Fiio X5 III 3rd Gen Digital Audio Player Review

Usage –

While the X5 III is an audio device, It cannot be considered a pure music player due to its adoption of the android operating system. I’m a huge fan of this move, I owned the X3 for a while and loved the form factor and quality of the device, but found the UI significantly less practical than an average smart device. Many others have noted this as well, perusing Fiio’s Amazon pages reveals similar complaints; the device is solid, the interface is not. Luckily, moving to android grants the device access to the wonderful Google Play store and all of the apps supported by android, meaning the X5 III is compatible with Spotify, Pandora, etc. It also makes for a nice browsing and casual gaming device due to its large battery capacity. Youtube is not ideal since the X5 III has no external speaker or gyroscope (no auto-rotate) though use with headphones is as proficient as any other android device.

Behind the scenes, the X5 III is internally identical to the X7 with the same RK3188 SOC. For reference, it’s using a quad-core A9 running at 1.8GHz with a Mali-400 GPU, essentially the same as the Samsung Galaxy S3. But don’t let those specs hold you back, due to the X5 III’s lower resolution 800×480 screen (vs 1280×720 on the S3), the UI is much smoother, mostly running around 50-60fps with only the occasional skip. This is helped by Fiio’s incredibly clean and stripped down version of android. While it still has all the essential features, Fiio have loaded the player with minimal bloatware and have stripped all superfluous features such as auto sync. The X5 III is missing all of the superfluous additions that bog down almost every Chinese smartphone I’ve tested, I’m very grateful for Fiio’s thoroughly clean and functional take on Android for it is just what this player needs. Yet due to the more dated hardware, the X5 III is still nowhere near as fast as a modern smartphone (though it is smooth), even my M8 is considerably faster in general navigation even with its 1080p screen and my 10 is faster still. I do feel that the device is limited by its 1GB of RAM; when streaming music in the background, the player will frequently freeze and multitasking isn’t really viable, most apps close as soon as you open a new one. However for music in addition to a basic tasks such as browsing or 2D gaming (even some 3D gaming), the player is fluent and zippy, it only begins to bog down when multiple things are happening at once, such as when updating apps in the background.

And this actually one of those features that most people don’t appreciate on Android, the ability to have music playing in the background, here in pristine quality while playing a casual game of Pinout or Smash hit. Of course, the device was never intended as a gaming platform, but it goes to show that it is viable and ultimately, a great way to pass the time.

Powering all of this is a 3400mah non-removable battery. Fiio rates it for over 10 hours of usage however in my testing, the player could achieve considerably more playback time. I’m assuming that’s a screen on figure, 10 hours is achievable given the screen’s low resolution and smaller size, but you would have to turn off WiFi, Bluetooth and turn the screen down to its minimum brightness. In terms of music playback, users can expect around 20 hours on low gain and a bit under that on high gain. I left the X5 III playing for 12 hours overnight to burn-in my F3’s, the device was in low-gain at volume 60/120 and there was just below 50% remaining in the morning. That’s not quite as impressive as the Sony NW-A25 for example, but the X5 III is a far more powerful device in every way and superior to the vast majority of smartphones. With more multi-media usage, music, browsing, watching videos and some brief 3D gaming, the X5 III made a full day of heavy usage with around 20% to spare at night which would be sufficient for any user. While the device does not use a Qualcomm chipset, it is compatible with Quick Charge 3.0, I was able to charge to 80% in just over 40 minutes, very impressive. The device did become warm but not alarmingly so, the thick aluminium shell acts as a nice heatsink to keep everything running within threshold.

