Active noise cancellation is not a cheap technology to implement, but Xiaomi is a brand that is known for providing features of a higher segment in a given price range,
so today we’re going to check out their Mi Neckband Bluetooth EarphonesPro, and these come at 1800 Rs. in India, which is already a budget price point for wireless gear, so to have active noise cancellation in this segment is quite surprising for me, and I would really expect major compromises in a product at this price to achieve all of this.
So let’s check out if these earphones can deliver to these promises,
Unboxing
The unboxing experience is unsurprisingly basic, and in addition to some manuals, we get a micro USB cable for charging, along with some extra ear tips of different sizes, and then we reach to these earphones.
Design
I have to say that the design and build of these earphones are really great, and they really don’t feel like budget neckband earphones.
The central part of the neckband has a rubberized feel to it along with an interesting pattern, and the ends of this neckband have glossy plastic sections that also have a brushed metal-like texture. These are some details that you generally don’t find in this budget.
The earphones themselves attach to each other magnetically, and they have a very nice texture to them that keeps them from moving when you have these attached, which is an innovative idea.
Other than that, they have the same design as Xiaomi’s other recent releases, which is completely fine.
Controls
The controls on these earphones are really good. In addition to changing the volume and playing or pausing your tracks, you can also skip to the next or previous one and can also double-tap the power button to launch Google Assistant.
Then with a single press on the button on the other side, you can toggle the active noise cancellation on or off.
Comfort
The comfort on these is pretty good, these are slightly heavier than their competition at 38 grams, but that is completely fine as they have to have extra hardware for active noise cancellation.
Their neckband is kind of stiff, so you do feel it around your neck, but it’s not a big deal, and the comfort on the earphones is really nice as they’re lightweight and fit well into your ears.
So now let’s talk about how good their noise cancellation is, and if you don’t already know, active noise cancellation works by generating a sound wave of inverted phase from your surroundings that it receives through its dedicated microphones, so you get reduced noise as both of these waves kind of cancel each other out.
So this is a tech that requires additional hardware and processing, and this is the cheapest product that I’ve had this technology in.
