FiiO BTR1 offers to give Bluetooth connection capabilities to your already existing wired in-ear monitors headphones and other types of premium headphones which may require some sort of amplification.
The housing of the BTR1 is made out of metal, except the lower part where the micro USB charging port can be found. Behind this plastic cover, you may also find the Bluetooth antenna, which gives you plenty range for wireless playback.
During the test, we used 2 type of phones, an old iPhone 6 and an ASUS Zenfone 4 Pro. As for monitors, we used standard Apple earphones, the new Fiio EM3S, and an audio-technika M40x. Sadly we have nothing bigger monitors to test if it is capable to drive. Altho all three monitors sound amazing with the FiiO BTR1, with almost zero latency.
With the control buttons, you can easily adjust the volume and also skip songs, where the main power on/off button can apply a more or less 3D effect mode on if you press it 2 times quickly. We found it more pleasant if you use it in smaller monitors like the FiiO EM3S, but we do not recommend to use it with bigger headphones.
During the test the promised 8 hours of playback was a pretty accurate estimation by FiiO, however, it really depends which type of monitors you planning to drive. Charging is also depended on what kind of power source you use, but an estimated 2 hours if also accurate.
Playback and volume control on the Android system we had no issue whether we tried it on Youtube or Spotify, however on iOS strangely we were not able to start the playback on Youtube. This might be an operating system issue rather than FiiO’s fault. Volume and other control functions work fine on Youtube. With Spotify on iOS, there were no issues just like with the Android system.
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Weight | About 20.5 g (incl. battery) |
| Audio Input | Bluetooth connection (Bluetooth 4.2 supported) |
| Headphone Output | 3.5 mm stereo jack |
| Volume Control | ≤2 h（DC5V 500mA） |
| Charging Time | 205 mAh |
| Output Power | ≥30mW (16 Ω/THD＜1%) ≥ 15mW（32Ω/THD＜1%） |
| THD+N | ＜0.04％ (1 kHz) |
| SNR | ≥95dB (A-weighted) |
| Bluetooth Codec | Supporting SBC, aptX |
| Drive Ability | 16~100 Ω (recommended) |
| Battery Life | about 8 h |
| Frequency Response | 20 Hz~20 kHz |
| Output Impedance | ＜0.2 Ω |
| Max. Input Level | 0 dB |
| Channel Imbalance | 0.2 dB |
| MAX. Output Current | ＞22 mA |
So you may ask yourself. Is it worth the around 50 dollars cost? We think yes especially if you would like to use your good old jack connected headphones with your new smartphone, where the manufacturers tend to remove the precious headphone jacks.
The premium build and amazing sound quality is just a bonus. Some say that wired is always better, which is 100% true, but these days, where wire connection sometimes not an option, FiiO BTR1 can be a perfect solution.
The Product Page can be found HERE.
Video Review of the FiiO BTR1
FiiO BTR1
Build quality - 9.5
Sound quality - 9
Ease of use - 8.5
Battery life - 9
Price - 8.7
8.9
Decent sound quality from FiiO
Some say that wired is always better, which is 100% true, but these days, where wire connection sometimes not an option, FiiO BTR1 can be a perfect solution.
