The Xiaomi Buds 5 are the first Xiaomi earphones to support Qualcomm® aptX™ Lossless and Hi-Res Audio for enhanced sound quality. These earbuds also feature Harman AudioEFX tuning and built-in dimensional audio for a more immersive listening experience.
Currently at RM379, the Xiaomi Buds 5 is a pair of true wireless earbuds that's fitted with high-quality audio technology and a range of features for an affordable price point. Is it worth it still? Here's our long-term use review.
Editor
Jodee Tan chevron_right
Table of Contents
Design & Wear
For each pair of the Xiaomi Buds 5, you'd get it in a dual-tone case of which is half metallic and hald matte finish. The earbuds case is compact, opens and closes with a satisfying snap.
At the front, you can see a small LED light that indicates its battery status, along with a USB-C charging input. A word of warning; if you have big and sweaty hands, the case might just easily slip out of your reach.
Each of the buds weigh about 4.2g. Our wear experience is a lightweight one and that it doesn't ache the ears over extended periods. Speaking of which, the in-ear buds are designed according to Xiaomi's research on a large number of ear canal models.
With that, the buds have been designed to fit a variety of ear shapes and size. This is not for aesthetics, but for reducing aches. This decision also adjusts the weight distribution ratio to give a more stable fit.
Along the stems of the earbuds are also embedded buttons for navigation features. Note that the earbuds themselves do not have touch functions.
Sound & Battery
Inside each of the Xiaomi Buds 5 is an 11mm internal and external dual-magnet dynamic drivers which, Xiaomi uses to enhance the magnetic field in order to provide a well-controlled and stable immersive audio experience. This driver type is responsible for overall high-quality separation and distinction between frequencies as well as bass and treble, rendering it possible to optimise strong audio into a small gadget piece like the Xiaomi Buds 5.
The Xiaomi Buds 5 are also fitted with a subwoofer tube and optimised with advanced software tuning. This setup further boosts powerful bass and wide soundstage for these small earbuds. And finally, Xiaomi applied black polymer coating to the buds, interestingly to optimise its treble output, for a more balanced audio performance.
Xiaomi Buds 5 also has Qualcomm® aptX™ Lossless audio encoding* with 16bit/44.1kHz HD lossless audio. Aside from being optimised to reduce transmission loss, this makes high-fidelity-like audio possible for the earbuds, reproducing all the nuances and details in a music piece.
What We Liked
The Fit & Design:
Despite it being slightly slippery to the touch, the earbuds feel comfortable to wear, and because it's lightweight, they don't ache the ears for extended wear.
As mentioned before, the charging case is small, which is a plus point for us as it is easy to bring around and not noticeable even if it’s in our pocket. With no touch controls, the buttons provide an interesting gesture use that works with no issue.
There's one thing to keep in mind; because of their metallic and smooth finish, the earbuds can feel unsecured when exercising with. If you have dry earwax, you may not have a problem with them. But for us wet-ear users, this is one to take note of.
Sound:
For the price, Xiaomi Buds 5 are also quite good for their value, though not the loudest. Note that these Xiaomi Buds 5 are earbuds that do not utilise sillicone buds to give a tight seal for the listener and their music. Therefore sound and expectation can vary between users.
To us, the Buds 5 pair provides a clear audio profile that's sufficiently crisp. Alas the bass feels lacking, but for non-noise cancellation earphones, the Buds 5 are good in "drowning out" an acceptable amount of external noise.
Music aside, sound is great with low latency for gaming as well. This might depend on your phone's OS and model, but on the iPhone 15 Pro, latency was little to none. Those who'd like an immersive experience audio would also like its adaptive sound quality which are adequate in quiet settings (office and home).
Connectivity:
The connection on the Xiaomi Buds 5 are quite good, you can easily pair this earphone to multiple devices easily. Also, its adaptive sound feature is quite responsive to its surrounding. For us, whenever we take one bud out, we instantly get our music paused, which is not always the case with other earphones.
What We Disliked
Earbud Size:
Mentioned several times in this review already, we trhink the size of the earbuds are small in general. Although they produce a good volume, design-wise it can be an ick to have the Buds 5 to suddenly feel too small. And note that there's no sillicone tip to stop the earbuds from going into our ears.
Users with big ear canals may want to be careful with this. If compared to Apple, Airpods feel adequate to put on and take off. But the Buds 5 can feel too small and get stuck in our ear prematurely at times.
Material:
We've also mentioned early on that the dual-tone material on the case is partially matte and glossy. With its small size, this makes the Xiaomi Buds 5 case feel pretty slippery at times. While the same is said for the earbuds themselves, at least they are at a size that does not come out easily. Hence, ifyou can get a protection case for the case, that would be ideal.
Verdict
Let's answer our main question: who's the the Xiaomi Buds 5 for? Well, if you don't have wet earwax and you are just looking for casual earphones to use in quiet spaces (conversation-volume), the Xiaomi Buds 5 are great for you.
Priced at RM379, Xiaomi Buds 5 promises good music quality at a very affordable price. If you can overlook its small design flaws, mainly its dual-tone slippery material finish, and the fact that it's not noise cancelling, this earbuds pair is for you. Because of their non-noise cancelling design, they won't be the loudest. But at least they open up the path to affordable lossless music access.
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