There has been a greater focus from brands on the open in-ear form factor over the past few months and Xiaomi’s Buds 5 are the latest pair of TWS buds to remove the silicone tips. Despite not having the Pro moniker, these are Xiaomi’s flagship earbuds and come with 11mm dual-magnet dynamic drivers, sound tuning from Harman Kardon, and aptX lossless audio support.
Xiaomi Buds 5
€99 on Amazon DE
Even more impressively, they still offer active noise cancellation (ANC) that claims to reduce 40dB of surrounding noise through a triple microphone array. Add spatial audio, dual device pairing, a claimed 39 hours of total listening time, and the Buds 5 look like a solid contender. So how good are Xiaomi’s latest earbuds and are they worth the €99 asking price? The short answer is they’re great as long as they fit the shape of your ears.
Design and fit
The Buds 5 come in three colors – Graphite Black, Ceramic White and Titan Grey, which we got as a review sample. The buds have pronounced curvatures and a predominantly matte finish and a dual-coloured finish with a shiny inclined line around the outside of the stem.
The earbuds have short stems and opt for a squeeze gesture pad at the bottom. Each earbud weighs 4.2 grams and has triple mics. You also get IP54 water and dust resistance.
The case weighs just over 36 grams and has the same size as the Xiaomi Buds 4 Pro that arrived in our office last year. Opening the lid of the oversized case reveals the earbuds are held vertically in place by strong magnets.
You’ll immediately notice the shiny upper half of the case which can serve dual purpose as a small mirror. In terms of size, the case goes in and out of the pocket easily due to its rounded corners and fits comfortably inside the coin pocket on your jeans.
And now for the most important aspect of any pair of earbuds – their fit. Just like in-ear buds with silicone tips aren’t for everyone’s ears, the semi in-ear fit on the Buds 5 won’t be suitable for all users.
When this reviewer inserted the Buds 5 directly into his ears, he found the fit to be very loose. Turning upwards improved things but the buds still felt like they could pop out at any moment with a more sudden movement.
Two ways to wear buds 5
We should mention that these buds won’t suit you for runs and gym sessions as they are more likely to fall out of your ears compared to competitors with in-ear tips. We enjoyed the light and unobtrusive way the Buds 5 stay in your ear. This reviewer used the Buds 5 for an entire workday without any discomfort — that’s not something that can be said for competitors with in-ear tips.
Features and companion apps
The Xiaomi Buds 5 are equipped with 11mm dual-magnet dynamic drivers with support for high bitrate audio streaming via aptX lossless codec. They cover a 16Hz-40kHz frequency response range and offer Harman AudioEFX tuning.
The Buds 5 connect with Bluetooth 5.4 and support Snapdragon Sound and Google Fast Pair for Android devices. Xiaomi is also throwing in a nice bonus with 4 months of free Spotify Premium for all new purchases so you can take advantage of high bitrate music streaming.
You also get wide-frequency active noise cancellation (ANC), which Xiaomi claims can reduce surrounding noise by up to 40dB – more details in the Performance section of the review. You also get AI noise reduction during calls which Xiaomi proudly claims can handle winds of up to 12m/s.
The Buds 5 also have wear-detection sensors for pausing and resuming media, and dual device pairing. Both of these features worked flawlessly in our tests which included simultaneous use with an iPhone 15 Pro and a Macbook Pro 14.
Downloading Xiaomi’s Earbuds app is a must if you want to take full advantage of all the features the Buds 5 have to offer. You can perform single, double and triple presses on the stems as well as squeezing gestures. In terms of media playback you get play/pause, next/previous song as well as volume controls which is always a plus.
Xiaomi Earbuds App and Features of Buds 5
The app also has a toggle for noise cancellation and an EQ setting hidden beneath the audio balance toggle.
One clever feature you don’t often see on competing earbuds is the built-in audio recording function. The Buds 5 can record up to 3 hours of audio and store that data directly on the buds. You can record audio by placing the buds in your ears or placing them inside the case and opening the lid.
The recording can then be transferred to your phone via the Xiaomi Headphones app where you can playback the recording, save it to your files, or share it via apps that support audio recording. The recordings are stored in Ogg format, so note that you’ll need a separate app to playback the recordings outside of the Xiaomi Buds app.
We found the audio recording feature to be quite useful for times when you want to quickly record something or take a note without reaching for your phone. For those wondering what happens if you try to record a call – the Buds 5 will play a notification sound to alert the other party that the call is being recorded.
You can also specify a press-and-hold gesture to launch the camera app and take a photo but this is limited to Xiaomi devices running HyperOS. The Buds 5 have a low latency mode that claims to dial down the connection latency to 73ms.
Performance and sound quality
We weren’t expecting great ANC in the review, mainly because of the Buds 5’s design and the lack of in-ear silicone tips. Unfortunately, those expectations were misplaced, as the Buds 5 can’t form a proper seal around your ear canal like in-ear type earbuds.
The Buds 5 barely managed to suppress low-spectrum sounds, like running air conditioners and water coolers. They can’t isolate you from the outside world like Sony’s WF-1000XM5 or Apple’s AirPods Pro 2. So while you do have some sort of noise reduction solution, it’s barely noticeable and won’t make a huge difference in your daily use.
Moving towards the sound quality, the Buds 5 deliver surprisingly strong bass which surprised us. The mids are well preserved and the high frequencies also come through nice and clear. Equipment separation was another high point. Overall, the Buds 5 bring a vibrant soundstage and we enjoyed our time listening to all types of music genres and podcasts.
If the default Harman AudioEFX sound profile isn’t a good fit for you, Xiaomi’s earbuds app offers 5 equalizer (EQ) options, including boost volume, boost treble, reduce bass, and classic. You also get a 10-band custom EQ setting that allows you to fine-tune the sound to your liking.
The dual connection feature worked flawlessly in our testing, as did the wear detection sensor. Call quality was average and voice pickup was decent in quiet areas, but it didn’t do so well in noisy environments.
battery life
Xiaomi claims that the Buds 5 can deliver up to 6.5 hours of music playback with ANC off, while the case extends the total playtime to 39 hours. We found those values to be a bit exaggerated as we got 5 hours and 15 minutes of playback from the Buds 5 in our tests with ANC on.
As long as there is 35% or more battery in the charging case, a 10-minute quick charge will give you 2 hours of playback.
decision
At €99/£70, the Xiaomi Buds 5 offer good sound quality with support for high-bitrate audio streaming. We enjoyed the neat audio recording feature, the ability to connect to two devices simultaneously, and the programmable squeeze control on the stem.
The semi in-ear design on the Buds 5 is a double-edged sword. The lack of in-ear tips helps reduce pressure on your ear canal which allows you to use them for hours without any ear fatigue. But it also prevents the buds from staying in one place which can be a potential dealbreaker if your ears aren’t the right shape.
Xiaomi has provided a great pair of earbuds for users who don’t like the in-ear tip factor and the Buds 5 offer some of the best audio quality we’ve seen from this type of earbud design. We would like to see better battery endurance and better call quality in the next iteration.
