Realme Buds Air Pro Review: Affordable TWS earbuds done right!

Realme is continuing its push to become a big-name player in India’s accessories market. The company has been actively introducing new smart accessories in India that are indicative of the Realme handsets, which often tend to prioritise value to the consumer. The latest of these products is the Realme Buds Air Pro, the company’s first true wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation (ANC). At Rs 4,999, the Realme Buds Air Pro are the company’s most premium set of TWS earbuds, but the big question is “Are they worth it”? Well, stick around and let’s find out.

Design and Build

The Realme Buds Air Pro features a pebble-shaped case, with curved edges all around. The case is made of polycarbonate with a shiny, glossy finish. The case has a similar design to that of the Vivo TWS Neo and OnePlus Buds. The case is available in Black and White colour options. The case looks pretty good, although I’d prefer the black colour. Opening and closing the lid felt quite solid thanks to the solid metal hinge on the back.

The case also has an LED indicator on the front, which turns red or green depending on the battery level. Additionally, the Realme logo sits on the front of the case, while the USB Type-C port is seen at the bottom. You also have a pairing button on the side, which perfectly blends into the case’s design. Overall, the case feels pretty sturdy and is relatively easy to grip, despite the glossy finish.

The earbuds feature a lightweight design, weighing a meagre 5 grams each. They feature the same glossy texture as the charging case. The earbuds boast an oval shape with angled nozzles.  For the most part, the earbuds fit quite comfortably into the ear canal, although the buds did fall out once or twice during working out. The earbuds are IPX4 rated for water and sweat resistance for working out, although the case doesn’t come with any protection.

Sound Quality  

The Realme Buds Air Pro are equipped with 10nm bass boost drivers with “Dynamic Bass Boost composite bass enhancement algorithm” for powerful audio delivery. Realme’s premium TWS earbuds also support AAC and SBC codecs. More importantly, the buds also support active noise cancellation (ANC), which the company claim can cancel out up to 35dB. However, the Buds Air Pro miss out on aptX HD support. The dual microphones and environmental noise-cancellation works well on calls, but louder ambient noise can leak into your call and cause somewhat of an annoyance.

First, let’s dive into the main highlight of the Buds Air Pro, the ‘Active Noise Cancellation’. You can switch between three modes of ANC on the earbuds, including General, Noise Cancellation, and Transparency. Noise cancellation is not up to the mark on the Buds Air Pro, but there’s really nothing to complain about considering this is a flagship feature on a set of budget headphones. The ANC does cut off quite of bit of ambient sound, and there’s a noticeable difference between having it switched off and switched on.

Noise cancellation tends to struggle to keep high-frequency sounds at bay. And although it is not flagship-grade, you really get more than what you pay for, so no complaints here. Additionally, the Transparency mode lets in some ambient noise while you’re listening to media on the buds. The Buds Air Pro also feature a ‘Game Mode’, which can be enabled by long-pressing both buds. This mode brings latency down to 94ms, ensuring zero lag in audio while gaming.

The 10nm drivers deliver powerful sound, which gets quite loud but is not that clear at maximum volume. The sound signature is focused on bass and treble, but they also work well with podcasts or tracks with heavy vocals. The Buds Air Pro have a pretty wide soundstage, while instrument separation is clear and distinct. Generally, the Buds Air Pro features a strong bass response with comfortable mids and highs, although the lows didn’t feel that punchy. We found the sweet spot to be between 70 percent and 80 percent, while turning the volume up to the max did produce some distortion at times.

Realme Link App / Touch Controls

The touch controls on the Realme Buds Air Pro can be customised through the Realme Link app. You can double or triple tap each bud to play/pause, change track, use the voice assistant, and switch modes. The touch controls are quite responsive and work accurately for the most part. The controls can be accessed by tapping the top part of the stem. The touch controls were quite accurate for the most part, registering commands accurately. Long pressing on both buds will activate gaming mode.

Apart from Game Mode, you can also switch between Volume Enhancer and Bass Boost+ using the app. Additionally, wear detection also works really well on the buds. The Realme Buds Air Pro also supports Google Fast Pair, and once connected and linked to your Google account. It was a tad bit disappointing to see no equaliser on the app.

Battery Life

The Buds Air Pro packs a 486 mAh battery with charging over USB-C. The company claims that the buds can deliver up to 20 hours with ANC turned on and up to 25 hours when it’s turned off when you include the case. The case itself can deliver three full charges, with each charge offering around four hours with ANC turned on at 60 percent volume. Turning ANC off gets you around an hour or so more, depending on the volume level. I got around two hours of playback with a quick 10-minute charge. Charging the case and the earbuds take around two hours while charging the buds to a 100-percent should take no more than an hour.

Verdict

The Realme Buds Air Pro is an excellent pair of TWS earbuds for anyone with a sub-5K budget. The Buds Air Pro are not an ideal pick for audiophiles, although very few earphones at this price are. The earbuds offer active noise cancellation at an affordable price point. Additionally, the build quality was quite good while offering a secure fit for the most part. The sound quality was on point for the most part, although the buds didn’t handle music on full volume very well. Battery life and USB-C charging were two additional ‘Pros’, although the lack of wireless charging was a bit of a letdown. Overall, the Realme Buds Air Pro TWS earbuds have a lot going for them, and I would certainly recommend them to anyone on a sub-5K budget.