Xiaomi’s Redmi brand launched its new Neckband wireless headphones today. It has Bluetooth 5.0 support with multi-point technology, has a light-weight design that also looks trendy and promises up to 12 hours of playback. After using it for a few days, here is the review of the Bluetooth headset.
Box Contents
- Redmi SonicBass Wireless Earphones in Black color
- Different set of ear tips (Small, Medium and Large)
- User manual
Design and Build Quality
The headset has a simple, 21.2g lightweight design. These in-ear buds have angled tips that perfectly fits in your ears, and doesn’t fall out easily even when you are running. There is a small wire connecting earbuds and the neck band. The back of the earbuds is magnetic that snap together when not in use, but this doesn’t have auto connection or disconnection feature that is available some high-end headsets.
The band that you wear around the neck is flexible, lightweight and has a smooth finish. The bottom housing also offers a smooth rubbery finish even though it is made of plastic.
On the right side there is a micro USB charging port under the flap, while the left side features the Redmi branding. The right part also has all the buttons that includes a power / multi-function button in the below the volume adjustment buttons. On the other side there is also a tiny LED indicator and there is also a microphone hole on the side. You can also use the multi-function button to play or pause, answer or reject a call, mute or unmute during calls with double press, turn on voice assistant with double press, switch to phone during calls and switch between calls. Similarly, the volume buttons can be used to switch to previous or next tracks by pressing and holding them. This also houses the 120mAh battery. Since it comes with IPX4 ratings, it can withstand sweat and light rain, but you can’t immerse it in water.
Audio Quality
Coming to the audio quality, these headphones offers fairly good audio quality with good amount of bass with the 9.2mm drivers, but the mids are slightly dull compared to bass. Volume was good as well, and it is loud enough in 60% or 70% volume. It packs the Sub band Coding (SBC) that is capable of bit rates up to 328 kbps for listening to 320-bit MP3s. This is common in Bluetooth devices with Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP). Difference between audio quality in SBC and aptX is minimal, but the latency is normally over 100ms with SBC. We did not face any such latency issues during music or video playback, but it is noticeable when playing games. Wish it had AAC, but can’t expect aptX in this price range.
The earbuds offer decent amount of noise isolation as well, thanks to the angled design of the eartips. The headset has dual microphones and also has ENC (Environmental Noise Cancellation) offering clear call quality in most cases, but it might not be the best in crowded, noisy environment.
Connectivity, Pairing and AI assistant
The Bluetooth headset supports Bluetooth 5.0 so you can connect it to Android, iOS devices along with MP3 players with Bluetooth support. It pairs to your phone quickly just by holding the power button for few seconds to enter the pairing mode. You just have to select the Redmi SonicBass Earphones to pair the headphones. You get voice feedback when it enters pairing mode and when it connects successfully. LED light blinks when it’s pairing, and stops when the pairing is complete. This even has multipoint support which allows the headset to maintain a connection with two devices and switch between them easily.
The headset doesn’t have a companion app, but you can launch Siri on iOS and Alexa or Google Assistant on Android devices when you quickly press the multi-function button twice.
Battery Life
With the 120mAh battery on the headset, the company promises about 12 hours of battery life when listening with 80% volume. I got slightly over 12 hours of battery life when listening in 60 to 70% volume. The battery life might vary depending on the usage and listening volume. It promises 200 hours of standby time. The headset automatically turns off when it’s not in use, to prevent battery life. If you have Android phones running Android 8.1 or later, you can see battery life of the Bluetooth headset. It gives audio prompts to charge the headset when the battery is less than 20%. Charging the headset from 0 to 100% takes about 2 hours.
Conclusion
Overall, the Redmi SonicBass is a decent Bluetooth neckband headset with a lightweight design, good audio experience with punchy bass and offers good battery life for the price. Wish it had AAC codec support. It is available from Flipkart, Mi.com, Mi Homes, Mi Studios and other retail channels at an introductory price of Rs. 999. Post the introductory offer, they will be available for Rs. 1299, according to the company.