Review of Xiaomi Mi AirDots Pro wireless headphones: another approach?

 

These are completely wireless headphones, which continue the line of devices of this format from the popular Chinese manufacturer. The first model was Xiaomi Mi AirDots and there were questions about them, now it’s the turn of the second generation. It is curious that on the Internet the new model is called differently: Mi Air True Wireless Earphones, Air Xiaomi Mi True Wireless, etc. The correct and official name is “Xiaomi Mi AirDots Pro”. First of all, they distinguished themselves by having an active noise reduction function.

 

What catches your eye from a design point of view is that the case of the Xiaomi Mi AirDots Pro headphones is cubic and massive. It is elegant and well put together, but bulky. The earbuds themselves are also not small in size and belong to the in-channel type. If the first generation borrowed features from Samsung Galaxy IconX, then the second inherits the principle of Apple AIrPods.

 

 

No matter how much I would like to avoid comparison with Apple wireless headphones, their leadership in the market forces comparison. On all sides, the Mi AirDots Pro case is almost twice as large as that of AirPods. The same applies to headphones. As a result, they are not as good ergonomically. Well, due to its large size, it is inconvenient to carry the AirDots Pro case in the pockets of your pants or jacket – it noticeably protrudes out of your clothes.

 

 

The case is made of plastic that is pleasant to the touch. Although the shape is quite ordinary and fits confidently in the hand, it does not provide the aesthetic effect of Zippo lighters. In this regard, the Apple model turned out to be more convenient.

 

Apparently, it is impossible to avoid the grooves and recesses into which dirt gets packed in these devices. At least after a couple of days, the ridges under the lid and for the fingers needed to be cleaned. And this is another reason to carry the case in the pockets of bags, and not clothes.

 

When the headphones are in the case, identifying where the left and where the right is as easy as shelling pears. Additionally, there are subtle markings on the inside of the case. The headphones themselves are not afraid of minimal amounts of moisture and dust thanks to the IPX4 standard. It is not convenient for everyone to take them out of the box. It is not always possible to grab your fingers on the case and the earbuds slip out. One of the nice things is that a modern USB Type-C port is used for charging.

 

On the outside, in chrome circles, sensor zones are integrated. On the left earbud, double-tapping activates the voice assistant. On the right – pauses music playback and accepts/rejects calls. You cannot change the roles of headphones. The volume can only be adjusted from the smartphone.

 

 

There are proximity sensors on the inside that automatically pause playback if one of the headphones is pulled out. You can use headphones one at a time, but you can only listen to music with the right one. Apparently this is because only they stop playback and receive calls. For the same reason, only the right earphone can act as a wireless headset in the car. And due to good sound insulation, it is safer to drive with only one liner.

 

A long touch on any of the headphones activates and deactivates noise cancellation. It is impossible to say that the environment is radically muted. Particularly loud sounds, the hum of the subway and engines, still break through the counter-noise.

 

In general, based on the results of using touch control, we can say that it is implemented well and intuitively, there are no lags and commands are clearly recognized. Connecting to a smartphone is fast, regardless of whether one earbud or both has been removed. They opened the lid, pulled them out one by one, put them in their ears, heard something in Chinese in the speakers – they worked. We talk about this separately, since sports headphones Mi Sport< /a> sometimes crashes when turned on and does not immediately connect to the smartphone.

 

However, probably not everyone will be comfortable using it, since the sensory zone is located exactly opposite the auricle. If you slap your finger too hard, it will be unpleasant, not to mention that the sound of the touch will be tactilely transmitted to the ears.

 

 

The kit includes replaceable silicone ear pads in three sizes. It would seem that this should have a beneficial effect on the versatility and reliability of fixation in the ear. And yes, the headphones fit well in your ears and will allow you to walk and even run quickly. However, in practice, wireless earbuds have proven to be “persistent” only in cases where there is no headgear, as well as indoors and in cars. Because careless touching often causes the ear to fall out. However, this is also true for other wireless earbud models.

 

The operating principle is classic for completely wireless headphones. Two earbuds have their own battery and Bluetooth modules. A similar set of equipment is installed in the case. The battery of each headphone lasts approximately 3 hours. And the case will add another 7 hours to them. That is, each earbud will charge twice.

 

Charging starts automatically when installed in the case; for this, it has contacts on the bottom end. You can find out the charge only after pressing the button on the side. If the LED blinks frequently, the charge is less than 15%; if it blinks less frequently, the charge is more than 15%. Not informative. However, on a smartphone you cannot see the status of their battery in the notification panel. We tried this on both the headphone’s native Mi smartphone and the Samsung Galaxy.

 

To connect to a smartphone, you need to open the case with the headphones inserted and hold down the same button on the side. Mi AirDots Pro will immediately appear in the Bluetooth menu. Then the switching on and connection will occur automatically when each of the headphones is taken out of the case.

 

 

In terms of sound, the headphones were not too pleased. If the quality is acceptable at low and medium volumes, then at near-maximum volumes the speakers begin to wheeze. There is also no minimum possible sound volume. From everything it seems that Mi AirDots Pro are more designed for use as a headset. Playing music is secondary for them and only for cases when you need to walk ten minutes and don’t want to do it to the sounds of the city.

 

What makes the situation worse is that when watching a video, the sound noticeably lags behind the picture. This effect is especially noticeable in films with an original audio track. When watching a video offline, this can only be corrected by forced acceleration of the audio track, which is available in some players. True, the YouTube mobile application on Android and iOS has supported the audio delay correction function for several years. Therefore, these problems are not observed there.

 

We are forced to admit that the second generation of completely wireless Xiaomi headphones did not turn out very well. We are used to putting up with the fact that in really high-quality devices from the company there are only minor flaws, which are completely offset by the low price. But this did not happen with Mi AirDots Pro. There are too many aspects that are key to headphones that leave much to be desired. On the positive side, they have build quality and well-debugged wireless connection algorithms. But the sound and video lags are serious shortcomings.

 

Xiaomi Mi AirDots Pro
Type:	In-ear earbuds
Frequency range:	20-20,000 Hz
Impedance:	16 Ohm
Sensitivity:	105 dB
Connection:	Bluetooth 4.2, A2DP
Additional:	active noise cancellation
Protection:	IPX4
Interface:	USB Type-C
Weight:	5.8 g
Case dimensions:	51x43x31 mm
Earphone dimensions:	44x14x23 mm
Supplier:	iLounge, https://ilounge.ua</ a>
Price:	$120

Rating:

+ connection and control algorithm

+ high-quality assembly

+ USB-C port for charging

-you cannot reassign touch zones

-peculiar shape of liners