Storage performance is more important than you might think when navigating a large music library and also in general device responsiveness. Luckily, the internal storage performance on the X5 III was high enough not to bottleneck the device, unlike my HTC One X, which is good to see. While the player does bog down when installing apps, navigating through a ~20GB music library stored on the internal storage was nice and zippy, the app caches the majority of the information to speed things up. Using the A1 SD Benchmark app, I saw internal storage sequential read and write speeds of 29.43MB/s and 25.65MB/s respectively, which is far from a UFS solution, but better than most budget smartphones which tend to see vastly reduced write performance. The SD slots is unfortunately, quite lack-luster and you will not see any benefit when using faster U3 cards over a basic class 10 one such as the Sandisk ultra. I put my fastest Micro SD into the player, my Sandisk 128GB Extreme Plus rated for 95MB/s read and 90MB/s write, and the player only managed to pull sequential read/write speeds of 12.33MB/s and 11.79MB/s which is very disappointing. By comparison, my HTC 10, which currently has the fastest non-UHSII SD slot on the market, managed to pull 86.60MB/s read speeds and 57.47MB/s write speeds from that same card. Running the test multiple times unfortunately, produced similar results. But benchmarks do not necessarily reflect real life performance and even with these mediocre speeds, navigating through a 120GB library of music (20GB internal and 100GB on sd) was still smooth and stutter free. The reason, again, comes down to that caching. While album arts can take a second or two to load, all of the titles and albums are stored in a database file resulting in quick navigation. This was both in Poweramp and the native Fiio music app, both of which have a lengthy library scan upon first launch but remain responsive in usage after that. While some users will be disappointed with that SD performance, the device is no longer as reliant on sd reader speed as previous devices due to optimisations within the software rather than hardware.

I’m especially fond of the swipe based interaction; swiping to the right over a song/album reveals options to favourite, add to playlist or send songs via Bluetooth while swiping to the left allows users to delete albums off the device.

At the top is a tabbed UI which has the usual categories: all songs, artist, album, genre and folders. The app automatically scans when the SD card has been removed/mounted to your PC but there is an option to manually rescan your library should an error occur.

From the now playing screen, Fiio give you a nice large album art, basic play/pause and skip track buttons along with toggles for action upon finished song and a button to add the playing song to a playlist. In the bottom left is the eQ button which reveals 3 presets, rock, metal and pop along with a slot for a user defined eQ. There are 10 bands with 6dB of adjustment either way. Heading into Viper effects in the settings menu enables an eQ with up to 12dB of adjustment should you require more flexibility.

Viper effects has various other useful features though unfortunately, most require an in-app payment. Fiio’s music player also lacks a persistent service that runs in the background. Music will keep playing when the app is minimised though if the app is closed through the multitask window, music will cease playing. Most music players such as Poweramp and play music have a persistent notification even when the app is closed, it just prevents accidental closes when the close all button is pressed in the multitasker. In addition, the app does not remember the songs that were last played nor does the home screen widget which resets everytime the app is closed.

Fiio also include their own Fiio marketplace. It has some basic apps, Poweramp, Neutron music player, Spotify, etc. While I appreciate the thought, it offers no functionality that the play store does not.

Though X5 III defaults to charge only when connected to a USB port, the device can also functions as a USB DAC. You are required to install a driver from Fiio beforehand, but after installation, it’s essentially plug and play, you just need to select the X5 as your playback device on your computer. On the X5 itself is a setting that allows you to exit USB DAC mode and resume function, there is also an option to mount the internal storage and SD card(s) via USB Mass storage, the X5 III does not support MTP at present, meaning you’ll have to wait for the cards to unmount first before they appear on your PC.

I would also like to add some comments on the X5 III’s wireless performance. Bluetooth is surprisingly potent with above average range for a player in addition to apt-x support, resulting in perceptively lower latency and higher audio-quality over a standard connection. Connecting to a Bluetooth enabled device is as simple as with any other Android device, Fiio have even added a dedicated Bluetooth button to their music player app for quick streaming to a wireless speaker/headphone. WiFi performance is not so flawless. It is likely an antiquated single band implementation that easily bogs down with larger app downloads and even stutters with 480p Youtube streaming. I live in a very interference-heavy area and definitely feel the lack of 5Ghz WiFi support. That being said, I had no issue downloading smaller updates and apps and experienced no freezing when streaming extreme quality audio through Spotify. While the WiFi implementation is far from ideal, it is adequate for what the player was designed for.

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ABOUT AUTHOR

Ryan Soo

Ryan Soo

Avid writer, passionate photographer and sleep-deprived medical student, Ryan has an ongoing desire to bring quality products to the regular reader.

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12 Responses

  1. I have both. I got an X5 iii as an upgrade to the N3. I spent a week with the x5 and gave my N3 to a friend. I love the N3 for its size, simplicity and I’m ok with its sound.

