Xiaomi OpenWear Stereo Pro review: Style and Sound

Here's where the Xiaomi OpenWear Stereo Pro buds shine. Each bud weighs only 9.7 grams, and this includes the drivers, the hooks, and the batteries. The buds are made out of a combination of metal and soft TPU, and there's a titanium wire inside the flexible cable for improved durability.

The buds look and feel premium and well-made, and the Sand Gold color adds to that impression. It's also the most understated, as it blends with the color of your skin, so if you want to go extra-stealth, you should opt for this hue.

The case is also nice; the cover is vegan leather, and there's suede lining inside, so you don't scratch the buds.

Now for the fit. It's extremely comfortable, as nothing actually goes inside your ear canal. You just hook the cable over the back of your ear and place the drivers on the ear canal. The batteries are positioned on the back of the cable so they balance the weight almost perfectly. The result is that you start forgetting you wear anything on your ears.

This comes with certain drawbacks as well. You can adjust the fit to some extent by twisting the cable, but if your ear is too big or too small, the placement could be a bit compromised. 

As far as doing sports with these on, it's absolutely doable. They are pretty secure and won't fall out, although they can flap around and the sound can get a bit inconsistent. But going on an occasional 5K run or hitting the gym is not a problem. Plus, they come with IP54 dust and water resistance, so sweat won't be a problem.

The Xiaomi OpenWear Stereo Pro earbuds sound really good! Very impressive, given there's no seal between the buds and your ear canal. Normally, this results in a severe lack of bass, but not with this model. The bass frequencies are clear and present, and while they're not as powerful as on an in-ear model, they're quite close.

What's even more impressive is the rich soundstage. The mid and high frequencies are detailed and pristine. And this is probably a result of the Harman tuning, as when you disable the Harman AudioEFX preset, the buds lose this "high fidelity" feel to their sound. We recommend leaving the Audio effects on that particular setting.

At max volume there's little to no harmonic distortion at any frequency range, which is also quite impressive. These buds stay clear and linear throughout the volume range. Taking calls on these is also good, both indoors and out on the street; no problems with the other side hearing us clearly.

There's no active (or passive for that matter) noise cancellation on these, but it would've been pointless anyway. There's no seal, and you hear the outside world at all times, which can be a pro and a con, depending on how you look at it. The chance to get hit by a car while jogging is minimal with these ones, but you also can't use them to mute the crying baby on the next row on your flight.