Xiaomi has had a busy day of announcements, with the debut of five new phones and the confirmation that its newly introduced wireless earbuds, the Redmi Buds 5 Pro and stripped-back Redmi Buds 5, will be available globally.
What instantly stands out about these AirPods knockoffs is that the black and white Redmi Buds 5 Pro variants have a marble texture on the buds’ stems. The case has also been improved from last year’s Redmi Buds Pro 4, now featuring a vegan leather feel.
Despite their improved appearance, the buds are priced similarly to their predecessors. According to Notebookcheck, a pair costs €69.99 (about $76 / ₹ 6322.34/ AU$115), which is far cheaper than the price of most of the best earphones. Given that many of the lower-cost devices do not support high-resolution codecs – not even the mid-range Sony WF-C700Ns do – the Redmi Buds Pro 5 appear to be fantastic value.
What is unique about the Xiaomi Redmi Buds?
The Xiaomi Redmi Buds 5 Pro, which was first announced in November 2023, passed under our eye due to their limited availability in China. But that’s not to say we’re not impressed with their specifications.
Unlike the best AirPods, the Redmi Buds 5 Pro enable lossless music (however Apple has stated that the AirPods Pro 2 would have this capability when used with the Vision Pro). Xiaomi states it will support LDAC (CD quality) with a sample rate of up to 24bit/96kHz, AAC, SBC Bluetooth, and LHDC 5.0.
They have a coaxial twin driver design, similar to the Honor Earbuds 3 Pro and One Plus Buds Pro 2, with a 10mm piezoelectric ceramic tweeter and an 11mm dynamic driver. In our experience, this type of speaker system can provide exceptionally deep and full-bodied audio, so we’ll be curious to see if the Redmi Buds 5 Pro does the same.
On top of these characteristics, the buds include three transparency modes: Regular, Enhance Voice, and Enhance Ambient Sounds. Xiaomi also says that the active noise cancellation would be three times more effective than the Redmi Buds 4 Pro. Finally, with an impressive battery life of 38 hours with the case (the buds last 10 hours on a single charge), the Redmi Buds 5 Pro outlast many of the best wireless earbuds, including the AirPods Pro 2, which boast 30 hours.
It’s rare to find earbuds with this many capabilities and access to high-quality codecs for less than $100 / ₹ 10537.23 / AU$150, so Xiaomi has our attention. If the Redmi Buds 5 Pro sound as wonderful as they appear, then we might have a new rival in our best budget wireless earbuds list.
