Philips Fidelio Wireless Home Speaker FS1

The Philips Fidelio FS1 is a wireless speaker that doubles as a surround channel. On its own it is a normal AirPlay 2 speaker; paired with a compatible Philips soundbar it becomes a wireless rear speaker for a surround system.

Fidelio is Philips’s premium audio line, and the FS1 is built around that dual role rather than as a standalone product.

What Apple Home actually does with it

This is an AirPlay 2 speaker rather than a HomeKit accessory.

• It appears in the Home app as a speaker you can play to, and as an AirPlay target in Control Centre.
• You can assign it to a room and group it with HomePods for synchronised multi-room audio.
• Siri can send music to it by room name.
• It can be the audio output in a scene or an automation.

You cannot switch it on or set its volume from the Home app the way you would a light. Those stay with the speaker and its own app.

Before you buy

The surround pairing works with specific Philips soundbars. If that is why you are buying it, confirm the soundbar model first, because the feature is worthless with any other brand.

As a standalone speaker judge it on its own merits against similarly priced rivals, and remember it is designed to be one of a pair.

It runs on a battery in normal use, which is what makes the wireless surround idea practical.

Specifications