Xiaomi Mi AirDots Pro 2 Hi-Res wireless half in-ear headphones for $59.98

With the Xiaomi Mi AirDots Pro 2, the Chinese manufacturer has introduced the successor to the semi-successful Xiaomi AirDots. With their half in-ear design, they are much more similar to the Apple AirPods. The support of the LHCD codec, which allows a data rate almost three times higher than aptX, makes it really interesting!

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Technical data

Xiaomi Mi AirDots Pro 2 – what’s new?

Some Apple features

Admittedly, right with the first new feature they, well, let’s call it “got inspired”. The pairing process of the Xiaomi Mi AirDots Pro 2 is simplified by a deep integration into the MIUI system. By opening the lid of the charging box, a pop-up window pops up on the display of a Xiaomi smartphone and the headphones can be connected directly.

Sounds familiar? Same to us! The Apple AirPods offer this great software feature since day one, now a similar easy handling is possible for the first time with a Xiaomi headset in combination with a Xiaomi mobile phone.

Compared to the Apple AirPods, the Xiaomi Mi AirDots Pro 2 is much more angular, and the round, lower part of the headphones looks wider than the original. The handset body itself, however, is more based on Apple’s design. Instead of in-ear attachments like the AirDots Pro 1, the Xiaomi Mi AirDots Pro 2 are equipped with half-in-ear earphones like Apple.

The “one-fits-all” earphones made of plastic are not necessarily my case, but they have proven themselves at Apple for years, apparently justified. The Xiaomi Mi AirDots Pro 2 is by the way not the first Xiaomi headphone to pick up Apple’s half in-ear design. We’ve already tested a wired in-ear with half in-ear headphones.

Drivers & Codecs

The voice coil of the built-in loudspeaker has a diameter of 14.2 mm, which is quite large by my standards. I haven’t said anything about the type or size of the loudspeaker cone yet. As always, according to the manufacturer, the sound of the headphones should be outstanding, which is what roughly every headphone manufacturer claims about their products. Whether this is true or not is probably clarified in the end by a test report.

However, the support of the LHCD codec mentioned at the beginning speaks for an above-average sound quality. This enables transfer rates of up to 900 kbps. So that you can classify it better: aptX supports up to 352 kbps and aptX-HD up to 576 kbps. Only the LDAC codec in “Quality priority mode” achieves an even higher transmission rate of up to 990 kbps.

Unfortunately again only limited operation

Like their predecessors, the earphones are equipped with touch sensors. Unfortunately, Xiaomi again only allows very limited operation, which I simply can’t understand.

With the handsets:

• playback is paused and continued
• Answer/end calls
• the language assistant can be started

Other operating options, such as adjusting the volume or selecting the next/previous title, are unfortunately not possible, too bad!

No excuse for the missing operability, but still a cool feature, are the built-in proximity sensors. The headphones automatically detect when it is taken out of the ear and pauses playback automatically. If you put the receiver back into your ear, it continues automatically.

I’m very excited about the Xiaomi Mi AirDots Pro 2, hopefully the Bluetooth chip has also been reworked or replaced. Unfortunately, the Xiaomi Mi AirDots Pro 1 had to fight very strongly with Bluetooth differences, which impairs the use in places with large crowds strongly. Here the Chinese manufacturer must optimize in any case! What do you think of the Xiaomi Mi AirDots Pro 2?