Fii O TT13 turntable review: an attractive, beginner-friendly turntable with integrated lighting and good Bluetooth support | Tech Radar

Overview

'Looks far more expensive than it is' — Fii O's an automatic turntable has several bright ideas to light up your vinyl-loving life

Fii O's tasty turntable will illuminate your living room and beam to your Bluetooth speakers and headphones

Details

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The Fii O TT13 sounds great and looks very different from the average mid-range turntable thanks to its fun integrated lighting — but don't let that fool you into thinking this isn't a serious record spinner. It's typically Fii O in every way (and that's a big compliment), offering good sound at a good price. OK, you can't bypass its onboard preamp — but if that doesn't bother you, there's a lot to like.

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The Fii O TT13 is an impressive and attractive belt-driven turntable with fully automatic operation to take the fear out of playing your records. It's made from aluminium alloy, comes in a choice of black or silver, features integrated LED lighting, and comes with an Audio-Technica AT3600LA cartridge.

What else does the TT13 offer, to recommend it as one of the best turntables we've tested? It has Bluetooth with SBC/apt X/apt X LL/apt X HD but not AAC and it has its own integrated preamp — although unlike similar turntables the preamp can't be switched off. It supports both AC and DC power supplies.

This is a distinctly modern turntable with good clarity and warmth and a bright sonic signature; to my ears it was a little light at the very low end but bass was still clear and well defined.

One thing to note: Fii O's TT13 turntable is clearly aimed at vinyl beginners and is great value for money, but if you're a turntable tinkerer this isn't one for you: the tonearm is designed specifically for Audio-Technica cartridges and lacks balance adjustment to support alternatives.

The integrated lighting is seamless, with a choice of 7 colors and 3 brightness levels (Image credit: Future)

The Fii O TT13 was announced in May 2024 and released in October 2024. The turntable's list price was

As usual with Fii O this is a very competitively priced product: it's coming in at slightly more than the Audio-Technica AT-LP3XBTBK and slightly less than the Sony PS-LX310BT, both of which are also automatic turntables with Bluetooth.

Things are simple round the back: two line outs (but no phono outs) plus support for both AC and DC power. There's also a balance adjuster and a ground, as well as a record size switch. (Image credit: Future)

The Fii O is fully automatic and electronically switchable between 33 and 1/3 and 45 RPM, and it comes with a Audio-Technica AT3600LA cartridge.

The TT13 features a built-in phono preamp that can put out up to 800m V at 1k Hz, which is more than double the output of some rivals, and that enables you to connect your turntable directly to a pair of active speakers without requiring a separate phono stage. The pre-amp is built around two JRC5532 op-amps that deliver warmth and low noise.

The Bluetooth module here is more advanced than many affordable Bluetooth turntables that stick to the familiar SBC/AAC codecs. The TT13 uses Qualcomm's Bluetooth module for SBC plus apt X, apt X Low Latency and apt X HD.

While this is primarily an entry-level turntable, the TT13 can also use an external power supply for more audiophile setups. It supports both AC (100-240V) and DC (12V-1A). If both are connected, AC takes precedence.

The platter can be illuminated in a choice of 7 colors and in a nice touch the status lights and Fii O logo take the same color.

Controls are simple. The power button doubles as a toggle for the illumination system, and the status lights match your chosen color. (Image credit: Future)

The TT13 is an excellent-sounding turntable that delivers the kind of sound we've come to expect from Fii O: clear, detailed and entertaining. It's perhaps a little light at the very low end, especially with older rock and indie LPs, and if you're going to be listening over Bluetooth you'll probably want to boost the bass a little bit.

As with other turntables using the same Audio-Technica cartridge it's a good all-rounder balancing clarity with entertainment. While the AT cartridge isn't the brightest in the high frequencies the TT13 is still airy at the top end, and it's particularly entertaining on acoustic and sparsely arranged instruments: while I listened to various artists and genres I had the most fun listening to Talk Talk, mandolin-era REM and Taylor Swift's folky albums. With more rocky and electronic material I found the low end slightly lacking, although nothing a brief EQ tweak couldn't fix and definitely not a deal-breaker.

The Bluetooth module here doesn't support AAC, so you won't get the best sound quality on Apple headphones or earbuds. For other headphones, earbuds and active speakers the TT13 will try to use the best codec available, but that choice isn't controllable from the turntable itself and there's no indication of what codec you're using.

The illuminated Fii O logo doubles as a Bluetooth status light and a repeat play indicator. (Image credit: Future)

Solid metal construction looks particularly good in silver

As someone who grew up in a house of silver separates, I love the look of this turntable in its silver variant (black is also available). Fii O loves a bit of aluminium, and here it's used to great effect with flush-mounted buttons on the top surface and polished metal everywhere. The use of metal means it's a solid device — it weighs a hefty 4kg — and it helps reduce vibration and unwanted noise too.

