The Xiaomi Redmi brand is well known for producing excellent entry-level and mid-range smartphones that frequently offer more performance and features than their asking prices would imply.
The business has since returned with a new pair of TWS Bluetooth earphones that feature active noise cancellation and wireless charging. I put the Redmi Buds 3 Pro in my ears to test the signal to noise ratio.
Design & Build
During the past few years, there have been two main design trends for wireless earbuds: projecting stems (like the original Apple AirPods) or a smaller, bulbous frame that retains the majority of the housing in your ear.
With a touch-sensitive display on the outside of the bud, Xiaomi has chosen for the latter, giving you access to the many controls on offer.
Its pill-shaped chassis is covered in a matte finish that is nice to the touch and provides a respectable level of grip without making it stick in your pocket. The case also follows a well-trodden path.
Opening open the lid makes it simple to remove the earbuds and shows how much of the case is used to house the 470mAh battery, which is said to provide a lot of power and allow you to recharge the earbuds four times from a single charge.
This may be done using the USB-C port on the case’s lower edge or, if you have one at home, a Qi wireless charging pad. At the lower end of the market, this is extremely uncommon.
In other wireless developments, the Redmi Buds 3 Pro can maintain two connections at once and connects to devices using Bluetooth 5.2. This is a useful option if, for instance, you enjoy listening to content on both your laptop and smartphone at once.
The earbuds themselves measure a manageable 25.4 x 20.3 x 21.3mm and are cozy to wear. Three various sizes of silicon tips are included in the box in case you need them, along with the manual, a USB-C cable, but not the usual charger as is common.
With in-ear sensing, playback pauses when you take out one of the buds, and the IPX4 rating, which ensures protection from splashes and sweat, allows you to wear them without worry during brisk gym workouts or light rain showers.
Sound Quality & Features
The Redmi Buds 3 Pro is incredibly simple to connect. Holding down the pairing button on the case or removing the earbuds out of the case are the two options. You merely need to choose the earbuds from the list on your device after choosing one of them to activate the Bluetooth signal. Dead straightforward and dependable in my experience with the buds.
Audio & Noise Cancelling
Three microphones and a 9mm composite vibrating diaphragm coil are included in the earbuds to make and receive calls easier.
The Buds 3 Pro make listening to music a really enjoyable experience. There is a lot of volume and superb frequency separation, which results in a well-balanced sound that fills your ears.
The two modes come with Active Noise Cancellation in one and “Dual Transparency” in the other, which allows some outside sound to be heard through the microphones. The latter is helpful if, for instance, you want to keep an eye on what’s going on around you while strolling at night or on rural lanes.
Although the noise cancellation does a good job of reducing the clamor of a metropolis, busy train, or highly animated family, it can’t entirely block out the outside world. It does block some sound, but if you want to block out any distractions, you’ll need to really cram the earbuds into your ears.
It performs at a level comparable to similar-priced devices like the Tronsmart Apollo Air+, Enacfire A9s, and Huawei FreeBuds 4i.
Nevertheless, if you own a Xiaomi or Redmi phone, you’ll have access to other modes that may be stronger. Additionally, it features Adaptive Noise Cancellation, which allows the earbuds to analyze the sounds in your surroundings and adjust the level of cancellation as necessary. like the audio equivalent of an auto-brightness option. Regrettably, I couldn’t test this feature because I didn’t have a compatible device around.
I was able to examine how Netflix and other streaming providers handled video syncing by connecting the Buds 3 Pro to an iPad. Fortunately, the earbuds were quick enough to maintain the audio in time, so I didn’t experience the mental pain of out-of-sync audio as I had with some other low-cost earbuds.
Every wireless earbuds ought to include the simultaneous dual-connection feature because it is really helpful. I put the earbuds back in the charging case while still holding down the pairing button while they were linked to my phone. When the light began to flash, signaling pairing mode, I went to the Bluetooth menu on my laptop and chose the Buds 3 Pro.
It was simple to play audio on one device normally while the buds were plugged into the other, which immediately assumed precedence. Because of this, switching between the two is simple and doesn’t require the lengthy unpairing and repairing procedure found in many competing products.
The three microphones are cooperating to try to eliminate noise, which results in good call quality. Yet you can only accomplish so much with tiny openings, so wind and loud settings are still a problem.
Controls
With the Buds 3 Pro, Xiaomi has kept things straightforward. You only need to remember three commands because the controls are the same on both buds. You can play or pause any tunes you’re currently listening to or take an incoming call by tapping either button twice. While tapping and holding down one of the earbuds for a brief period of time switches between the noise suppression modes, three taps will advance to the next track or reject/end a call.
I found it annoying that the earbuds couldn’t be used to alter volume. Certainly, you can rapidly change the volume using your phone or one of the various smartwatches or fitness bands, but wouldn’t changing the volume be more useful?
This may reflect a bias on my part, as I listen primarily to podcasts and audiobooks, neither of which contain tracks at all, and neither do their competitors.
Yet, the touch-sensitive parts of the bud are responsive and provide consistent command execution. You don’t have to press the earbuds firmly into your ear canal to halt a song because they don’t require much pressure.
Battery Life
The maximum battery life of the Buds 3 Pro, according to Xiaomi, is 6 hours. However, there are certain restrictions, including the volume being set to 50% and the absence of noise cancellation.
My hearing has been affected by years of performing in rock and blues bands in small settings; as a result, 50% volume feels somewhat cautious for some recordings, so I did shift things about a little bit while testing.
With the ANC on, I was able to obtain slightly more than four hours of playback time off a single charge, which is typical for most of the earbuds I’ve tried in the last year or so. Of course, if you’re not an elderly, deaf musician like myself, your mileage may take you a little further from town.
It’s interesting to recharge because a 10-minute quick charge gives you roughly three hours of listening time.
It will take around 2.5 hours to fully recharge the headphones and case, but it will be worth the wait because it will give you enough power to recharge the headphones four and a half times before you need to plug them in again.
Xiaomi’s calculations result in a 28-hour theoretical maximum, which is respectable. As was already said, the case includes wireless charging as standard, a feature that is uncommon for earbuds even twice as expensive as these.
Verdict
The Redmi Buds 3 Pro are a decent pair of wireless earbuds for a fair price, so Xiaomi has certainly learned from its prior mistakes. The two simultaneous connections are actually more practical than you may imagine, and the design is contemporary and easy to wear.
One drawback is the absence of volume controls, and the noise cancellation is only available in two modes unless you possess a Xiaomi or Redmi device, which seems like a bad choice but is also something Apple would certainly do.
Fast charging and wireless charging set them apart from other inexpensive smartphones due to their respectable battery life. Also, they have ear-detection, which is unique for inexpensive earbuds.
The Redmi Buds 3 Pro are a pair of wireless earbuds to look into if you want good-sounding earphones with noise cancellation and a variety of smart functions.
