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Xiaomi give their Piston Earphones a design overhaul

AbbieMarch 27, 2015

Xiaomi’s Piston earphones have been a popular accessory for a lot of Chinese phone owners, now an updated version of buds have been released with a new design.

The original Xiaomi Piston earphones have been around for some time now, and were on their 2nd generation before these latest models launched. The Pistons became popular with smartphone fans for their great value, machined alloy body and high-quality audio.

However good the originals were though, there were quite bulky and not everyone got along well with the chunky design which might be why a redesigned version has been released over in China.

As with previous versions of the earphone, the Xiaomi Piston 3 will cost 99 Yuan in China, and ships in a practical box with neat rubber tidy plus optional silicon ear buds.

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Tech specs include copper wires, 3.5mm gold plated plug, 20-20,000hz frequency range and 1.25m wire. Two versions will be available a standard model and a special edition Crystal Edition with Swarovski elements.

The Piston 3 are only officially available in China at the current time, but they will likely launch in other markets plus the newly announced international store in the coming weeks.

[ Mi.com ]

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About the author

Abbie
Abbie is a self confessed Chinese phone addict! After cutting her teeth on the Meizu M9 she hasn't been able to keep away from Chinese phones keeping her ear to the ground especially for the latest Shanzhai and clone news!

Miko
March 27, 2015
If the quality is the same (or better) than Xiaomi Pistons 2…. I WANT THEM!!!
Someone from China can buy them for me pleaaaaase!!! 🙂
BTW, is xiaomiworld.com to be trusted that they bring original accessories? I found them there for 24 dollars.
- MaxPower
  March 27, 2015
  Honorbuy (already xiaomoshop) has them in stock for 26$.
  The store is reliable, even Andi bought from there several times
  - March 27, 2015
    Yup, Honorbuy are good that’s where our Yi Camera, Mi Note and Redmi 2 all came from
    - Jay
      March 27, 2015
      Thanks for the tip Andi. Just what I was looking for before jumping the purchase gun 🙂
      EDIT: Wha?? “Site Maintenance” [on honorbuy]?
      Folks, is this just my luck?
      Found the earphones on ibuygou as well, but someone gave it a 3/5 rating. Can anyone who has purchased this already comment on the quality?
    - Miko
      March 27, 2015
      Thanks for the replies all. I decided to go a bit risky and order it from xiaomiworld.com. I read your posts before ordering but since the price is not that great, I wanted to test that site for future purposes. The good thing is that they accept PayPal. If they don’t deliver the original I will let you know and I’ll order from either honorbuy or Ibuygou. I still have my pistons 2 and I am really happy with them.
- Bruno
  March 27, 2015
  Buy from ibuygou, everything is original and arrive very fast. I bought my mi4 from them
  - Guest
    March 28, 2015
    Ibuygou service is terrible. Their ideology is the customer is always wrong. Their customer service lets someone working in the warehouse call the shots. They told me the problem I experienced is impossible according someone working in their warehouse after already agreeing to send a replacement. Sent like 15 emails back and forth over just $3, they are very difficult to deal with and will do anything possible to avoid having to deal with the problem. I’d hate to see how they handle issues with phones, let alone cheap accessories.
    - Bruno
      March 28, 2015
      I didn’t have any problem with them and my phone came very quick and in awesome state. Bad luck budy?
      - cherry
        March 30, 2015
        I also buy from them ,alway no respond on email and other ,now i alway
        buy from http://flosmall.com/,for phones they even install google play store for me before shipping for free .and always have coupon.
bbc
March 27, 2015
the newly announced international store in the coming weeks??
Amir
March 28, 2015
- amini
  March 30, 2015

balcobomber25
March 29, 2015
They used to look unique and original now they look like any dozens of pairs of headphones I can find for $15 in any electronics shop. Not a fan.
- Lickwid
  April 23, 2015
  - balcobomber25
    April 23, 2015
    They can win all the design awards they want still not going to make me buy them. I prefer the older look.

