We tested their earphones without cushion and with noise cancellation

Xiaomi’s presentation event in Berlin was one of the most eventful of the year. Not only did they present the Xiaomi 14T and 14T Pro internationally, but they also brought to Europe the Xiaomi MIX Flip, its first foldable shell. In addition, they presented several televisions, a new vacuum cleaner and new headphones, as well as two wearables already on sale but being relaunched, the Xiaomi SmartBand 9 and the Xiaomi Watch 2.

These Xiaomi Buds 5 have been with us in recent weeks as we analyze the Xiaomi 14T Pro and after that. We wanted to test in as many situations as possible what it’s like to wear headphones that have active noise cancellation but don’t include silicone parts that cover the ear. For this we have used them at home, on road trips, on trains, on planes, at professional events and much more.

These Buds 5 are the brand’s answer to the Airpods 4 with ANC that Apple presented during the iPhone 16 announcement event. But they cost almost half the price, although they have the same functions . He the introductory price is 99.99 dollars

and they can be purchased on their website, on Amazon and in physical stores. This shows that it’s not trying to compete with the Pro models, which have more features but cost more than twice as much.

They are very comfortable

The greatest appeal of this model, in addition to a quite curious design this reminds us of the Huawei models, does deliver exceptional soundsigned Harman Kardon, but without forcing the user to feel that empty feeling when putting on headphones with silicone ear cushions. This is important for many people who, due to their genetics, cannot wear these types of headphones without experiencing discomfort.

The problem is that active noise cancellation, although noticeable, it reduces the volume of outside noiseso to speak, but it does not completely cancel it out, not even in very repetitive noises like the turbine of an airplane, the vibrations of a gym treadmill or the engine of a car. But this is normal, because the ear is not completely closed. This is the price you pay for not wanting to use models with silicone seals.

Analysis of Xiaomi Buds 5

Alvarez del Vayo

The positive aspect of this design is its comfort. The Xiaomi Buds 5 offer foolproof ergonomics. Not only can they be worn for hours without discomfort, but they also have good grip. We trained on the bike, ran and did weight training and At no time did we have the feeling that they were going to fallalthough it is true that it depends on the shape of each person’s ear. Overall, in any normal scenario, they should be a safe bet if you want to wear something for a long time.

Weight is also one of the elements to highlight. They are very light

but if we put them in the box and put them in our pocket, they also go unnoticed. The box offers us a total autonomy of around 39 hours in theory, but in our use every two hours of use decreased by 15%, so we would have around 15 hours in total.

Of course, it is true that even if we did not set the volume to maximum, we activated noise cancellation. Charging is done with a regular USB-C cable, included in the box, although the wall charger is not. We don’t have wireless charging.

Features and sound

The control application is Xiaomi Earbudswhich allows us not only to mod ify the amount of cancellation we will apply to the sound, but also to configure the gestures as we wish. We can change the use of double pinch, triple pinch or long press. The control is normal for this type of headphones, even if personally I always prefer, by far, headphones that use buttons, more than pinch ones which are less precise, even if in exchange we get rid of pressure problems accidental.

In the application we can also activate the spatial audiowhich makes the sound come from in front and, if we turn our heads, it seems that the source remains still. It’s something strange, and maybe in some cases it will be useful, but we don’t see that it will be a highly requested function. It also integrates the usage detection, which pauses music or whatever we are listening to if it notices that we are removing an earphone.

On the call side, we noticed that the sound quality is good, and our interlocutors never complained of noise or discomfort. Uses artificial intelligence and three microphones to filter out noisewhich helps in these situations.

In addition, the application has an audio recording function using headphones, to have a sort of voice note taking without resorting to other applications. This is not something common, nor perhaps in high demand, but it can be useful for certain user profiles.

Should I buy them?

These headphones are a good choice for those who want very comfortable, beautiful headphones with good sound but, By no means do they want to use silicone ear cushions, but they do require active noise cancellation.. This is the big reason for its existence and the main reason for its recommendation.

In the catalog of Xiaomi headphones, the Xiaomi Buds 5 are placed right in the middlefar from the most basic models in terms of design and sound and the most powerful in terms of price and absence of silicone parts. Their price is not low, but they are not among the most expensive models on the market.