[frosty5689]

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.

Mind letting me know which MMCX to 2pin adapter you're using? I'm trying to find one that is as short as possible to increase the fit and reduce possible pressure on the earlobes from the earlobe guide bending too much. Thanks!

 

[FiiO Willson]

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).

A very realistic experience, you have used and compared UTWS1 and UTWS3 with great care. FiiO are very proud to have you as a user!

With regard to your question, I think I can reply to you that:

• How long does the UTWS3 adapter take to charge from 0% to 100%? RE: Less than or equal to 1.5h
• How long does the UTWS3 case take to charge from 0% to 100%? RE: Less than or equal to 2.5h
• 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. RE:Yes, the battery life of the UTWS1 is a little longer than that of the UTWS3
• 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).RE:Your advice is good. In fact this is what we are trying to do.If you listen to music a lot, we recommend that you use the TWS+ mode. With TWS+, battery life of the UTWS3 will increase by 1.5 to 2 hours. There are some new phones that support TWS+, but iPhone and some older phones do not.

 

[Subatomic]

Mind letting me know which MMCX to 2pin adapter you're using? I'm trying to find one that is as short as possible to increase the fit and reduce possible pressure on the earlobes from the earlobe guide bending too much. Thanks!

I'm using the OE adapter, ordered directly from their website: https://www.oeaudio.net/product-page/mmcx-to-ciem-adapter Took about ~3 weeks to deliver over christmas China to Australia.

As far as I can tell it has little to no impact on the fit of the UTWS3 around my ear, I don't notice it at all. It only impacts the fit of my CIEMs in the case - I have to twist them around the MMCX adapter to fit them backwards in the case.

 

[FiiO]

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.

Dear friend,

Is your 5BA CIEM the recessed 0.78 headphone? Just curious whether your adapter could work with the recessed 0.78 headphone.

You could adjust the volume in the UTWS3 or in the mobile phone so you could get larger volume adjustment range.

And there is 3 sets of button control for the UTWS3. You could set via the APP: https://www.fiio.com/newsinfo/471933.html

Best regards

 

[epaludo]

Dear friend,

Is your 5BA CIEM the recessed 0.78 headphone? Just curious whether your adapter could work with the recessed 0.78 headphone.

You could adjust the volume in the UTWS3 or in the mobile phone so you could get larger volume adjustment range.

And there is 3 sets of button control for the UTWS3. You could set via the APP: https://www.fiio.com/newsinfo/471933.html

Best regards

I'm also curious about the adapter. Seems like the Westone W4R won't connect to the UTWS3 2 pin connector due to recessed access. Hence the most compact MMCX-0.78 2 pin adapter solution is desired

 

[Overkill Red]

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!

I borrowed a friend’s phone to do the update today, it worked well on the L side, but on the R side I’m experiencing similar issues. Sometimes the update actually gets to 100% and nearly finishes, but the app tells me “Update Failed. Please try again”, and then the problems start again. Seems the R side is basically unable to hold a connection while the L side is fine.

Real bummer, these were great while they were working.

 

[xSDMx]

I borrowed a friend’s phone to do the update today, it worked well on the L side, but on the R side I’m experiencing similar issues. Sometimes the update actually gets to 100% and nearly finishes, but the app tells me “Update Failed. Please try again”, and then the problems start again. Seems the R side is basically unable to hold a connection while the L side is fine.

Real bummer, these were great while they were working.

Total bummer. Given that we have two incidents now, I'm hopeful that FiiO will be able to investigate, repro locally, and resolve. FWIW nobody reached out to me about investigation or RMA, etc. so I just returned them to Amazon.

 

[Subatomic]

Dear friend,

Is your 5BA CIEM the recessed 0.78 headphone? Just curious whether your adapter could work with the recessed 0.78 headphone.

You could adjust the volume in the UTWS3 or in the mobile phone so you could get larger volume adjustment range.

And there is 3 sets of button control for the UTWS3. You could set via the APP: https://www.fiio.com/newsinfo/471933.html

Best regards

They have a 0.78mm recessed port. I’m using the OE adapter and the MMCX UTWS3.

This is what they look like with the CIEMs in their normal orientation.



Have to rotate them 90 degrees to fit in the case, and even then they barely fit. Not a big deal, just something to look out for for those who have big IEMs.


This is what the EQ screen in the app looks to me. Only 3 EQprofiles to chose from, and can’t tweak the bands to create a custom EQprofile, which is disappointing. Is that functionality something that can be provided in a software update?

 

[xSDMx]

Got my replacement pair from Amazon (fast!) and all is working well with my SE846s, Pixel 4 XL, and UTWS3! I'm staying away from the firmware update feature until there is more info on the bricking issue I (and others) experienced.

 

[BlazdiqFoods]

I know this doesnt have APTX-LL. But does the chipset have the provision to enable aptx-ll through firmware update in the future or not?

 

[ClieOS]

I updated my UTWS3 a few days ago, both sides go separately without any problem.

 

[Ichos]

Mine too.
Very easy and straight procedure.

 

[ClieOS]

I know this doesnt have APTX-LL. But does the chipset have the provision to enable aptx-ll through firmware update in the future or not?

QCC3020 doesn't support aptX-LL. In fact, none of the newer Qualcomm BT chipsets seem to support aptX-LL anymore. I'll venture a guess and think this is because Qualcomm is phasing out aptX-LL in favor of aptX Adaptive (*which can be almost as low a latency as aptX-LL) , though only the upper range of Qualcomm BT chipsets are capable of aptX Adaptive as it also needs to be compatible with aptX HD at the same time.

 

[Overkill Red]

Got a replacement for mine as well, phew.

 

[frosty5689]

I'm using the OE adapter, ordered directly from their website: https://www.oeaudio.net/product-page/mmcx-to-ciem-adapter Took about ~3 weeks to deliver over christmas China to Australia.

As far as I can tell it has little to no impact on the fit of the UTWS3 around my ear, I don't notice it at all. It only impacts the fit of my CIEMs in the case - I have to twist them around the MMCX adapter to fit them backwards in the case.

Awesome. I just realized the IE8s do not use standard 2pin and I need a special adapter for it. The ones found on AliExpress are all bent, but there doesn't seem to be straight adapters for IE8s. Guess I'll just have to order them and try it.