FIIL T1 Pro BT5.2 IPX5 ANC TWS
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regancipher
Who did you buy through? I've gone directly to Xiaomi before (FIIL is a subsidiary) and managed to get issues resolved - the FIIL website is down for the next couple of weeks so they are running a temporary site, hence why you won't be getting any kind of support.
milodinosaur
Hey mate, I purchased these through aliexpress. The shop owner has offered me a refund upon sending the earbuds back. Although by some miracle it seems to be working again so I'm keeping it whilst hoping nothing happens.
regancipher
If you are using the wing tips it happens to me all the time. You have to physically click the earbud into the case. Not ideal but does the trick. Glad you got them working!
RC016
How I review: (See Previous Reviews)
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Model: FIIL T1 Pro
Price: £54
Vendor Website: FIIL
Review Reference: RC016
Manufacturer Specification:
1 x Pair Wireless Earbuds
1 x USB Type-C & Qi Charge Case
1 x USB Type-C Charge Cable
4 x Pair Silicone Tips
3 x Wing Tips
1 x User Manual
1 x Quick Guide
Real Life Experience
Welcome to the Regancipher review of the FIIL T1 Pro. This has been edited for 2021, so excuse some of the dated comments in advance - for example, my original review stated: 'FIIL may not be a household name in the consumer audio market - their website doesn't even have an 'about us' section, and googling them is eerily footprint-free but in the chifi audio world they have been one of the best kept secrets for some time'.....and whilst they aren't a household name, their website is still dreadful, and they have been a well-kept secret, the OEM'ing of this model by Earfun has definitely brought FIIL more into the spotlight than they were.
FIIL were founded by Chinese rock-star Wang Feng in 2015, aiming to emulate the successes of Dr Dre in the US, and is heavily involved in R&D and tuning. Bringing in Leon Wu as CTO from Plantronics was part of this journey, and the $30m+ ploughed in by VC seems to have pushed them in the right direction so far. After their Diva Pro succeeded on Kickstarter and received rave reviews across the board, they became the top selling mid-range headphone manufacturer in China within 2 years of their foundation and have won various design awards - IF Dot and CES, to name but two.
In 2020 they attacked the TWS market fiercely. The T1XS were fantastic, a great set of earbuds. Their only problem was the submarine-style pressure you would feel after prolonged use. Otherwise they do most stuff pretty well, without pushing the boundaries.
The T1 Pro were a little more mysterious - billed as their ANC release, they retracted marketing the product outside China soon after release. This is due to an agreement with Earfun to OEM the product for them in Europe as the Air Pro. Nevertheless, I and many other enthusiasts were quick to get them in for testing, attracted by their low cost and high end features such as wireless charging, BT5.2, quick charge, low latency, ANC and app support.
I have edited this review several times, but a year on from release and the buds are still impressive performers, and probably the best you will get at the price they are now.
Unboxing - 8/10
FIIL have a very familiar and consistent unboxing which is very easily identifiable and has been replicated throughout their releases. The front of the toughened cardboard box features images of the product, their logo and company slogan 'the art of noise' and logos for BT5.2 (not many buds supported this back in Q3 2020). The back details all of those high end features I listed in the intro.
The tiny charge case is enclosed in a hard foam casing, and underneath the array of tips and charge cable sit cushioned in a plastic crate-style enclosure. You get a nice selection of different sized silicone ear and wing tips, USB type C charge cable, charge case and earbuds. Some thought has gone into ensuring things don't bounce around in the transit - the plastic insert is moulded to fit the USB-C cable, and is higher quality than the one included with the T1XS. The first thing that struck me about the tips was was the height. I compared the T1XS tips and noticed they were a little taller, but also, the quality is visibly worse - they are thinner and flimsier, and one seemed misshaped.
Underneath is the manual - exclusively in Chinese and a 'dark mode' style quick guide card. Whereas the card (not pictured) on the T1XS had English instructions, the Pro is 100% Chinese, again reflecting that these were a domestic release not meant for the worldwide market.
The manual is simply not worth attempting to translate, especially as there is an English version of the app which details how to use the buds much better than the manual can anyway.
Case - 9/10
Like the T1XS case, it is refreshingly simple, portable and functional. Similar in construction and dimensions to the T1XS, (perhaps 1-2mm taller) it lacks a little of the durability, omitting the double-reinforced hinge in favour of a flimsier, single hinge. Whilst this initially raised question marks about its durability, it has stood the test of time so far - no problems at all. It is also finished with a dark grey matte-look, and looks as good as the day it arrived, unlike many of my cheaper buds which are scuffed to high heaven.
