FIFINE Wireless Bluetooth Headphones, Over-Ear Noise Canceling Headphones with Soft Earmuffs, Up to 65H Playtime for Music, Phone Calls, Sport Travel Headset for iPhone/Android/Tablet-X3 Black

Good soundingbheadphones but does have some quirks
The Fifine X3 wireless headphones are a great budget friendly Bluetooth headphone option for the everyday person. Some notable benefits of these headphones is that they have a pretty good sound signature when listening to audio. The active noise canceling, transparency, an added base boost feature and a gaming mode makes this a very versatile headphone for under $100.The downsides about this headphone is the Bluetooth may have latency issues when playing fast place first person shooters. In addition, there is no mute button for your microphone and the audio quality for the microphone is not great in Wireless mode.I would say the X3 wireless headphones would work great for an everyday headphone when paired with an external microphone, but it is still very usable with the 3.5mm cable provided to use with your PC.

A great buy for the price point.
The combination of features offered here is strong for a sub $100 headphone. You’re getting comfy earpads and headband, option for 3.5mm corded usage, an included boom mic for gaming and calls, excellent bluetooth range, a fairly balanced sound, and active noise cancellation as well as transparency mode where you can hear everything around you.The microphone does a good job of picking up voice clearly, but is fairly sensitive to background noise or being too close to your mouth. Just something to be aware of.Normally, some of those are features of much more expensive headphones. While the ANC and transparency modes are not as strong as familiar items such as AirPods Pro/Max or Sony XM5, these have a respectable performance at a far more affordable price tag, and to me are far more comfortable to wear than AirPods Max.Their bluetooth range is also excellent. In my AirPods as I walk around my acre property, as I approach my mailbox or my storage shed my headphones usually cut out, but on the Fifine X3 the signal stays clear the whole way.Bass is pretty solid, only tapering off at the very lowest sub frequencies, and the highs are fairly crisp. Only slightly sibilant without being overly bright. Sound stage is fairly narrow, but thats’s not surprising for a closed back headphone.All in all, these pack a lot of value.

Good sound quality, comfortable, ok ANC and mic quality
Pros:The sound quality for the price is good. I own Sony MX5 and obviously they don’t compare but still good.Battery life is good. Goes several days of constant use without charging.The adapter microphone is a nice touch.Very comfortable.Has touch controls for volume and track changes.Switch for ANC.Cons:The call quality is not great.ANC is just okay. Maybe firmware updates will improve it.Audio lag may be apparent and touch input lag.

Ordered via vine.Although i’ve not owned one of their products, I know FIFINE for their microphone products.With this fifine X3, I had issues connecting it to my PC, although it paired instantly, it may be due to many numerous audio outputs and mic inputs plus receivers I have, though I got the sound to work as it paired via BT instantly. But on Windows 11 whether I paired ordinarily, or separately as either audio input and/or output I couldn’t get both the audio AND Mic working. So although i’m almost certain this was an issue my end, as these absolutely must work on Windows. Rather than look for solutions or drivers/ troubleshooting I instead tested moved on and tested this with my iPhone which technically would provide virtually the same results anyway.Now at £65 I wouldn’t expect this to have any Hi-Res certified Bluetooth codecs such as LDAC, although it also comes with a reasonably long 3.5mm to 3.5mm stereo cable for a wired connection, which would technically allow for lossless audio or 16bit CD quality 48hz, whereas on the PC it may have allowed me to adjust the bit depth and sample rate. Though since this is a £65 primarily Bluetooth Headset, its hardly relevant without LDAC and so most would never notice the difference even if it could be adjusted to 24 bit 192khz. Chances are the Bluetooth amplification is fixed with it’s own limitations, but there wasn’t any info on this and again not really important for entry level headsets.Though these are not musical headphones, but a gaming headset I played a few tracks on tidal, with the 24bit 192khz being compressed by the basic bluetooth codec (It is possible to transmit LDAC from windows), however using the standard bluetooth protocol the sound quality was very good in Bluetooth mode, decent volume and bass. Not exceptionally far off from my much older Sennheiser HD650s.Why I couldn’t get the audio/mic input working simultaneously i’m not sure. It has to work as PC/laptops will be its primary OS for gaming, but whether I paired in ordinarily, or specifically as an audio output/mic, even when disabling all my other devices I couldn’t get both working. Though I’m sure i;d have got it working eventually.When turned on you get a