Wireless earphones are a dime a dozen. Every tech company out there seems to be making a pair. And there is very little that sets them apart within a price range. At Rs 4,499 (after a Rs 1,000 introductory discount on the actual price of Rs 5,499), Xiaomi’s Mi True Wireless Earphones 2 places itself in the mid range. The Mi TWS 2 look similar to the Apple AirPods; they come in white and have stems. The buds fit well in the ears and are comfortable even after wearing them for a long time.
Xiaomi has been harping on the 14.2mm large dynamic driver of the Mi TWS 2 and its ability to support LHDC audio codec. While they sound good on paper, they do not make any measurable difference on what you hear. It is for sure an excellent pair for listening to music, though bass lovers might be disappointed a bit.
The call quality is up to the mark. The dual mic noise cancellation works well and the microphone is strong enough to catch you even if you are wearing a mask. The Mi TWS 2 offers some smart features like in-ear detection (the moment you take it out, it stops what you are playing) and intuitive controls (double tap on the right piece to start/stop playing or take/cut calls and double tap on left to activate Google Assistant/Alexa/Siri).
Xiaomi claims four hours of battery life for the buds and 14 hours along with the charging case. The case comes with a USB Type C port and is built well. The design could have been better, though. The sharp edges make it inconvenient to carry in pockets. And there is no wireless charging.
The Mi TWS 2 is a decent pair of ear buds and Xiaomi has tried hard to make it good for the money you pay. It works well with most Android, iOS and Windows devices, but does better if you have a Xiaomi device, as it is optimised for MIUI 11. The additional functionalities might be brought into other devices in future.