The FIIL logo is screen printed on the top, which is protected with a thin additional transparent layer. There is a charge indicator light on the front of the case, which changes colour depending on how much charge is remaining. The buds also start to flash blue when you open it, denoting they are pairing, or attempting to pair, with your device.
The case's dimensions make it one of the most portable sets of earbuds on the market - the lipstick of charger cases. The USB-C charge socket at the back allows for around 3-3.5 additional charges. It supports quick charge - giving you 90 minutes playtime from 15 minutes charging, and wireless charging too. You just pop it on a wireless charger and away you go.
The case weighs in at 40g fully loaded, which is pretty light compared to the average case, which usually weigh in at between 40-45g.
It remains one of the smallest charge cases around, and given the extra playtime (it charges the buds an additional four times, taking total playtime to around 30 hours), features and size, it is ideal for the daily commute, fitting even in your trouser pocket.
Ergonomics - 8.5/10
The piano black finish looks good and is nicely sized, allowing for accurate touch control. The outer ambient mic - pictured at the top of the grey bezel - does a solid job - more on this under call quality. Just above the ambient mic is an LED, which flashes blue
At just over 4.38g, that's a lot of tech in a very small, lightweight footprint, and their 'light as a feather' marketing is justified - they do feel extremely slimline in your ears.
They are noticeably much thinner and lighter than the T1XS, and sit really nicely in your ears. However, whilst the T1XS were bulkier and more geared up for passive noise isolation, the T1 Pro, despite featuring ANC, aren't really designed with this feature in mind.
The oval shaped driver surround is no revolution - we've seen it with the Tronsmart Apollo Bold, Huawei FreeBuds Pro, FIIL CC Pro and Xiaomi Flipbuds. The T1 Pro's nozzle is much smaller in diameter than most of those examples, however the instruction to shove this into your ear canal is not wise. This is, I guess, why they include the longer tips, but the tips are so poor quality air gets through very easily and the noise cancellation appears even worse than it actually is.
You can see below that FIIL's idea of wearing them at 90 degrees, like the Whizzer E3, is impractical. So I don't.
Once you get a proper set of tips on, and tilt them a little in the same way I had to with the T1XS, you get a better seal, comfier fit and overall more pleasant experience. This makes the longer wing tips almost essential, so they nestle securely inside your concha. You've got a little play there with the angle, but not as much as FIIL suggest - 90 degree is going to be a non-starter for prolonged use. Once you get the fit right, and it takes a lot of fiddling around, you may notice the sound distort briefly as you put pressure on. This doesn't bode well for the longevity, but overall, is the experience better than the T1XS? Well, eventually, yes, they are more comfortable, but don't expect to get there fast.
Further analysis shows they are clearly not only some way slimmer than the T1XS, but also many of their peers, some of which were already reasonably slim. As a result, they leave far less of a footprint on the outside, making them ideal for sleeping in, but they are also less obtrusive, and look better overall. However the right angle style neck is a little invasive, so whilst these are the first earbuds I've kept in overnight and not woken up trying to find them, they do apply some pressure to your ear canal, so prolonged use may present some comfort issues eventually.
I finally found a few sets of eartips that really get the best out of these buds. The Feaulle h370 latex tips notch the sometimes piercing trebles and rumbling basslines and put a little space between you and the sound. These 'azla sedna xelastec' wannabes are perfect for the T1 Pro and XS, both in terms of comfort and sound. Alternatively, if ANC is your priority, the Tanchjim T-APB T300B/T Large also fit well, and augment ANC by giving you a comfortable seal.
Sound Quality - 8.5/10 (for the price paid), 8/10 (raw score)
The T1 Pro are great performers to listen to any music style with, albeit a little raw at times. The highs can be quite piercing, but only a small amount of sibilance where the vocals are particularly lispy on lower volumes. Out of the box they are tuned for consumer listening rather than my preferred sound signature, but the app allows a LOT of tweaking - a myriad of EQ settings, almost too many.
Now when I say app, I mean the global app where you pretend they are the T1. Not the Chinese app, that's a whole different kettle of fish (more later). Alternatively there are excellent EQ apps such as Wavelet on Android which do the job.
Where they beat the T1XS is on the mids. The T1 Pro recess quite sharply, but there's less bloat in the lower frequencies than some of their previous releases. At times you can achieve good tonality and a diverse soundstage, especially with the Feaulle tips. The sound separation does lack the intricacy of the Lypertek Tevi or Shanling MTW100, and is clearly outperformed by the KZ SA08, Edifier NeoBuds Pro and even the KZ SKS when tested strenuously, but it performs very well most of the time and will be suitable for your average ear.
