Xiaomi Piston Youth Colourful Edition Headphones review

Xiaomi’s Piston Youth Colourful Edition earphones are a very girly pink, but are they all style and no substance? We find out in our Xiaomi Piston Youth Colourful Edition review. Also see: Best budget headphones 2015.

If you’re fond of bright colours you’ll appreciate the Xiaomi Piston Youth’s design, with these earphones available in light blue, pink and purple. The light blue looks to be a little less eye-catching than the pink version we review here, although none will go unnoticed. The name suggests they have been designed for kids, but we know of a few big girls (and boys) who would enjoy these earphones – especially at just £7.96 from GearBest (discounted offer at the time of writing, usual price £20.05). Also see: How to buy Xiaomi products in the UK and grey-market tech buying advice.

As with all Xiaomi products we’ve reviewed so far, the writing on the box is entirely in Chinese – but we doubt you need a user guide to get started with a pair of earphones. There’s a standard 3.5mm jack, which will fit every phone, tablet and laptop we can think of, and a 1.25m flat cable that’s also coated in pink soft-touch rubber. It doesn’t feel particularly tough, but the cabling inside is made of durable Kevlon. See all headphone reviews.

On the right earphone wire sits an in-line remote with play and skip track forward and back buttons. This will come in handy if your phone is stowed away in a pocket, allowing you to mess around with media playback without touching the screen, but we’d like to be able to also control volume from the remote. The built-in mic also means you can use the Xiaomi earphones for handsfree calls.

The small drivers on the Xiaomi headphones have white rubber grommets that fit nicely in the ear, with three additional pairs supplied in the box. They are lightweight at 15g and won’t stick too tightly to your ear canal, making them suitable for use while exercising.

On the opposite side of each earphone is a gloss shiny circular plate that gives the Xiaomi Piston Youth a somewhat sassy look, and a little less childlike for the grown-ups.

Xiaomi Piston Youth Colorful Edition Headphones review: Sound quality

It’s fair to say the pink design of these earphones isn’t to our personal taste, but despite our reservations in this department we found sound quality to be very decent. Even at their full price of £20 we found the sound rich and deep, while highs are crisp and detailed and volume can go impressively loud.

A small gripe is the buzzing noise sometimes heard in the background, particularly at the beginning of a song or when only instrument is playing. However, it is hardly perceptible as the song goes on.

Bass is reasonably decent given the size of these little earphones, but it’s not particularly detailed. When listening to bass guitar we found a lack of colour, especially when compared to more expensive headphones.

Read next: Best headphones 2015.