Xiaomi OpenWear Stereo Pro; Rich sound without ear fatigue

The market for open wearable stereos, or OWS, has seen significant growth over the past two years, and almost every brand now has a product in the category. Unlike traditional in-ear headphones, OWS models place their drivers right in the opening of the ear canal. The result of this design is increased awareness of the surrounding environment, but at the cost of poorer passive sound isolation.

According to Tekna Technology News Media, Xiaomi’s new product with the name OpenWear Stereo Pro It has been released with the aim of promoting competition in this market. The company strives to excel by offering higher quality construction and maintaining an open fit system. Xiaomi has made significant promises of reduced noise leakage and an incredible 8.5 hours of battery life for the Winds and a total of 45 hours with the charging case.

While Xiaomi could have chosen a simpler name for this product, it has to be admitted that the build quality and finish of the bezels and case feel excellent. The vents have a shiny metal casing that covers the drivers and is attached to the back via TPU. This glossy plastic looks beautiful but it easily attracts fingerprints.

The curved design of these headphones hooks around the upper half of the ear, placing the driver directly above the ear canal without making contact. This provides a comfortable fit, and Xiaomi’s three-point support design distributes pressure evenly throughout the wind.

Each earbud weighs 9.8 grams and the case weighs 53 grams, and their total weight is slightly more than 73 grams. During use, no discomfort was felt, and its ergonomic design is at the level of the best in the OWS market. The ear hook design also ensures that the winds always stay in place; Even during running and sports training, when normal TWS earphones are easily dropped.

The charging case feels like a smooth, polished stone that is well cut and pleasant to hold. It’s not a small case, but that’s a feature shared by most OWS headphones we’ve tested so far. The model under review has a graphite black color with a synthetic leather cover on the case lid and a matte body in the lower half.

Despite the plastic construction, the case is very well made and doesn’t make any extra noise. Its door closes with a firm sound and its hinge feels reassuring. The inner part of the case door has a velvet lining. This is the first time we’ve seen such a choice of materials inside an AirPods case, and it shows Xiaomi’s attention to detail.

This soft material should also prevent any unwanted scratches on the glossy driver housing. The windings themselves are IP54 dust and water resistant, while the case lacks any intrusion protection. The contents of the box are standard and include the winds inside the case, the USB charging cable and the manual.

Xiaomi has not left out the features of OpenWear Stereo Pro. Winds connect via Bluetooth 5.4 and support simultaneous pairing with two devices. There is also surround sound with 360-degree head tracking, although this feature is more suitable for watching movies than listening to music.

Unfortunately, like all OWS Winds, this model lacks active noise cancellation or ANC. Of course, this is consistent with their main goal, which is to be aware of the surrounding environment. This feature is especially useful for runners and cyclists in urban areas in terms of safety, and the on-ear design provides extra comfort for long listening sessions.

Although there is no mention of ANC, Xiaomi claims to have improved the sound leakage that has been the weak point of all OWS phones. This product has a dedicated sound leakage reduction driver that emits sound waves with reverse phase. In theory, no sound leakage should be heard within 25 cm of the winds. But in reality, people close to you will likely hear the output despite the optimizations.

Wind control is done through touch panels on the external part of the drivers. The controls worked well, with one-, two-, and three-tap controls, as well as tap and hold, customizable. Another feature is the adaptive volume that adjusts the sound level based on the ambient noise. In practice, this feature had problems adjusting the volume in noisy environments where it was most needed.

Xiaomi has also added the ability to record the sound directly from the wind. Each wind provides up to 120 minutes of recording for a total of 240 minutes. The recording quality is not great, but this feature is very useful for taking quick voice notes. Connectivity during testing with Android, iOS, and macOS devices was excellent with no dropouts or glitches.

These headphones use custom 18 x 13mm dynamic drivers with piezoelectric ceramic tweeters and dual balanced armatures. They support AAC, SBC and LDAC codecs and have Harman audio tuning. The output sound of OWS products is not always impressive due to sound leakage and imbalance of bass and clarity.

But the OpenWear Stereo Pro delivers a surprisingly vivid soundstage with plenty of bass for a headphone that doesn’t contact the ear canal. You can experience the middle and upper details of the sound and at the same time benefit from the comfortable design around the ear. Increasing the volume does not cause distortion in high frequencies; This is not always true in OWS winds.

When using these vents in noisy environments, you’ll need to turn up the volume because sound leaks out. Compared to products like Nothing Ear (open), this headphone offers more accurate sound output with deeper bass and a more vivid sound stage. Although there’s no real control over the equalizer, Xiaomi has provided four pre-installed options, including Harman Master and Harman AudioEFX, as well as bass and volume boost modes.

In our experience, the Harman Master preset brings out a wider soundstage and more detail in instruments. The microphone quality is not at the level of the best on the market, but in indoor environments it works, and people on the other end of the line reported clear sound. But in a busy street, microphones have a challenge to pick up sound.

Xiaomi claims that you can expect 8.5 hours of air play and up to 45 hours in total with the charging case. Each earbud houses a 56 mAh battery and the case houses a substantial 700 mAh battery. During the test period, more than 8 hours of continuous playback was received from the winds, and the case was enough for 5 full charges.

This kind of battery endurance is very good and more than enough for several days of heavy use. The case is charged via USB-C. A full charge from 0 to 100 takes over 2 hours, while a 10-minute quick charge provides 2 hours of listening time. This is a great pair of OWS headphones that combine accurate sound output with ambient awareness and great battery life.

They have a premium design and offer almost all the features you’d expect from a pair of open-back headphones. Hanging them over the ear means no ear fatigue even after several hours of use, and the even weight distribution adds to the great experience. Sound output is surprisingly rich for an OWS product, although you’ll need to turn up the volume in noisy environments.

Despite Xiaomi’s efforts to hide audio leakage, this phenomenon is still present in everyday use, but that’s the nature of this form factor. Priced at €150 or £140, the OpenWear Stereo Pro offers the perfect balance of features, style, comfort and battery life. These models are not direct competitors to in-ear TWS headphones that offer ANC. These are currently some of the best OWS winds ever tested.