There’s no shortage of high-quality Bluetooth earbuds on the market right now. Aside from minor differences in driver type and battery performance, it can be difficult to find a compelling reason to recommend one pair of similarly priced earbuds over another. At the premium level, those differences often come down to marketing and style. The exception to that trend is Creative’s Aurvana Ace Mimi, one of the most distinctive and impressive earbud sets available today.
For frugal audiophiles, the Aurvana Ace Mimi is also one of the best deals on the market. They feel like a bit of a value hack. What makes them special is their odd position in Creative’s lineup. They sit as a generational half-step between the flagship Aurvana Ace 2 and Aurvana Ace 3 models. They add Mimi Sound Personalization and improved battery life over the former, but skip the updated Bluetooth protocol and controls of the latter, while still sharing the same rich, premium sound profile as both.
If you don’t mind using Bluetooth 5.3 instead of 5.4 and can live without wear detection, the Aurvana Ace Mimi can save you a meaningful amount of money.
The entire Aurvana Ace line is built around Creative’s xMEMS solid-state drivers, which deliver exceptional clarity in the high end. Solid-state drivers build on the concept of planar drivers, offering an even thinner and more responsive membrane. As with planar designs, though, less moving mass also means less bass.
To bolster the low-end, the xMEMS are paired with traditional 10mm dynamic drivers. The bass isn’t as soul-shaking as, say, a pair of Beats, or even Shockz Open Dots One, but it’s by no means lacking. The tuning prioritizes accuracy, with a low end that complements the clarity of the xMEMS rather than overwhelming them.
This hybrid driver setup made the Aurvana Ace 3 my favourite pair of earbuds last year, and they are still my daily drivers. Even so, if I were choosing between the Ace 3 and the Aurvana Ace Mimi today, I would probably purchase the latter. Both models fully take advantage of the high-definition LDAC codec, offer nearly identical battery life at around seven hours per charge, and include perfectly serviceable noise cancellation. Without sale pricing, however, the Ace Mimi costs $20 less at $129.99.
Savings aside, the decision also comes down to comfort and aesthetics. The Aurvana Ace Mimi are slightly more comfortable and look significantly more elegant. That may be shallow, but if you are paying over $100 for earbuds, they should look good. The offset stems and semi-exposed microphone grille give the Ace Mimi a distinctive silhouette and a genuinely premium feel. They have a character that is not especially common in personal electronics. There is nothing wrong with the redesign introduced with the Aurvana Ace 3, but it does make them feel less special than earlier models.
“The Aurvana Ace Mimi are priced to compete in the midrange, but aside from wear detection and adaptive noise cancellation, they come with nearly everything you would expect from a premium model.”
There is one caveat, though: colour. You can get these earbuds in whatever colour you like, as long as it is Midnight Blue. I happen to like the colourway, but it is not as striking as the black-and-copper styling of the original Aurvana Ace and Ace 2. Creative, please bring that back. It was not just cool, it was fancy.
The broader issue with the Aurvana line is that Creative backed itself into a marketing corner. The xMEMS drivers were genuinely groundbreaking and remain ahead of their time, but they could only be new once. Customers still expect something fresh every year. Creative’s solution with the Ace Mimi was to add Mimi Sound Personalization, a software feature that maps the user’s hearing profile and applies a custom filter to compensate for individual hearing loss.
Mimi Sound Personalization initially sounded like a gimmick, but it turned out to be very helpful. Because xMEMS produce such a precise and dynamic audio signal, they respond well to customization. My hearing is cooked in a very general way, so the custom profile just cranked every value proportionally. However, I had some friends take the test too, and each walked away impressed by the improved audio and slightly alarmed by how much they had apparently been missing.
The Aurvana Ace Mimi are priced to compete in the midrange, but aside from wear detection and adaptive noise cancellation, they come with nearly everything you would expect from a premium model. Battery life is rated at seven hours per charge, with an additional 28 hours available from the charging case. You also get Qi-compatible wireless charging, full app controls, ambient mode, three microphones per earbud for hands-free calling and voice commands, and support for high-definition codecs including LDAC, LC3, AAC, and SBC.
I’ve been fortunate enough to get my hands on a wide selection of premium earbuds this year and have been blown away by the quality of almost all of them. There is now an entire drawer in my office that houses earbuds and headphones, all of which would do the job, and yet, they sit mostly unused.
When I’m headed to the workshop or working at my desk, I’ll grab my Aurvana Ace 3, but if I’m going out, I’ll grab the Aurvana Ace Mimi, just in case a cute fashionista happens to look at my ears. “Oh, these old things?” I’d say, bouncing my curls. If I can’t find either, I don’t open the drawer; I go looking for my Creatives.
I can’t recommend these things enough. The Aurvana Ace Mimi have been out for a minute now, but I don’t hear about them nearly enough. If you are in the market for a premium set of earbuds, you will be hard-pressed to find another model that delivers this much performance for the price.
