With the wide variety available in the audio market these days, you may be looking for something less conventional and stylish. If you are game enough to try an open-ear designed earbuds, the Xiaomi OpenWear Stereo might do the trick. If you didn’t know, Xiaomi recently extended their foray further into the wearables space with the Xiaomi OpenWear Stereo.
Overall Look & Feel
It’s interesting how the Xiaomi OpenWear Stereo casing was quite light. Each earbud is fairly lightweight – coming in at approximately 9.6g each. The earbuds are IP54 dust and water-resistant, which is something that people would expect as pretty standard across most earbuds these days.
The earbuds are soft to the touch, thanks to the skin-friendly liquid silicone, and though the earbuds may look bulky, yet, are rather non-intrusive. Slipping the Xiaomi OpenWear Stereo earbuds on was pleasantly comfortable, with the open-ear hooks wrapping around the ear curve snugly. I also tried pairing it with glasses, and it was surprisingly comfortable as the glasses sat nicely behind the open-ear hooks.
What’s in the Box
The Xiaomi OpenWear Stereo earbuds sit snugly in the polished looking charging case. The box also comes with a short USB-C charging cable and user manual.
Audio Quality
The interesting thing about the Xiaomi OpenWear Stereo was how impressive the audio quality came through. The technical description would tell you that it leverages an all-new independent sound leakage reduction system – the world’s first – with a 17x12mm elliptical dynamic driver and Hi-Res Audio diamond-like Carbon (DLC) diaphragm that improves sound accuracy and quality.
In layman terms, yes, you would still be able to hear your surroundings a little and it wouldn’t cancel noise completely. That being said, I found that listening to music somehow allowed me to tune out my surroundings. The bass was sufficiently strong, and chatting on the phone with the earbuds works. The dual microphone works with something called a beamforming algorithm – which essentially improves signal-to-noise ratios for better sound quality. The AI noise-cancellation function automatically kicks in when you’re on a call, picking up speech and helps to reduce environmental noise for better call quality.
Connectivity & Usability
If you own Xiaomi devices, you can easily connect with Xiaomi HyperOS devices for that added convenience. A double tap on the left or right earbud allows you to easily play/pause music, and answer/end a call. A triple tap on the left or right earbud allows you to skip to the next song, and reject an incoming call. Download the Xiaomi Earbuds app on App Store or Google Play Store to adjust touch controls to your preference.
Battery Life
The Xiaomi OpenWear Stereo boasts an ultra-long battery life of up to 7.5 hours of music on a single charge, and up to 38.5 hours with the charging case. I was able to use it for up to 3 days intermittently without charging the case, which was rather impressive.
Yay or Nay?
Using the Xiaomi OpenWear Stereo earbuds was definitely an interesting experience, and would be a yay if you prefer an alternative way of listening to music. Personally, I would still very much prefer being able to isolate my audio experience, especially in loud and crowded places.
Pricing & Availability
The Xiaomi OpenWear Stereo is available in two colorways: Sandstone Beige and Cosmic Gray
Reasonably priced at S$199, the Xiaomi OpenWear Stereo is available on Shopee and Lazada.