The most dramatic bit of design is the integrated lighting that illuminates the platter with a choice of 7 different lighting colours. You can adjust the brightness via the supplied remote control and turn it off altogether if you wish. The Fii O logo at the top left of the unit lights up too, doubling as a status light for your Bluetooth connection and for when repeat play is enabled.

There are six buttons on the front top of the plinth: power, speed and pairing on the left, and start/stop, repeat and up/down on the right.

Round the back you'll find a switch to select between 7 and 12-inch records; RCA line outputs; a ground connector; and both DC and AC power sockets. There's also an adjustable potentiometer to adjust the left-right channel balance if it's not quite right — an odd thing to have in a turntable seemingly aimed at vinyl beginners.

Fully automatic but don't forget the record size switch

Setting up the turntable is simple, and in a nice touch the belt is already wrapped around the platter and has a little paper pull tag that you use to drag the belt over the spindle. The only irritation I encountered was too-strong adhesive on the two "remove this before use" stickers, which required getting the Goo Gone out to remove the sticker residue.

The TT13 comes with a power cable, an RCA cable and a remote control, and the RCA cable also includes a ground wire for your amp. Unusually for a turntable with an integrated phono stage there isn't a bypass switch so you can't turn the preamp off and connect the TT13 to the phono inputs on your amplifier: you'll need to use line level inputs instead. Don't connect it to your amplifier's phono inputs, which are designed for much lower voltages.

Automatic turntables are the easiest turntables to use as they move the tonearm into position and gently lower it into place. The buttons to do that are clear, easy to identify and nicely tactile, and the remote control is simple. Bluetooth pairing is easy too: just press and hold the Pairing button, set your headphones or earbuds to pair and that's all you need to do.

Changing the lighting is simple too. You can cycle through the colours by pressing the power button, and the remote has a brightness button that steps through the three brightness stages and also turns the illumination off. In addition to the lighting under the platter there's an illuminated Fii O logo that doubles as a pairing status indicator, flashing while it seeks your headphones or active speakers.

Although there's an electronic speed toggle on the front to switch between 33 and 45 RPM, there's also a record size selector switch. That's round the back.

This is a really tempting buy for vinyl beginners: it looks great, the red illumination option is a perfect match for IKEA's Kallax fabric boxes and it works nicely with Bluetooth headphones and speakers. It's not the cheapest turntable featuring this Audio-Technica cartridge by any means but it's competitively priced, solidly built and very enjoyable.

Fully automatic, good Bluetooth options and a useful remote control.

Fully automatic, good Bluetooth options and a useful remote control.

Looks more expensive than it is and feels very solid. It's very easy to use.

Looks more expensive than it is and feels very solid. It's very easy to use.

Clear, warm and entertaining but slightly light at the low end.

Clear, warm and entertaining but slightly light at the low end.

Competitively priced and the lighting is a big plus, but limited upgradeability.

Competitively priced and the lighting is a big plus, but limited upgradeability.

You love a bit of metal The TT13 looks and feels much more expensive thanks to the extensive use of metal.

You want to light up your life The integrated LED lighting is entertaining without being garishly over the top.

You like to take it easy This is a fully automatic turntable and its remote control means you don't even need to get up from the sofa.

You have an amazing preamp The preamp in the Fii O TT13 isn't switchable: it's Fii O's way or the highway. It's a nice-sounding pre-amp, but if you've already got something better this probably isn't the turntable for you.

You want to change things This is a plug-in-and-go turntable without adjustable tonearm balance, anti-skate or tracking adjustment.

You've got a stack of 78s Like many modern turntables the TT13 is for 45 and 33 and 1/3 records only.

The

Another key rival here is Sony's

Onkyo amp with wired open and closed back headphones and B&W bookshelf speakers

I tested the Fii O TT13 over three weeks across a range of genres and eras. On headphones I used an i Fi GO Blu Air Bluetooth adapter and Sennheiser DT 990 Pro open-back / DT 770 closed-back headphones; on speakers I listened via my Onkyo A-9010 amplifier and Bowers & Wilkins 607 S2 speakers.

Writer, broadcaster, musician and kitchen gadget obsessive Carrie Marshall has been writing about tech since 1998, contributing sage advice and odd opinions to all kinds of magazines and websites as well as writing more than twenty books. Her latest, a love letter to music titled Small Town Joy, is on sale now. She is the singer in spectacularly obscure Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind.

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Key Takeaways

• 'Looks far more expensive than it is' — Fii O's an automatic turntable has several bright ideas to light up your vinyl-loving life

• Fii O's tasty turntable will illuminate your living room and beam to your Bluetooth speakers and headphones

• When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission

• The Fii O TT13 sounds great and looks very different from the average mid-range turntable thanks to its fun integrated lighting — but don't let that fool you into thinking this isn't a serious record spinner

• The best turntables you can buy: top record players for all budgets