Packaging and Accessories

With a blue box that borrows colors from the company logo directly, packaging for the Philips Fidelio X3 is similar to that of the two other Philips headphones here, namely the TAPH805 and aforementioned Fidelio X2HR. On the front is the other company logo, as well as the product name, of course. This is paired with a large render of the Fidelio X3 resting on its side and a list of salient features which let you know that this is an over-ear, open-back pair of headphones. There is also the Hi-Res audio certification badge and a mention of two design awards won by the product last year. This continues on the back with another render, more features listed in multiple languages, and the specifications on the side with a look at the connectivity options. Plenty of seals keep the packaging together and the contents inside in place during transit.


Removing the seals on the bottom reveals Philips is using a two-piece packaging, again similar to my previous experiences, with an inner box inside the external sleeve. This box, again blue in color, houses the Philips name in the center in white. There are two more seals along the sides, although mine was clearly opened before and repacked owing to this potentially being a loaner unit even before it came my way. Cut off both seals, and the box opens up vertically akin to a fancy gift box. There is a thick foam lining on the underside of the top surface, which goes over the headphones themselves for added protection.


We see the headphones immediately inside a plastic blister packaging with cutouts to accommodate it snugly, and you just lift it up to get your hand on the Fidelio X3. Above it is a cardboard box that houses the accessories, and I also got a guide in the packaging that goes over the features of the headphones, which you can also find on the product page—baaed on some unboxings I have seen, it may not be included with the retail packaging. This might be part of the reason the seals were cut already. You may end up with the headphones inside the carry bag, so be aware that this may not reflect your own retail experience completely, though it is close enough for me not to lose any sleep over.

Inside the cardboard box, you will find the two cables Philips includes, which we will go over in more detail on the next page. There is a pamphlet about the Muirhead fine grain leather employed on the headphones and presumably headband, which is a big sign of Philips wanting to take the Fidelio X3 to a more upstream market than the X2/X2HR. A second piece of paperwork walks you through how best to use the included cables. More relevant to this section is the provided 3.5 mm to 6.3 mm adapter plug, all gold-coated and retaining the TRS (Tip-Ring-Sleeve) nature of the plug for when you want to use it with a source supporting 1/4" input (6.3 mm)—on, say, more professional equipment, such as the audio mixers or stereo amplifiers from yesteryear (or even today). Lastly, we see a Philips-branded cable clip that helps with managing the cable length. It has a wider opening on one end because both cables go from one wire to two as we will see soon, meaning the wider opening needs to host two wires.


Regardless of where the bag is in the retail packaging, we still get one. It is adequate, but so far everything has been fairly similar to the other two Philips headphones I have personally used. If anything, this cloth bag feels flimsy compared to the travel case that came with the TAPH805, and it is fairly soft cloth material in black that is stitched at the mating sections to prevent fraying. I would like to see something better here, especially if the Fidelio X3 is meant to be a more luxurious, higher-end offering from Philips.