FIIO BTR11 REVIEW

>>I am brazilian and I speak portuguese, so forgive my english, I’ll use translation tools to help<<

INTRO:

After the uBTR and the BTR1, FiiO is introducing the new Bluetooth DAC/AMP, the FiiO BTR11.

This is the entry-level product in FiiO’s line of Bluetooth receivers. The idea is to be a very affordable product and to solve the lack of headphone outputs on the latest smartphones.

Price: $19,99 USD
Color: Black or White

FiiO Reviews: FH3, KA1, HS18 (in portuguese); JD7, KA5, FD11, Q11, M11S, KA11, JT1, BTR13 (in english)

FIIO LINKS:

https://amzn.to/3CWGEI6

https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DmUdYz7 (Official store)

SPECIFICATIONS:

– Bluetooth chip: BES2700IHC
– Bluetooth version: 5.3
– Bluetooth codecs: AAC/SBC/LDAC
– Output: 3.5mm SE
– Dimensions: 55x19x14.6mm (including back clip)
– Weight: 13g
– Battery: 120mAh
– Charging time: ≤1.5 hours
– Battery life: About 15h (AAC), About 8h (LDAC)
– Output power 1: L+R≥45mW+45mW (16Ω, THD+N＜1%)
– Output power 2: L+R≥30mW+30mW (32Ω, THD+N <1%)
– Frequency response: 20Hz~45kHz (-3dB) Attenuation <2.3dB
– Signal-to-noise ratio: ≥101dB (A-weighted)
– Noise floor: <8μV (A-weighted)
– Output impedance: PO≤0.5Ω
– THD+N: <0.008% (1kHz/-3dB@32Ω)

Full specs here: FiiO BTR11 parameters

DEVICES USED:

– Kiwi Ears Quintet
– NF Acous NM20
– FiiO BTR13
– FiiO KA11
– MotoZ3Play
– Samsung S22U
– Dell Inspiron 14 (W10)

UNBOXING:

PHYSICAL ASPECTS:

Construction: Very light and very portable! These are some of the qualities of the BTR11. For those looking for something very small and discreet, this product will certainly be a great option. I say this because I recently reviewed the FiiO BTR13, and I already thought it was very portable, so the BTR11 manages to be even more so (although they are products with different features).

The BTR11 is made entirely of plastic, the front surface – in my perception – is like a transparent resin (isn’t glass). On the right side, we have an opening for the microphone, a multifunction button (on/off/pairing), and a volume button (-/+). There is nothing on the left side of the product. On the back, we have a clip to attach the BTR11 to a shirt, bag, etc. The product has only 1 RGB LED on the front. On the top, we have the 3.5mm SE output, and on the bottom, we have the USB-C input.

Don’t expect an absurd build quality, the plastic quality is good, but it’s a simpler plastic than the BTR13. Now, surprisingly, the BTR11’s buttons are tighter than the BTR13’s… sure, they still make that little loose noise if you touch them with your finger, but for example, when you shake the product, the BTR11 doesn’t make a loose button noise, the BTR13 does (!).

The BTR11 comes with a hole in the clip part so you can use it with a lanyard, however, the product doesn’t come with a lanyard. Here, the BTR13 has the advantage of having the hole and already coming with the lanyard included. Obviously, this comparison is just for reference, since the products are categorized in different price ranges and have different feature capabilities. The BTR13 is above the BTR11 without a doubt.

Bluetooth: I found the synch between the image and sound to be perfect, I didn’t notice any delays. I also found the signal stability to be very good, at no point did I experience signal failure. The signal range was approximately 10 meters before losing connection. The BTR11 supports pairing with 2 devices at the same time… however, it’s always good to remember that one device will be the main one, while the other remains in “pause” mode.

Attention: The BTR11 is essentially a Bluetooth receiver, that is, unfortunately it doesn’t work as a DAC/AMP dongle if you connect it via USB-C. The USB-C input is only for charging the product. It wasn’t recognized by my smartphones, nor by my computer (even using an OTG cable that I have here).

FiiO Control App:

As you can see, the BTR11 has no features in the app, the only thing you can do is check for available firmware updates via OTA. This first screenshot is all that is available in the FiiO Control App for the BTR11, the other two images are from the Android systems (Samsung Android 14 and Motorola Android 9). The FiiO Control App is available for Android and iOS.

Unlike the BTR13, the BTR11 has no display or information in the App, so in order to identify which Bluetooth codec the product is using, FiiO created a diagram with the LED:

• SBC: The blue light flashes once every 5 seconds
• AAC: The blue light flashes twice every 5 seconds
• LDAC: The blue light flashes three times every 5 seconds

Volume control: From my tests here, the BTR11 offers 16 steps. In other words, it doesn’t offer independent volume control, that is, increase or decrease the volume using the BTR11 or your smartphone, the volume scale will be the same. Paired with the Windows, when controlling the volume by the BTR11, there were also 16 levels, which are: 6, 13, 19, 25, 31, 38, 44, 50, 56, 62, 69, 75, 81, 87, 94, 100. If you control the volume scale using the computer with the mouse, you can change it to 1 by 1, however… this fine adjustment doesn’t work, from what I saw here, if you set the volume to 10, it will be the same volume – “sound” – corresponding to 7 to 13.