Maxiao
March 30, 2015
My new Pistons arrived yesterday! I prefer the design and build quality of the last generation but these ones have much better isolation and fit snuggly in my ears. I think the soundstage is wider and the bass a little more pronuonced (need more time with them to be sure). Like their predecessors they are an absolute bargain at 99rmb, sound is comparable to 400-500rmb oems – best in class at the price point.
Very happy about the improved isolation, that was a dealbreaker with the Pistons 2 – I’d actually stopped using them and switched to inferior sounding but better fitting oems instead.
Design is fairly generic, lightweight and plasticky, definitely not as premium as the Pistons 2. two tone plastic, matte black and carbon brushed metal effect, elegant but nothing exceptional.
One unusual design aspect is the remote is located on the right earphone wire rather than on the main chord, so it hangs at mouth height on the righthand side. Good for speaking but takes some getting used to for adjusting volume, skipping tracks, etc. Not a bad thing, just different.
Overall they lack the flair of the last generation but sound brilliant and are lighter, more comfortable and fit my ears much better, which means they will definitely get used more – in the end that is what really counts 🙂
- Jeep ✓ᵛᵉʳᶦᶠᶦᵉᵈ
  March 30, 2015
  - maxiao
    March 30, 2015
    - Jeep ✓ᵛᵉʳᶦᶠᶦᵉᵈ
      March 31, 2015
      Ah, that is not going to help me 😉 But thx for your reply. While we’re at it, what do you think of the flosmall.com? Carol in the comment above clearly works at flosmall.com or she did really buy all the items on the website and now feel the pressing need to tell anyone about it ^_^
  - carol
    March 31, 2015
    i buy one here, i think it is good http://flosmall.com/accessories/xiaomi-original-piston-v3-earphone-detail
  - emily
    March 31, 2015
    xiaomi website sometimes hard to get ,i order on http://flosmall.com/accessories/xiaomi-original-piston-v3-earphone-detail
    the quality is excellent and only 17usd .
    - Jeep ✓ᵛᵉʳᶦᶠᶦᵉᵈ
      March 31, 2015
      - carol
        April 1, 2015
        aha,so lucky. I bought one two days ago, only 17usd with a 2usd coupon (coupon code:piston3),because they have a promotion activity now, http://flosmall.com/accessories/xiaomi-original-piston-v3-earphone-detail?showall=1
Shriram
April 3, 2015
Sad that Asus copied the same design in the ZenEar earphones and confused me which one to buy…
Creazydea
April 6, 2015
It is obviously that the flosmall dot com is spamming.
Ji Chen
April 22, 2015
It’s interesting that Xiaomi go directly against Sennheiser CX985
Can’t wait to trying it out.
http://www.mushtato.com.au/xiaomi-all-new-3nd-gen-piston-earphone-headphone-black-285.html#.VTg0VGSqpHw

Ji Chen
April 22, 2015
It’s interesting xiaomi go directly against Sennheiser CX985, can’t wait to try mine out.
http://www.mushtato.com.au/xiaomi-all-new-3nd-gen-piston-earphone-headphone-black-285.html#.VTg0VGSqpHw
Bratzilla
May 6, 2015
For those of us here in the US, I’ve had good luck finding authentic Xiaomi pistons via Amazon. However, you do have to be selective about the seller. Some people are/were selling fakes there. Amazon is trying to crack down, but do read reviews first.
I purchased my Piston IIs on Amazon from HopCentury Electronic Co., LTD. The real Piston IIIs are indeed scarce in the US, and I bought those from a seller called Kev Selection – from all accounts, truly legit and only sells authentic Xiaomi products (this store has GREAT reviews, is known to stand by their products, and adheres to Amazon’s return policies). Mine out the door cost just over $23 and are scheduled to be here sometime early June, though I usually get things from overseas well ahead of schedule for some strange reason.
If Amazon isn’t your thing, then Geekbuying supposedly sells legit Xiaomi products too, and for very good prices. I’ve purchased other stuff from Geekbuying and also was surprised to see them listed as a source at Head Fi (these are some serious audiophiles, and there’s a lengthy thread now on Piston III, with Geekbuying mentioned as a good source: http://www.head-fi.org/t/760622/xiaomi-piston-3-2015).
I LOVE my Piston IIs especially coupled with Viper FX on my phone, so I cannot WAIT to get my hands on these.