Like the T1XS, low mid response is quite quick, but less sloppy on the T1 Pro, with less recess and less confusion or distortion, especially with baritone vocals and bass guitars. If anything, I'd say they are more raw sounding - the compression you sense on most earbuds isn't quite as obvious - but still a little harsh sounding for my own personal preference. I find myself notching the majority of the higher frequencies and subbass in particular to get a more rounded sound, and this can detract a little from the strength of the buds - their dynamism.
If you like your sound punchy and harsh - the T1 Pro are just that out of the box, but they respond quite well to EQ, and whilst not audiophile quality, when you balance the features and sound, the whole package is very impressive.
ANC - 6/10
I've seen some really bad reviews of the ANC. It isn't half as bad as the reviews suggest, but is comparable to the Jabra Elite 75t - you guess it was kind of an afterthought.
In 2021 the Edifier Neobuds Pro are on another level, and even when ANC was a 'nice to have' back when the T1 Pro were released, the Tronsmart Apollo Bold were still far superior in this department. And it shows, with a pretty average performance compared to the above two budget-leaders.
"Sin chao kai" is the default mode, which I guess is almost certainly noise cancellation 'on' - it drowns out low and mid frequencies very well but high frequencies are easily still present: keyboard taps, etc come through evidently. Holding the left bud for two seconds gives you the announcement 'Sin chin tai', which appears to be ambient mode, which is OK but not as obvious as newer buds to the market. 'MAF quan' seems to be, well, I have no idea what it is - maybe just ANC off? It seems to be pretty average at everything, you still hear low frequencies and higher frequencies are there, albeit slightly less obvious.
You can improve the ANC with better tips (see above) as like all FIIL releases, the supplied tips don't really do the buds justice.
Call Quality - Indoors - 7.5/10, Outdoors - 6.5/10
There is clearly some mic-based noise cancellation from the mic array. Like with the ANC, they are much better at filtering out the low end than higher frequencies. Adult voices indoors are evidently muffled, children's voices not so well.
Outdoors, whilst wind is not prominent, you can hear passing traffic but there is evidently extra compression compared with the T1XS, whilst trying hard to retain a relatively natural sound to your voice with no connectivity drops. When I say natural, I'm talking in relative terms. The compression means they do still sound a touch robotic.
I updated the score on the outdoor performance on a blustery day where I pushed every earbud to their limits with wind, rain, a face mask and traffic - and the T1 Pro performed better than most, including some stem-based such as the Edifier TWS NB2, which you would expect to perform very well in varied conditions given their form factor, but downgraded them again after my recent test of 28 different tws models, where they clearly fall short of some of the newer releases on the market today:
Connectivity, Controls, App Support and Other Features - 9/10
Connectivity is strong. No issues at all whether indoors or outdoors. Bluetooth 5.2 gives you a degree of future-proofing, despite it not really being adopted yet at all, let alone universally.
I did suffer with the left bud occasionally not synchronising with the right. This is commonplace with binaural-supporting buds - I am seeing the same with a lot of the newer Qualcomm QCC3040 buds too. On my T1XS I get an announcement saying 'sync' - I don't get anything on these.
App support is, let's be frank, flakey. FIIL+ still doesn't officially support the T1 Pro. You have to use the Chinese version of the app, which I host here, or better still, you could use the English translation of the global app v3.1.1.6, which supports all of the newer FIIL releases and is discussed here over on XDA.
The app itself is pretty feature rich if you can get it to work. The first thing is changing the button configuration to ensure you are able to do stuff like toggle ANC, control volume etc. Once that is done, you have an array of options in terms of EQ, can toggle low latency mode, and can even adjust the touch sensitivity if you are getting false activations. Unlike the T1XS, you cannot change the announcements to English currently, a year after release, so don't expect it any time soon.
On the same thread, one poster translated some of the screens in the android app, so if you don't feel comfortable installing the translated app, hopefully this should help you:
Installing the app requires a lot of permissions, probably too many for the more privacy-aware amongst us. Once you sign your life away to Xi Jinping, you're given access to the buds, and importantly changing the control scheme to allow full controls.
The main screen denotes level of battery remaining in the buds and case. 'Not wearing' is actually denoting whether wear-detection is on or not.
The middle slider option allows you to adjust the media and call volumes respectively - a nice feature - and adjust ANC. You get some default EQ profiles, and a further, in depth option.
Advanced gives you ten-band slider - impressive - most rarely extend beyond 5.
The bottom section gets around the initial perceived inability to change the volume through touch control, because like the T1XS, FIIL made the decision to ship these by default in 'easy' mode, which only allows you to skip tracks, so you have to switch it in the app. They support auto pause (you have to scroll down for that) when removed from your ear, and have a gaming and movies mode for reducing latency.
