Xiaomi Piston Basic Edition Earphones - Review

Xiaomi

Xiaomi is a Chinese startup that took off in 2012 and is now known across the globe for its wide range of products, from smartphones to earphones to power banks and other products, there are dozens and dozens of products that they sell that even include hoverbards, battery powered bicycles, USB fans and lights, LED bulbs that are wifi controlled and numerous other products. While they are most famous for their smartphone and earphone products across the globe.

Xiaomi Piston Basic Edition Earphones

The Xiaomi Piston Basic Earphones are one of the two new editions of earphones introduced by the company, the other being the Piston Air/Piston Capsule. The Piston basic version is an update over previous year's dirt cheap Piston 3 Youth earphones, with slight upgrade and a slightly higher price. These earphones are usually available for 6.5$-7$ but the price may vary in your country as we were able to get these for about 9$.  

The earphones usually come in two colors that are black and silver, though silver was pretty cool, but its white cable would catch a lot of dust, so we decided to go for the black.
Unlike the Piston 3's Plastic packing, Xiaomi decided to go basic with Piston Basic earphones that come packed in simple cardboard boxing just like the Youth version. The items in the box include.

• Xiaomi Piston Basic Earphones
• 2 pairs of earbuds
• User Manual that is in Chinese language.

 Main Chamber

 The Xiaomi Piston Basic Edition earphones come with a solid aluminum sound chamber which is quite rare in this price range, as earphones normally come with a cheap plastic body, that is also an upgrade over previous Piston Youth model that came with a plastic housing around the speakers. There's CD like metal texture on the back and the body is said to be resistant to scratches, these earphones do look impressive, and design is something not to be messed with.   

 The sound output area is turned to provide right fit in the ears which provides crisp sound and reduces noise leakage. That also improves noise cancellation which is very good in these earphones. Third generation damping system has been introduced in these earphones that separates the air flow from the ahead of the chamber that reduces distortion and results in clear sound. The Xiaomi Piston Basic Earphones are engineered in such a way that earphones stay in the ear and do not fall off easily, and they to not make those annoying noises when pressed in ear, fitting easily.
The sound produced is good and clear, the mids are fine, bass could have been a little stronger but is good enough if you are not a bass junkie. Acoustics play really well and we even found metal playing better than many earphones! The noise cancellation and clarity are good as we talked about it.

Cable and Remote

Xiaomi Piston Basic Edition Earphones come with a flat cable that is made of PET plastic which is pretty flexible. While the inner cable is wrapped in Kevlar, making is strong and sturdy. Though is it said to be tangle free, it sometimes get tangled which is due to Kevlar wrapping.

The device comes with a one button remote that is on the cable that connects the right earphone. he remote can be used to receive calls, play and pause music and changing tracks and has a microphone. Though we have tried it on Android devices, we are not sure if it works on iPhones or not. 

Specifications

• Type:In-Ear
• Speaker impedance:32Ω
• Weight:14g
• Cable length:1.25m
• Jack type:3.5mm nickel plated
• Rated power:5mW
• Frequency Response Range:20-20,000Hz
• Package contents:Mi In-Ear Headphones Basic
• Earbuds:Additional S/L size options

Verdict

Xiaomi has done a great job with its Piston Basic Earphones and this is a worthy upgrade over the Piston Youth if you care about looks.We have tried earphones that cost twice the price, yet Xiaomi Piston Basic Earphones perform better than most of those earphones. Hence it is a good option if you are on a budget, or not willing to spend on expensive earphones. Also, if you own a Xiaomi Mi smartphone then you can enhance the performance of the Xiaomi Mi Piston Basic Earphones, for more information, read our review of the Xiaomi Mi A1.