Very affordable headphones with many functions

We're testing the new Xiaomi Redmi Buds 5, which are very affordable earbuds with noise cancellation and simultaneous wireless connection with two devices. But what is sound?

the Xiaomi Redmi 5 headphones They can sometimes be found online for less than forty euros.

However, it does offer several features: Automatic Noise Cancellation (ANC) of up to 46 dB with three selectable transparency levels to let in ambient noise (normal, vocal or ambient); Wind noise suppression during telephone conversations up to 6 m/s; Simultaneous Bluetooth 5.3 pairing with two devices, e.g. smartphone and laptop; Automatically turns off audio and video when removing the headphones from the ear; And a relatively long battery life, up to ten hours with fully charged cases and up to forty hours with the included hard charging case.

There are also disadvantages. Although the 12.4mm driver is made of titanium, the rest of the earbuds and charging case are made of durable plastic. A better codec than the standard Bluetooth version is not supported (you need the more expensive Buds 5 Pro for that).

The Redmi Buds 5 are dust and moisture resistant to a limited extent, up to IP54. So, for example, you can't shower or swim with it. The charging box itself is not moisture resistant at all. Wireless charging is not possible. A USB-C charging cable (short) is included, but you must provide your own USB charger.

Each of these earphones weighs 5.3 grams and thus sits comfortably in the ear canal. Additional silicone stoppers are included as standard, so you can choose what works best for you.

Assignment

You must first remove the plastic protective material from the charging box. Only then can you charge the earbuds and the case. The earbuds are already partially charged at the factory, but it is still better to charge them fully the first time.

Android users can quickly connect their earbuds thanks to Google Fast Pair. iOS users must do this manually via the Bluetooth settings and the “Pairing” button on the side of the charging case.

If you want to connect a laptop or computer, you must first install the Xiaomi Earbuds app, because multipoint connection is disabled by default. You can enable this via the app. This also applies to in-ear detection.

Xiaomi Redmi Buds 5 (© Xiaomi; License: Xiaomi)

Earphones application

Using the Xiaomi Earbuds app requires registering an account with Xiaomi. Only then can you use some functions.

We've already mentioned multi-point detection and in-ear detection, but you can also control just the operation of the touch-sensitive aspects in the app. The same goes for things like configuring noise reduction and transparency mode, getting firmware updates, and setting the equalizer.

Practice

The automatic noise reduction is not very strong. The difference with (much) more expensive earplugs like the Poly Voyager Free 60+ we recently tested is clear. But for use in noisy environments, these covers suppress noise to some extent.

The sound itself falls into the “good enough” category. Don't expect powerful sound or high-resolution audio, as no better codec is supported than the limited standard Bluetooth codec. But within its category, we find the sound quality more than acceptable.

Conclusion
The Xiaomi Redmi Buds 5 offer great value for money. If you don't want to spend a lot on earplugs, you can definitely consider these things.

Average price
Less than 40 euros

Categories: hardware, Producers

Updated 2 years ago.