Update 1/8: Xiaomi has officially announced the Mi AirDots Pro wireless earbuds. They will go on sale on January 11th. More details below.
According to a report from MySmartPrice, Xiaomi is gearing up to launch another set of truly wireless earbuds, right off the back of the release of the Xiaomi AirDots back in November. The new wireless earbuds are a lot more like Apple's offerings, no longer retaining an earbud-esque design. They look more like conventional earphones with the cables chopped off. There is an "arm" that sticks out to house the battery, Bluetooth receiver, and microphone.
For those unfamiliar, the Xiaomi AirDots offered a lot for the price of just CNY 199, or $28. They had Bluetooth 5.0 support, dedicated buttons on each earphone for play/pause, assistant, phone calls, and more. The carry case that came with them acted as a charging dock, offering 300mAh of energy, which equates to approximately 12 hours of playback time. While we have no information regarding how many of these features will be included in their successor, it's a safe assumption that the majority will be there. The carry case makes a return according to the renders, which you can put the earphones in to charge them while not in use. The earphones seem to be made out of plastic with a silicon tip for comfort.
We don't know when these earphones will be released, but leaks usually point to sometime soon. It'll be interesting to see how they price them as well, given that the Xiaomi AirDots retailed for such a low price relative to competitors. Xiaomi is known for bringing out low-cost peripherals, the latest of which being the Mi Power Bank 3. We'll probably see these new wireless earphones launch in China sometime soon, with a global launch later on in the year. It tends to be the case that the price slightly goes up following an international launch, but not by much. Once they launch, if they're a Chinese exclusive, it's often very easy to import them as well, at least in Europe.
Update: Xiaomi Mi AirDots Pro Earphones launched
The new Xiaomi earphones - the Mi AirDots Pro - have been annouced for CNY 399, roughly $58. It's a bit of a step up from the previous price of the Xiaomi AirDots, but it's assumed that that includes an increase in audio quality. They'll begin shipping January 11th, and they are only available in China for now. The company says that they take one hour to charge and will last for ten hours in total, which likely includes the charging carrier case.