Xiaomi Redmi Buds 3 Pro Review: Feature Full

POSITIVES

✓ Qi Charging

Wirelessly charges

✓ Jam Packed with Features

ANC, multi-device connection, touch controls

✓ Comfortable in Ear

Sits effortlessly in ear

NEGATIVES

✘ Gets Dirty

Soft touch material gets scuffed up easily

✘ No Touch Volume control

Can't swipe to adjust volume levels

✘ Average sound

Just acceptable sound quality

Purchase Price: $66.99

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When it comes to feigning illusions of grandeur, Xiaomi is the undisputed king at making customers feel like they just got away with highway robbery. Across a broad range of tech products, the Chinese company has normalized what affordability in technology represents to consumers in the form of their sub-brand, Redmi. While not new to the earbud scene, Xiaomi has set its sights on a Pro moniker with the Redmi Buds 3 Pro. Are these truly a refined product worthy of a Pro title or do they drift into the obscure sea of other Xiaomi earbuds?

Look And Feel

The first noticeable difference between the Redmi Buds 3 Pro and older generations of Xiaomi earbuds would be the design. In the early days of Xiaomi’s foray into earbuds, stems like that on the Apple Airpod were prevalent in their own releases. This particular set resembles what Samsung is doing with the Galaxy Buds with a jelly bean form factor instead. The body is made with the same type of soft touch plastic as the charging case. The surface of the head consists of a smooth metallic shimmer with a unique color contrast that helps the Redmi Buds stand out from competitors that only use a single color palette. At first, it took a little getting used to while sitting in my ear. However, I quickly found the set to be quite comfortable. In fact, I was worried that the earbuds were actually too loose fitting and that it might fall out. The reality behind it was just that the Redmi Buds sit passively in the ear, yet stable enough to sustain movement. I didn’t exhibit extreme physical activities while wearing it, but it’ll stay in the ear safely for a typical gym session. I normally get fatigue wearing earbuds after an hour. The Redmi Buds are the first set to not strain my ears in a long time.

The charging case that comes with the Redmi Buds is a standard oval shape that has a satisfying open and close mechanism. Not much effort is needed to lift the tab; while slight momentum will bring the case to a close. It’s a pretty solid hinge for an earbud case. I loved how smooth the case felt in my hand. On the flip side, it’s a tad too smooth to reliably pull out without the fear of it accidentally dropping. The color I purchased was also quite vulnerable to scuffs and marks during the most simple forms of transportation. I literally just had it in my Boundary Supply pack for a few hours on my flight and it came out much different than it went in. Speaking of colorways, the Glacier Gray color I purchased was such a strange color. It looked nothing like the renders from Xiaomi. In fact, when I first received the package, I thought Amazon sent the wrong item to me. Promotional images would imply that the earbuds were a mix of a saturated purple and blue. In reality, what we have is an extremely desaturated pebble gray color that I actually liked more than the renders. Xiaomi has packed in Qi wireless charging to help contribute to the pro list of features. You can also charge the earbuds through the USB-C port on the bottom of the case. I like just about all of the design elements Xiaomi chose to create the Redmi Buds Pro. 

Long List of Functions

When it comes to the functionality of the earbuds, I do find the earbuds to be lacking in certain departments. Touch controls are not as intuitive as on competitors. The standard tap twice or three times, as well as the press and hold capabilities are all here to varying degrees of success. It’s also missing the all important volume control as you can’t swipe up or down to adjust it like on some other earbuds. There’s dual-device connectivity that allows the Redmi Buds Pro to swap connectivity between operating platforms. I tried it with iOS, iPadOS, Android, and Windows and it consistently swapped over to the proper paired device I wanted it to in an acceptable amount of time. This is valuable as some earbuds do struggle with Bluetooth connectivity. I do believe that Bluetooth 5.2 plays a contribution in the successful connection.

Xiaomi has also thrown smart noise cancellation of up to 35 dB of alteration. This is supposed to help improve conversing on phone calls. At the airport, my audio sounded fine to the other party, but their voice was a bit dimmed down for my liking. The quality of the sound was clear, but it did feel as if there was artificial alteration to the audio that did make the conversation slightly jarring at first when compared to the earpiece directly on your phone. However, music playback was plenty adequate enough to justify the near $70 price tag. While none of the specific ranges exemplified excellence over other TWS earbuds, the listening experience was enjoyable and consistent across various mediums of music. With a compact 9mm driver, I didn’t expect to be overwhelmed by anything and that seems to be the consensus of what I heard. The mids and the lows were a tad bit muted when I compared it to the Google Pixel Buds. That might be expected due to the price point difference, yet I was surprised at just how many shared features the two earbuds had. Xiaomi really buffed up the spec sheet and as much as I wanted to criticize the overall lack of sound quality, I just can’t bring myself to be too harsh on it simply because this is a sub-$70 pair of earbuds made from quality build material. I’m okay with the average bass and clarity because the total experience was good enough to warrant a positive outlook. While there was an accompanying app developed by Xiaomi you can download to optimize the user experience, it wasn’t required in order to get the earbuds up and running. It really was a pair and play experience which I appreciated.   

What’s it Good At?

The Redmi Buds may not be the best listening experience in this price range, but it just might be the best overall package you can get for under $100.

I’ve used the Redmi Buds Pro as my main source of audio playback for music and podcasts for a couple months now and the battery life has consistently been enough to get me through my day. I had essentially a 12 hour travel day from LA to New York with either one or both earbuds in my ear for basically the entire journey. Xiaomi says it should last for an optimistic 28 hours as the clamshell charging case provides 470 mAh of independent power. Regardless of estimates, my Redmi Buds Pro survived a standard workday of between 6-8 hours with battery to spare when I got home. It also handled my domestic travel needs and provided me with the travel companionship I required to get through my flight and subsequent travel through the city.    

I’m a fan of the Redmi Buds 3 Pro and it has earned a place in my bag as my daily driving earbud set. There’s a stylistic simplicity and quality behind it that compensates the weaknesses that the earbuds have. There’s a signature Xiaomi flair behind this product that reminded me of what made Xiaomi so attractive during the early ascension period of the Beijing tech company. The Redmi Buds may not be the best listening experience in this price range, but it just might be the best overall package you can get for under $100.

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