    Things I don’t like about the N3:
    I find the N3 a bit too sharp for my tastes. Also, I hated the transfer times with the N3, I was forced to take the SD card out all the time. Moreover, it had one slot and I wanted two. The bluetooth on the N3 is implemented perfectly in that it can be a transmitter and/or receiver. And/Or! But, the range I found to be pretty cruddy and it would engage the AptX intermittently for me.

    Specifically on sound comparison:
    I have three pairs of cans: HD650, B&O h6 and hifiman 400i planars. My favorite day to day cans are the H6s and they sounded fine with the N3, balancing out the harshness. The hifiman’s sounded bad to me without any EQing. It’s not that I find sharp bad, just fatiguing. The hd650s needed a small amp to get to a level I was happy with. Hi gain on the N3 was almost enough, just not quite what I’d like, given that I know how well the hd6550s can sound. In the end I would often use a small topping NX amp with the N3 except with my h6s.

    I got the x5 as it looked like it could just eek out enough to drive some hd650s, but all accounts it had a fairly warm sound. Given my opinion on the N3 sounding too sharp I was into this. I loved the idea of two SD slots.

    For me, I am VERY happy with the x5 sound. It is on the warm scale, significantly more than the N3, but not too warm. It is still very precise. I like to listen to listen to Hüsker Dü (rip Grant Hart) as a way of gauging precision and warmth because a criticism many have of Grant and Hüsker is the hi-hat sizzle he loved. I love that too, but admit it can be fatiguing. This, is exactly the case you want hifi gear for, because it should be capable of presenting the crispness of the hi’s but roll them off well enough to keep the ears cranking for hours. Happy to report that Grant sounds amazing on the x5. Hip-hop sounds great (Liquid Swords and Dr. Octagonacologyst sound great). Electronic sounds great. I personally love the x5 iii sound. I wish it had 20% more drive for the hd650s, but I don’t want to F with the x7.

    On the other bits:
    The bluetooth on the x5 is awesome! It’s android, so you can download a receiver app if you want to emulate the N3, but the aptX engages always when appropriate, and the range is incredible. I have always been impressed with the iPhone6-7 bluetooth range, and the x5 bests the iPhones easily. I downloaded Apple Music and all the streaming apps, including sound cloud. I am very happy to have the option to use these on the same device as my hires flacs, DSDs and flacs. So, in the end, I don’t miss the N3’s receiver mode as I can use Spotify on device if I need too. Even Soundcloud crap 192 kbps audio sounds great on the x5, the amp is well implemented.

    The x5 is slow at times. The reason is that the os is on the built in memory (32 GB!), but it’s slow flash. It’s literally an internal micro SD quality flash drive. 99% of the time you won’t notice. But, while you set up the device the lag will bug you a bit and make you think you should have got the x7 (it has 2GB of ram vs. 1 in the x5). But, the slowness is not the RAM, it is almost all due to the slow internal flash memory. With that said, I am quite happy with it on a day to day basis. I would buy it again and I am not eyeing other DAPs (at least for a while 🙂

  2. Hi RYan,

    Regarding your most recent reply that I can’t find on this page that I got from my email::

    I usually recommend finding a good headphone/earphone with the right sound rather than altering the sound using eQ since that can be inconsistent between devices. Then find a nice source to drive them well, I should note that an amp can do much more than just boos the bass, definitely look into the terms output impedance, voltage, current and noise and how they pertain to your uses.

    Unfortunately, the state of audio is rather premium-orientated and in order to have an all in one package that does it all you pay the price. For most people, it’s better (or more economical) just to have a decent portable source, such as an iPod, and a nice DAC/AMP for home paired with a nice headphone that suits your sound preferences; it sounds like your current pair are lacking clarity and treble for your tastes and eQ, espcially the limited systems on portable devices, can not always remedy that while retaining optimal sound quality. I hope you find the solution that works best for you, I understand how steep the learning curve can be in audio for those just starting out, definitely read a few articles and reviews and try to find a retailer that allows demoing as your own ears are the best benchmark!

    I just want to humbly acknowledge your efforts to summarize our previous correspondences. Yes, you’re right, there IS indeed a decent earning curve, and ironically I’m a musician too, but this particular area is not my specialty funnily enough.

    I really am grateful for your time Ryan. I will heed all that you’ve written and continue my search, but I think you’ve sold me on the Oppos – now the latest model – the OPPO HA-2SE . It looks like a great 2 in 1 device for my iPod Classic!
    Plus, the Chord Electronics Mojo Ultimate DAC/AMP looks interesting as well.

