Introduction

HiFiMAN might be the most covered Chi-Fi brand on TechPowerUp at the moment, but I will go out on a limb and say that FiiO is probably the most famous. The brand was established in 2007 with the goal to raise the reputation of products tagged "Made in China." It has won several major awards over the years and became a powerhouse when it comes to portable DACs and amps in particular. I too use the now-dated FiiO E17 for many things, and when the opportunity came up to test a FiiO set of in-ear monitors (IEMs) and introduce the brand formally, how could I refuse? Thanks again to Linsoul for helping with a review sample for TechPowerUp!


FiiO has several product lines within its portfolio, and even its IEMs are classified under the FA (balanced armature drivers only), FD (dynamic drivers only), and FH (hybrid of both drivers) series. The FH5s is thus a hybrid driver set of IEMs that belongs to the FH3/FH5s/FH7 series, having only just launched and meant to replace the older, outgoing FH5. There are two color options with the FH5s, including the silver one shown above and the black version I have here. FiiO is promising quite a lot, with customization options far beyond anything else tested so far. We find out how this all works out in practice as we begin the review with a look at the product specifications in the table below.

Specifications

Packaging and Accessories

I have to admit I was taken aback by the size of the product box the FiiO FH5s ships in. There is a plastic seal over it, removing which we see it also match the color of the version inside. Given I have the black (and gold) sample here, the box has a large render of the same on the front, along with technical drawings on the driver system, which is a nice touch. The company logo and product name are also seen, with some salient marketing features and the Hi-Res audio certification. More of the technical drawings adorn the sides, along with cursive writing that makes this more playful, too. On the back, we see the first indicator of the customizable tuning on offer, which we will get into in more detail on the next page. As it turns out, FiiO is using a two-piece packaging with the outer sleeve being what we saw thus far and an inner box sliding out the side.


The inner box is mostly plain and in black except for a stencil layout of one of the buds on the front and the "born for music" slogan underneath. This side is a lid, and the box opens up to show the IEMs neatly arranged with the cable partly visible before going underneath a thick black piece of foam which also has "born for music" printed on. There is also a large cutout to the right for the carry case, and two tabs on the ends help lift it up to access the contents underneath. This is where we find out why the box is so big, with FiiO including a lot of accessories. Going all the way down, there is even more foam, and we see some paperwork, including a quick start guide and a note, both in multiple languages, on how to make the most of the IEMs.


Going from the bottom up, we see two replacement plugs for the IEM cable: a swappable 2.5 mm TRRS and a 4.4 mm TRRS connector. There is also a cleaning brush with the other end tapered to a sharp point that will come in handy. The plugs have a common end that clearly helps fit them into the connector housing on the cable itself. The next set of accessories is a vast collection of ear tips in various tips and sizes and out of silicone and memory foam. There are tips designed for bass playback, vocals, and balanced music playback, as well as double-flanged tips that remind me of some of the custom SpinFit tips. These all come neatly packed and marked as such inside another foam sheet.


Time to get back to that case, which sells for $20 by itself under the FiiO HB5 product name. This is one of the better polyurathane-based faux leather implementations I have seen to date, with a nice two-color finish with tan sides and a front tag to contrast with the dark blue surface elsewhere. It measures 94 x 87 x 47 mm and weighs ~100 g by itself. The stitching quality is quite good, and we see FiiO as well as the same "born for music" slogan stamped in.


A magnetic clasp keeps the box closed, and opening it, we see a soft fabric and velvet lining akin to a jewelry box. There is a cutout to hold the IEMs and some accessories too, and we see a silica gel packed inside. The final accessory comes in the case as well, and it is a tool used to disconnect the MMCX connectors on the cable from the ear buds. Simply lift up the cardboard cover underneath the top foam layer to access the rest of the cable and take everything out before using the tool as a lever to carefully separate the cable from the ear buds without damaging anything.