Xiaomi just a few years ago burst into the global market and has already earned the trust of customers with some of the best mobile technology offers in a pleasant price-performance ratio. On the production of smartphones, the Chinese brand does not stop and now offers also headphones, one of them - Xiaomi Pistons earplugs, compatible not only with Xiaomi phones, but also other devices.
Characteristics
"Pistons" on the technical indicators of sound and design is pretty good:
- Type - headphones with a microphone (headset);
- Type of earpiece - earplug (suction cup);
- Dynamic signal conversion;
- The covered frequency range is between 20 Hz...20 kHz;
- Sensitivity 94 dB - loud sound;
- Power 5-20 mW;
- Impedance 16 ohms for the 2.1 revision and 12 ohms for 2.0;
- Total weight only 12 grams;
- Symmetrical cable without attachment;
- Gold-plated 3.5mm straight jack connector;
- 1.1 m braided cable.
Shipping and packaging
Xiaomi cares not only about the consumer, offering him an interesting, functional and inexpensive equipment, but also about nature. Thus, the packaging for the Xiaomi Pistons headphones is made of recycled paper without the use of dyes characteristic brown and beige color. The box is inscribed in Chinese and the Mi logo.
Further packaging is only surprising: it is necessary to peel or trim the sticker, and then the box opens with petals, on the inside of which there are instructions for folding, QR code for internet access to the official website and information.
All in Chinese, the Internet resource can be read in the desired language by means of a browser translation, because the accessory is shipped to different countries and translating the paper into multilingual writing from the perspective of the company concept is irrational. Bravo from all the Green societies.
In the cardboard transparent plastic box (only it will protect the accessory from damage in transit to different parts of the world). The headphones in it are wrapped in structured silicone of a rich chocolate color, for a stronger effect, the manufacturer scented the headphones themselves. This is the first unusual thing about them.
By pulling the protruding tongue, you can unwrap the cable - no confusion with the cable.
In the box there are also interchangeable ear cushions: 3 pairs of single (for music) and one pair of twin (for phone communication).
Design
Externally, the Pistons headphones resemble Dunu (Dunu Topsound) products. The case is metal brown-bronze cylindrical shape and grooved texture with a medium-diameter soundhole. The back end with a hole is closed by a mesh with a hint of open-type headphones, on the other hand the soundproofing is decent, and it is not clear why this hole is necessary.
The cable with braided nylon sheath reinforced with kevlar thread is durable and elastic, it is not afraid of rupture (of course, if you do not pull it aside specially and strongly). It does not freeze on frost, it does not get tangled in the pocket or easily unraveled. There is a headset on the splitter. It is easy to use: on one side is a play button, on the other - pause.
On the right earpiece there is a raised protrusion, by which you can distinguish it blindly. When the "earplug" is properly seated, it will not fall out of your ear, and the music is inaudible to others even at high volume - the isolation is decent.
Sound
"Pistons" were tested on a variety of equipment from phones to high-performance computers. The general wish is that the devices must be powerful and well transmit sound, then the effect will justify expectations. Genre does not matter - rock, including bass, light genres - everything was listened to. By the way, the tests were carried out in cold and warmed up modes.
So, the V-shaped AFR rises well in the low and high frequencies, taking into account the unevenness of the aural perception. Thus, you get the most comfortable sound with nuance and detail, which contributes to a wide reproduced range of frequencies.
Bass should be described separately. For headphones of this type, it stands out, and noticeably so. Especially pleasant is the fact that in the low frequencies it is not blurred, but vibrates as it should be - precise and weighty.
Midrange frequencies lag a little behind the general background, but remain in their range and do not mix with the bass, microdetail suffers, but for an accessory for $ 15-20 it is normal.
As for the upper frequencies, they are assembled very organically, the sound is unsharp, non-scratchy. Here the engineers did their best.
Genre Xiaomi Pistons are suitable for any music: frequency sensitivity and moderate bass allows you to listen equally well to the classics and rock. Equalizer also comes in handy - the sound parameters can be adjusted to any ear.
This was an analysis of musical playback with single ear cushions. As for the double ones, they are designed for phone calls, marked with a corresponding icon. The ear cushions dampen the bass, leaving the upper and middle frequencies for normal intelligible speech.
The microphone is low on the wire, so speech is captured well by it only in a quiet room. Windy weather, crowds, and extraneous sounds will create interference (the filtering is low), so it's better to bring the headset closer to your mouth.
If you look at the quality, the headphones are worthy competition to the models of famous global brands for 50 dollars or more. To replace the complete headset Xiaomi Pistons - the best solution for relatively little money. Despite the difference in everyone's hearing.
Compatibility with devices
The standard 3.5 mm jack fits any device equipped with the appropriate jack. Not bad if the sound reproduction characteristics are decent, although even "weak" players will acquire an interesting playback.
Xiaomi creates phones and smartphones based on the Android platform, so the focus when creating headphones was on this operating system and the volume control is focused on the brand products.
With the iPhone and its "relatives", as well as with mobile devices of other brands Xiaomi Pistons work only as an earpiece with a central button to turn off and on the call, music.
Bottom line
Xiaomi Pistons headphones are a universal accessory for any playback device, focused primarily on technology within the brand, but also compatible with other phones and tablets.
The accessory costs about $15-20, but looking ahead, we say: the cost is justified and corresponds to the characteristics of the headphones.
Quality headphones are high at an optimal price - this is a unique feature of Chinese brand products.
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