Redmi Buds 5A Review: Delivers What You Expect

The Redmi Buds 5A were unveiled in India in April this year alongside the Redmi Pad SE at Xiaomi’s ‘Smarter Living & More’ launch event. The audio wearable comes with active noise cancellation (ANC) and Google Fast Pair support, along with an IPX4 rating and a companion app. These true wireless earbuds (TWS) are also the company’s cheapest wireless audio offering in the country so far. After using them for a few weeks, I’ll tell you why they’re a great pick if you’re looking for ANC TWS on a budget.

Redmi Buds 5A Review: Design & Features

The Redmi Buds 5A have a traditional in-ear design and offer three options for eartips. Included in the box are medium-sized eartips that attach to the earbuds, and two additional pairs of silicone eartips: one small and one large. The larger of these eartips gave me the best fit. There is no charging cable in the box, however. The only other item included in the box is the information/instruction leaflet.

The Redmi Buds 5A come with Google Fast Pair support

The Redmi Buds 5A earbuds have charging ports at the bottom of the stem, which do not have direct skin contact, saving some people with metal allergies the trouble of dealing with. The touch control areas are placed higher on the stem.

The Redmi Buds 5A charging case is sleek and lightweight, and features a “polished pebble” design, according to the company. Of course, you won’t easily mistake the oval-shaped case for a boulder at the lake, but it’s small enough to pass muster and be an easily portable accessory. What makes it more portable is its weight, which comes in at around 41.2g including the two earbuds and the charging case. Each earbud weighs around 3.6g on its own.

The Redmi Buds 5A charging case has a USB Type-C port at the bottom. When the case is charging, a static white light appears next to the port and turns off when fully charged. The light is also on when the earbuds are on, that is, when the case is open. Two identical indicative white lights appear on top of the earbuds when they are on.

Redmi Buds 5A review: app and specifications

While the Redmi Buds 5A comes with Xiaomi Earbuds app support, it doesn’t offer much in the way of controls. As soon as you connect the earbuds to your smartphone, you’ll be prompted to download the app. Once the app is successfully installed and the earbuds are recognized, you’ll be presented with a very simple, straightforward layout. Below the image of the earbuds in their case, you’ll see the battery percentages of the left and right earbuds individually, alongside the battery life of the charging case. The latter option disappears once you close the case again after taking out the individual earbuds.

Redmi Buds 5A control as seen in Xiaomi Earbuds Android app

One of the controls that the app offers is to choose between the ANC modes – transparency, noise cancellation, and ANC off. Once selected, the particular mode will be highlighted in blue. Just below the ANC controls, there is an option for ‘Additional settings’. This leads to a tab with three more functions. At the bottom of the screen, there is a ‘remove earbuds’ option, which allows users to remove the controls for the Redmi Buds 5A earbuds from the app.

You can also find a ‘rename earphones’ option that you can use to change the name of the TWS earphones, the name by which they are identified on connected devices. The third option is a toggle to turn the ‘low latency’ mode on or off. The low latency mode is said to offer users a smoother gaming or video viewing experience, the power of which we’ll discuss in a moment.

The app isn’t really relevant for me, however, as the Redmi Buds 5A’s ANC and latency modes are accessible via simple touch controls. It’s perhaps not entirely redundant, as some people might find it easier to control these functions via the app.

The Redmi Buds 5A feature 12mm dynamic drivers, up to 25dB ANC, an IPX4 splash-proof earbud rating, AI-assisted environmental noise cancellation (ENC), and support for Google Fast Pair and Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity. The earbuds only support the SBC codec and in this review, we will discuss how that affects the hearing experience for users.

The Redmi Buds 5A reportedly offer a battery life of up to 30 hours

Redmi Buds 5A Review: Performance and Battery Life

Budget ANC supported TWS earbuds are known for their convenience. That’s what Redmi Buds 5A offers in a word. ANC under Rs. 1,500. Easy to carry, lasts all day. These are made for casual use and convenience, and in these categories, they deliver. They are ideal for you if you use them to drown out the traffic or mild cacophony and immerse yourself in your favorite podcasts or music.

The touch controls on the Redmi Buds 5A are simple: double-tap to play/pause or answer a call, and triple-tap to reject/end calls or change tracks. Users can hold the buds for two seconds to switch between ANC modes, while switching latency modes requires pressing the touch zone on both earbuds simultaneously for 1.5 seconds. Eliminating the need for a single-tap control ensures fewer accidental commands when adjusting the fit of the earbuds or someone’s long hair.

