Mivi launched the AI Buds in July at Rs 6,999, but they are currently available for Rs 3,999 on the company’s website and Flipkart. As the name suggests, AI is the main pitch here. The buds ship with a note from Mivi’s founders explaining their vision behind the product, along with a detailed booklet on how to use the AI features. The packaging feels premium, but does the experience match the promise? I’ve been using the Mivi AI Buds for about a week, and here’s what I think about them.
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A flashy yet familiar design
Mivi AI Buds look the same as the Mivi SuperPods Concerto I reviewed back in April. The figure-8-shaped buds come in a pebble-shaped case that is difficult to open with one hand.
The case isn’t too big, though. Its dimensions are 6.3 x 5.0 x 3.4 cm, and its weight is 52 grams. It can fit into the coin pocket of some of my jeans. It retains the LED light on the front and USB-C port on the bottom.
While our Concerto review unit came in grey, this one has a ‘Champagne’ gold colour. Yes, both the case and the underlying buds share the same glossy gold finish. Well, you can pick the AI Buds in Silver, Bronze, and Black variants, also. I would have preferred a black review unit, as it looks more subdued.
But, even with an unassuming colour, the buds would still attract eyes because of their size. Due to its size, the buds protrude. However, the good thing about the longer stem, the silicon ear tips, and the overall form of the buds is that they stay comfortably in the ears. It won’t jump out of the ears that easily. It’s also good to wear for long hours.
As mentioned in the SuperPods Concerto review, the touch gestures rarely register. You can customise the touch controls in the Mivi AI app. We will learn about the gestures and this app in the next section.
Mivi AI, app features
These Mivi Buds pair with the new Mivi AI app on Google Play. The buds do not support iOS. The pairing and setup process is simple. The app requires a mobile number for registration or sign-in, though an email login option would be a helpful addition.
The Mivi app’s homepage displays battery levels for each bud and allows you to adjust volume, ANC, equaliser, and touch controls, as well as select from Spatial, Gaming, and Kids modes. It also includes Find My Device, though the alert sound was too faint to be useful.
Mivi AI, powered by Google’s Gemini AI, is the built-in voice assistant. Saying “Hi Mivi” starts a conversation, and the app organises transcripts into categories such as Guru, Latest News, and Learning Coach. While helpful for reviewing past interactions, the feature has limitations. For starters, you can have only up to 20 conversations for free.
Mivi AI is always listening and can occasionally respond without being prompted. The company says it complies with Google’s API Services User Data Policy, does not use YouTube API data for ads or profiling, and retains personal data only until your account is deleted or you request removal. Anonymous usage data may be kept longer for analytics or AI improvements.
At times, Mivi AI reports it is “unable to connect to the app” despite having full battery access and being kept active in recent app memory. It also cannot adjust phone settings, set timers, or control playback like Gemini AI.
Bass-heavy audio, decent ANC
Again, like the SuperPods Concerto and many other budget earbuds, the Mivi AI Buds are also a bass-heavy TWS pair. With a 13mm driver, it offers booming bass, which many may prefer. I enjoyed listening to EDM tracks, such as “Hear Me Now” by Alok and Bruno Martini featuring Zeeba. The heavy drops in this track were enjoyable.
However, it is not ideal for all kinds of music. While listening to ‘All Night’ from the new Maroon 5 album, the bass sounds more like a dull thud than a tight, thumping hit. Meanwhile, in ‘Priceless’ from the same album, the TWS sounds like I’m listening inside a small, enclosed room, with overpowering, rumbling bass. In the band’s ‘California’, an acoustic track, the vocals have a rounded, smooth feel, rather than a sharp, crisp edge.
However, the guitar riff and the sound of the cymbals in Guns N Roses’ ‘Welcome To The Jungle’ sounded dull through this pair.
So, overall, the audio has a boxed-in feel, with boosted bass and slightly rolled-off mids and highs. Some tracks can feel less dynamic.
If you want lossless music, you can enable the LDAC codec. I tried a FLAC version of ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ but didn’t notice a clear improvement in quality.
As for calls, the audio quality was serviceable for both parties.
That’s about how it sounds. If you want to block outside noise, the quad-mic backed Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) on the Mivi Buds silences some of the noise. The Transparency mode, however, feels natural without any boosted artefacts.
The spatial mode was poorly mimicking a surround sound effect. Similarly, I couldn’t perceive any difference between Kids Mode and Gaming Mode. There wasn’t any latency issue.
No complaints with battery life
The Bluetooth version is 5.4 and can work within a 10m radius. I didn’t face any connectivity issues during my usage.
You can connect two devices at once, but only one can be active. Tap the device you want to use to listen to its audio.
Mivi claims 40 hours of playtime from the combination of the case and the buds. You may get earbuds with longer battery life claims. But it is up to par. In my usage, I got around a week-long battery life after using the buds for 4-5 hours a day with ANC. Your mileage may vary.
As for charging, it took me about 2 hours to fully top both the case and the buds.
Closing verdict: Should you buy it under Rs 4,000?
The Mivi AI Buds offer comfortable wear, solid connectivity, and bass-heavy audio that works well for certain genres. The ANC and transparency mode also perform decently, and the battery life is good enough.
That said, the AI features are more of an add-on than a real selling point. It’s a bold first step, and some may find it useful for basic queries and learning. But the assistant has noticeable limitations compared to device assistants like Gemini. Similarly, the design is flashy, which some will appreciate while others may find it too much.
Still, for under Rs 4,000, you get a comfortable pair of earbuds with decent ANC and good performance for bass lovers. At the current Rs 3,999 price on Mivi’s website and Flipkart, a bass-lover can consider these earbuds if they like their sound profile and design.
Editor’s rating: 7.3/10
Pros:
- Good bass-heavy audio
- Long battery life
- Decent ANC, transparency mode
- Comfortable design
Cons:
- Very basic AI
- Half-baked app experience