    Thanks so much again Ryan, and I wish you all the best! 🙂

  3. I usually recommend finding a good headphone/earphone with the right sound rather than altering the sound using eQ since that can be inconsistent between devices. Then find a nice source to drive them well, I should note that an amp can do much more than just boos the bass, definitely look into the terms output impedance, voltage, current and noise and how they pertain to your uses.

    Unfortunately, the state of audio is rather premium-orientated and in order to have an all in one package that does it all you pay the price. For most people, it’s better (or more economical) just to have a decent portable source, such as an iPod, and a nice DAC/AMP for home paired with a nice headphone that suits your sound preferences; it sounds like your current pair are lacking clarity and treble for your tastes and eQ, espcially the limited systems on portable devices, can not always remedy that while retaining optimal sound quality. I hope you find the solution that works best for you, I understand how steep the learning curve can be in audio for those just starting out, definitely read a few articles and reviews and try to find a retailer that allows demoing as your own ears are the best benchmark!

  4. Hi again Ryan,

    Thank you kindly again for taking the time out of your day to answer at length. That;s why I’m so appreciative, because so many others will answe rin one or two line sentences and often don’t give enough of a thorough explanation.

    Yes, I was just looking at the Atell& Kerns, the Sony, and Pioneers, and they all seem to lean toward Android which really turns my off. So perhaps like you say Ryan, they are indeed seemingly clunky from the countless reviews I’ve read.

    Now, it;s funny you mention the Fiio, because I had my eye on the Fiio E12a. But somebody told me that although it’s robust with positive user experience, it’s basically still an amp that merely provides more bass boost than anything else.
    Whether thats accurate, I don’t know. If it is, that’s why I was looking elsewhere that had equalizer capabilities to enhance the trebles and mids too.

    So it seems lime I might have to go with your suggestion Ryan and keep the iPod Classic for now and just invest in the Oppo DAC/AMP, or the Fiio E12a, save the enhanced trebles and mid-ranges.

    So does this Oppo offer more to enhance the clarity and overall soundstage than the Fiio E12a? I’m so sorry Ryan, but I am not familiar with that model.

    I just hope that in the next 1 – 2 yrs. these devices will be greatly improved that can also be offered for Mac users too.

    Thank you also for clarifying your stance with these reviews Ryan. That’s quite all right and I fully understand. 🙂

    Thanks tons once again Buddy!

  5. Hey Mark,

    Just want to clear up that, as reviewers, we aren’t affiliated with the manufacturer nor are we providing falsely positive scores and articles to facilitate a sale. In fact, the X5 III I received here was a loan unit to be returned, I benefit nothing from writing the article and dedicated many hours of my time towards testing. It is all personal interest and to the benefit of buyers. At present, I’m not too enthused with Android DAPs, they are honestly all a bit clunky and we are very much in the first generation. If you’re looking for a solid, fast GUI, Apple’s is as good as it gets, a belief that I have stuck to much to the dismay of many audiophiles. Sony’s Walkman players also have really nice software that almost rivals Apple’s but has wider file support and micro sd. Otherwise, it can be quite jarring switching from an iPod or Walkman to a proprietary OS, most simply haven’t been refined enough to provide that flawless user experience.

    Perhaps you might prefer to look into a DAC/AMP rather than another audio player such as the Oppo HA-2SE. That DAC has a clearer sound that migth provide that midrange and high-end clarity you are looking for, it also has nice driving power and resolution; I personally purchased a unit and use it to power the majority of my review gear. I know many iPod users have also have a good experience with external amplifiers, something like the Fiio E12 or A3 to supplement the iPod you already have. That way, you get the benefit of reduced output impedance, increased driving power and lower noise.

    Regards,
    Ryan.

  6. Hi there Ryan,

    I’m extremely grateful indeed for your very kind informative reply Bud – thanks so much!

    I can certainly see how all links in the audio chain should be as best as possible to acquire a high-end audio experience. Hi Res lossless songs, high quality DAP & Amp, and of course top-notch headphones as you say. One weak link can certainly compromise the overall experience.

