How Are 46dB ANC Earbuds Under $30 Possible? Xiaomi Redmi Buds 5 REVIEW

Not so long ago, we tested Redmi Buds 4 Active on our channel Tech Brothers, but now Xiaomi has released the next generation of earbuds. In this article, we will be testing Xiaomi Redmi Buds 5.

The main features of the new Xiaomi wireless earbuds are 46dB active noise cancellation, noise reduction and transparency modes, 12.4mm driver, mobile app support, and long battery life up to 40 hours.

By the way, the price of Redmi Buds 5 is about $30, so these are very affordable wireless earbuds.

We will be comparing the new Redmi Buds 5 with the previous generation a bit in this article. Looking ahead, there are many upgrades.

Unboxing

So, I bought the Redmi Buds 5 in black and white colors to show how they both look. On the box, you can see a picture of earbuds in your color.

The new Xiaomi earbuds are only released in China, so the inscriptions on the back are in Chinese.

The package contents are the same for the black and white earbuds, such as the charging cable, silicone ear tips of different sizes and user manual in Chinese.

By the way, it is good that the silicone ear tips match the color of the earbuds.

Design

So, if we compare Redmi Buds 5 with the previous generation Redmi Buds 4, the new earbuds have a new design of the charging case and the earbuds themselves.

The charging case is made of matte plastic, but the glossy plastic goes around it.

There is a power button on the side, and a USB Type-C charging port with a small LED indicator on the front.

When you open the case, you see the earbuds and another big LED indicator.

When it comes to the earbuds themselves, they are also different from the previous generation – Redmi Buds 4. They still feature silicone ear tips since the earbuds support ANC, but now they have stems. I think the microphone quality of the Redmi Buds 5 should be better than the previous model. We will check it out a little later.

By the way, it’s not very noticeable on the black version, but the outer part of the earbud is made of matte plastic, and there is a touch panel in the center.

The touch panel is good visible on the white version because it is silver.

You know, I think the Redmi Buds 5 earbuds look better in white color. Do you agree? Or do you prefer the black one? Let me know in the comments below.

I didn’t find any information about water protection of the Redmi Buds 5, so I don’t think they’re meant for sports or even swimming or showering. However, the earbuds fit very comfortably in my ears, and they do not fall out.

When it comes to size, one earbud has dimensions of 30 x 22 x 24 mm. Its weight is only 5 grams.

The size of the charging case is 60 x 50 x 22 mm. Its weight with earbuds inside is 42 grams.

Overall, I like the design of the new Redmi Buds 5 earbuds, especially in white color.

Control Functions

Now, let’s talk about control functions.

I want to say right away that the control functions can be changed in the app, but we will talk about that a little later.

By default, you can double tap the earbuds to play/pause the music.

A triple tap on the left or right earbuds switches to the next track.

You can also press and hold any earbuds for 2 seconds to switch between noise reduction and transparency modes.

Of course, you can use the earbuds to accept or reject phone calls.

In-Ear Detection

Another important feature of the Redmi Buds 5 is the in-ear wear detection. When you take one of the earbuds out of your ear, the music automatically stops on your smartphone. When you put the earbud back in your ear, the music continues to play. This is a very useful and convenient feature.

Before we test the latency in games, let’s take a look at the app.

Xiaomi Earbuds App

First, I tried to pair the Redmi Buds 5 with the iPhone. However, the earbuds were not detected, and I didn’t find them in the list of supported devices.

Then, I tried to pair the new Xiaomi earbuds with an Android smartphone. Fortunately, I was able to do this. If your earbuds are not detected, make sure the region in the app is mainland China.

In the app, we can see the battery level of the left and right earbuds, and the charging case.

Then, we can switch between transparency and noise cancellation modes, or turn it off.

I’ve said before that the control functions are customizable, and you can do this in the Gestures menu.

The first two options are in Chinese, but I think they mean single tap press left earphone and single tap right earphone.

You can add new control functions that are not available by default, such as previous song, volume up and volume down.

You know, I was looking for how to add a gaming or low latency mode, but you can’t do that here. In addition, you cannot activate game mode through the app. It looks like Redmi Buds 5 doesn’t have a game mode at all. Now I’m really interested in testing latency in games.