Full controls are explained bottom middle, and also detailed (in Chinese) on the quick guide. Once these controls are activated, they become far nicer and easier to use.
Ffinally you get a button sensitivity adjustment area. Impressive. Such as shame it's such a task to get it running outside China.
Bluetooth tweaker revealed some oddities in the codecs. On SBC they have reduced the Bitpool differential, reducing the max bitpool from 2 to 8. This meant that I was able to achieve the lowest latency I've ever tested - 189ms (source to destination) - beating the previous best, the Edifier TWS NB2 & the T1XS, by some distance. Interestingly, the T1 Pro do not support MPEG-4 AAC LC - only MPEG-2 AAC-LC. By stripping out legacy components within the codec, it allows them to up the maximum bit rate to 393,216 - roughly the equivalent to AptX. Basically, they're dictating the AAC implementation by reducing the workload the SoC has to do to deliver audio. Very smart, and I expect to see this increasingly over time.
Using the Airoha chipset, this means no aptX or aptX-adaptive support - AAC and SBC only, although as per the above, it's not a big deal.
Nevertheless the feature-rich headlines are warranted. This is an impressive release with almost every box ticked.
Battery Life - 8/10
6 hours as standard, I got just over 5 on one earbud, as with the T1XS the other drained a little quicker. The charge case gives you around 32 hours - my experience was a bit less, but not hugely so. Supports quick charge as stated - 15 minutes gives you around an hour and a half charge.
Even in 2021 this is still top notch. They also support quick charge, allowing nearly two hours playtime from 15 minutes of charging.
Final Comments
The big question back in 2020 was 'should I get these if I already have the T1XS?'. In 2021 it is 'given the array of similarly priced buds offering similar features, should I get them?'. The answer to both questions is still most likely to be 'Yes'.
ANC is there, but it's not as good as the competition, and this is still the case in 2021. That said, it is a nice little upgrade from the T1XS, which, whilst they had good passive isolation, would become a tad uncomfortable when used over a prolonged period. The T1 Pro alleviate this to a degree, but you need to get your tips right. The ones that come with them are unsuitable - I've tried a few and ones mentioned above - the Feaulle H370 and Tanchjim T-APB T300T elevate these buds to another level, the former giving your ears room to breath, and the latter increasing their hybrid noise cancellation performance. With the right tips, you don't know they're there for prolonged spells, and their lightweight footprint makes them ideal 'all-dayers'.
The audio delivery was excellent by 2020 TWS standards and the T1 Pro are still good by 2021 benchmarks, with the blurring of the lines between chifi and 'big brand' increasing by the day. There will likely be no necessary EQ'ing for the average consumer - they just sound great out of the box, but if you do prefer a more balanced sound you will need to tweak them, and there's no obvious degradation, although you lose a little tonality and timbre sounds slightly off - a small tradeoff for most users.
When the T1 Pro were released, they offered a number of outstanding features that pushed them to the forefront of the market. Now the price has dropped, they remain a solid choice - one of the best around, and despite the global app still not really supporting them, you have lots of ways around it, such was their popularity.
I still recommend the T1 Pro, or Earfun Air Pro, as a top-3 'mid-range' offering. Their sound has been eclipsed by the Soundpeats H1, Moondrop Sparks, Edifier Neobuds Pro and KZ SA08, to name but a few, but they still offer more practicality than any of those three, with far more features that make them still perfect all-rounders for those who use their buds for sport, commute, calls and casual listening, at a great price. Well done FIIL!
2020 Price Weighted Score: 93%
2020 Raw Score: 87%
2021 Price Weighted Score: 90%
2021 Raw Score: 86%
2022 Score: 83%
FIIL Review Inventory:
CC Pro
CC2
T1 Pro
T1 XS
About FIIL:
FIIL were founded by Chinese rock-star Wang Feng in 2015, aiming to emulate the successes of Dr Dre in the US, and is heavily involved in R&D and tuning. Bringing in Leon Wu as CTO from Plantronics was part of this journey, and the $30m+ ploughed in by VC seems to have pushed them in the right direction so far. After their Diva Pro succeeded on Kickstarter and received rave reviews across the board, they became the top selling mid-range headphone manufacturer in China within 2 years of their foundation and have won various design awards - IF Dot and CES, to name but two.