Heating test: Positive point. The product didn’t heat up. I left it playing for 1 hour and didn’t notice any excessive heating of the surface.

The BTR11 battery seemed to be good to me, it has a very interesting duration. Here I think the BTR13 managed to last longer during my tests, but also, the product has almost 4 times more mAh. It’s true, I didn’t completely discharge the battery just to test the product… I used it over the days and noticed its performance. The battery status information is provided by Android, which shows the percentage every 10%. The product also emits an sound alert when the battery is low, like: “low battery”. These alerts are quite annoying, they could have the option to remove this through the App.

Accessories: Basically just the USB-A to USB-C cable. In my opinion, they should have included a USB-C to USB-C cable and an USB-A adapter. And as I said before, the product has space to attach a support lanyard, but they didn’t include the lanyard in the product kit.

The BTR11 comes equipped with an omnidirectional microphone on the right side. According to FiiO, the BTR11 supports calls by Bluetooth. I used an AI voice – Natalie – to narrate the text and placed the BTR11 in front of my computer’s speaker. Here is the result:

I found the quality to be good, although I found the quality of the BTR13’s mic to be a little better. Basically, there was a little less noise on the BTR13. Both audios were a bit low and slightly “boxy”. The test was exactly the same on both products. Okay, the method I used wasn’t the best, so don’t put too much credibility in it.

Finally, the BTR11 can also be used as an audio device in cars, just pair it with the car’s Bluetooth. Honestly, I haven’t tested this function.

SOUND ASPECTS:

It is important to remember that this review is subjective, based on my experience with the product and also on its synergy with other equipment I have used. I must also point out that the more objectivist side of the hobby isn’t really my beach, so some information may be limited, as I’m not an expert on the technical side of this type of product.

First of all, I would like to say that the BTR11 is an entry-level product, and it’s only intended for use via Bluetooth. The DAC chip used in the product was the BES Technic BES2700IHC, and the amplifier was the Heroic HT97220. For me, the product’s biggest differentiator is having the LDAC codec. There are several devices like the BTR11 on the market, but it’s very difficult to find one that has the capacity to have this codec developed by Sony.

Why did I mention LDAC as something very positive about the product? Because here I identified two situations: one using the SBC codec, and the other using LDAC. When connected with SBC, I noticed that there was a slight addition of noise while listening to music/audio. With LDAC, however, the presentation was noise-free. And even when I tested it by connecting it to different sources, with SBC codec the presentation continued in the same way as I mentioned before.

I found it strange, because I usually use the SBC codec and I never noticed this issue. In fact, you need a good earphone and a well-trained ear to hear this noise… most people won’t notice it, and not all the songs I tested had the noise. So, for me, the LDAC codec is the best option with the BTR11. We know that not all Bluetooth devices have the LDAC codec, so this is a warning: in this case, you will need a transmitter with LDAC. FiiO recently launched the FiiO BT11, which is a very small transmitter that has the aforementioned codec. May be an option.

When connected to LDAC, I can guarantee that the audio quality of the BTR11 was perfect, with completely transparent and pure sound, free of any distortion.

Amplification: I used the Quintet and the NM20 during this review, both IEMs are very easy to push, the NM20 is even easier. There’s no secret, the BTR11 played both IEMs in an exemplary manner, I set it to 50% of the BTR11’s volume, which is equivalent to volume level 8 (it’s half the volume offered by the BTR11, which has 16 levels). For me it was already loud enough, I can go up to 9 steps, at 10 I think it’s already too loud (for my ears).

Comparison: FiiO BTR11 vs FiiO BTR13

It’s even a little complicated to make a comparison like this, the products are very different… Practically the BTR11 only manages to be better in just 3 aspects: Weight, size, and price. In everything else the BTR13 manages to be better. The BTR13 is much more complete, it has more functions in the equipment… For example, you can customize some functions in the App, it has more BT codecs, two headphone outputs, it can be used as a DAC/AMP via cable, it has EQ, it has a display, it has more power, etc, etc, etc. Today, the BTR13 is really my recommendation for this type of Bluetooth receiver. It’s very versatile and the price is also very attractive. Now, if your intention is to have maximum portability and spend very few just to have a Bluetooth receiver, then I think the BTR11 can serve you very well… but that’s it, otherwise, go for the BTR13 because it’s more wide, it’s almost a Swiss army knife of audiophilia.

In terms of sound performance, the BTR13 also comes out on top… even due to the amplification… it was even difficult to establish an “equality” between the two to make this type of comparison. Connecting them with LDAC and listening to the same songs, I could see that the BTR13 would have a more “neutral” sound, and the BTR11 a “warmer” sound. In my opinion, the BTR13 presented a better soundstage, as well as a feeling of greater transparency and definition.

PROS AND CONS:

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