The Redmi Buds 6 are Xiaomi’s latest entry-level pair of wi-fi earbuds. Following the success of the Redmi Buds 5, the sixth technology mannequin options improved noise cancellation, a dual-driver design, and a quad microphone array. The brand new mannequin is available in at INR 2799, which is barely lower than the worth of the earlier gen.
Design and luxury
The Redmi Buds 6 have the same design to the earlier technology mannequin, particularly for the case. The case nonetheless has the identical rectangular design that appears like an Affect Mints case. The lid opens with relative ease and likewise closes with a nice dampened thump. The highest and backside of the case characteristic a matte end whereas the perimeters are shiny.
On the entrance of the case is the USB-C charging port and the standing LED. Relying on which route your charging cable comes from, you might or could not just like the USB port being on the identical facet because the LED. The LED strip lights up in steps from left to proper to point out the quantity of battery left within the case and likewise its charging standing.
The button for pairing is on the fitting fringe of the case. It is surprisingly onerous to note at first look and nearly completely merges with the facet end. It’s additionally considerably onerous to press and will have been extra conveniently designed.
The earbuds characteristic an up to date design however with the identical shiny strip on the outward-facing edge. The remainder of the form, particularly when seen from the internal facet, is remarkably just like the AirPods Professional design.
The general end and really feel of the earbuds and the case is a bit plasticky, which is to be anticipated at this worth level. The earbuds have an IP54 ranking for mud and splash resistance. The case, nevertheless, isn’t protected.
Consolation was glorious for my ears, with the earbuds being barely noticeable as soon as worn. Additionally they slide out and in of the ears with minimal strain on the internal ear. I’ve discovered myself carrying these for hours with completely no fatigue or discomfort.
Software program
The Redmi Buds 6 are appropriate with the Xiaomi Earbuds app, obtainable on Android and iOS.
Via the app, you may management options similar to audio results, gestures, and extra. You possibly can decide the ANC mode and likewise fine-tune their particular person choices.
Sadly, the app has some annoyances. There was a large banner for the three-month free Spotify subscription, which couldn’t be eliminated. Furthermore, the subscription wasn’t even obtainable upon clicking. The app additionally makes you signal right into a Xiaomi account to replace the firmware on the earbuds, which is patently ridiculous. The app additionally goes fullscreen on Android telephones for no purpose, which hides the standing bar on the high. And eventually, somebody please repair the ridiculous alignment of the ANC buttons as the center one isn’t even remotely near the middle.
Xiaomi Earbuds app
The Xiaomi Earbuds app has commonplace audio settings that embody 4 audio presets and an 8-band customized EQ. There’s additionally the immersive sound characteristic, which is like Spatial Audio that works with any supply.
When you pair the earbuds with a Xiaomi cellphone, then you definitely don’t want to put in the app because the choices are constructed into the Bluetooth settings. Nevertheless, issues listed below are a bit completely different than within the app.
Audio settings
Whereas a lot of the options are the identical, the app has a customized audio characteristic as an alternative of ordinary EQ presets or customized EQ. This makes you hearken to audio clips and decide your most well-liked sound to create a customized profile for you. Nevertheless, in my testing, the ultimate profiles generated after calibration all the time sounded very completely different than what I used to be listening to beforehand and thus had been all the time unusable.
Gestures
Nevertheless, these choices are additionally tied to the sound settings throughout the Xiaomi cellphone. If in case you have Atmos enabled in your cellphone, then these choices shall be merely unavailable within the Bluetooth settings with no apparent purpose as to why. Additionally, if you choose Unique Sound within the cellphone’s settings, then the sound choices shall be obtainable within the earbuds settings however received’t really do something. It’s good to allow Xiaomi Sound impact in your cellphone for the earbuds settings to be efficient, which is all needlessly complicated and sophisticated.
Different settings
Total, the software program expertise right here leaves loads to be desired and each the Xiaomi Earbuds app in addition to the native expertise on Xiaomi telephones want work to be on par with different manufacturers available on the market.
Efficiency
Audio high quality
The Redmi Buds 6 have a twin driver design comprising of a 12.4mm titanium-coated dynamic driver for low and mid frequencies and a 5.5mm piezoelectric driver for top frequencies. The earbuds join utilizing Bluetooth 5.4 and help SBC and AAC codecs.
I’m going to start out the audio high quality dialogue with the ANC disabled and also you’ll later see why. With the ANC disabled, the Redmi Buds 6 are reasonably good-sounding earbuds with a lovely out-of-the-box tuning.
The general sound is mid-bass ahead so that you get a variety of thump and heat within the sound however with out it getting overbearing or excessively boomy. You additionally get a strong mid-range that hasn’t been sacrificed in favor of a typical V-shaped tuning, leading to full-bodied vocals with good timbre. On the increased finish, the sound lacks a little bit of sparkle and air, leading to barely obfuscated element. You’d suppose the piezoelectric driver would assist right here however the default tuning doesn’t actually take full benefit of the dual-driver configuration.