voice saying ANC “on and off” with a chinese or asian accent, she isn’t quite saying it perfectly clearly in English with the strong accent unfortunately. Although we know even the very best high end brands are often manufacturer partially or entirely in China, with only two words I think with some improved takes they could have got this right in literally 30 seconds. But its really not a big deal. Those who buy or test and hear this will understand, it just seems the person doing the vocal instruction/indicators had a heavy asian accent that should have been done properly when she only has to say “ANC ON” and not “ANC OHHHH”. But hardly a deal breaker so don’t let this put you off!As for the design and styling, this is much like a high end set of Hi-Fi cans, with adjustable soft headband support, comfortable soft pads which help to keep the audio sealed in, they did not feel uncomfortable, heavy or fatiguing. They also have Left and Right indicators within the inner foam which is printed on each side, in a subtle way but makes identifying the correct channel easily.There’s also further voice commands when you turn ANC on or off which is operated by a physical button, as is the volume, on/off button which also acts as a multi-point connection.So the overall sound is very good on hear as I tested playing a few songs with very basic bluetooth codec, it still sounded very musical. Also when playing a podcast I could hear the deeper vocal frequencies very well.When testing the ANC, I did not test it during a phone call yet I had a ceiling fan right above me. It did a great job of isolating this and filtering it out, without any noticeable reduction in sound quality that I could detect – yet it it literally blocked the wind noise from my ceiling fan very well.After temporarily giving up on getting the mic to work on windows 11, I decided to pair it with my iPhone instead. Equally the sound was impressive playing tidal masters, though the Bluetooth 5.4 still lacks the bandwidth and the codex would have been compressing the sound, I still found it rather impressive.This time, simply connecting via bluetooth to my iPhone SE paired instantly and unlike with my PC I could not test the microphone’s ability. I have a £65 Comica Condenser Cardioid desktop microphone to compare it’s performance with, which is virtually equally priced but that is a much larger and dedicated microphone though still entry level as things go. By comparison, firstly it was very sensitive to the location as initially I had it too close to my mouth and it sounded harsh, though it’s easily adjustable it did not have the same broad and natural frequency response as my desktop mic. Which is hardly surprising as the headset microphone is so much smaller by comparison, it did not pick up the deeper frequencies of my vocals and sounded like a cheaper microphone.Although it’s perfectly possible to make high-end, expensive mini microphones for a lot more money – though with higher grade materials and manufacturing costs.So the Audio and ANC is certainly stronger than the microphones performance, however for a gaming headset I think your sound quality is less important so long as you can be understood – you would not want to record podcasts or make youtube videos using this. Similarly although I did not test it during a phone call, providing you can be understood I don’t think as a gaming headset you’ll be spending too much time in calls.So maybe they could have improved the microphone quality, i’m unsure. Because I think for for £65 they’ve probably and quite wisely decided to focus on the audio and ANC rather that perfect high quality microphone transmissive. Although again, I did not test this wired but i’m unsure as to whether the 3.5mm cable is for the microphone/combo – Or just as a wired audio input.All things considered, I think focusing on the audio quality and ANC was a wise decision for a gaming headset, it’s not terrible quality but at the end of the day surface area is a physical limitation for the mics input sensitivity – And during intense gaming as opposed to recording podcasts or as a dedicated microphone for long conversations and phone calls.I think you’re likely to be more focussed on the sound quality, as you trade insults as long as they are more sufficient enough to be understood even if lacking some depth and frequency response. I just imagine that during gaming it’s not as important as the ingame audio produced by the drivers, and you’ll be able to hear your fellow players or competitors very well. Whatever drivers they decided to use they impressed me when playing music, with good bass treble and overall sound for their price.So overall the build quality and design is similar the that of some high end Hi-Fi headphones and the ANC very effective. The adjustable microphone is very small by design with with these headsets and unsurprisingly means the audio quality from the microphone is of average quality, but probably a good as can be expected for £65. And i’m comparing it to a £65 dedicated Comica condenser cardioid Desktop Mic, similar to one that FIFINE make themselves which is