Recently, Xiaomi unveiled an impressive array of new products. From flat-screen smartphones and various sizes of folding phones to watches, fitness trackers, AIOT devices, and the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra, the company has significantly expanded its “human-car-machine” ecosystem. Among these innovations, the Xiaomi Buds 5 semi-in-ear headphones made a strong return after an 18-month hiatus.
Today, we spotlight the Xiaomi Buds 5, the flagship headset of the year. It stands out as Xiaomi’s first headset to support aptX Lossless audio encoding under LE Audio and aptX Adaptive low latency.
Notably, Xiaomi has introduced a unique recording function in these earbuds, a feature not found in the earphone lineup of other smartphone brands.
Advanced Audio with aptX Lossless
aptX Lossless is Qualcomm’s latest Bluetooth audio codec, an advancement of aptX Adaptive technology and part of Snapdragon Sound. It supports up to 2.1Mbps high-bandwidth transmission, achieving high-level (48k/24bit) lossless audio.
High-bandwidth transmission ensures the integrity and precision of audio data, allowing users to experience true lossless sound quality. Simply put, only wireless headphones with the aptX Lossless codec can deliver genuinely lossless sound, and Xiaomi Buds 5 exemplifies this innovative technology.
Ultra-Low Latency Performance
Beyond enhanced sound quality, aptX Lossless also incorporates aptX Adaptive low-latency features. This endows the Xiaomi Buds 5 with an ultra-low latency of 50ms. Compared to the 120ms latency of the previous generation Xiaomi Buds 4, the efficiency has improved by 2.4 times. Whether you’re watching videos, gaming, or in online meetings, the Xiaomi Buds 5 ensures near-seamless synchronization.
Convenient Recording Capabilities
One of the standout features of the Xiaomi Buds 5 is its new recording function. By triple-clicking the earphone handle, users can directly record audio in meetings, lectures, or any scenario requiring sound capture without additional equipment. This feature enhances the convenience of recording important discussions while ensuring the confidentiality and quality of the audio.
The Xiaomi Buds 5 represents a significant leap in wireless audio technology, combining superior sound quality, low latency, and innovative features to meet diverse user needs.
Appearance: Gilded Bright Edge Design with Frosted Craftsmanship
The Xiaomi Buds 5 packaging features a minimalist design with a pure white color scheme and a realistic rendering of the earphones on the front.
The battery compartment showcases a sophisticated design. The upper part is adorned with an NCL gold-plated bright edge, while the lower part utilizes a frosted finish. This combination not only enhances the grip stability by increasing friction but also provides a delicate and soft touch. The matte material effectively resists fingerprints and scratches, maintaining the compartment’s pristine appearance over time.
A Type-C charging port is located at the bottom of the battery compartment, with the reset button positioned on the right. The front of the battery compartment is equipped with a breathing light, and the interior features a magnetic contact charging design.
The earphones themselves adopt a semi-in-ear form, ergonomically designed to fit naturally and comfortably in the ear. Each earbud weighs only 4.2g, offering a seamless wearing experience. This weight is 4.5% lighter than the previous generation (4.4g), ensuring prolonged comfort.
The Xiaomi Buds 5 package includes a Type-C data cable.
Sound Quality and Noise Reduction
The Xiaomi Buds 5 delivers robust and powerful bass, with noise reduction capabilities tailored for office and reading environments.
Superior Audio Performance
Xiaomi Buds 5 are equipped with customized internal and external dual magnetic unit speakers, featuring a large 11mm design and black polymer coating technology, ensuring outstanding sound quality at the hardware level.
These dual-magnetic unit speakers boast an ultra-wide frequency response range of 16Hz to 40kHz, accurately reproducing everything from deep bass to clear treble. Their 0.5mm ultra-large amplitude design enhances the bass effect, maintaining the richness and clarity of vocals.
We tested the Xiaomi Buds 5 with various music styles to evaluate their sound quality:
Listening Experience
Sixth Sense: The Xiaomi Buds 5 excels at capturing the unique rhythm of each instrument, making the presentation clear and organized.
Music Layering: The headphones handle volume gradients well, maintaining clear boundaries between the main melody and background music, ensuring harmony.
High-Frequency Performance: The Xiaomi Buds 5 delivers pure high-frequency sounds, accurately capturing delicate instruments like violins and pianos without major acoustic defects.
Crossing: The initial drum beats are crisp, and the headphones capture the singer’s unique voice and emotions, making each word clearly discernible. The balance between vocals and instrumental accompaniment is natural, enhancing the emotional depth of the song.
Advanced Audio Technologies
The Qualcomm QCC3081 chip in the Xiaomi Buds 5 supports aptX Adaptive encoding, automatically adjusting to achieve low latency and high fidelity. Compared to AAC encoding, aptX Adaptive provides up to 420kbps transmission rate in good connection environments, enriching the listening experience for lossless music. For gaming, it offers an ultra-low delay of about 80ms, preventing audio-video asynchrony.
Spatial Audio
Xiaomi Buds 5 supports immersive spatial audio, simulating a three-dimensional sound field for a surrounding music experience. When this feature is activated, it enhances sound depth and breadth, creating a unique surround effect. This immersive sound experience allows each note to occupy its own space, offering a comprehensive auditory experience.