Nonetheless, the tuning isn’t as darkish as on one thing just like the Sony WF-C510 however lacks the liveliness of the Nord Buds 3 Professional. Nevertheless, the Redmi Buds 6 is probably the most balanced sounding out of the bunch with a extra broadly interesting sound that may work with quite a lot of genres and media.
That is the place we get to the ANC on efficiency. Enabling ANC significantly modifications the timbre of the sound, which has a really unnatural and synthetic tonality to it. It sounds notably extra compressed and likewise extra boxed-in because the soundstage collapses and the sound strikes into the middle of the picture. The bass additionally sounds a bit hole and picket. In comparison with the fuller, clearer, airier, and wider sound with the ANC off, it is a severe downgrade.
One factor I observed all through the evaluate course of was that any time any kind of audio processing was launched, whether or not it was within the type of the ANC, the EQ, the customized sound, or one thing else, it all the time made the sound extra synthetic sounding with an nearly metallic timbre. Both Xiaomi’s audio processing isn’t subtle sufficient or the onboard chipset merely doesn’t have the chops to do the processing effectively quick sufficient in real-time so settles on doing it poorly. The sound from these earbuds is at its finest when actually each single impact and have is disabled. The one exception to this appears to be the transparency mode, which sounds nearly as good because the ANC off mode.
Microphone
The Redmi Buds 6 have excellent microphone efficiency. Testing the voice high quality in a quiet room, the voice sounded clear and pure with none noticeable noise discount artifacts. When examined in a loud setting, the voice remained discernible and the background noise was effectively remoted though there have been some loud popping sounds at instances. Nonetheless, for many environments, the microphone high quality is spectacular.
Noise cancellation
The Redmi Buds 6 have spectacular noise cancellation efficiency for a product in its worth vary. Testing towards day-after-day appears like followers, ACs, air purifiers, and so on., the earbuds do rather well for probably the most half. The one subject is that they don’t attenuate high-frequency sounds as a lot, so some appears like operating water or the noise from sure equipment get via.
In noisier environments, similar to on an plane, the Redmi Buds 6 once more do a good job. In comparison with dearer earbuds, just like the Google Pixel Buds Professional 2, they do let in additional noise within the mid-range however the Pixel Buds are a lot extra pricey it’s not even shut. In comparison with equally priced rivals such because the Nord Buds 3 Professional, the Redmi Buds 6 do fairly equally, and in reality, attenuate barely extra noise within the mid frequencies whereas letting in additional high-frequency sounds. The ANC itself additionally appears to have its personal high-frequency hiss, which doesn’t assist.
The Redmi Buds 6 don’t take care of wind notably effectively. They take fairly some time to regulate to heavy wind, far more than competing earbuds, and a equally very long time to revert as soon as the wind has stopped.
Shifting over to transparency mode, the Redmi Buds 6 have an adjustable system that permits you to optimize for voice, ambient sounds, or a balanced common mode. The voice mode didn’t deliver out close by voices in addition to I’d have favored and the common mode additionally sounded a bit muffled because it’s designed to cancel some sounds whereas letting others in. The ambient sound mode felt like probably the most revealing possibility of the three and the one I’d use.
Latency
The Redmi Buds 6 have horrible latency efficiency out of the field. The low latency mode on Xiaomi telephones helps loads however since this isn’t obtainable within the Xiaomi Earbuds app, you’re out of luck for those who use a non-Xiaomi machine.
Connectivity
The Redmi Buds 6 had good connectivity efficiency, with no dropouts or pairing points. The earbuds additionally help twin machine pairing and work completely superb when paired to 2 units without delay. You possibly can have the earbuds paired to a cellphone and a laptop computer, for instance, and management the sound options via the app on the cellphone even when the sound is enjoying via the laptop computer.
Battery life
The Redmi Buds 6 have a rated battery lifetime of 10 hours with ANC disabled and 6.5 hours with ANC enabled. The corporate additionally claims 10 minutes of cost from flat offers 4 hours of playback with ANC disabled.
Doing the standardized take a look at with ANC disabled (as ANC enabled requires the earbuds to be worn), the Redmi Buds 6 performed for a powerful 10 hours and 28 minutes, which is a bit over the claimed quantity. When testing with only a 10-minute cost from flat, the earbuds performed for 3 hours and 56 minutes, near the claimed determine.
Total, the battery life on the Redmi Buds 6 is excellent, at the very least with ANC disabled.
Conclusion
The Redmi Buds 6 are a reasonably reasonably priced pair of earbuds. For that worth, you’re getting a snug design, good audio high quality with ANC disabled, nice microphone efficiency, first rate lively noise cancellation, and spectacular battery life.
Alternatively, audio high quality with ANC enabled is subpar, the software program expertise left loads to be desired, and the latency efficiency is poor with out the low latency possibility solely obtainable on Xiaomi telephones.
For the worth, it’s simple to disregard a few of these points. Nevertheless, I wish to see Xiaomi repair the audio high quality with ANC enabled, because it’s not truthful to let the consumer select between audio high quality and one of many key options of the earbuds. However for those who do not care about ANC then this is a superb possibility for the worth.