Xiaomi launched the Redmi Buds 5, the company’s latest true wireless earbuds in India, with a price tag of Rs. 2999. Xiaomi’s previous TWS earbuds under the Redmi brand haven’t been particularly impressive, but this new Redmi Buds 5 looks promising right out of the box. At this price point, it features up to 46dB hybrid active noise cancellation, in-ear detection, and Google Fast Pair, among other features.
But what about the sound quality, and most importantly, how does it stack up against other best-selling earbuds in this price range? Let’s find out.
Redmi Buds 5 Specifications
Box Content
- Redmi Buds 5 earbuds
- Ear tips in Small and Large sizes (Medium pre-installed)
- User manual
Design, Build & Comfort
The design of the Redmi Buds 5 is quite simple. I have a black colour variant for review, which looks even cleaner and simpler. However, if you want a more vibrant, colourful experience, you can also buy it in purple and white, which look cooler and more attractive than the black variant.
I am really impressed with the design of the charging case. It’s in a squoval shape and looks almost like a soap, with a matte finish on top. The charging case is slim, compact, and lightweight, making it very easy to carry day-to-day, even fitting comfortably in tight jeans pockets.
Something that seemed a bit strange to me is that the Type-C charging port and a small LED indicator light are on the front side. The main indicator light is inside, which looks cool, but I think it should have been outside. Despite this, the overall design is simple yet somewhat unique and eye-catching.
In terms of build quality, I feel there’s a bit of compromise. Considering the price, it’s hard to say much more, but it feels weak, so you must be careful.
The earbuds themselves are attractive in design and offer decent comfort. It’s very lightweight, and I found them comfortable even after continuous use for 2-3 hours. However, I can’t ignore that its three major competitors—Nord Buds 2, Nothing Buds Pro, and Realme Air 5—are slightly more comfortable. But don’t worry; in general, the Redmi Buds 5 offers decent comfort.
It also provides a tight and secure fit, making them ideal for gym and outdoor use. The earbuds also have an IP54 waterproof rating, protecting against dust, light rain, and sweat.
Connectivity & Controls
The Redmi Buds 5 comes with Bluetooth 5.3, which makes pairing very easy. Take the buds out of the charging case, and the indicator lights will blink to indicate they’re in pairing mode. Turn on the Bluetooth on your device, locate ‘Redmi Buds 5’ in the list, and connect to them. The Redmi Buds 5 also supports Google Fast Pair. During my testing, I didn’t encounter any connectivity issues.
You can use the dual connection feature to connect to two devices simultaneously and switch between them for audio playback.
The earbuds automatically turn on when you take them out of the charging case and turn off when you place them back in. They also power off after 10 minutes of being disconnected from any device to conserve battery.
With these earbuds, you can control playback, answer calls, skip tracks, switch noise cancellation modes, and adjust volume with simple taps. The controls can be customized using the Xiaomi Earbuds app on both Android and iOS devices.
By default, volume control is disabled, but you can customize it using the app to assign actions for single, double, and triple tap.
Left Earbud (L)
- Double tap: Play/pause or answer a call
- Triple tap: Skip to the next song
- Press and hold: Switch noise cancellation modes
Right Earbud (R)
- Double tap: Play/pause or answer a call
- Triple tap: Skip to the next song
- Press and hold: Switch noise cancellation modes
ANC
The standout feature here is the Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) of up to 46 dB. To access ANC and other features, you’ll need to use the Xiaomi Earbuds app, which is available for Android and iOS. The ANC performance is decent and works effectively against ambient chatter, car engine noise, and whirring fans. However, it may not completely eliminate louder sounds like vehicle horns or other extreme outdoor noises.
It has three levels of ANC settings; the deepest level is the most effective. Additionally, it features a Transparency Mode with two different modes—Enhance Voice and Enhance Ambient Sound—that are effective and useful in various environments like the gym, office, or outdoor activities.
