Wireless earbuds are on the rise folks, and rightly so. They’re basically the combined goodness of earphones minus the hassle of having a cord dangling around you, waiting to tangle at every object in sight. And what’s there to not love about them? In addition to completely eliminating those annoying wires, they provide a hassle-free and comfy listening experience as well. If you approached me struggling to untangle my earphone knots a couple of years ago and offered a pair to me, I’d almost sell a kidney to get my hands on one!
Well lucky for us, the good folks over at Xiaomi have made sure that we won’t have to sell a kidney to enjoy the experience of wireless earbuds. Having built a reputation for providing great products at affordable prices, the Redmi AirDots fit those expectations quite well. But do they compare with the other wireless earbuds on the market? Let’s find out.
Redmi AirDots hands-on review:
The Redmi AirDots offer a lot for a lot less, in short. Being at a much lower price point than many similar products, Xiaomi has gone for a very minimalist approach for this little gizmo.
Talking about the design and build, the AirDots come in a neat little charging case with a Mi logo stamped on top. The lid, as well as the charging slots, are magnetic. The design of the AirDots inside is quite interesting too since Redmi has opted to not go for an elongated design like the Apple AirPods or the Mi AirDots. Instead, it has a pill-shaped design. This way, the buds go inside your ear canal while the tiny body of the AirDot rests on your inner earlobe.
As previously mentioned, the design is quite minimalistic. The AirDots come with only a single button each for play/pause. We tried to switch tracks by double pressing and triple pressing it but that just didn’t work. That being said, the button can still be used to accept, hang up and reject incoming calls which are pretty handy. Also, the lack of volume buttons bummed us out but hey, RTPT: Remember the Price Tag.
The build quality is what anyone would expect at this price point. Its made from plastic which is a bit on the cheapo side of the fence. But it makes the AirDots super light to wear. Embedded in the body are magnets that help the Dots fit tightly in its charging case. Microphones are fixed inside the buds which provide clear and up-to-par audio during calls.
Sound Quality and Connectivity:
Sound quality is where this gizmo shows plenty of promise. Because of the in-ear design of the buds, the bass response is pretty good, neither too overpowering nor very weak. The frequency response is pretty cool as well although personally for me, it lacks a bit on the mid-high and high ends. The sound clarity is good as well.
The AirDots come with three ear caps and using a larger one fixed the ever-common issue of the buds sometimes fitting loosely. The positioning of the buds changes how much bass you’re able to hear significantly as well as the overall comfort level of the buds. So protip: We highly recommend you to try out all three and see which one works out best for you.
Pairing the AirDots was pretty straightforward too. The Dots use Bluetooth 5.0 for connectivity which allows low power consumption. The AirDots first pair in-between themselves and then pair with the device of choice for stereo sound. However, it is possible to pair the two Dots separately as well.
That being said, we did run into some issues in that process though. No matter how many times we tried, sometimes the Dots just wouldn’t pair within themselves. Putting the AirDots back into the case, turning it off, fully charging it… nothing seemed to work. A quick google search later, we discovered it was actually a pretty common issue. We also fished out what worked for us, you can find the solution here. This isn’t a major issue but it sure as hell was an annoying one.
Conclusion:
The Redmi AirDots are superb for the price point and provide a great listening experience for its users. It’s tiny, light and pretty comfortable to wear. The battery life exceeds 4 hours while fully charged, and with the charging case, the airdots last for almost 12 hours so it is ideal for working out, listening while on a commute or for any purpose in general. The buds fit quite well when placed properly and didn’t fall off while working out, save for loosening up sometimes.
Is this the best choice for the perfect wireless earbud experience? No. But is it something to consider in its price point? Yes, definitely. While it definitely doesn’t have the sound quality of, say the AudioTechnica CLR-100 (which is wired and at a lower price point), when it comes to wireless options it is definitely a top choice in its price class. It has the added benefit of looking aesthetically pleasing and not like another AirPods knockoff, and we sincerely appreciate it for that. For us, it checked all our necessary marks and sounded pretty well. It is definitely a choice to consider while shopping for your next pair of earbuds.