Head Tracking
Priced at $99, the Xiaomi Buds 5 supports 360° horizontal head tracking. This feature enhances the immersive experience in activities like watching movies or playing games, making you feel as if the sound is naturally coming from all directions.
Noise Reduction
Xiaomi Buds 5 is equipped with 3Mic+AI call noise reduction technology and supports active noise reduction, automatically adjusting to the environment. The noise reduction mode can be activated manually via the touch bar or the Xiaomi Headphones APP. Advanced wind noise suppression algorithms and specialized design effectively reduce background noise and wind interference, ensuring clear calls in various environments.
Noise Reduction Testing
In an indoor environment with 56.7dB ambient noise, the deep noise reduction mode significantly reduces high-frequency noise from sources like typing, computer hum, fan rotation, or air-conditioning vibrations. This mode can reduce low-frequency continuous noise common in offices by nearly 50%, creating a quieter workspace while maintaining comfort for long-term wear.
Bluetooth Connectivity
Xiaomi Buds 5 supports the Bluetooth 5.4 transmission protocol, offering improved transmission speed and connection stability compared to Bluetooth 5.3. Advanced signal processing technology reduces interference and enhances stability, providing a more reliable wireless connection. The low latency function, enabled by default, reduces sound delay from 75ms to 50ms, which is beneficial for gaming and video applications.
Automatic Pop-Up Window
When connected to a Xiaomi phone, tablet, or laptop, the Xiaomi Buds 5 automatically displays a floating window showing the power levels of the earphones and battery compartment.
Independent Recording
Xiaomi Buds 5 supports independent recording, converting audio to text and generating summaries with one click. By tapping the earphones three times, you can activate the recording function, allowing up to 90 minutes of independent recording per earphone. The recorded audio is stored internally and can be imported into the Xiaomi Headphones APP for transcription.
The transcription process intelligently organizes disorganized information into clear headlines and paragraphs, enhancing the readability and usability of meeting minutes and notes.
The Xiaomi Buds 5 offers a comprehensive audio experience with advanced sound quality, noise reduction, and innovative features, making it a standout choice for music enthusiasts and professionals alike.
Charging and Battery Life
Each Xiaomi Buds 5 earphone has a battery capacity of 35mAh, while the battery compartment holds 480mAh. This setup theoretically allows the compartment to charge both earphones approximately 6.8 times.
To assess the charging efficiency, we conducted a test at 15:30. The left earphone started with a 52% battery level, and the right earphone had 47%. After placing both earphones in the charging case for 10 minutes, the left earphone’s battery increased to 80%, and the right earphone’s to 78%.
From this test, we deduced that the earphones charge at an average rate of 3% per minute. Therefore, it would take about 40 minutes to fully charge the earphones from empty to 100%.
For the battery life test, we set the volume to around 30%, disabled the noise reduction and spatial audio functions, and played music for 1 hour.
After one hour, the left earphones consumed 15% of the battery, while the right earphones consumed 19%. On average, the earphones used up 17% of their battery per hour. This suggests that, when fully charged, the earphones can provide approximately 6 hours of continuous music playback.
- Charging Time: Approximately 40 minutes to fully charge from empty.
- Battery Life: About 6 hours of music playback on a full charge, with volume at 30% and noise reduction and spatial audio functions turned off.
The Xiaomi Buds 5 offers efficient charging and respectable battery life, making them a reliable choice for extended use throughout the day.
Conclusion
The Xiaomi Buds 5 stands out as the premier choice for semi-in-ear headphones, especially when considering the sound quality. Our extensive testing reveals that both deep bass and clear treble are accurately reproduced, capturing every vocal and instrumental nuance. This is largely due to the aptX Lossless transmission, which ensures superior sound fidelity.
Noise Reduction
Xiaomi Buds 5 is equipped with 3Mic+AI call noise reduction technology, effectively diminishing background noise and wind interference. This technology ensures clear, uninterrupted calls, even in bustling environments. While the noise reduction depth may not match in-ear headphones with over 50dB noise cancellation, Xiaomi Buds 5 can still offset 40-50% of external noise in deep noise reduction mode. This level of noise reduction is sufficient for everyday use, especially considering the primary appeal of semi-in-ear headphones is their comfort rather than their noise-canceling capabilities.
Innovative Recording Function
One of the standout features of the Xiaomi Buds 5 is its innovative recording function, which differentiates it from the competition. By triple-clicking the earphones, users can initiate recordings that are automatically transcribed into text and summarized. This feature, unprecedented in traditional earphones, adds great value by enabling discreet, high-quality recording of meetings, lectures, and other events.
During testing, we observed that transcription was remarkably fast, with text appearing almost immediately after voice input ended. The summaries were concise and well-organized, saving users considerable time and effort in documenting minutes.
Overall Performance
- Xiaomi Buds 5 delivers on multiple fronts:
- Sound Quality: Exceptional, with precise reproduction of bass and treble.
- Noise Reduction: Effective for semi-in-ear headphones, providing substantial noise reduction for daily use.
- Recording: A groundbreaking feature that sets a new standard in functionality and convenience.
- Battery Life: Sufficient for extended use, with efficient charging capabilities.
The Xiaomi Buds 5 offers high-end sound quality, noise reduction, innovative recording, and efficient transcription. These features set new standards for Xiaomi semi-in-ear headphones, making them ideal for Mi fans and audio enthusiasts.