Buzz
Design Evaluation of Redmi Buds 3
Summing up the design of Redmi Buds 3 in a single word, it's 'sleek'. Unlike its Pro counterpart, which boasts a more distinctive design, the charging case here sports a smooth pebble-like design that unmistakably screams Xiaomi. Fortunately, there's no chrome strip on the back, as a glossy plastic shell wraps around it. There's also a single button for pairing and toggling connections.
One aspect of the Redmi design I particularly fancy is its dual flat surfaces, enhancing grip. The USB-C charging port is located at the bottom. I also appreciate the practicality of having a USB-C port here, as I've endured using a much pricier pair of TWS earbuds with a microUSB charger for far too long.
Opening the lid reveals the Redmi Buds 3 snugly nestled within the charging case, aligned vertically.
After the earbuds, the term 'sleek' pops up again in mind. The only slight difference observable compared to in-ear headphones, from which they're evidently inspired, is a slightly flatter shape at the back of the stem. On the earpiece end, you can spot ventilation holes and wear detection sensors, the latter being a rather handy feature to have at this price point. The flatter area at the back houses the secondary mic for ENC function during calls. Yes, there's no ANC on these. The small divider you see below is the touch control buttons, which is what you'd expect from average TWS earbuds.
Pairing
The initial pairing is straightforward. As soon as you open the case, your nearest Xiaomi device will detect it and ask if you want to pair with it or not. If you need to pair the Redmi Buds 3 with another device, all you need to do is press and hold the small button on the charging case, and you're good to go.
Once paired, every time you open the case, you'll get almost instant pairing capability. Recent Xiaomi/Redmi/POCO devices running recent MIUI versions will show you a pop-up window with battery levels not only for the earbuds but also for the case. The latter is quite a contact, as I've actually experienced a few times where the TWS earbud case ran out of battery without me realizing, and I hadn't plugged them in for charging before taking them out.
If you're concerned about misplacing your TWS earbuds, you can enable the earbud missing alert from the Bluetooth menu of your MIUI smartphone to help you locate them. You can even make the Redmi Buds 3 emit a loud ring to help you pinpoint their location. Quite neat to see this kind of integration into MIUI to make the MIUI ecosystem feel more cohesive.
Is the Sound of Redmi Buds 3 Any Good?
After letting them burn in for about a week, I started using them as my daily earbuds, and the first thing I noticed is they have way too much bass. The bass tends to overpower everything, to the point where all you hear might just be bass. It could work great as a workout companion, where the strong bass range is probably all you need to keep you pumped, but I wouldn't recommend the Redmi Buds 3 for those who want to enjoy music.
Aside from the overpowering bass, the Redmi Buds 3 actually deliver fairly good sound. I found that dialing down the bass frequency in the equalizer could help the Redmi Buds 3 have decent sound for daily use without the bass pounding headache into your skull. You won't get those sparkling highs from this due to its open nature, but at least it makes music listening an engaging experience.
Speaking of which, the open nature also means that if you're listening in a particularly noisy area, you might tend to crank up the volume. The lack of a seal is both a blessing and a curse, as it allows you to hear auditory cues like vehicles approaching, but it also means you can't really enjoy your music in silence in noisy yet relatively safe places like when you're out on the street.
Battery Life
While Redmi claims 5 hours of usage, it seems they've been quite conservative. I managed to squeeze out 6 hours and 10 minutes on the Redmi Buds 3 before it gave up the ghost. However, compared to using ANC-equipped in-ear headphones for longer stretches, this didn't really impress me. As with all types of TWS in-ear headphones, popping them back into the charging case is all you need to do to prepare for your next listening session. It boasts fast charging in 1.5 hours playback with just 10 minutes of charging, though honestly, I've never really felt the need for fast charging with my TWS earbuds.
Final Thoughts
Priced at around 800,000 Vietnamese Dong, the Redmi Buds 3 comes in slightly cheaper than the Redmi Buds 3 Pro, making it seem like quite a decent deal. Although I'm not particularly fond of overly bass-heavy sound, some of you out there might appreciate the extra bass. However, you can easily tone down the bass if your device has an equalizer app, so I suppose it's a fair enough choice if you're looking for an affordable pair of earbuds to accompany your Xiaomi/Redmi/POCO smartphone.
