Disclaimer: FiiO has sent me a free sample of the unit as part of a giweaway
First I want to thank Fiio for the unit and for the pleasant communication throughout.
The product comes in a neatly packaged black and red box made of carton and laid inside on a plastic layout (I urge FiiO to not use plastic in the future in boxes as paper is environment friendly and presentation on a paper layout could be just a pleasing). Inside you get the unit itself and a small crocodile clip. Quite handy as the cable is 80cm long. The length of the cable could be a con or a pro, depending on use thats why I haven't put it pros/cons. I imagine if you have your iDevice such as iPad in the backpack the longer cable length could be beneficial.
The i1 itself has a good built quality. The cable is made of soft rubber and the jacket is metal. I have to point out here that I would like to see the metal jacket to have some sort of texture as it sometimes makes it hard to connect or disconnect a headphone because the smooth surface can be slippery. Rubberised jacket would not only have a better grip but would also protect from scratches and accidental drops.
Lightning connector is about a 1/3 bigger than Apple's original and the contacts are very nicely done.
Best part of the unit have to be the controls. Buttons are absolutely a pleasure to use, they have the perfect firmness to them and feedback is excellent. Its actually one big piece with standard volume/play controls that you would normally get with Apple earphones.
Now onto the sound.
I did briefly try it with an iPhone 5 but the battery on that thing is so bad that I couldn't extensively test it. But it works right out of the box and maybe on one out of every five tries I have to unplug them and plug them back in to make the sound play out of i1 instead of an iDevice. But if there is one thing the iPhone 5 was useful is that I have not noticed the battery to drain faster with i1 than without it. Quite impressive. The volume on the i1 is lower though than listening straight out of an iDevice, for about 15%.
I used iPad Air 2 to extensively compare the sound. The Air2 has a more energetic and dynamic sound which is what I like however for those wanting a more laid-back sound without sharper (less energetic) heights the i1 provides with a smoother, less aggressive sound. If I had to do a rough and quick comparison I would say the Air2 sounds like HD800 and i1 sounds like an HD600. Not in terms of technicality but in terms of overall sound signature.
Can't say much more about sound for certain but these are tiny devices that are made primarily for practical uses rather than for serious sound upgrade. Which brings me to conclusion and for who is the i1 made for.
If you are unhappy with your iDevice' sound then the i1 might be to your liking as it has a very different character. I see it to have the biggest use for iPhone 7 users who don't have headphone output or for those needing volume/play controls and microphone. The i1 is a very small and light unit and so versatile.
Camera was sitting on the desk powered on and I liked the angle so I took a shot. It shows the testing equipment I've used to review the i1, the AudioQuest Nighthawk and iPad Air 2
First I want to thank Fiio for the unit and for the pleasant communication throughout.
The product comes in a neatly packaged black and red box made of carton and laid inside on a plastic layout (I urge FiiO to not use plastic in the future in boxes as paper is environment friendly and presentation on a paper layout could be just a pleasing). Inside you get the unit itself and a small crocodile clip. Quite handy as the cable is 80cm long. The length of the cable could be a con or a pro, depending on use thats why I haven't put it pros/cons. I imagine if you have your iDevice such as iPad in the backpack the longer cable length could be beneficial.
The i1 itself has a good built quality. The cable is made of soft rubber and the jacket is metal. I have to point out here that I would like to see the metal jacket to have some sort of texture as it sometimes makes it hard to connect or disconnect a headphone because the smooth surface can be slippery. Rubberised jacket would not only have a better grip but would also protect from scratches and accidental drops.
Lightning connector is about a 1/3 bigger than Apple's original and the contacts are very nicely done.
Best part of the unit have to be the controls. Buttons are absolutely a pleasure to use, they have the perfect firmness to them and feedback is excellent. Its actually one big piece with standard volume/play controls that you would normally get with Apple earphones.
Now onto the sound.
I did briefly try it with an iPhone 5 but the battery on that thing is so bad that I couldn't extensively test it. But it works right out of the box and maybe on one out of every five tries I have to unplug them and plug them back in to make the sound play out of i1 instead of an iDevice. But if there is one thing the iPhone 5 was useful is that I have not noticed the battery to drain faster with i1 than without it. Quite impressive. The volume on the i1 is lower though than listening straight out of an iDevice, for about 15%.
I used iPad Air 2 to extensively compare the sound. The Air2 has a more energetic and dynamic sound which is what I like however for those wanting a more laid-back sound without sharper (less energetic) heights the i1 provides with a smoother, less aggressive sound. If I had to do a rough and quick comparison I would say the Air2 sounds like HD800 and i1 sounds like an HD600. Not in terms of technicality but in terms of overall sound signature.
Can't say much more about sound for certain but these are tiny devices that are made primarily for practical uses rather than for serious sound upgrade. Which brings me to conclusion and for who is the i1 made for.
If you are unhappy with your iDevice' sound then the i1 might be to your liking as it has a very different character. I see it to have the biggest use for iPhone 7 users who don't have headphone output or for those needing volume/play controls and microphone. The i1 is a very small and light unit and so versatile.
Camera was sitting on the desk powered on and I liked the angle so I took a shot. It shows the testing equipment I've used to review the i1, the AudioQuest Nighthawk and iPad Air 2