You can also select audio effects in the app, such as standard, enhance treble, enhance bass, and enhance voice.

The additional settings have in-ear detection, ear tip fit test, dual connection, take calls automatically and rename earphones.

There is also a Find your earphones function in the app. When you press left, right, or both, the alarm is played on the earbuds.

Then, you can update the firmware of the earbuds. My current version is 1.0.2.6.

The last options in the app are user manual in Chinese, FAQ and about earphones.

Latency Test

So, the biggest surprise to me was the lack of a game mode.

Even pressing the earbuds and holding them for two seconds doesn’t activate game mode. The Redmi Buds 5 earbuds probably don’t need a game mode.

Let’s check the latency in games.

 Unfortunately, the latency is quite high. It is not very comfortable playing games with these earbuds.

Microphone Test

Now let’s move on to testing the microphone.

Redmi Buds 5 earbuds have dual microphone. On the official website, we can read that for the first time Redmi earbuds use a self-developed dual-channel AI algorithm that can withstand 6m/s wind noise.

I cannot test this right now, because I don’t have a strong wind outside, but we can create a noise simulation on the TV.

 What’s up, guys! I am testing the microphone of Redmi Buds 5. One, two, three, one, two, three. You can hear me now in a quiet room.

 Now I turned on the noise simulation on the TV. It is very loud in the room right now. Can you hear me? One, two, three, one, two, three.

Sound Quality

Talking about sound quality, first, you should know that Xiaomi Redmi Buds 5 has a large 12.4mm dynamic driver and titanium-coated diaphragm.

The new wireless earbuds are also tuned by Xiaomi Acoustic Lab Golden Ears Team.

As I already said, there are four audio effects in the app, such as standard, enhance treble, enhance bass, and enhance voice, so you can customize the sound a bit. However, I didn’t find an equalizer setting in the app.

My impressions of the sound, first I think it is louder than other earbuds. 50% of the volume was enough for me. Nevertheless, even at higher volumes, the sound quality doesn’t suffer.

You know, I like different music, so I listen to both heavy rock and hip-hop. I find that Redmi Buds 5 are good for different genres of music. The vocals are clean, and the bass is quite strong.

These are probably some of the best, or even the best, sub-$30 earbuds I’ve tested.

ANC

Another feature of the Redmi Buds 5 is the active noise cancellation.

If the previous generation of earbuds Redmi Buds 4 had 35dB ANC, then the new Redmi Buds 5 has 46dB ANC.

For the test, I will turn on white noise on my smartphone, and measure its level with a noise meter.

Right now, the noise level is about 43db, and I cannot hear it at all with Redmi Buds 5.

When the noise level goes up to 50db, you can barely hear it in the earbuds.

The noise is clearly audible in the earbuds at around 60dB, but if you take them off, it is very loud.

I’m surprised at how accurate the ANC works. Up to 46dB, you cannot hear noise at all.

By the way, Redmi Buds 5 has three levels of noise reduction: mild noise reduction for library and office, balanced noise reduction for street and gym, deep noise reduction for subway and airport. The earbuds automatically adjust the level of noise reduction depending on the noise level.

Battery

Finally, let’s talk about the battery. A single earbud has a battery capacity of 150mAh, while a charging case has 500mAh battery.

The battery life on a single charge is about 10 hours with ANC off, and a total battery life with a charging case is 40 hours.

This is another significant improvement over the Redmi Buds 4.

Conclusion

To summarize, I will say that Xiaomi Redmi Buds 5 surprised me.

First, the design of the charging case has been updated, and now it has two LED indicators.

The earbuds with stems look appealing as well, especially in white color.

The mobile app provides some additional functions, for example, audio effects. Overall, the sound quality is very good. I also like how the ANC works.

The battery life has been greatly improved compared to the previous generation.

Among the disadvantages, I would note the lack of water protection. At least, I haven’t found any information about it.

In addition, the new Xiaomi earbuds do not have a game mode. I think it is the main problem with Redmi Buds 5. Perhaps a game mode will be added later via software updates.

Overall, the Redmi Buds 5 are great for their price.