These earbuds sound better than some headphones I’ve tested from Sony and Beyerdynamic

ZDNET’s key takeaways

• The Creative Aurvana Ace Mimi earbuds are available now for $129 on Creative’s official site.
• With rich, dynamic bass, well-blended mids, and crisp highs, these earbuds are a perfect match for any type of music you can feed them.
• The LE audio feature on these earbuds can cause brief disconnects, but they typically quickly reconnect on their own.

I’ve always found earbuds to be hit-and-miss with sound. Depending on the make and model, you could get a tinny, hollow sound, one that sounds overprocessed, or something in the middle. It’s a rare occasion that I find a pair of earbuds that can produce truly good audio quality. I’ve found this nirvana in the Denon PerL Pro and the Beyerdynamic Amiron 300 earbuds, both of which will blow you away with their studio-quality sound.

That bar has been set pretty high, and I’ve found myself a bit jaded into thinking that finding a pair of earbuds to match their quality will be a hard task.

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And then the Aurvana Ace Mimi earbuds found their way to my desk. These $129 earbuds have xMEMS drivers and support LE Audio (Low Energy Audio that improves audio quality and power efficiency even with lower data rates).

I’ve previously reviewed Aurvana xMEMS earbuds and claimed that they reset the bar for me, so I had some pretty lofty expectations for the Mimi earbuds.

I was not let down.

Creative Aurvana Ace Mimi tech specs

• xMEMS solid-state 10mm dynamic drivers
• Frequency response – 5-40k Hz
• Sensitivity – @ 1 kHz – 38 dBV/Pa
• Supported codecs – AAC, SBC, LC3, LDAC
• Profiles – FP) Hands-free Profile, (A2DP) Advanced Audio Distribution Profile, (AVRCP) Audio / Video Remote Control Profile, HSP (Headset Profile), TMAP, PBP
• Operating frequency – 2402–2480 MHz
• Operating range – 33 ft
• Connectivity – Bluetooth 5.3
• Water resistance – IPX5
• Battery life – up to 7 hours per charge (ANC off) and up to 28 hours total playtime (ANC off)
• Battery type – Lithium-ion at 52 mAh
• Voice assistant support – Siri and Google Assistant
• Mics – 3 omnidirectional
• Price – $129 from the official Creative site

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My experience

The Aurvana Ace Mimi stick design doesn’t really do anything to wow you. The aesthetic is standard fare, but the fit is outstanding. The second you insert the earbuds, you know these are going to give you a good seal and offer long-lasting comfort. 

The real deal maker is when you press play on your favorite song. I remember well how my first pair of xMEMS earbuds sounded, and these were very much on par with the first Aurvana Ace. The sound was rich and buttery smooth. Sure, there is clearly some processing going on, so these won’t stand up to the likes of the Beyerdynamic (which are as close to studio quality as I’ve experienced in an earbud), but these earbuds aren’t in that price range, nor are they promoted as “studio quality.”

And yet, they sound glorious.

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I connected them to my Pixel 9 Pro (which was incredibly simple) and fired up my usual testing playlist. 

Generally speaking, I can judge the quality of an earbud with a single song: “Analog Kid,” by Rush. If earbuds can keep up with Geddy Lee’s bass and give the rest of the band a wide enough soundstage to discern each instrument, I’m fairly confident they’ll be impressive across the board. Thirty seconds into the song, I was convinced Creative had another slam dunk with the Aurvana Ace Mimi.

I then did a bit of genre-hopping to see how the earbuds stood up to different types of music and wasn’t at all surprised to find they handled everything with aplomb. One of the biggest surprises for me was listening to James Bernard’s score to the original “Nosferatu” soundtrack. The score really came to life with a soundstage that really took me by surprise. And the rumble of the timpani was something to hear on the opening track.

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Here’s how they sounded on some other tracks: 

• “The Road Home,” by Stephen Paulus was just gorgeous. I could hear the breathing of the Conspirare choir as if they were singing in my office.
• Jake E. Lee’s opening to “Bark At The Moon” had me banging my head.
• “Somewhere There’s Hope,” off of Stephen Perry’s “For The Love Of Strange Medicine,” highlighted Perry’s voice to perfection.
• The end of Nothing More’s “God Went North” gave me chills.
• “Pearly-dewdrops’ Drops” had me wishing to venture back to the 80s, as if I was hearing the song for the first time.
• Spiritbox’s “Perfect Soul” put Courtney LaPlant’s angelic voice on perfect display.

I did enable LE Audio for the Mimi earbuds, and I believe that caused some disconnection issues between the buds and the phone, but the improvement it lent the audio was worth the random “Bluetooth disconnected” warnings (especially given the earbuds automatically reconnected every time). 

ZDNET’s buying advice

If you’ve got $129.00 to spare and are looking for a pair of earbuds that will pour deliciously smooth xMEMS sound into your ears, you cannot go wrong with the Creative Aurvana Ace Mimi earbuds. I’ve been impressed with a lot of earbuds over the years, but I can’t think of a pair, at this price point, that delivered such rich, dynamic sound. 

Although the Mimi’s aren’t studio-quality, most consumers aren’t looking for that level of accuracy in their sound, so you don’t have to worry about hearing a very flat EQ out of the box. You’ll get plenty of bass, just the right mids, and twinkling highs.