Xaiomi Basic review

Impressive. The cable is thin but not poor, has some memory, and a soft rubber coating. I expect the cable to be reasonably tangle resistant. Joints and strain reliefs are made the same—and these strain reliefs I feel may be useful. The button on the microphone has a convincing click action. I’m not fond of the bent plug design—harder to press—but the plug is big and easy to grasp. There are no alternative eartips at all—tips included are soft, matte, sit shallow, and hold very well. The housings are very large and may be metal, though light. I make the Basics to be a well‐judged assembly, likely as robust as you could make these materials. The Basics are good for comfort, and outstandingly easy to use. Aesthetically, the matte finish and plain build—on my version, the red color is art—is outstanding.

Average volume. Volume range is good, but is lost in the echo. Envelopes are neat, precision is passable. Overall timing is good. The Basics muddle on swells, but retain their open sound. Frequency is harsh at upper woodwind. And uneven through highband. The can‐echo is universal, and there’s a resonance, though not bad, somewhere near high voice. The Basics have paper‐distortion when dense music plays, but it’s not intrusive. The frequency range finally rolls at top, at bottom is light, accurate, and extended beyond other earphones—outstanding. Detail overall is average (gets lost in the echo) and, unsurprisingly, color can be good. Scale is big, and positioning is average except on massed instruments.

The can‐echo and distance is the key here. If you can live with it, or even like it, orchestras are uneven but natural. The echo and distortion fuzzes rock and instrumental pop music. After that, the Basics are tinny, but the extended frequency range and unforced sound are good for other replay.