How I review: (See Previous Reviews)
Instagram: regancipher
YouTube: regancipher
Squiglink: squiglink
Model: FIIL T1 Pro
Price: £54
Vendor Website: FIIL
Review Reference: RC016
Manufacturer Specification:
- Brand: FIIL
- Model: T1 Pro
- Driver: 6.1mm neodymium magnet moving coil with titanium plated composite diaphragm
- Chipset: Airoha Luda AB1562
- Impedence: 16 Ohm
- Mics: 4, ENC
- Control Button: Touch Control, two modes
- ANC: Yes, up to 30dB
- Volume Control: Yes
- Auto ear sensor: Yes
- Codecs: AAC, SBC
- Earbud Weight: 4.64g
- Earbud Dimensions: 25mm wide, neck approx. 15mm, 20mm height (28mm with wingtip)
- Case Weight: 32g
- Gross Weight: 40.86g
- Case Dimensions: 65mm (width) x 23mm (depth) x 30mm (height)
- Case Charge Capacity: Unknown
- Full Charge Time: 90 minutes
- Quick Charge: Yes, 5 minutes = 2 hours playtime
- Wireless Charging: Yes
- Input: 5V 1A
- Single Use Playtime: Up to 7 hours
- Playtime with Charge Case: Up to 32 hours
- APP Support: Yes, but only in Chinese
- Bluetooth Range: 10m advertised
- Bluetooth: Bluetooth® 5.2
- Bluetooth Protocols: BLE/ HSP/ HFP/ A2DP/ AVRCP
- Water Resistance: IPX5
1 x Pair Wireless Earbuds
1 x USB Type-C & Qi Charge Case
1 x USB Type-C Charge Cable
4 x Pair Silicone Tips
3 x Wing Tips
1 x User Manual
1 x Quick Guide
Real Life Experience
Welcome to the Regancipher review of the FIIL T1 Pro. This has been edited for 2021, so excuse some of the dated comments in advance - for example, my original review stated: 'FIIL may not be a household name in the consumer audio market - their website doesn't even have an 'about us' section, and googling them is eerily footprint-free but in the chifi audio world they have been one of the best kept secrets for some time'.....and whilst they aren't a household name, their website is still dreadful, and they have been a well-kept secret, the OEM'ing of this model by Earfun has definitely brought FIIL more into the spotlight than they were.
FIIL were founded by Chinese rock-star Wang Feng in 2015, aiming to emulate the successes of Dr Dre in the US, and is heavily involved in R&D and tuning. Bringing in Leon Wu as CTO from Plantronics was part of this journey, and the $30m+ ploughed in by VC seems to have pushed them in the right direction so far. After their Diva Pro succeeded on Kickstarter and received rave reviews across the board, they became the top selling mid-range headphone manufacturer in China within 2 years of their foundation and have won various design awards - IF Dot and CES, to name but two.
In 2020 they attacked the TWS market fiercely. The T1XS were fantastic, a great set of earbuds. Their only problem was the submarine-style pressure you would feel after prolonged use. Otherwise they do most stuff pretty well, without pushing the boundaries.
The T1 Pro were a little more mysterious - billed as their ANC release, they retracted marketing the product outside China soon after release. This is due to an agreement with Earfun to OEM the product for them in Europe as the Air Pro. Nevertheless, I and many other enthusiasts were quick to get them in for testing, attracted by their low cost and high end features such as wireless charging, BT5.2, quick charge, low latency, ANC and app support.
I have edited this review several times, but a year on from release and the buds are still impressive performers, and probably the best you will get at the price they are now.
Unboxing - 8/10
FIIL have a very familiar and consistent unboxing which is very easily identifiable and has been replicated throughout their releases. The front of the toughened cardboard box features images of the product, their logo and company slogan 'the art of noise' and logos for BT5.2 (not many buds supported this back in Q3 2020). The back details all of those high end features I listed in the intro.
The tiny charge case is enclosed in a hard foam casing, and underneath the array of tips and charge cable sit cushioned in a plastic crate-style enclosure. You get a nice selection of different sized silicone ear and wing tips, USB type C charge cable, charge case and earbuds. Some thought has gone into ensuring things don't bounce around in the transit - the plastic insert is moulded to fit the USB-C cable, and is higher quality than the one included with the T1XS. The first thing that struck me about the tips was was the height. I compared the T1XS tips and noticed they were a little taller, but also, the quality is visibly worse - they are thinner and flimsier, and one seemed misshaped.
Underneath is the manual - exclusively in Chinese and a 'dark mode' style quick guide card. Whereas the card (not pictured) on the T1XS had English instructions, the Pro is 100% Chinese, again reflecting that these were a domestic release not meant for the worldwide market.
The manual is simply not worth attempting to translate, especially as there is an English version of the app which details how to use the buds much better than the manual can anyway.
