Xiaomi's Buds 5 Pro have a terrific sound, but that's not why I like them so much

Xiaomi has proven time and again that it knows how to make earbuds with powerful sound and a good value, and having tested most of the brand's products in this area over the last decade, I generally like the tuning and comfort. The Buds 5 Pro continue that trend, and they come with a unique feature that allows the buds to stand out a little from the pack — Wi-Fi integration.

The Buds 5 Pro use Qualcomm's XPAN mode that's baked into the Snapdragon Sound suite, allowing the buds to switch between Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, all while delivering higher fidelity music playback. The mode goes up to 96kHz/24-bit, and it is interesting to finally see the tech in action. The standard Buds 5 Pro are available in the U.K. for £159 ($213), and the Wi-Fi model retails for £189 ($253).

Lightweight design with fast charging

Xiaomi did a good job with the design, and the Buds 5 Pro look every bit as premium as the best earbuds. The buds have elongated stalks with metal inserts, and the shell has a matte texture. The fit is highly comfortable; the sound tube doesn't nuzzle too much into your ear cavity, and the weight is distributed evenly across the shell and the stalk.

Even with extended use, I didn't see any issues with these earbuds, and at 5.6g, they're light enough that you won't even notice you're wearing them most of the time. The case has an elegant design with a see-through panel, and the only annoyance is that it doesn't have Qi charging — you're limited to USB-C. That's an oversight by Xiaomi when you consider even budget models get the feature these days, and not having it on buds costing over $200 is annoying.

Image 1 of 4

The buds get IP54 dust and water resistance, and they do a decent enough job preventing sweat ingress while working out. Thankfully, the design of the buds means they stay put while running, and this isn't an issue at all. While I don't usually like gestures on earbuds, the large recognition area around the stalk ensures gestures are triggered without errors.

The Buds 5 Pro house a 64mAh battery, and the case has a 570mAh battery. I got over six and a half hours of music playback between charges, and there's fast charging that gives you two hours of music playback with just a 10-minute charge.

The sound quality is incredible

Switching over to the sound, the Buds 5 Pro have a custom 11mm driver paired to a planar driver and dedicated tweeter, and the combination leads to much better sound quality than most earbuds. The buds have an engaging bass with good rumble, clean mids that make vocals and ensemble instruments shine, and an elevated treble that has good extension without any sibilance.

The bass isn't exaggerated, and I found that tweaking the EQ to increase the low-end made these earbuds come alive when listening to most modern music. Out of the box, there's the feeling that they're set up predominantly for use with movies and TV shows, but there's a decent customizability to the sound.

On that note, these buds do an excellent job with noise isolation. I used the earbuds for over a month, and they've been effective at tuning out the hum of the air conditioner and sounds of my mechanical keyboard. Calls went through with good clarity as well, and it has environmental noise isolation, so if you're making calls while outdoors, they're quite good at tuning out wind noises.

You'll need a Xiaomi phone to unlock the extras

Then there's the extras; they have a 50ms low latency mode, and you get spatial audio that's enabled after a customized hearing test. You get AptX Lossless codecs, and the biggest differentiator is 96kHz/24-bit audio — it's great to see Xiaomi leverage Qualcomm's audio suite. You'll need to use a recent Xiaomi phone to unlock this mode — I tested it with the Xiaomi 15 Ultra — and it falls back to 48kHz/24-bit when using devices like the Xiaomi 15.

You'll only get spatial audio with Xiaomi phones, and that's similar to what other brands do with their products. On the whole, using the Buds 5 Pro with the Xiaomi 15 Ultra has been an absolute delight, and the sound quality combined with lossless audio and unmatched connectivity gives these buds a definite edge. You'll need to be in the Xiaomi ecosystem to take full advantage of some of the extras, and if you're got the Xiaomi 15 or 15 Ultra, these buds are a no-brainer recommendation.