Other Features
In terms of other features, there are four different audio modes that work effectively. However, the absence of a custom equalizer option in the app is definitely a drawback. A custom EQ option should be available, especially since all its competitors offer it.
Other essential options like in-ear detection, ear tip fit test, dual connection, ear detection on/off, auto call take, find my buds and earbuds update options are available in the app. One missing feature is a low-latency gaming mode, which could be another downside for gamers. You won’t notice anything when watching videos, but you might feel latency is high when gaming.
Microphone
I really liked the microphone quality of the Redmi Buds 5. It performs well, even compared to some higher-end earbuds. There is no issue in indoor use – it captures voices clearly and loudly with minimal background noise.
Even in outdoor use, it does a good job of reducing wind and surrounding noise to a large extent. There might be a bit of background noise, but that’s normal and expected. Overall, the on-call experience is excellent, as the person on the other end hears your voice clearly. So, the microphone is definitely a standout feature of these earbuds.
Battery Life
The Redmi Buds 5 has a 54mAh battery that offers 9-10 hours of standalone battery life without ANC and 7-8 hours with ANC. In my use experience, using with around 50% volume and occasionally enabling noise cancellation, I got slightly over 7 and a half hours of usage, which is a good number.
When noise cancellation is completely turned off, the earbuds lasted close to 10 hours. For calls, the battery life is around five and a half hours with ANC enabled, as it uses technology for call noise cancellation.
The charging case has a 480mAh battery that provides up to 38 hours of total battery life without ANC and 30 hours with noise cancellation enabled. Charging the case fully with the earbuds takes about 2 hours. Additionally, it supports fast charging so that you can get 4 hours of playback (combined case and earbuds) without ANC with just 10 minutes of charging.
Sound Quality
When it comes to sound quality, I believe that good sound quality is the biggest selling point of the Redmi Buds 5. Overall, the sound quality is good. It has large 12.4mm drivers, so the output is quite loud, even at high volumes, with no noticeable distortion, which is a good thing.
The overall tuning leans a bit towards heavy bass, similar to the Nord Buds 2, but the good part is that it’s not overly bass-heavy to negatively impact mid-range and vocals. So, if you prefer slightly bass-heavy tuning like many Indians do, you’ll likely appreciate this tuning.
The mid and high frequencies are also good. The high frequencies are crisp with decent detail and are enjoyable overall. The mid-range can feel a bit muffled in places due to the emphasis on bass, especially in the lower mid-range, but it’s still thick and not a major downside. Overall, it offers an energetic and enjoyable audio experience that’s pretty good for its price point.
Worth to buy Redmi Buds 5
So yes, the biggest advantage of Redmi Buds 5 is definitely the good sound quality. Besides that, it also has a good microphone, decent battery life, and promising Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) as part of its advantages. The Xiaomi could have offered a gaming mode and custom EQ adjustments. Apart from that, it has all the essential features. The 2,999 Rs price tag is also reasonable, making it a value-for-money product.
The Geekman give the green flag to buy the Redmi Buds 5.
Comparison
Many options are available in the market under a budget of 3000 Rs, but three stand out for meaningful comparison: Realme Buds Air 5, OnePlus Nord Buds 2, and Nothing Buds Pro.
Realme Buds Air 5 is a slightly better option than Redmi Buds 5, but it usually costs around Rs. 200-300 more. Among those under Rs. 3000, the main competitors are Nord Buds 2 and Nothing Buds Pro.
Nothing Buds Pro is also promising, but Redmi Buds 5 has slightly better sound quality overall. When comparing Redmi Buds 5 with Nord Buds 2, their sound quality is quite similar, but Nord Buds 2 has better tuning. Nord Buds 2 also has a more appealing design, but its microphone, battery life, and ANC aren’t as good as Redmi Buds 5. In terms of features, the Redmi Buds 5 is slightly ahead.
Therefore, for now, under Rs. 3000, Redmi Buds 5 is the second-best option after Realme Buds Air 5.
Check our dedicated list of best earbuds under 5000 Rs for the latest update.
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