For the price I’m not expecting a euphoria in terms of sound quality. When I played Stealers Wheel’s Stuck in the Middle With You on these Redmi Buds 5A, I wasn’t expecting to hear the details of the arrangements. I didn’t. Expectations were met. The bass-heavy sound still offered a decent enough experience to enjoy the track. However, at a higher volume, around 60 or 70 percent, the sound sounds muffled. Moving on to something with more guitars and pianos, Hozier’s Too Sweet plays at 50 percent with a similarly veiled overture. If “lo-fi, Hozier playing in the other room while you study” is your vibe, you’re in luck.

But once we go to 70 or 80 percent volume, the distortions are noticeable in most tracks. It’s not ideal, but it’s not a dealbreaker either.

For example, when I play The Kinks’ Sunny Afternoon, the bass-heavy, slightly muffled sounds do nothing to detract from Ray Davies’s complaints about unfair tax rates. In fact, they make songs like Fall Out Boy’s Immortals or Gorillaz’s Feel Good Inc. seem cheerful and enjoyable. Certainly more so than the honking and screeching of city traffic.

Some of the sound quality is compromised due to the Redmi Buds 5A’s support for only the SBC Bluetooth codec. This offers a stable connection, but lossy sound processing. They don’t even support the AAC codec, which is preferred by most iOS smartphones and tablets.

Even with 60ms latency, I experienced significant lag on the Redmi Buds 5A when playing games like Battlegrounds Mobile India. That’s not unexpected. Despite enabling the low latency mode, it didn’t make much of a difference. However, the latency was unnoticeable when playing videos online or offline, proving again that they’re only perfect for casual usage.

The Redmi Buds 5A does not come with a charging cable in the box

With ANC turned off, the Redmi Buds 5A earbuds are said to offer up to five hours of battery life and up to 30 hours of total playback time with the carrying case on a single charge. I was able to get nearly five hours of listening time using just the earbuds, ANC off, and the volume at 50 percent. For reference, that’s the equivalent of about the first four episodes of Heeramandi or four and a half episodes of The 8 Show.

However, turning on ANC drains the Redmi Buds 5A’s battery significantly faster. With ANC on, using just the earbuds, I could only use them for about three hours at 50 percent volume. With 10 minutes of Fast Charge, I was able to use the earbuds for about another hour, using a similar volume and noise-cancelling settings.

The Redmi Buds 5A charging case has a 4.40mAh battery, while each earbud has a 34mAh battery. A full charge of the case, using a 67W Redmi adapter and a USB Type-A to USB Type-C cable, takes around an hour and a half. Inside the case, the earbuds take around 45 minutes to go from zero to 100.

Last but not least, calls. The AI-assisted ENC on the Redmi Buds 5A conquers the sounds of a quaint residential neighborhood, but not that of a busy road. When you make calls with these earbuds, the microphones offer as much clarity as your surroundings. If you’re not a fan of shouting a wildly incorrect ETA to your punctual and impatient friend in a public place, avoid making calls with these earbuds. Instead, go hands-on with your phone. But with a stable connection, the voice you hear from the other end of the call with these TWS wearables is clear enough, though characteristically muffled.

The Redmi Buds 5A charging points are located at the bottom of the stem

Pronunciation

If you are on an extremely tight budget and are looking for ANC-supported TWS earphones, the Redmi Buds 5A at Rs. 1,499 would be a good choice. For the given price, the earphones are best for casual usage. They don’t promise anything they can’t deliver. The sound clearly lacks detail when compared to mid-range TWS offerings and products with higher and better specs. However, the power and bass they deliver are more than worth the price. The lack of a charging cable in the box can easily be overlooked considering you can use any old USB Type-C cable to charge it. If you’re not primarily using these for heavy mobile gaming, even the 60ms latency is almost unfathomable.

However, if your budget has some wiggle room, you can consider the Noise Buds Venus TWS earbuds (Review), currently available in India for Rs. 1,699, for slightly nicer noise cancellation, lower latency, and better battery life. For Rs. 400 more than the Redmi Buds 5A, you can also get the Honor Choice Earbuds X5 TWS earbuds (Review), which were launched in the country earlier this year and come with an IP54 rating for dust and splash resistance, and an equalizer control in the companion app.