Case - 9/10
Like the T1XS case, it is refreshingly simple, portable and functional. Similar in construction and dimensions to the T1XS, (perhaps 1-2mm taller) it lacks a little of the durability, omitting the double-reinforced hinge in favour of a flimsier, single hinge. Whilst this initially raised question marks about its durability, it has stood the test of time so far - no problems at all. It is also finished with a dark grey matte-look, and looks as good as the day it arrived, unlike many of my cheaper buds which are scuffed to high heaven.
The FIIL logo is screen printed on the top, which is protected with a thin additional transparent layer. There is a charge indicator light on the front of the case, which changes colour depending on how much charge is remaining. The buds also start to flash blue when you open it, denoting they are pairing, or attempting to pair, with your device.
The case's dimensions make it one of the most portable sets of earbuds on the market - the lipstick of charger cases. The USB-C charge socket at the back allows for around 3-3.5 additional charges. It supports quick charge - giving you 90 minutes playtime from 15 minutes charging, and wireless charging too. You just pop it on a wireless charger and away you go.
The case weighs in at 40g fully loaded, which is pretty light compared to the average case, which usually weigh in at between 40-45g.
It remains one of the smallest charge cases around, and given the extra playtime (it charges the buds an additional four times, taking total playtime to around 30 hours), features and size, it is ideal for the daily commute, fitting even in your trouser pocket.
Ergonomics - 8.5/10
The piano black finish looks good and is nicely sized, allowing for accurate touch control. The outer ambient mic - pictured at the top of the grey bezel - does a solid job - more on this under call quality. Just above the ambient mic is an LED, which flashes blue
At just over 4.38g, that's a lot of tech in a very small, lightweight footprint, and their 'light as a feather' marketing is justified - they do feel extremely slimline in your ears.
They are noticeably much thinner and lighter than the T1XS, and sit really nicely in your ears. However, whilst the T1XS were bulkier and more geared up for passive noise isolation, the T1 Pro, despite featuring ANC, aren't really designed with this feature in mind.
The oval shaped driver surround is no revolution - we've seen it with the Tronsmart Apollo Bold, Huawei FreeBuds Pro, FIIL CC Pro and Xiaomi Flipbuds. The T1 Pro's nozzle is much smaller in diameter than most of those examples, however the instruction to shove this into your ear canal is not wise. This is, I guess, why they include the longer tips, but the tips are so poor quality air gets through very easily and the noise cancellation appears even worse than it actually is.
You can see below that FIIL's idea of wearing them at 90 degrees, like the Whizzer E3, is impractical. So I don't.
Once you get a proper set of tips on, and tilt them a little in the same way I had to with the T1XS, you get a better seal, comfier fit and overall more pleasant experience. This makes the longer wing tips almost essential, so they nestle securely inside your concha. You've got a little play there with the angle, but not as much as FIIL suggest - 90 degree is going to be a non-starter for prolonged use. Once you get the fit right, and it takes a lot of fiddling around, you may notice the sound distort briefly as you put pressure on. This doesn't bode well for the longevity, but overall, is the experience better than the T1XS? Well, eventually, yes, they are more comfortable, but don't expect to get there fast.
Further analysis shows they are clearly not only some way slimmer than the T1XS, but also many of their peers, some of which were already reasonably slim. As a result, they leave far less of a footprint on the outside, making them ideal for sleeping in, but they are also less obtrusive, and look better overall. However the right angle style neck is a little invasive, so whilst these are the first earbuds I've kept in overnight and not woken up trying to find them, they do apply some pressure to your ear canal, so prolonged use may present some comfort issues eventually.
I finally found a few sets of eartips that really get the best out of these buds. The Feaulle h370 latex tips notch the sometimes piercing trebles and rumbling basslines and put a little space between you and the sound. These 'azla sedna xelastec' wannabes are perfect for the T1 Pro and XS, both in terms of comfort and sound. Alternatively, if ANC is your priority, the Tanchjim T-APB T300B/T Large also fit well, and augment ANC by giving you a comfortable seal.
Sound Quality - 8.5/10 (for the price paid), 8/10 (raw score)
The T1 Pro are great performers to listen to any music style with, albeit a little raw at times. The highs can be quite piercing, but only a small amount of sibilance where the vocals are particularly lispy on lower volumes. Out of the box they are tuned for consumer listening rather than my preferred sound signature, but the app allows a LOT of tweaking - a myriad of EQ settings, almost too many.
Now when I say app, I mean the global app where you pretend they are the T1. Not the Chinese app, that's a whole different kettle of fish (more later). Alternatively there are excellent EQ apps such as Wavelet on Android which do the job.
