TWS true wireless earphones - under $100
4.5 STARS - The Fiil T1 X is a great sounding pair of truly wireless earphones for whichever genre you throw it at, and supports good call quality and comfort. It's great for sports as well.
Fiil T1X/ Fiil T1 X specs:
Bluetooth 5.0 with AAC codec
IPX5 water proof (rain and sweat resistant)
6 hours listening on a full charge
Charging case can charge earpieces fully 4 times
Comes with 3 sets ear tips, 2 sizes ear wings and a USB-C charging cable
$65 on Amazon US* or Gearbest or AliExpress - check current price
Below this Fiil T1X review you can find direct comparisons of the Fiil T1X vs Bomaker Sifi, Sabbat E12 Ultra, Lypertek Tevi, Anker Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro and KZ S1 Hybrid.
Updates during 2020: The Fiil T1XS review is here - and it's even better! Also check out the Fiil T1 Pro and Fiil T1 Lite reviews, which are more compact and further finetune the T1X sound.
Update January 2021: As the quality of new TWS wireless earbuds keeps improving and there are more and more great models on the market, the overall score for this model has been adjusted from 5 to 4.5 stars
Design, charging and comfort
Let's start this review with the worst part of these earphones: the charging case of the Fiil T1 X is a little flimsy. It is square, relatively big, and made from cheap black plastic. The lid is prone to fingerprints and a bit wobbly. There is a little trick inside though. Next to the inlays of the earbuds, you can see which control functions there are on the buds. Neat. On the front, two LED-lights indicate the charging and battery status of the earpieces within. On the back, there's a USB-C port.
When fully charged, the case can recharge the earbuds around four times fully. The earpieces offer 6 hours playtime when you play music on medium volume - a competitive score in this price range. What's great, is that only ten minutes of charging, will have you listening for almost 2 hours again.
The earpieces itself aren't lookers - but they do everything just right. They don't stick out your ears too much, and they barely catch the wind when you're cycling. The earpieces have the LED-lights on top, and happily, they don't blink when you're listening to music. On the inside, the earpieces are shaped like small beans, providing comfort while wearing.
On top of that, the Fiil T1X comes with two sizes of rubber ear wings you can pull over the buds. They make sure the T1X stays in your ear, even while sporting or working out. Finally, there's a sub-$100 pair after the 1more Stylish TWS that work perfectly for sports!
Connectivity and controls
The Fiil T1X has touch controls on both the earpieces, which work well. The control scheme, however, is quite weird.
Tap twice to play or pause the music. By tapping the left earbud once, you increase the volume. You have to tap three times to decrease it again.
On the right earpiece, you tap the bud once to skip a song and tap three times to return a track. Finally, you can hold your touch on the right earpiece to activate the voice assistant on your smartphone.
The control scheme and activating the functions takes getting used to, but the controls do work conveniently. Besides, it's great to have volume controls on the earpieces itself.
When it comes to connectivity, the Fiil T1X happily functions way better than the earlier version, the Fiil T1. The T1X just connects when you take them out of the case. The Bluetooth signal keeps stable up to around ten meters, indoors and also in areas more crowded with wireless signals. You can also easily swap between using one and two earpieces. Put one earpiece in the charger and the other one keeps playing; take it out again and they instantly pair to bring you stereo sound again.
Calling and watching movies
The Fiil T1X has good audio-video synchronization on both Android and iPhone devices, although there's some audio delay when watching videos in the YouTube-app on the iPhone. The synchronization is still better than most competitors, happily. While gaming, there is a noticeable delay in the sound effects - unless you activate the Low Latency mode from the Fiil+ app. By enabling it, the YouTube-synchronization on iPhone improves as well.
The phone call quality of the Fiil T1X is outstanding. Your voice sounds clear and natural to the person on the other end of the line. It also comes with plenty of volume in your voice. Outside, most surrounding noises are reduced well. Traffic sounds are still audible, but are kept at a minimum and barely interrupt your conversation. Only when you're talking in a fierce wind or with lots of office sounds around you, calling becomes more challenging. Office noises are picked up well and can disturb your call a bit. Happily, walking and calling at the same time can be done perfectly with the T1X.
Also read: The best true wireless earphones under $100
Fiil+ App: great to have, hard to get
Another difference between the earlier released Fiil T1 and the T1X, is that the latter supports an app for both Android and iPhone. It unlocks great extra functions.
For instance, when you connect the Fiil+ app to Spotify, you can use voice commands to find songs on Spotify. You can activate an Easy Mode for easier controls, or 'high sensitivity touch' on either of the buds to make them respond quicker to your touches. Best of all, it's possible to activate a Low Latency mode that will improve the audio-video synchronization for playing games (and watching YouTube-videos on iPhone as well). A great function to have.
Next to these functions, the app provides sound equalizers, with a Bass Boost and Treble Boost setting, as the two main settings next to the regular setup. If these are not to your liking, you can also switch between various genre setups.
Unfortunately, I received several e-mails from readers stating they don't succeed in connecting the earpieces to the app. There are more complaints online, too. Therefore, I distract two stars from the score.
For your expectations, it's safest to assume the Fiil T1X DOESN'T come with an app and a Low Latency mode. If it works, consider it a pleasant surprise…
Reader tip: If you have problems connecting to the app, please turn on the location on your phone. It improves your chances of the app to work! Please share in the comments if this works.
Sound quality of Fiil T1X: brilliantly balanced
With its balanced and natural sound, the Fiil T1X is a stunning performer among TWS true wireless earphones under $100.
