GoKawiilTL;DR Vivo has launched the TWS 5 Pro earbuds, offering Wi-Fi audio in addition to Bluetooth connectivity.
These earbuds don’t use Qualcomm’s XPAN solution, but instead feature a custom Wi-Fi codec.
It sounds like this Wi-Fi solution is solely intended for high-quality audio playback.
Qualcomm announced XPAN technology a few years ago, enabling wireless audio transmission over Wi-Fi instead of Bluetooth. The Xiaomi Buds 5 Pro is the only high-profile audio product with this tech, but it turns out vivo just announced its own pair of Wi-Fi-enabled earbuds. However, these don’t use XPAN.
Vivo announced the TWS 5 Pro alongside the X Fold 6, and these wireless earbuds offer Wi-Fi transmission in addition to Bluetooth connectivity. More specifically, the manufacturer says it uses a custom Wi-Fi solution for audio instead of Qualcomm XPAN.
The company explained to Android Authority that its take on Wi-Fi connectivity enables a major bandwidth boost: The Wi-Fi codec delivers a 4.6Mbps bandwidth (effective on both earbuds when the phone is not connected to Wi-Fi, or when connected to 2.4G/5.8G Wi-Fi), which breaks through the bandwidth bottleneck of Bluetooth. It uses the Wi-Fi protocol for a direct point-to-point connection between the phone and earbuds, carrying more than three times the data volume of Bluetooth solutions By contrast, vivo says its earlier TWS 5 earbuds top out at 990Kbps for LDAC, and 1.4Mbps for LHDC Lossless. The company says the Wi-Fi codec consequently enables 96kHz/24bit audio.
How does this compare to Qualcomm XPAN? The manufacturer’s statement also suggests that it’s using Wi-Fi Direct rather than connecting to a Wi-Fi router. That could explain why vivo isn’t making any explicit claims about improved range, short of telling us the Wi-Fi codec uses “robust link-adaptive technology” across various environments. By contrast, Qualcomm’s XPAN connects to a Wi-Fi router, with the firm saying your earbuds will stay connected as long as you’re within range of your Wi-Fi network.
Vivo’s Wi-Fi solution also seems to consume significantly more power than Bluetooth. The TWS 5 Pro specs page lists five hours of Wi-Fi playback with active noise cancelation (ANC) off and four hours of Wi-Fi playback with ANC on. Meanwhile, the firm says you should expect 11 hours of Bluetooth AAC playback with ANC off and six hours of AAC playback with ANC on.
Would you buy wireless earbuds with Wi-Fi audio? 2 votes Yes, I would 100 % Yes, but only XPAN audio 0 % No, Bluetooth is good enough for me 0 %
There’s no word on battery life when using a higher quality Bluetooth codec, though. That’s a shame, as this would’ve been a more appropriate comparison given the Wi-Fi codec’s emphasis on lossless playback. For what it’s worth, Qualcomm says XPAN uses more power than Bluetooth for low-bandwidth use-cases (e.g., voice calls), but less power for lossless audio.
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