Xiaomi Buds 5 Pro previewed before possible global release as new AirPods Pro 2 and Galaxy Buds3 Pro rivals
Xiaomi introduced many new products yesterday, including the Xiaomi 15 Ultra and Redmi Book Pro 16. Also, the company released the Buds 5 Pro, which appears to directly rival Apple's AirPods Pro 2 (curr. $199 on Amazon) and Samsung's Galaxy Buds3 Pro in many regards. However, a variant of the Buds 5 Pro sports functionality that few true-wireless stereo (TWS) earbuds offer.
Xiaomi's latest earbuds adopt a conventional stemmed design, within which sit 11 mm dynamic drivers consisting of planar and piezo drivers. The Buds 5 Pro contains the hardware to attenuate background noise by up to 100 dB during calls too, although this active noise cancellation (ANC) drops to 55 dB when listening to audio. Moreover, Xiaomi advertises up to 10 hours of battery life between charges and 40 hours when factoring in the included charging case.
The Buds 5 Pro leverages Bluetooth LC3 and Qualcomm aptX Lossless codecs as well for 50 ms latency and 24-bit/48 kHz audio transmission at a 2.1 Mbit/s data rate. Alternatively, a dedicated Wi-Fi variant can use a local Wi-Fi connection to stream audio from a supported device at 24-bit/96 kHz with a peak 4.1 Mbit/s throughput.
The Xiaomi Buds 5 Pro starts at CNY 1,299 (~$178) for its Bluetooth-only variant in gold or white finishes. By contrast, Xiaomi charges CNY 1,499 (~$206) for the Wi-Fi variant. While Xiaomi has not disclosed details about availability outside China yet, we would not be surprised if it does on March 2 during its MWC 2025 showcase.
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