AirPods are seen as the most successful devices in recent years. And this success of AirPods has inspired many other companies to launch their own truly wireless earbuds, and Realme is the latest on the list. The Realme Buds Air wireless earbuds are the fourth pair of earphones from the Chinese smartphone and accessories maker. Now that the Buds Air is here, let’s review it.
Realme Buds Air looks a lot like the Apple AirPods. Starting from the charging case to the earphones themselves, it is heavily inspired by Apple’s popular true wireless earphones, and the white variant would be hard to distinguish from the Apple product.
Realme Buds Air comes with a retail box which is a Yellow case that has dimensions of 51.3 x 45.3 x 25.3mm and weighs just 42 grams. It is incredibly lightweight, and the earphones contribute just over 4 grams a piece from that. There is a USB-C port on the bottom for charging, but the case supports wireless charging up to 10W on every basic Qi charger. The Buds Air sits comfortably in normally-sized ears, though there were times when the Buds Air became somewhat loose, especially during brisk walking.
Wireless charging is another feature of Buds Air. It is a bit surprising to see such a feature coming to a pair of truly wireless earbuds that cost Rs 3,999. In contrast, the AirPods with the wireless charging case cost Rs 15,999. Nevertheless, wireless charging works well. Just drop the case on the wireless charging pad, and a small indicator light on the front of the case tells you they are getting charged. However, if you don’t own a wireless charging mat, you can always use a USB-C cable to charge them.
There is a voice assistant, just like you would control Siri on the device. Taking calls while wearing the Buds Air is a similar experience as one would get with the AirPods. It was a surprise for users with how well the Buds Air picked up voices in a crowded place hinting that this earbud would work well in noisy environments. Double-tap on the earbuds can be used to answer and end calls.
Realme Buds Air is decent-sounding truly wireless earbuds. Surprisingly, they have a well-balanced sound profile, making them perfect for listening to a wide range of music genres. They are loud and clear enough for you to enjoy podcasts. However, they lack bass and treble. So if you listen to a lot of R&B and hip-hop songs, the Buds Air are not the right ones for you. That said, they still offer excellent sound quality, given the price segment they are catering to.
The music, on the other hand, sounds pure and crisp. Both earbuds have a touch-sensitive area with some commands – double-tap pauses the track or answers a call, triple tap skips to the next song. Conversations are ended with pressing for two seconds, but if you press both buds for two seconds, you enter Gaming Mode.
Specification Summary
The Realme Buds Air wireless earbuds come with Bluetooth 5.0 (AAC codec) support to connect to Android and iOS devices. It automatically connects with the phone when you open the case. It has a 12mm driver and LCP advanced multi-layer composite diaphragm.
The battery offers 3 hours of standalone playback and 17 hours with the case. It supports USB Type-C charging, and the case charges in 2 hours. The case also supports 10W Qi wireless charging, and the company will soon launch a 10W wireless charger also.
The earphone comes in Black, White, and Yellow colors. Its weight is 4.5g per headset, and the case weight is 42.3 g. Case dimensions are 51.3×45.3 mmx25.3 mm.
The headset comes with touch controls for calls, track changes, and Google Assistant. It has dual microphones for environmental noise cancellation and voice control.
Conclusion
The Realme Buds Air is designed with a very specific aesthetic and feature set in mind, and there’s no denying that this pair of earphones is heavily inspired by the Apple AirPods. This is visible not just in the design, but also in many features such as wireless charging, the use of a special wireless chip for connectivity and stability, and the touch controls. However, when it comes to sound, the Realme Buds Air could have worked on it more.
