Closer Examination

The first two images above were taken from the product page because those renders do a nice job of showcasing not only the two included cables, but also the differences between them. You see, the biggest change with the Fidelio X3 compared to basically anything else from Philips, especially the Fidelio X2HR, is much better stereo separation. We have separate drivers in each ear, and the provided cables split into two at a rubber separator to go to twin 3.5 mm jacks that plug into the ear cups. The first cable is a massive 10' long and goes to a 3.5 mm TRS stereo jack. Use this cable with basically anything you can think of, including stationary or portable equipment. The included adapter plug comes in handy too, and I can understand the long length here. Cable quality is fairly good, and the two connectors going to the headphones have "L" and "R" markings to denote which goes were, although it's not too relevant here. I would have preferred a softer braiding on the cable, but this is sturdy enough even if not the easiest to bend into shape.

The other cable is probably my biggest issue thus far. Given the separated drivers, I expected a balanced cable, and we do get one in the form of a 2.5 mm TRRS (Tip-Ring-Ring-Sleeve) connector. Okay fine, 2.5 mm is quickly becoming popular, especially with portable DAPs (digital audio players) and even some portable DAC/amplifier units. Why go with a massive 10' long cable then? A 2–3' cable would have been much better, and it could have been in a different composition to help better differentiate it, too. The other cable gets a 1/4" converter, so where's the equivalent for the balanced cable? Why not go XLR or 4.4 mm balanced instead since both of those are still more popular in most balanced audio setups than 2.5 mm? There was an opportunity for a home run here if you can excuse the baseball reference, and Philips just hit one out to second base only with the cables.


The first thing that I and likely you will think when taking the Fidelio X3 out of the box is how light it is for the size. Indeed, it actually measured in at even less than the 380 g rated by the company, coming in closer to 355 g here. Perhaps the rated weight was with the included cables, but regardless, it is lighter than the Fidelio X2HR and most cans of this size. Keep in mind that the Fidelio X3 is not a portable wireless headphone, no folding and only wired connectivity here. It is also larger than average for open-back, over-ear headphones, which makes handling it that much more surprising because of the lower density. The color scheme is more Scandinavian than I expected, with black and dark blue bases and a gunmetal gray accent on the exposed metal sections. Remember that Muirhead leather pamphlet from before? The outer headband gets the fine grain leather treatment with just the product rather than the company name embossed on top.


The leather continues on the inner support headband, which is what Philips has been using with good results on the Fidelio headphones to support the headphones over your head in a comfortable manner. I recommend breaking the support band in for a week or so, however. The band extends linearly and clamping force is not very high, so there is a strong tendency for the headphones to rise, which puts upwards pressure on the earlobes. Maybe hook the two bands together for a day; I used these for the better part of a month before I actually tested them properly for the review.

We see the leather is stitched on the ends to prevent fraying, but where they do end on the metal base is not as firm. Philips just glued the leather there, and the ends are not trimmed as well as I would like. We see the Philips name on the metal base towards the yokes on either side, which gets a gunmetal gray finish to the aluminium. The support band is obviously not metallic, as it has to extend to accommodate your head. The insides at each yoke also have an "L" or "R" marking to denote which end goes on which ear, and this is not interchangeable even though the headphones otherwise look symmetrical.


I have been calling it a yoke, but it's really not in that the ear cup supports do not article around the headband. Instead, we have a solid metal frame all around, and with a large cutout on either end to host the ear cups, which in turn are on a support brace, which allows them to individually pivot slightly in two directions (up/down on the ear, but fixed in the left and right direction). The pivot points can be seen through the cover, which is Kvadrat fabric—a Danish product to go along with the Scottish leather. Philips is an MNC based in Europe, so I suppose this is fitting to the company's roots. It does remind me of the Google first-party products, and the fabric is quite durable and easy to clean. Despite first impressions, the fabric does not limit breathability, so the Fidelio X3 remains an open-back set of headphones.

While the fabric finish may not be as divisive with the audiophile community, I suspect the ear cups might be. We get the same medium density foam pads, which also are not going to be easy to replace given you need to fit both the pads and the fabric inside the tight gap in the frame. Replaceable pads were a big deal with the Fidelio X2, and indeed the different ear cup pads are the only real difference to the newer X2HR. These will be a dust and hair magnet and require regular cleaning. They are quite comfortable and extremely deep to where I suspect there's no one who will be left wanting to make these over-ear headphones. The recess is also slightly oval to better fit the ears.


The simplest way to think of the Fidelio X3 is as just a pair of headphone drivers attached to a frame to wear around your head. As such, we have discrete connections from each driver to be powered and fed an audio source. This is why we have the split cables seen above, and there are 3.5 mm jacks at the bottom of each ear cup that either cable plugs into. You can thus also use your own cable should you want to go with a balanced setup using, say, a shorter 4.4 mm Pentaconn or XLR rather than the 2.5 mm on the ridiculously long, included cable.

Comparison to Fidelio X2HR

Given this is the most obvious thing to do since I had the X2HR on hand, notice the smaller profile of the Fidelio X3, which is more in line with the current design trend of audio products rather than the bolder, more raw finish of the Fidelio X2HR with the larger support frame and magnetic metal mesh on the outside. I would go so far as to say that the newer Fidelio X3 is also more subtle with the colors and less branding despite the fabric finish, although you may get some questions on the order of "Is that the new Airpods Max?" as I did, much to my chagrin. The headbands of the X2HR look and feel cheaper too, and probably are given the simpler construction of synthetic fabrics. I do prefer the foam support band of the older X2HR myself, but there's really not much to it. I would say that heat dissipation is better with the X2HR too, so a couple of things did devolve. Oh, the other difference is of course the use of split channels on the X3 as opposed to the single 3.5 mm input of the X2HR.