[xSDMx]

In your phone's bluetooth setting, are you connected to the right earbud? This exact thing happened to me when I flashed. I had to disconnect from the left bud, reconnect with the right bud before going into FiiO app and flashing the right earbud.

Thanks for jumping in to help! No-go, unfortunately. I see "FiiO UTWS3 R" in my Bluetooth pairing options and when I try to re-connect, it'll immediately disconnect within a few seconds. I even tried clearing all my phone's bluetooth settings and also doing a factory reset via the UTWS3 case button. When I went back through the FW flashing process after connecting to the UTWS3 R via the app, the app actually prompted the Android system Bluetooth pairing dialogue. But, after re-pairing, it would disconnect and the firmware update would again hang. Bummer!

 

[Ocelitgol]

@FiiO @FiiO Willson Finally got my UTWS3 today from Amazon US and... I think they're bricked. I immediately followed the firmware update instructions after unboxing them and was able to successfully flash UTWS3L from V0.2.45 to V0.2.46. I repeated the same procedure on UTWS3R and the progress bar was stuck on full with no confirm nor cancel button in the update UI. Panicked, I closed and re-opened the app. Tried power-cycling the adapters, case, my phone, tried a reset, etc. all to no avail. I even tried doing a local firmware update using both the V0.2.45 and V0.2.46 bin. It'll let me connect to the UTWS3R via the FiiO Control app just fine and will show it as running V0.2.45, but it won't let me flash any firmware (the UI always hangs per previous) and I can't actually use it for any media. Super frustrating.

stupid question, but how long did you wait before "panicked, closed and reopen"? it might take sometime to start (i.e. the progress bar to start counting/appearing)
how about deleting the app's data or reinstall the app and try again? (just throwing ideas out there)

 

[xSDMx]

stupid question, but how long did you wait before "panicked, closed and reopen"? it might take sometime to start (i.e. the progress bar to start counting/appearing)
how about deleting the app's data or reinstall the app and try again? (just throwing ideas out there)

Good ideas! Never stupid questions, appreciate the help working the problem and troubleshooting.

I waited five minutes until they auto-shutoff. Also tried uninstalling and reinstalling. No-go.

FWIW I have these weird LE UTWS3 BT devices that show up for pairing, the UTWS3L and then the UTWS3R will only show if I re-pair through the app but won't stay connected. This is on a Pixel 4 XL running Android 11.

Very odd. I suspect something happened when the UTWS3R was being flashed with the new firmware leaving it now in an inoperable diagnostic mode.

Separately, as a funny bug, I also observed that the progress bar has its UI input enabled and I was actually able to "drag" the progress bar up and down. Gotta love software!

At this point, I've spent a few hours troubleshooting, so unless @FiiO Willson chimes in with something magical we're not thinking of here, I imagine they need to be re-flashed using some special equipment and I'll return them as such. I'll hold off on returning until @FiiO Willson is timezone active and has a chance to take a look.

Thanks for the ideas here! Bummer that I can't use these right now, but they look beautiful and are very comfortable. The case is smaller than I imagined. I'm definitely excited to get a working pair!

 

[FiiO]

The Story of FiiO UTWS3---From James

Chapter 4 updated

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-story-of-fiio-utws3-from-james.951675/#post-16091740

