Design and luxury
The Redmi Buds 6 have an analogous design to the earlier era mannequin, particularly for the case. The case nonetheless has the identical rectangular design that appears like an Impression Mints case. The lid opens with relative ease and in addition closes with a nice dampened thump. The highest and backside of the case function 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 could 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 in addition its charging standing.
The button for pairing is on the suitable fringe of the case. It is surprisingly laborious to note at first look and nearly completely merges with the facet end. It’s additionally considerably laborious to press and will have been extra conveniently designed.
The earbuds function 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. In addition they slide out and in of the ears with minimal strain on the internal ear. I’ve discovered myself sporting these for hours with completely no fatigue or discomfort.
Software program
The Redmi Buds 6 are appropriate with the Xiaomi Earbuds app, out there on Android and iOS.
By the app, you may management options corresponding to audio results, gestures, and extra. You’ll be able to choose the ANC mode and in addition 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 out there 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 motive, which hides the standing bar on the prime. 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 normal audio settings that embrace 4 audio presets and an 8-band customized EQ. There’s additionally the immersive sound function, which is like Spatial Audio that works with any supply.
In case you pair the earbuds with a Xiaomi telephone, then you definately don’t want to put in the app because the choices are constructed into the Bluetooth settings. Nonetheless, issues listed here are a bit completely different than within the app.
Audio settings
Whereas many of the options are the identical, the app has a personalised audio function as an alternative of normal EQ presets or customized EQ. This makes you take heed to audio clips and choose your most well-liked sound to create a customized profile for you. Nonetheless, 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 have been all the time unusable.
Gestures
Nonetheless, these choices are additionally tied to the sound settings throughout the Xiaomi telephone. When you’ve got Atmos enabled in your telephone, then these choices will likely be merely unavailable within the Bluetooth settings with no apparent motive as to why. Additionally, if you choose Unique Sound within the telephone’s settings, then the sound choices will likely be out there within the earbuds settings however gained’t truly do something. It’s essential to allow Xiaomi Sound impact in your telephone for the earbuds settings to be efficient, which is all needlessly complicated and sophisticated.
Different settings
Total, the software program expertise right here leaves so much 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 prime frequencies. The earbuds join utilizing Bluetooth 5.4 and assist SBC and AAC codecs.
I’m going to begin 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 slightly good-sounding earbuds with a delightful out-of-the-box tuning.
The general sound is mid-bass ahead so that you get numerous 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 larger finish, the sound lacks a little bit of sparkle and air, leading to barely obfuscated element. You’d assume 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. Nonetheless, the Redmi Buds 6 is essentially 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 adjustments the timbre of the sound, which has a really unnatural and synthetic tonality to it. It sounds notably extra compressed and in addition 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 seen 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 personalised 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 refined sufficient or the onboard chipset merely doesn’t have the chops to do the processing properly 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 superb 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 surroundings, the voice remained discernible and the background noise was properly 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 in opposition to every single day feels like followers, ACs, air purifiers, and many others., the earbuds do rather well for essentially the most half. The one subject is that they don’t attenuate high-frequency sounds as a lot, so some feels like working water or the noise from sure equipment get by means of.
In noisier environments, corresponding to on an plane, the Redmi Buds 6 once more do an honest 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 expensive 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 actually, 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 cope with wind notably properly. They take fairly some time to regulate to heavy wind, rather 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 allows you to optimize for voice, ambient sounds, or a balanced common mode. The voice mode didn’t convey out close by voices in addition to I’d have preferred 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 essentially 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 so much however since this isn’t out there within the Xiaomi Earbuds app, you’re out of luck in the event you use a non-Xiaomi system.
Connectivity
The Redmi Buds 6 had good connectivity efficiency, with no dropouts or pairing points. The earbuds additionally assist twin system pairing and work completely superb when paired to 2 gadgets without delay. You’ll be able to have the earbuds paired to a telephone and a laptop computer, for instance, and management the sound options by means of the app on the telephone even when the sound is taking part in by means of 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 provides 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 superb, at the 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, respectable lively noise cancellation, and spectacular battery life.
However, audio high quality with ANC enabled is subpar, the software program expertise left so much to be desired, and the latency efficiency is poor with out the low latency possibility solely out there on Xiaomi telephones.
For the worth, it’s straightforward to disregard a few of these points. Nonetheless, I want to see Xiaomi repair the audio high quality with ANC enabled, because it’s not truthful to let the person select between audio high quality and one of many key options of the earbuds. However in the event you do not care about ANC then this is a superb possibility for the worth.