    However after further research Ryan, the reviews on Amazon have been less than stellar. There are no 5 stars above 50% due to UI and software issues and grievances. Plus, they do NOT at all play well for Mac users, due to the immensely cumbersome organization and time consuming uploading process.

    It’s more Android friendly it seems, and for me personally, that’s my kryptonite!
    Yeah I know, I know….. 🙂
    But I’m not some fervent Mac cult follower, that sleeps on sidewalks in front of the store the night before waiting for a new release of a device either. I just want a more plug and play set up, or at least close to it, without all the hassles people are finding with the UI and overall internal system/library. I was very disappointed indeed with so many less than positive reviews.

    I think I will have to respectfully pass (and I have read extensively on other sites as well about the above issues after writing you my inquiry).

    Now having said that Ryan, if you know of a more Mac friendly device that’s hovers around the 300 to 600 dollar mark, I’m open to that. Or actually, perhaps a couple please…one in that price range, and another over 1K that I can save up for later.

    You’ve been fantastic regarding your thoughts and time Ryan……., I really am appreciative for that. 🙂

    Thank you heaps again.

  7. Hi Mark,

    I actually review gear, both headphones and audio players, with a mix of files, about half FLAC and half 320bps MP3. While everyone has their own experiences with file types, in my testing the difference in quality between lossless and lossy is more based upon the track than the encoding. Some songs don’t contain enough information to even saturate a 320kbps MP3 file while others produce an immediately audible difference when converting to a lossy format from lossless.

    Regardless, unless your music is especially poorly encoded, you will get an appreciable difference by switching from an iPod to the X5 III. If you have a good pair of over-ear headphones or really sensitive in-ears you will notice the lower noise floor, better bass extension due to the lower output impedance and perhaps improved dynamics and detail through increased driving power and resolution. All of these factors can make a considerable difference in sound quality regardless of the source file and that doesn’t just go for the X5 III but other “audiophile” audio players too.

    In my opinion, the headphones themselves make the greatest difference by far and this is usually where I would spend my money upgrading. The source is only important if yours is especially bad (and no Apple product is), if you have a particularly difficult set of headphones to drive like the 300ohm HD80 or if you have a really nice headphone/earphone already and would like to squeeze their max potential. Again, the file type shouldn’t matter too much unless most of your library is 128kbps MP3 Youtube rips and you can download just your favourite songs in lossless to save some storage space. I’ll put emphasis on the fact that these are my subjective experiences and that you should take it with a grain of salt, but I hope it helps you out nonetheless.

    Cheers,
    Ryan.

  8. Thanks for your review Ryan. If I respectfully may please, I really need help with my following inquiry…..

    I realize that you can’t extract various components that are non-existent from a song in a compressed mp3 file/format, since it’s not a ‘lossless’ file. And even though I see this X5 III as more suited for lossless files to truly get the fully enhanced effect, but….., can it at least improve the trebles and mid-ranges of a compressed mp3 file to a certain degree?

    A lot of my 256kbps iTunes songs are quite dull and muffled, thus wanting an equalizer that his X5 III has (which my iPod Classic does not have) to enhance the trebles and mid-ranges.

    Or, is it the equivalent of trying to suck blood from a stone and not worth the investment, since the compressed mp3 songs will have lost a lot of the original components of a lossless file? Therefore this device cannot improve upon something that is no longer there in the song. ???

    I would really appreciate an honest answer where I don’t feel like I’m being persuaded to buy it through an Amazon affiliate link. I’m not at all implying you would be ‘dishonest’, as that’s what I’m saying whatsoever.
    But other reviewers I could tell, were hyping up the device in order to get a sale, that’s all.

    Therefore, thank you for your kind understanding. 🙂

    I would be extremely grateful for your kind thoughts Sir.

    Thank you for your time. :)

  9. Hi Credo, I did give the AK Jr a brief listen, it’s a really nice looking device with one of the better UI’s I’ve tried (since it is a derivative of android). I did prefer the X5 III in most scenarios, it sounds a little cleaner and the batterylife, screen and software are all more capable, it also supports WiFi for streaming. I’m not sure if the AK Jr has fallen considerably in price, but I feel that it is the weaker player for the price unless the smaller form factor is really important to you.

  10. Hi Ryan, thanks for the review,
    would you plz tell your opinion about this player in comparison to AK 70 & AK jr?

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