Chapter 4 The mystery of QCC3020 noise floor reduction

We have received a lot of feedback from the UTWS1 users saying that its noise floor is kinda large. Since it does not include earphones, the noise floor would be rather obvious when being matched with some low-impedance yet high-sensitivity earphone units.
In fact, we realized this problem when we developed our true wireless earbuds, the FW1 and EW1. The reason is that Qualcomm QCC3020 is a highly integrated chip with the DAC and amplifier inside. So it has small power consumption yet a high level of integration.
After all, TWS earbuds are highly integrated products, which are particularly sensitive to volume and power consumption. Qualcomm's design has reasons.
However, for those who focus more on sound quality, or for those who are more sensitive to the noise floor, it would be annoying if the device comes with an obvious noise floor. Inside the UTWS1, the noise floor has nothing to do with volume. Because it applied digital volume adjustment which was performed before digital to analog (DA) conversion and power amplification, the noise floor caused by hardware circuits such as DA conversion and power amplification will not be affected by the previous digital volume adjustment.
Therefore, during the development of the UTWS3, the most important design goal is to reduce the noise floor, at least ensuring no obvious noise floor for most headphones in addition to increasing the power and reducing distortion.
To achieve this goal, FiiO engineers added an additional amp chip, so that the QCC3020 will only be responsible for Bluetooth decoding and DA conversion while being free from amplifying analog signals.
In this way, the working conditions of the QCC3020 have been improved due to less load on it, and we can also add a two-level filter circuit to further reduce the noise. Especially the filter in front of the headphone amplifier chip TPA6140, which is not directly connected to earphones, can be made better without leading to overlarge output impedance.
After the above-mentioned processing, the noise floor of the UTWS3 is reduced to 8uV even when the volume is at the maximum level. It is already at the same level as that of a professional HiFi portable music player.
More importantly, the volume adjustment of the UTWS3 is completed by an analog volume circuit inside the TPA6140. Therefore, the noise floor generated by the QCC3020 can be controlled by its volume. The higher the volume, the greater the noise floor of the UTWS3 (only 8uV at the maximum). Generally, such a high volume is rarely used when we listen to music. This also means that at low volume, the noise floor of the UTWS3 will be at about 3 or 4uV.
This is the UTWS3's mystery on noise floor optimization. This victory has also been appreciated and recognized by many users. Clearly, the greater advantage of an independent amp chip built-in is driven capacity improvement, distortion and output impedance reduction. If you are a user of UTWS1 and UTWS3, I believe the clearest difference that you can immediately feel between them is the noise floor.
The attached picture is a simple comparison of the internal circuit architecture between the UTWS1 and UTWS3.

 

[FiiO]

Thanks for jumping in to help! No-go, unfortunately. I see "FiiO UTWS3 R" in my Bluetooth pairing options and when I try to re-connect, it'll immediately disconnect within a few seconds. I even tried clearing all my phone's bluetooth settings and also doing a factory reset via the UTWS3 case button. When I went back through the FW flashing process after connecting to the UTWS3 R via the app, the app actually prompted the Android system Bluetooth pairing dialogue. But, after re-pairing, it would disconnect and the firmware update would again hang. Bummer!

Dear friend,

Do you have another mobile phone for the firmware update?

You could try to put the other module back to the charging box when updating one module and check again?

Best regards

 

[xSDMx]

Dear friend,

Do you have another mobile phone for the firmware update?

You could try to put the other module back to the charging box when updating one module and check again?



Best regards

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, no luck. I still have the same result. Firmware update makes no progress and device won't stay connected to the UTWS3R. It connected just fine on my Pixel 4 XL before I attempted the firmware update, so I suspect my phone is not the culprit here.

 

[hobowithin]

My pair has been working well for a few days and now it is pretty buggy.
After closing the lid for a few hours, it doesn't turn on automatically when I open the lid again. The indicator lights don't turn on and pressing the multifunction button does nothing. Even when I press the button for over 15 seconds the unit remains unresponsive.
Only when I plug it into a power source then it starts to work again and is able to pair with my phone.

Anyone else experiencing this or should I exchange for a new pair?

 

[FiiO Willson]

My pair has been working well for a few days and now it is pretty buggy.
After closing the lid for a few hours, it doesn't turn on automatically when I open the lid again. The indicator lights don't turn on and pressing the multifunction button does nothing. Even when I press the button for over 15 seconds the unit remains unresponsive.
Only when I plug it into a power source then it starts to work again and is able to pair with my phone.

Anyone else experiencing this or should I exchange for a new pair?

Hello, this is a software problem, there is a small chance that it will occur, you do not need to replace the new one, maybe we will solve it later through the software

 

[Subatomic]

Finally got my pair in the mail via AliExpress, took over 4 weeks from China, ugh.

First impressions, my 5BA CIEMs barely fit, be very careful with bigger iems. I have to spin them around the MMCX connector to fit them flush with the sides of the case. Good thing I got the MMCX version with 2Pin adapters.

The iOS FiiO control app is very limited in its functionality, can’t set custom eq profiles, only has 3 set profiles (pop, rock, vocal).

It feels a bit strange that there is two sets of volume controls, one on the app and one on the device - mine initially paired with the app volume set to 0. Odd.

It also feels like it lacks a little bit of bass, maybe struggling with power with 5BAs? Or maybe just needs a bit of tweaking on the EQ.

 

[meridius]

anyone tried using the built in mic to talk to people out and about on the phone ?

what is the quality like

 

[Ichos]

Great , no one complained to me that I can't be heard clearly.

 

[Subatomic]

Same here, been using it on a number of calls today and have had no complaints.

