I love a new set of headphones, and I love a bargain even more. So when I saw the FiiO EH13 headphones with LDAC and ANC popping up on my socials, I was immediately hooked.
And now, after using them for a week, I’m blown away with the quality that FiiO has managed to pack into these $50 cans — but they’re not completely without fault, as you’ll see.
$50 headphones with LDAC
Yes, please
Over the years, FiiO has evolved from a straight-up Chi-Fi brand into one of the most up-and-coming audio manufacturers worldwide. It’s still a little niche, I’ll admit; you won’t find FiiO on the shelves alongside Bose and Sony. But FiiO’s audio hardware is very well thought of these days, which is why when I saw the FiiO EH13 headphones, I knew I had to buy them.
That’s because at the top-level, on paper, they’re a crazy proposition. 40mm dynamic drivers with sapphire-coated diaphragms, Bluetooth 6.0 with LDAC, AAC, and SBC support, wired 3.5mm audio, hybrid ANC, and up to 75 hours of battery life.
That’s a heady combination that puts them firmly among the best budget headphones on the market, and outshining other, more expensive options, too.
Out of the box, the materials feel like $50 headphones. It’s an all-plastic design, as you might expect, with large earphones and an adjustable headband. Buttons are all found around the bottom, and there are toggles for power, ANC, and volume. So far, so normal.
What surprised me most, though, was how comfortable the EH13 headphones are. They have large, soft padding on the earcups that makes them super comfortable for hours of listening, and I also found the headband similar. Weighing in at 278g, they’re not the lightest set of headphones, but I also didn’t really notice them, either.
The LDAC codec is also very impressive to see on a budget pair of headphones like these. Sony’s hi-res audio codec allows the FiiO EH13 to stream audio at a maximum bitrate of 990Kbps/96kHz/24-bit, which is multiple times faster than either AAC or SBC. These are easily some of the cheapest headphones with LDAC support now, beating other budget-focused options like the OneOdio Focus A6 and EarFun Wave Pro (both of which are good alternatives, to be fair).
Interestingly, these are the absolute cheapest. That title goes to another set of FiiO headphones: the EH11 cost just $30 and also feature LDAC.
For the price, great sound quality
A little warm, but still tidy
As you might expect, the FiiO EH13 aren’t beating out leading headphones like Sony’s WH-1000XM6. Those are some of the best headphones on the market, but are also priced accordingly, at around $400.
That’s where the FiiO EH13 does remarkably well, though. I found that the EH13 decent in terms of clarity, with a warm overall feel. I’m not sure about their exact tuning, but it didn’t feel like the classic “V” that shoves treble and bass down your throat in the hope you’ll overlook other issues.
In that, the bass is certainly present, but I didn’t find it overwhelming like you’d find with, say, some Beats headphones.
The overall soundstage is similar, feeling bright and open enough that you can easily identify instruments, while most male and female vocals were easy to hear and listen to for extended periods. I didn’t really notice any particularly muddied moments, either, which is great, as it was something I was sure I’d experience.
The ANC is decent enough, but won’t win prizes
It won’t stand up to noisy airplane travel
The FiiO EH13 ANC is another good, though not excellent, point. I tried the EH13’s in a variety of places, and they mostly did the job.
For example, in a busy cafe in town, I worked without really hearing much from the outside world. This was during a lunch period on a hot day in the UK, so there were plenty of folks seeking the few places with working AC in this country.
Similarly, it performed well on a train journey, too, though the low rumbling of the train did make its way through more. It’s similar for traveling on a bus. However, I’ve not been on a plane journey recently, so I can’t comment specifically, but I imagine it would be similar to the train; some blocking, but you’re still going to hear the background noise.
At times, though, while out walking, the ANC would be overwhelmed by sudden gusts of wind, disturbing the balance of the incoming and outgoing signals that the ANC relies on.
But overall, it works well for the price, as do so many things on these headphones.
I did encounter a few issues with the EH13
It’s not all sunlit audio uplands
I did find a few issues with the EH13, mind, but not all were specifically to do with the cans.
Windows 11 doesn’t support LDAC due to licensing. Sony made the decoding part of LDAC open source but held onto the encoding, and Microsoft has never paid the licensing fee, which means you can’t access the full LDAC range without paying for the Alternative A2DP Driver on your device.
It’s a small price to pay — around $6-12 if you pay during the trial or not — but it’s an extra step to unlock the headphones’ full capabilities on your Windows machine.
Then, I experienced minute dropouts while using the EH13 on Windows. Every now and then, the bitrate would drop, and the headphones and my adapter wouldn’t play nice. Given they’re only microstutters, it’s not the end of the world, but it was definitely a frustration (and also attributable to my adapter, but I don’t have this issue with any other headphones I use). I should add, though, that I didn’t experience anything like this using the FiiO EH13 with my Android smartphone, so I’m putting it down to Microsoft-based gremlins.
Another small issue is that the headphones don’t have an automatic time-off. I’d take them off, turn off my PC, and put them down, forgetting to switch the headphones off. Most other headphones will turn off after a period of inactivity, but the EH13’s were there, blinking away in the dark all night.
- Battery Life
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Up to 75 hours
- Wireless?
-
Yes
- Brand
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FiiO
- Transducer Size
-
40mm
- Noise Cancellation
-
Hybrid
- Foldable
-
Yes
The FiiO EH13 is a budget-friendly pair of wireless over-ear headphones featuring 40mm sapphire-coated drivers and -42dB hybrid active noise cancellation. They offer Bluetooth 6.0 with high-res LDAC support, dual-device multipoint connectivity, and an expansive 75-hour battery life. Sound can be fully customized via the 10-band parametric EQ app.
For $50, these are a great set of cans
I’m suitably impressed with my $50 outlay on these headphones. They won’t make you forget that more expensive headphones exist, but the feature array you get is excellent.
Given the price, FiiO is posing a massive challenge to the rest of the budget market and to big names like Sony in many ways. Why spend such a huge chunk of change on ultra-expensive headphones when these ones do a similar job for an eighth of the price?