Where they beat the T1XS is on the mids. The T1 Pro recess quite sharply, but there's less bloat in the lower frequencies than some of their previous releases. At times you can achieve good tonality and a diverse soundstage, especially with the Feaulle tips. The sound separation does lack the intricacy of the Lypertek Tevi or Shanling MTW100, and is clearly outperformed by the KZ SA08, Edifier NeoBuds Pro and even the KZ SKS when tested strenuously, but it performs very well most of the time and will be suitable for your average ear.
Like the T1XS, low mid response is quite quick, but less sloppy on the T1 Pro, with less recess and less confusion or distortion, especially with baritone vocals and bass guitars. If anything, I'd say they are more raw sounding - the compression you sense on most earbuds isn't quite as obvious - but still a little harsh sounding for my own personal preference. I find myself notching the majority of the higher frequencies and subbass in particular to get a more rounded sound, and this can detract a little from the strength of the buds - their dynamism.
If you like your sound punchy and harsh - the T1 Pro are just that out of the box, but they respond quite well to EQ, and whilst not audiophile quality, when you balance the features and sound, the whole package is very impressive.
ANC - 6/10
I've seen some really bad reviews of the ANC. It isn't half as bad as the reviews suggest, but is comparable to the Jabra Elite 75t - you guess it was kind of an afterthought.
In 2021 the Edifier Neobuds Pro are on another level, and even when ANC was a 'nice to have' back when the T1 Pro were released, the Tronsmart Apollo Bold were still far superior in this department. And it shows, with a pretty average performance compared to the above two budget-leaders.
"Sin chao kai" is the default mode, which I guess is almost certainly noise cancellation 'on' - it drowns out low and mid frequencies very well but high frequencies are easily still present: keyboard taps, etc come through evidently. Holding the left bud for two seconds gives you the announcement 'Sin chin tai', which appears to be ambient mode, which is OK but not as obvious as newer buds to the market. 'MAF quan' seems to be, well, I have no idea what it is - maybe just ANC off? It seems to be pretty average at everything, you still hear low frequencies and higher frequencies are there, albeit slightly less obvious.
You can improve the ANC with better tips (see above) as like all FIIL releases, the supplied tips don't really do the buds justice.
Call Quality - Indoors - 7.5/10, Outdoors - 6.5/10
There is clearly some mic-based noise cancellation from the mic array. Like with the ANC, they are much better at filtering out the low end than higher frequencies. Adult voices indoors are evidently muffled, children's voices not so well.
Outdoors, whilst wind is not prominent, you can hear passing traffic but there is evidently extra compression compared with the T1XS, whilst trying hard to retain a relatively natural sound to your voice with no connectivity drops. When I say natural, I'm talking in relative terms. The compression means they do still sound a touch robotic.
I updated the score on the outdoor performance on a blustery day where I pushed every earbud to their limits with wind, rain, a face mask and traffic - and the T1 Pro performed better than most, including some stem-based such as the Edifier TWS NB2, which you would expect to perform very well in varied conditions given their form factor, but downgraded them again after my recent test of 28 different tws models, where they clearly fall short of some of the newer releases on the market today:
Connectivity, Controls, App Support and Other Features - 9/10
Connectivity is strong. No issues at all whether indoors or outdoors. Bluetooth 5.2 gives you a degree of future-proofing, despite it not really being adopted yet at all, let alone universally.
I did suffer with the left bud occasionally not synchronising with the right. This is commonplace with binaural-supporting buds - I am seeing the same with a lot of the newer Qualcomm QCC3040 buds too. On my T1XS I get an announcement saying 'sync' - I don't get anything on these.
App support is, let's be frank, flakey. FIIL+ still doesn't officially support the T1 Pro. You have to use the Chinese version of the app, which I host here, or better still, you could use the English translation of the global app v3.1.1.6, which supports all of the newer FIIL releases and is discussed here over on XDA.
The app itself is pretty feature rich if you can get it to work. The first thing is changing the button configuration to ensure you are able to do stuff like toggle ANC, control volume etc. Once that is done, you have an array of options in terms of EQ, can toggle low latency mode, and can even adjust the touch sensitivity if you are getting false activations. Unlike the T1XS, you cannot change the announcements to English currently, a year after release, so don't expect it any time soon.
On the same thread, one poster translated some of the screens in the android app, so if you don't feel comfortable installing the translated app, hopefully this should help you:
Installing the app requires a lot of permissions, probably too many for the more privacy-aware amongst us. Once you sign your life away to Xi Jinping, you're given access to the buds, and importantly changing the control scheme to allow full controls.
The main screen denotes level of battery remaining in the buds and case. 'Not wearing' is actually denoting whether wear-detection is on or not.
The middle slider option allows you to adjust the media and call volumes respectively - a nice feature - and adjust ANC. You get some default EQ profiles, and a further, in depth option.