 

[FiiO Willson]

Great , no one complained to me that I can't be heard clearly.

Same here, been using it on a number of calls today and have had no complaints.

One person at Amazon USA complained about the call and only gave us three stars, which is a bit sad for us.

 

[Ra97oR]

Battery lasted me a whole work day with my UERR without recharge. That included a conference call that the mic worked fine there too.

In terms of noise cancelling in calls, I have tried to see if it will cancel out a loud coffee grinder while in a Line call. That clearly didn't work for a noise that extreme.

 

[theowbert]

I've been using the UTWS1 for a while, but received my UTWS3 on Monday, so here's a quick review from my personal experience (your mileage may vary).

If you have any questions about the UTWS3 or UTWS1, please let me know. Happy to provide pictures and side-by-side comparisons too.

Case:

• Quite hefty in size, but clearly designed to accommodate all types of IEMs (therefore audiophiles can't be choosers given that UTWS3 performs well).
• Bit of a fingerprint magnet, not a dealbreaker as the charging case is a convenient upgrade from the UTWS1.

Adapters:

• My UTWS1 and UTWS3 are paired with my VSONIC GR09 IEMs.
• Might just be me, but when I used the UTWS1 I found that after prolonged use, I'd experience a bit of pinching pain behind the middle of my right ear, as the cable was quite resistant. (Note: I haven't had a chance to pair the UTWS1 with any other IEMs)
• I find the memory wire in the UTWS3 provides a more personalised fit for the hook section around the top of the ear than the UTWS1.
• Whilst the personalised fit around the top of the ear is better, I find that the UTWS3 housing flops around more as the cable seems less resistant than the UTWS1, but I've yet to experience the ear pain I had with the UTWS1.
• Given the above, I have no doubt the UTWS3 will stay on during exercise, but I sense runners may find the housing flopping around distracting.
• I preferred the buttons on the UTWS1 than the UTWS3. The UTWS1 button just had a nicer tactile click to them. The best analogy would be that the UTWS1 buttons were like a mechanical keyboard, whereas the UTWS3 button has some flex in it like a not so great laptop keyboard.

Connection:

• I find the connection on the UTWS3 better than the UTWS1. I have yet to experience the connection dropouts that I would sometimes find on the UTWS1.
• I also find the pairing process better as well. On the UTWS1 I found quite often that I had to clear paring so that the Left and Right would pair and so that the UTWS1 would pair with the device. I've yet to experience the same issue on the UTWS3.

Sound:

• I won't go too in-depth about this as I don't have a reliable means to properly test this, plus I think you'll probably get better insight from someone with more experienced ears and technical knowledge.
• Like those who tried the UTWS3 right out fo the box before the firmware upgrade, the volume was set at 100% and it scared the crap out of me. That being said, the UTWS3 volume can be cranked up higher than the UTWS1 (not sure who would listen to music any louder than I presently do though).

Microphone:

• Yet to be tested. I'd love to see feedback from others who have used the UTWS3 to take a call in the middle of the CBD/downtown/city centre. People complained about being unable to hear me properly when I used the UTWS1 in the above environments.

OVERALL:

• Like the UTWS1, the UTWS3 is great value for money.
• In my experience, I personally found the UTWS3 an improvement to the UTWS1 in terms of connection, comfort and overall convenience.
• The only thing that I dislike about the UTWS3 is the flex in the button. The UTWS1 button was great.
  (Side note: I saw someone asking for touch gestures instead of buttons on the next model, FiiO please don't listen to that person. The button works, and I don't really see why you need gestures for simple tasks associated with watching music/videos. I feel like this would increase the price and diminish the value for money that the UTWS1 and UTWS3 offered. If the price for the next model were to be significantly higher, I'd rather it be for something more tangible than touch gestures).

Questions for FiiO Wilson:

• How long does the UTWS3 adapter take to charge from 0% to 100%?
• How long does the UTWS3 case take to charge from 0% to 100%?
• Is the battery life on the UTWS3 worse than the UTWS1? I don't have a real means to test the battery life, but I felt as if the UTWS3 battery drained faster than the UTWS1.
• If yes to the above, I personally would love to see the next iteration of the UTWS to have better battery life. I tend to listen to music throughout the entire day, so if you could somehow magically increase the battery life to 10 hours that would be amazing, to accommodate the commute to and from work and 8 hours of work time. (That being said, this is just what I would personally love to see, I can easily imagine that most people aren't listening to music for 10 or so hours a day and will put the units in the charging case at some point LOL).