Xiaomi Mi AirDots

The flagship killer among smartphones, Xiaomi finally got to true wireless headphones. The novelty of the end of 2018, Mi AirDots, is designed to “tear to shreds” AirPods on all fronts. And if Xiaomi's victory is quite predictable in terms of cost ($45 – $50), there are questions about other characteristics. So let's get started.

For young people

Mi AirDots are positioned as headphones for young people. They are light, compact, comfortable, fit snugly in the ear, made of matte soft-touch plastic. In terms of form factor, they rather resemble Meizu Pop, also in-ear and without legs. The colour offered so far is only white. But, I think, in the future, Xiaomi will expand the range of colours.

Charging in half an hour

Protection against moisture and sweat is not claimed, but for such a price, its presence would be a gift. But AirDots are almost close to AirPods in terms of battery life. 4 hours in stereo mode and 5 hours in mono (one earphone) is a very good result. But the battery capacity of the case does not indulge in battery life, you can charge the headphones three times in it, however, quite quickly, in just half an hour.

Ease of connection and control

The model claims support for Bluetooth 5.0. And although not all smartphones work on this version, 4.2 is also suitable.

Touch control supports a minimal set of functions, without switching tracks and adjusting the volume. This will have to be done, either manually from the device, or using a voice assistant.

They sound more expensive than they cost

We didn’t expect good sound from $50 Bluetooth headphones without AptX support, even taking into account the manufacturer’s claim of super bass 7mm drivers. But they were pleasantly surprised when he, this very sound, turned out to be no worse than in Meizu Pop. The scene is presented relatively legibly, especially in those compositions where there is no wide instrumental mix. The microphone also writes acceptable, quite clearly and almost without distortion.

This, perhaps, is all, but this is already a lot for AirDots. There are, of course, shortcomings, such as a slight out of sync of sound and video, or a periodic fall-off of one earphone from another, but all of them will most likely be solved by updating the firmware.

It is unlikely that it will be possible to “kill” AirPods Mi Dots, even despite the 5-fold difference in cost, but they will definitely occupy their niche and quite wide, guaranteed to squeeze Meizu Pop on the market.