vivo announced its TWS 5 Pro true wireless earbuds on July 1, 2026, revealing them alongside the foldable X Fold 6. The headline feature is the ability to send audio over Wi-Fi in addition to Bluetooth. Rather than adopting an existing industry solution, vivo built its own Wi-Fi codec for the job. The earbuds cost 999 yuan (about 24,000 yen) in China, and for now the Wi-Fi transmission only works with a handful of vivo phones sold in China.

Wi-Fi transmission that breaks past Bluetooth's bandwidth

What vivo is pushing hardest is the idea of sending audio data over Wi-Fi. According to the company, this Wi-Fi codec delivers 4.6Mbps of bandwidth. It stays effective on both earbuds whether the phone is not connected to Wi-Fi at all, or connected to a 2.4GHz or 5.8GHz network.

The key point is that vivo links the phone and the earbuds directly, one to one, using the Wi-Fi protocol. The company says this carries more than three times the data volume of a Bluetooth-based solution, which is what enables playback at 96kHz/24bit.

The numbers make the gap easy to picture. On vivo's previous-generation TWS 5, the high-quality LDAC codec topped out at 990Kbps, and LHDC lossless transmission reached only 1.4Mbps. A 4.6Mbps ceiling sits far above both, pointing to an intent to deliver music to the ears with as little of its detail stripped away as possible.

How it differs from Qualcomm's approach

The idea of sending audio over Wi-Fi is not new. A few years ago, Qualcomm introduced a technology called XPAN that transmits audio over Wi-Fi rather than Bluetooth. So far, though, the only high-profile product to use XPAN has been the Xiaomi Buds 5 Pro, and the technology has yet to spread widely.

vivo chose not to use XPAN, opting for its own codec instead. Even within the same "audio over Wi-Fi" bracket, the two take different approaches to how they connect. XPAN connects to a Wi-Fi router, and Qualcomm has said your earbuds stay connected as long as you remain within range of that Wi-Fi network. vivo's method, by contrast, appears closer to a Wi-Fi Direct-style setup that links the phone and earbuds directly without going through a router.

That difference shows up in how each company talks about range. vivo makes no explicit claims about a wider connection range, saying only that it uses "robust link-adaptive technology" to suit various environments. In other words, it is fair to read vivo's Wi-Fi transmission as a feature aimed squarely at high-quality playback rather than at extending range.

Power draw and playback time

Wi-Fi transmission has a downside, too: it draws more power than Bluetooth. On the TWS 5 Pro, vivo lists Wi-Fi playback at 5 hours with active noise cancellation (ANC) off and 4 hours with ANC on.

Playback over Bluetooth using AAC, by comparison, is rated at 11 hours with ANC off and 6 hours with ANC on. Wi-Fi playback lasts noticeably less, so it becomes a choice between lossless-grade sound and longer continuous listening. It is worth noting that vivo has not published battery figures for a high-quality Bluetooth codec such as LDAC. That would have been the more fitting comparison against a Wi-Fi codec built around lossless audio, and the lack of that data is a small disappointment.

Core specs, price, and supported devices

The rest of the specifications are solid for the price. The earbuds support the high-quality LDAC codec and carry four microphones. ANC reaches up to 60dB, latency is rated at 42 milliseconds, and a 5-minute charge provides 2 hours of playback. Dust and water resistance is rated at IP54.

The price in China is 999 yuan (about 24,000 yen). One caveat worth keeping in mind is device support for the flagship Wi-Fi transmission feature. Right now it works only with the vivo X Fold 6, X300, X300s, and X300 Pro sold in China. As for a global version or support on non-vivo phones, the company says it is "always exploring ways to bring the best experience to more users" but has shared no concrete plans. That makes availability outside China, including Japan, hard to predict, which is worth factoring in for anyone considering a purchase.

※1 CNY = about 24 JPY (as of July 4, 2026)

Summary

The vivo TWS 5 Pro is a set of true wireless earbuds that adds audio transmission over a self-developed Wi-Fi codec on top of Bluetooth. It aims for 96kHz/24bit hi-res-grade playback with 4.6Mbps of bandwidth, but Wi-Fi playback shortens battery life, and device support is limited to a few China-market vivo phones. It stands as an ambitious step toward pushing how far wireless audio can go in terms of quality.