Advanced gives you ten-band slider - impressive - most rarely extend beyond 5.
The bottom section gets around the initial perceived inability to change the volume through touch control, because like the T1XS, FIIL made the decision to ship these by default in 'easy' mode, which only allows you to skip tracks, so you have to switch it in the app. They support auto pause (you have to scroll down for that) when removed from your ear, and have a gaming and movies mode for reducing latency.
Full controls are explained bottom middle, and also detailed (in Chinese) on the quick guide. Once these controls are activated, they become far nicer and easier to use.
Ffinally you get a button sensitivity adjustment area. Impressive. Such as shame it's such a task to get it running outside China.
Bluetooth tweaker revealed some oddities in the codecs. On SBC they have reduced the Bitpool differential, reducing the max bitpool from 2 to 8. This meant that I was able to achieve the lowest latency I've ever tested - 189ms (source to destination) - beating the previous best, the Edifier TWS NB2 & the T1XS, by some distance. Interestingly, the T1 Pro do not support MPEG-4 AAC LC - only MPEG-2 AAC-LC. By stripping out legacy components within the codec, it allows them to up the maximum bit rate to 393,216 - roughly the equivalent to AptX. Basically, they're dictating the AAC implementation by reducing the workload the SoC has to do to deliver audio. Very smart, and I expect to see this increasingly over time.
Using the Airoha chipset, this means no aptX or aptX-adaptive support - AAC and SBC only, although as per the above, it's not a big deal.
Nevertheless the feature-rich headlines are warranted. This is an impressive release with almost every box ticked.
Battery Life - 8/10
6 hours as standard, I got just over 5 on one earbud, as with the T1XS the other drained a little quicker. The charge case gives you around 32 hours - my experience was a bit less, but not hugely so. Supports quick charge as stated - 15 minutes gives you around an hour and a half charge.
Even in 2021 this is still top notch. They also support quick charge, allowing nearly two hours playtime from 15 minutes of charging.
Final Comments
The big question back in 2020 was 'should I get these if I already have the T1XS?'. In 2021 it is 'given the array of similarly priced buds offering similar features, should I get them?'. The answer to both questions is still most likely to be 'Yes'.
ANC is there, but it's not as good as the competition, and this is still the case in 2021. That said, it is a nice little upgrade from the T1XS, which, whilst they had good passive isolation, would become a tad uncomfortable when used over a prolonged period. The T1 Pro alleviate this to a degree, but you need to get your tips right. The ones that come with them are unsuitable - I've tried a few and ones mentioned above - the Feaulle H370 and Tanchjim T-APB T300T elevate these buds to another level, the former giving your ears room to breath, and the latter increasing their hybrid noise cancellation performance. With the right tips, you don't know they're there for prolonged spells, and their lightweight footprint makes them ideal 'all-dayers'.
The audio delivery was excellent by 2020 TWS standards and the T1 Pro are still good by 2021 benchmarks, with the blurring of the lines between chifi and 'big brand' increasing by the day. There will likely be no necessary EQ'ing for the average consumer - they just sound great out of the box, but if you do prefer a more balanced sound you will need to tweak them, and there's no obvious degradation, although you lose a little tonality and timbre sounds slightly off - a small tradeoff for most users.
When the T1 Pro were released, they offered a number of outstanding features that pushed them to the forefront of the market. Now the price has dropped, they remain a solid choice - one of the best around, and despite the global app still not really supporting them, you have lots of ways around it, such was their popularity.
I still recommend the T1 Pro, or Earfun Air Pro, as a top-3 'mid-range' offering. Their sound has been eclipsed by the Soundpeats H1, Moondrop Sparks, Edifier Neobuds Pro and KZ SA08, to name but a few, but they still offer more practicality than any of those three, with far more features that make them still perfect all-rounders for those who use their buds for sport, commute, calls and casual listening, at a great price. Well done FIIL!
2020 Price Weighted Score: 93%
2020 Raw Score: 87%
2021 Price Weighted Score: 90%
2021 Raw Score: 86%
2022 Score: 83%
FIIL Review Inventory:
CC Pro
CC2
T1 Pro
T1 XS
About FIIL:
FIIL were founded by Chinese rock-star Wang Feng in 2015, aiming to emulate the successes of Dr Dre in the US, and is heavily involved in R&D and tuning. Bringing in Leon Wu as CTO from Plantronics was part of this journey, and the $30m+ ploughed in by VC seems to have pushed them in the right direction so far. After their Diva Pro succeeded on Kickstarter and received rave reviews across the board, they became the top selling mid-range headphone manufacturer in China within 2 years of their foundation and have won various design awards - IF Dot and CES, to name but two.
