FiiO BTR5

Thought?:

When I brought the Sony WH-1000XM4 headphone, I also brought FiiO BTR5 to come with it to amplify the headphone as I am hard of hearing, and I needed something that would push that headphone to its full potential, so a portable amplifier for the headphone was needed. I did purchase a different headphone amp called FiiO Q5S, which I already have made a review about it which you can click here to read. As I said, at first, I got FiiO Q5S, but that didn’t work out too well for me; and decided that I have it returned but still needing an amp, so I went for another product from the same company FiiO. After returning the FiiO Q5S and I was refunded, then I ordered this FiiO BTR5, which is the one that I am reviewing right now.

Yes, if you have seen that FiiO’s Q5S received a low rating by me here on JoshiesWorld, but that does not stop me from continue trusting FiiO as I also have other FiiO products such as FiiO’s E17 Alpen 2 amp. Hence, I stumbled upon their BTR5 that sounded so promising to me. After receiving the FiiO BTR5, I was shocked but at the same time impressed that the BTR5 is very small and that it is very portable as it came with a detachable case that you could put it on your shirt, belt, or anything that you would do as if it is the old pager we used to carry around back in the 90s. The body of FiiO BTR5 is aluminum alloy (same body as a lot of smartphones has) with curved glass on the front and a few small buttons on one side. There are only three small buttons on one side, two small buttons, and one large button, but it acts as a volume that you can press up or down. The first one is to turn on the power, the second one is to pair, and the third has multiple functions such as pairing/play/pause/accept/call/hang up/cancel/force pair and open voice assistant. With the FiiO BTR5 device out of the box, it was included a case with a back clip, USB C for charging or connect, a small manual book, and a warranty paper.

I am delighted that I have sent a top-of-the-line amp, FiiO Q5S, back and get FiiO BTR5 one, which is pretty much a middle-of-the-line or so, but it performs like a top-of-the-line. Q5S costs a bit more than $300, and the BTR5 only costs $110. FiiO’s BTR5 performs like what Q5S is supposed to achieve but failed to, and it is a lot smaller! It is also a lot easier and so simple yet so powerful. It was able to connect to most of the devices through Bluetooth successfully, such as my iPhone, my desktop tower, my smart TV, my iPad, my Macbook Pro, my Apple TV, and others while a reasonable distance away. However, I would not recommend being too far away. I would say 200-400 feet away is plenty enough, but it has Bluetooth 5.0, which is advertised to handle at least up to 800 feet.

It also comes with all features that are needed, but at the same time, it stays to its simplicity. Such as the vital feature is the app calls FiiO Control because that is how you manage it, such as making sure that it is updated, changing the equalizer for the amp so that you can get however the audio you like, battery status, and a few more others. Still, it has a lot of things on the app that you need to work with FiiO’s BTR5. The FiiO BTR5 is advertised to last up to 9 hours, which is plentiful and even better that once it has been depleted, it would only take 1.5 hours to charge it back full. It also has a microphone built-in the amp so you can use the amp to talk if your headphone does not have the microphone, so that is a great addition for anyone who has a headphone but not one with a microphone.

As for if there is any complaint from me is that there are almost none. It does what an amplifier for headphones or earbuds does. Of course, I would always love that it would be louder to the point that it could blast my head off and the same for the bass, but they do it just enough. Maybe a longer battery life would be nice as it only can last up to 9 hours, which is plentiful, but if a trip is long, then a longer battery life would be great.

This FiiO BTR5 does it all that you need to amplify your headphone or earbud, two options to connect is through the Bluetooth and plugging the USB-C to the devices such as a computer or laptop. If you need a top of the line headphone amp, like FiiO Q5S advertised or many advertised it as but it doesn’t maximize the sound as the BTR5 does as in my Q5S’s review, I stated that FiiO Q5S does not really push or make your headphone or earbud loud as you’d expect from an amplifier. This FiiO BTR5 does, and it’s smaller, which means it is easier to carry around. The best comparison I can think of is between BTR5 and the Q5S is. If you want louder (by far) with crisp sound quality, smaller and is portable, then go for this BTR5, but if you ONLY need more accessible such as coax, then that is where the FiiO’s Q5S comes in. If I were you, I honestly would go for the BTR5 one, and for that, I am highly recommending FiiO BTR5. FiiO BTR5 is simple as I said, all you have to do is have it charged, turn the power on, press one button to pair to your Bluetooth device, plugin in your regular headphone jack, and tune it up via equalizer on FiiO Control app if you want more bass or louder.

Now I am rating FiiO BTR5 a 4, and it translates great.