The FiiO FW3 and FW5 make the predecessor FW1 feel like a fever dream in how much better they both are. I had a demo session with the latter once in 2021 and I mostly remember thinking FiiO needs to do a lot to be competitive in the TWS market. Perhaps FiiO thought the same as the subsequent years were spent refining its wireless product portfolio. The UTWS5 is a commercial success in terms of sales and people are eagerly waiting for the updated UTWS15 due to be released this year. That accessory helps convert wired IEMs into a more wireless form factor indicating how the market has so much interest in going wireless these days. As such, having native TWS earphones is surely just the next step in meeting the needs of an audiophile market that wants something on the go but could not be bothered with DAPs or portable DAC/amps, let alone full-size headphones.

Both the FW3 and FW5 integrate a deliberate design that makes it a scalable platform. The FW5 released first using a 1 DD/2 BA driver configuration with two microphones and an independent AK4332 DAC in addition to the Qualcomm QCC5141 SoC. It recently got LDAC codec support that will no doubt get more people interested. The price cut is also nice and there are regular sales you should look out for. For example, the FW5 was selling for $99 just recently as part of the June summer sale. The FW3 had only just launched and was benefiting from a launch sale at $69 which made it almost a no-brainer for the feature set. $85 for the FW3 and ~$120 for the FW5 are still competitive, certainly more so compared to the FW5 at $150 that I can't recommend without EQ. If you shop around you will find authorized retailers matching the prices as well but also some weirdly asking for more than MSRP! As such, whether or not you should purchase either the FW3 or FW5 depends on what it will cost you. I'd say the FW3 for $75-85 is a decent deal in giving you most of the user experience of the more expensive FW5 and not cutting down on the audio experience too much. If anything, the stock tonality is favorable to a wider range of music genres and FiiO did a good job compensating for the lack of two BA drivers by still giving better treble and bass extension than the vast majority of TWS sets on the market.

The FiiO FW5 feels harder to justify for the 50% increased cost. It has the components to back it up though with the two Knowles BA drivers, the extra microphone, and the smoother finish too. Those willing to put in the work to customize it via EQ will find the FW5 an excellent set that can hang in with the best of TWS sets, including those that cost significantly more. The stock tonality is not bad but feels less optimized for the V-shaped sound it seemingly wishes to provide. It is more resolving than the FW3 and pretty much every other TWS set we've reviewed to date too. I also appreciated the aesthetics and physical buttons used but I would like to see FiiO address two things before I can wholeheartedly recommend them—provide an actual parametric EQ rather than simply calling a graphical equalizer as PEQ and allow for the end user to customize the functionality of the buttons. The recently added LDAC support was a good step and these would make both the FW3 and FW5 even stronger contenders for your money.