simply much larger surface area.But I feel this is satisfactory as the idea of a headset is to get both very good audio with the versatility and convenience of a microphone for mostly gaming specific audio communication, where by comparison to a Gaming desktop mic you don’t need to monitor the position or your own position and angle when speaking into the mic which should be at an optimum very close distance and angle especially on cardioids mics.Whereas the attached mic on a headset, once optimally positioned and as preferred, you can simply forget about it as its position will not move regardless of the position, distance or angle of your head, the mic is always there and will consistently perform.So as the headphones are definitely the stronger of the two components with the very, very good and immersive headphone audio output, the microphone input quality is perfectly fine and understandable, even if it lack the depth, tone and overall frequency response produced by the equally much larger left and right headphone magnetic audio drivers, I think this is pretty much to be expected. And if you wanted podcast or desktop microphone broader frequency quality you’d probably have to spend quite a bit more than this relatively entry level £65 headset.Though returning to the quality, even from the packaging and accessories it’s all quite premium including all soft comfort materials and the harder construction quality. They do have the FIFINE logo although it’s quite small, and also a large red accent for styling on one side of the earphones. I actually think for a quality headset which this is, and especially to attract gamers they should have written a much larger FIFINE logo across the headrest and perhaps some other things, as aside from the small white logo this looks and feel like a having quality headset with soft ear cushions and the same on the adjustable headrest, but apart from this it looks a bit plain. And if I didn’t know otherwise, for any gaming focussed product styling is important and considering they’ve made a quality headset, I think they could have done a bit more by adding some additional styling elements or some subtle contrasting colour – since you can buy a £20 pair of headphones/headset that has more styling than these,Since I rate the overall performance and it’s features, its easy to operate functions and buttons as very good, it needs some additional styling to make these more visually appealing such that it matches the quality of the product. The little “fifine” white logo with the single red accent is quite minimalistic, however i’m still perfectly happy with it, i’m just thinking of the younger gamers as when you really like a product it’s a nice thing to look at it;s design and appearance in awe and satisfaction.But the build quality throughout is perfect, which no sharp edges or corners, the 3.5mm input port even has quite a nice small octagon indentations rather than a typical round one, or not at all and this somewhat protects the cable when plugged in and looks nice, though it’s very subtle and many won’t notice these little design details – but I do.Since these are closed back, the rear of each left and right headphone ear pad, the touch sensitive control section which is all made of plastics, which is typical even in higher end headphones but they have a somewhat premium finish smooth matte appearance. This is somewhere where they could have perhaps included a logo or something interesting – though as mentioned the L/F side and indicated in white/grey just barely visible on the inner foam section which is very handy. Although I expect these soft ear cushions to last a long time, i’m unsure if FIFINE sell replacements separately for ultimate longevity, but they feel light though I did not test them for long periods for heat dissipation, they felt light and perfect during my more limited testing.Though as the description states “Comfortable Earmuffs Material] Designed for comfort during prolonged use,” – it seems the R&D have covered this well.Probably among the best features, which is helped with the Bluetooth 5.3 efficiency and 32 ohms making them efficient and easy to drive – despite being primarily wireless Bluetooth with it’s own inbuilt amplification is the very large battery capacity and usage. Combined with 2.5hrs for total recharging, so they have some type of charging, dependent on the volume and whether in wired or wireless mode – these offer a huge 65hrs battery life. Even on significantly more expensive Hi-Fi bluetooth headphones, this is very, very impressive in my opinion for the price, and certainly one of this products highlights.Meaning realistically you’ll not need to charge these for 1 to 2 weeks depending on whether you’re the most dedicated 18hr a day Pro gamer, or a more casual gamer or using these more any other uses besides gaming alone.So I think i’ve covered everything, to conclude although I can’t say I’ve tested many similar headsets, I have tested many high end Bluetooth, Wired or Hi-Fi headphones and in the Audio department, with their spatial audio there’s really shine, as playing music on these