Chapter Eight: X5III
From the previous writing we knew that there were not many new products in 2016, but each of them was outstanding and hit. At the end of 2016, after careful preparations, we held the grandest product launch event in Beijing, of which we first built an ultra-large 500-inch LED electronic screen. Before the event, we even did the rehearsal five times.
Actually before the event, we had already completed the mass production of the X5III. At this time, the first batch of fresh X5III thingy was waiting for their new master.
I personally think that the X5III launch event was the second successful one, just after the M15's. Included the presentation, venue construction, media invitation, video broadcast, press conference report, new product warm-up, new product confidentiality, product preparation, reservation, and the announcement were all amazing.
Finally, the first batch of the X5III being on the market had won the biggest success in the history of FiiO.
After finishing the discussion about the launch event, now let's go back to the product itself. I had summarized a few points for the success of the X5III.
1. Optimal configuration. The X5III is actually an upgraded version of the X5II. So its price had increased just a little bit. But its configuration and function are much ahead of the X5II. The display screen is upgraded from 2.4 inches to 4 inches of a full touch screen. The processor was upgraded from the 4760 to the 4-core RK3188, and the RAM from 768K to 2G, the built-in storage from 0 to 32G.
2. Powerful sound performance. The 2.5 balanced headphone output first appeared on the FiiO player, supporting native DSD decoding and using dual DAC and dual crystal oscillator.
3. The overall design gave us an impression of transformation from function phones to smart phones. The addition of wireless 2.4G/5GWIFI, Bluetooth, quick charge equipping for the first time in players industry, etc. expressed our thoughtfulness.
4. Powerful driven capacity. Due to the introduction of the balanced output, the output power of the X5III has become very large. The balanced output under 32 ohms reaches more than 800mW. What is more unexpected is that we have kept a secret that the power supply voltage actually has 2 levels. Later in the firmware upgrade, we would release this hidden skill, so that under the balanced output, the output power would be close to 1000mW by increasing the working voltage and entering turbo mode. Frankly speaking, under 32-ohm output power, few players could beat the X5III even today.
5. Easy-to-use system and app. For the X5III, we have equipped with FiiO's own highly customized Android operating system and self-developed FiiO Music App. This continues the excellent user experience of which FiiO has always been praised.
In terms of sales performance, the X5III is the model that has the best saleroom in FiiO's history. In terms of awards winning, it has won dozens of different awards around the world, such as the iF, Red Dot Award European EISA, Japanese VGP, etc. Although its sound quality is not as good as the X7, and the sales volume is not as good as the X1, the X5III must be the well-deserved one if we pick out a representative from the X series.
