Xiaomi Redmi AirDots Vs QCY T1C // Cheap Bluetooth Headphone Comparison
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The Xiaomi Redmi AirDots Are Xiaomi’s newest attempt at winning the TWS headphones battle that manufacturers are currently waging. But is Xiaomi competing with itself? We are going to compare the Xaiomi Redmi Airdots with the QCY T1C.
Case
QCY T1C:
What I Like:
Feels extremely durable in hand even though it is made with cheap materials.
No lid means less to break and better longer lasting durability.
Magnets do a great job holding the headphone in place
Case holds and extra 3-4 charges for the headphones
What I Don’t Like:
No indicator of how much battery is left on the case
Micro USB SUCKS! USB-C The world
The plastic for the case feel cheap
Xiaomi Redmi AirDots
What I Like:
Case is small
Case is lightweight
What I Don’t Like
Case feels extremely cheap
Lid feels like its going to break
Soft touch plastic means the headphones are more difficult to charge
No battery indicator
Micro Usb
Can you guess what headphone this is?
Headphones
QCY T1C
What I Like:
Seal in the very very securely and block outside noise very well
Button provides good feedback when it is pressed
Small and can be worn under a hat, turban, hijab, etc.
Lightweight and do a good job staying in ear
What I Don’t Like:
Slightly larger than the Redmi AirDots
Button can be difficult to press compared to Redmi Airdots
Terrible microphone quality for taking calls
Redmi AirDots
What I like:
Smaller than the QCY headphones
Button has a nice feeling click that is easy to control
Seal very nicely in your ear and keep out background noise
What I Don’t Like
Terrible microphone quality for taking calls
Features
QCY T1C
What I Like:
AAC audio codec give slightly better sound than SBC audio codec on the Redmi AirDots
Between 3.5-5 hours of battery life per charge
QCY has the BEST playback controls for their true wireless headphones
Bluetooth 5.0 provides great range and latency
What I Don’t Like
Nothing
Redmi AirDots
What I Like:
3.5-4.5 Hours of music playback
Bluetooth 5.0 provides great range and latency
What I Don’t Like
Bad playback controls, Using assistance to change tracks sucks and takes too much time
SBC Audio codec generally performs worse than AAC
Sound:
QCY T1C:
Lots of bass and a lot of thump. They do a great job with Hip Hop, Electronic music and some rock. Overall these do an acceptable job for their price. While these headphones don’t sound amazing, given their price and overall user experience I would say the sound it great.
Redmi AirDots:
These headphones have overwhelming bass. Much of the highs and mids are cut out and they are extremely narrow in the type of music that sounds good. When listening to rock music a lot of the definition of the music is lost. The mids are slightly better but the music has a very compressed sound.
Conclusion:
Overall for the price there is no comparison. The QCY deliver slightly better sound overall but the real standout is the user experience. The case feels durable and there is no cheap lid to break. The user experience in pairing, and battery life is very similar toe the Redmi AirDots and its the user experience of changing songs that makes the QCY better in my opinion
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Xiaomi Mi AirDots, After Three Months
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Xiaomi Air Dots, my thoughts after two months of extensive use.
There is no beating around the bush, the Xiaomi Mi AirDots have stunned the market by being able to bridge the gap between aesthetically clean and unoffensive and not being an Apple Airpods clone.
Upon First inspection you will see that the Xiaomi MI AirDots come packaged in a flimsy cardboard box which was easily beaten and dented during shipping. Inside the actual box we are greeted by the Xiaomi Mi AirDots, Case, Micro USB Cable, and extra ear tips for customized fit.
Here are my initial impressions from them. Cheap feeling case, with premium feeling headphones. The headphone earpieces themselves are quite solid feeling and feel like they could take quite a bit of use. The case on the other hand feels incredibly cheap. The magnetic lid is less than stellar, and the micro usb connection does not inspire confidence. We will get to more of this later.
The sound these units produce is quite bass heavy and very "thumpy". They sound great with electronic music while Hip-Hop vocals can be often overshadowed and muddy. Much of this can be changed with a simple change to the EQ and you can clean up sound. Once you have tweaked the EQ the Xiaomi Mi AirDots are capable of producing a very pleasing sound. Although the Xiaomi Mi AirDots might not be the most accurate sounding headphone it doesn't make them any less pleasant.
From this point I'd like to talk about how they have handled over 2 months of strenuous use. This is to say that by and large they didn't survive. At least the case didn't survive more than a month. Aseries of minor drops onto tabletops, out of pockets and onto carpets killed my battery case. Tha's right, with regular use i was able to kill the case of my Xiaomi Mi AirDots in LESS THAN A MONTH.
At this point I decided to take the case apart and use my misfortune to fuel more Youtube videos on the subject. Needless to say i was slightly disappointed by the over the design of the case. It's clear Xiaomi was making a budget product when they engineered these. This is unfortunate since the charging case is an integral part of using truly wireless bluetooth headphones.
With the case quality aside you might be thinking that there is some type of hugely redeeming quality in the Xiaomi Mi AirDots and this is where you'd be wrong. They have horrendous touch controls as outlined in my youtube videos, their microphone is atrocious and can't be relied on for calls or even voice commands, and the playback controls are far behind their competitors. The reality of living with these headphones is that they ultimately fail have a quality that puts them ahead of other comparably priced offerings.
In a vacuum the Xaiomi Mi AirDots aren't a bad product. They sound good, fit in your ears well, offer a secure fit and ultimately are a 5/10 on most categories. Here is ultimately where the problem lies. The Xiaomi Mi AirDots do enough things competently enough to be an entertaining purchase but they fail to be astounding at the nearly $40 pricepoint they are available for outside of China.
The QCY T1 Pro is a far better option and I will do a follow up review on it on my blog.