sounded fantastic, throughout the frequency range, I did not find the volume was too loud, the bass was powerful and present when tested with default EQ. I did not test them in wired mode as I had issues getting these to work properly on my PC, but that is likely a problem my end, so i’m not sure whether you could bypass the Bluetooth’s own amplification chip in order to connect these to a DAC or make them even louder, I would guess not as I wasn’t able to do this on £500 Hybrid Edifier Wireless Earphones that also included a 3.5mm input for exactly the same reason. The Active Noise Cancelling is fantastic, as just coincidentally without even realising I tested these with a ceiling fan blowing already directly above only 1.5M away from me. So with headsets sensitive microphone picking this up, without ANC on even though I was not talking the feedback made this made it sound like I was outside but only with a very light gust of wind blowing. And without knowing precisely how they’ve implemented their particular ANC technology, I can say that the ANC on these FIFINE X3s, with a click of a button followed by a vocal “ANC ON” automatically played through the earphones when pressed – this quite successfully eliminated the fan/wind noise entirely and without any noticeable drop in the audio quality whatsoever, which is quite unusual and difficult to achieve. So if there is any drop, then I did not perceive it and I would actually say that combined with the seal created from their thick and cushioned earpad, the ANC on here is superb and was equally as effective as the last Sony WF1000XM5s that I bought and tested a while ago at £270, almost 3x the price. Although not quite a fair comparison as ANC is much harder to achieve on Wireless Musical Earbuds compared tp Headphones/Headsets where in Sony’s case they must add 4x tiny external microphones to be effective. Nonetheless, its still rather impressive and means the ANC would be equally very effective both in general use and during phone calls.Although I had issues getting the Microphone side to work on my PC, only the audio worked. I have no doubt some more messing around or testing would have resolved the issue as these must work on Windows, which would be their primary usage. Though they paired and worked perfectly with my phone.The Microphone output is not as impressive as the impressive and immersive headphone output, but as I’ve explained in my opinion this is not only to be expected due to the mics physical size limitations but also perfectly normal – Yet the audio from the mic was still perfectly satisfactory considering this is a a general use PC/Android/iOS headset, though more than likely these would be used for gaming – they could equally be used for a number of other applications, but unless you are listening to some very nice Gaming or other music – you’d be missing out I think if you only used these for phone calls, Zoom, skype etc even though you would hear vocals with great depth and detail, these have very impressive musical quality which must be by design, indicating they have some decent drivers in there.There are countless other uses, applications and scenarious you could use these for, with Gaming being my best guess, and for this I would highly recommend these, such that you can benefit from the surprisingly impressive sound quality at £65. And that’s coming from a dedicated Audiophile, so however you use these they will sound fantastic, the operation, functions and controls are all easily accessible and intuitive. One small thing is the flashing pairing LED, its a strange very, very light combination of white/blue which turns to red when charging. IMO this flashing pairing colour should be a solid typical blue colour, although this is a small issue it’s a very unusual colour, not that it prevents you from being able to pair it in anyway.In all aspects, the comfort is fantastic with appropriately chosen lightweight and well sized earmuffs that are perfect for longevity plus prevent noise from escaping and acting as passive noise cancelling, to support the very, very effective ANC I.E it creates a good seal to prevent sound from escaping, which allows for improved efficiency/lower amplification.The only metal on the outside is visible when opening/adjusting the headband size, which is also comfortable. But the premium looking plastics are all well crafted, sufficiently robos, visually high quality in appearance and this seems built to last.With the impressive 65hrs total playtime on a full charge and fast charging 2.5hrs total recharge time, this is a very high quality and musically immersive headset, at the relatively entry level price of only £65.The type C cable is short but sufficient, similarly I’m used to a 3m audio cable that to connects to my DAC, but the 3,5mm cable supplied is more like 1.5-2M and it’s not cheap but sufficiently high in quality also. I’ll be giving this a respectable 4/5 stars but thats only because I very rarely give out 5/5 stars, this is worth 4.5/5 stars to me.

One of the best headphones you will ever buy plus it’s also grate for gaming if your interested in that