If you're looking for a bass monster, you should know that the Fiil T1X isn't it. The T1 X doesn't shove a massive bass in your face, nor does it try to overpower songs with it. There's never a lack of bass either, happily.
The amount of bass produced by the T1X, feels as if it’s the exact amount intended by songs. It can give a steady thump in pop and dance songs, but it can also be more gentle in easier going songs. When called for in songs like James Blake's Limit to Your Love, the sub-bass doesn't kick you in the ears, but boy, it certainly knows how to rumble. Along with the mid-bass slam, the bass is not the deepest you can get - it always behaves in a sort of way - but there's plenty of power to make songs uplifting.
For those of you who bought the Shanling MTW100 with balanced armature - it's good to know that the T1 X has more bass presence out of itself.
The mids are the star of the show on the Fiil T1 X. They take up a prominent place in songs. Instruments such as guitars, drums and saxophones, and also vocals present themselves with a big amount of detail (like string pullings from guitars, and gasps in the microphone on higher quality recordings) and natural tonality. While the soundstage is mostly restricted to the left and right of you, it's easy to differentiate the position of instruments.
In the highs, Fiil T1 X hits the sweet spot. They are extended enough to let higher-pitched (female) vocals come through with clarity and nuance and make violins and cymbals sound lifelike. At the same time, they are subtle enough to prevent the T1X from sounding too bright or too harsh. Only on really high volumes, peaks in classical pieces can require you to tone down the volume sometimes.
What's more, is that the Fiil T1X just doesn't just offer great lows, mids, and highs. It's the total picture that counts and convinces. The T1X produces a brilliant cohesive sound that feels natural in whatever genre you throw at it.
Selected Comparisons
Fiil T1X vs Sabbat E12 Ultra
The hugely popular Sabbat E12 Ultra ($60) has a more spacious sound than the T1X, and its bass delivers a bigger thump. However: vocals on the Sabbat are more shouty, and mids are thinner. It just sounds a bit artificial next to the Fiil T1X, which rules over the Sabbat with its level of detail, better instrument placement, and its natural tonality.
Fiil T1X vs 1more Stylish TWS
The 1more Stylish TWS is another (rare) example of a great sounding TWS under 100 dollars with rubber ear wings that make them very suitable for sports. The Stylish TWS sounds darker than the T1X and has a more closed-in sound. It can sound congested in more crowded tracks, too. The 1more bass pumps a little more, but the T1X has further extended highs and sounds more balanced.
Fiil T1X vs Shanling MTW100
The Shanling MTW100 with Balanced Armature ($90) is one of the best wireless earphones for more acoustic music genres like jazz, blues, and singer-songwriters, due to its excellent instrument placement that surpasses that of the Fiil T1X. It also sounds colder and sometimes even harsh next to the T1X, though. The Fiil has more bass impact, a friendlier and warmer tonality, and thus a more versatile sound than the Shanling.
Fiil T1X vs Lypertek Tevi
Out of the box, the $90 Lypertek Tevi sounds balanced with a bit of an overdose on upper-mids and highs. When you successfully install a beta version of the Android app and get to update the earpieces, the Tevi suddenly sounds different. In this comparison, the Tevi offers less (!) pronounced highs and less forward vocals than the Fiil T1X. Both offer excellent instrument placement, but the T1X convinces with better tonality and more comfort.
Fiil T1X vs Bomaker Sifi
At the very start of 2020, this is a battle between the two best-sounding wireless earphones at around $60. The Fiil T1 has more controlled highs than the Bomaker Sifi, and impresses with more precise instrument placement and naturality. The Sifi does have a bigger bass impact and a more spacious sound. It sounds a little brighter too, which can both be a good or a bad thing, dependent on your taste. Pointing out a winner on sound quality is hard. The Fiil T1X wins on practical aspects: it's better at calling and suitable for sports due to the ear wings.
Fiil T1X vs KZ S1 Hybrid
The KZ S1 Hybrid is another very affordable pair of balanced sounding wireless earphones... at just $25. It even throws in a low-latency mode for playing games as well. Vocals and upper-mids enjoy a little more forwardness on the KZ S1 hybrid, but the Fiil T1X offers a more spacious sound, with slightly better separation between the lows, mids, and higher frequencies. At the same time, it sounds fuller thanks to more lower-mids presence. If you want to save money and don't mind a 3-hours battery life, the KZ S1 is a solid alternative, though.
Fiil T1X vs Anker Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro
The $130 Anker Soundcore Liberty Pro may be an insanely good looking and sturdy built product for its money; it doesn't sound better than the Fiil T1X. The Liberty 2 Pro is more muffled in the lower frequencies, has a sometimes overbearing bass, and has a bit of a hiss over higher-pitched vocals. The Soundcore app does work way better, and lets you choose all kinds of equalizers - but the Fiil T1X just sounds better in the basics.
Anker Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro review here
Verdict
The Fiil T1 X is a great sounding pair of truly wireless earphones for whichever genre you throw it at, and supports good call quality and comfort. It's great for sports as well.
4.5 STARS - Great
Buy Fiil T1X/ check current price:
I got several requests for reviewing the Fiil T1X. Thanks all! I bought the model myself for testing and reviewing purposes. I test and review all audio products equally honest - read about it here.
Consider buying this earphone? I'd really appreciate it if you use the links in this article. It won't cost you extra, yet it will financially support me a bit in my ongoing quest for great affordable audio. <3
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