clearly without any sort of disturbing wind noise.
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BATTERY LIFE:
The battery life is about 5 hours via each adapter and the case can charge the adapters 4-5 more times. The battery life is decent and not bad at all. Even though the competitors out there can provide some longer battery, the US5 just nails it in the department of sound and 5 hours is no slouch in the first place considering the power it outputs.
The case can be charged via Type C cable and no support for wireless charging.
App support:
The app has been designed pretty well with most of the customisations being made possible. The touch controls can be configured via the app and the firmware updates are made via the app too. The app shows the connectivity status, battery level and the sound eq presets.
However there is no individual band equaliser hence you are subjected to use only the included presets. But frankly I use the default sound profile which sounds way better than those presets.
CONNECTIVITY:
The adapter gets turned on just by opening the lid which is pretty good for the fast pairing process. The controls are based on buttons and not touch control which might look like a let down but frankly I liked the buttons on this adapter more since they are very tactile and soft to press hence no accidental touches.
Has Bluetooth 5.0 hence the range and the connection stability is pretty good.
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VERDICT:
UTWS3, it’s an older offering from FiiO since the CWS5 has already launched, hence you can get some good discounts on this older model and considering this fact the UTWS3 is just a sublime package overall.
The form factor, features and the sound just makes this package an all rounded product. The farom factor is pretty neat where the case has adequate space for accommodating most of the IEM, the adapters themselves look sleek, nice tactile and soft press button controls, the ear guides are good enough to wear and the sound they deliver is just outstanding considering the mainstream TWS out there.
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They provide a nice neutral sound with slight mid bass hump and the technical aspects they deliver are above average for a Bluetooth device. This sound output will just make the user reconsider their negative opinions about the wireless audio products.
The adapters are available in both 2 pin and MMCX format but the con is that you can’t change the termination in the existing one. The call quality via this adapter is top notch and connectivity is just on point. Battery life is pretty good giving a nice 5 hours of blissful listening in one single stretch.
The fit is an issue for me and it depends on the iem that you are using and the based on one’s ear shape hence for rigorous workout sessions they may not be that great in terms of fit.
Overall the UTWS3 is just a solid purchase for anyone looking to buy a TWS. The Bluetooth adapters are the future of TWS and i believe in that since it gives us the freedom of using our favourite pair of ITEMS to be used as wireless for convenience and in that regards the UTWS3 made this statement even more promising by providing some outstanding performance and its definitely the MODULAR KING in the Bluetooth arena!
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PROS AND CONS:
PROS:
- Neutral Signature with Slight Bass boost
- Individual Amp Section
- Aptx and Ble 5.0
- Design and Practicality
- App Support
- Battery Life
CONS:
- Lack of Parametric EQ
- Non detachable connector
This Review is Written By KATHIRAVAN.C
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I’m Kathiravan from Tamilnadu. A budding audiophile here with high love towards music and audio equipment. My first experience of enjoying the hifi audio came when I started to use budget chi-fi gears and now it came all along the way of reviewing the gears with high end stuffs. I love reviewing audio products.
Shubham
Shubham Garg (Editor Shubz.in) is an engineer with a specialization in Mechanical Engineering from AKTU, Uttar Pradesh. Being a mechanical engineer he has always loved to learn the inner working of various machines and consumer electronics. He regularly tests various audio, home appliances, and daily use products, to provide the best advice to readers. He is a wizard that can make your shopping easy, saving you time and stress of figuring out what to buy.
