Been a while since we reviewed a pair of TWS earbuds, and we were lucky enough to receive the realme Buds Air for review. Priced at RM299, should you buy the realme Buds Air? Is it worth it? Let’s find out.
realme Buds Air – Specifications
| Chip | R1 Headphone Chip |
| Controls | Touch Controls – Double Tap – Triple Tap – Press and Hold One Side – Press and Hold Both Sides |
| Calling | Dual-Mic ENC (Environment Noise Cancelling) |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth 5.0 GFP (Google Fast Pair Technology) 10 meters effective range |
| Size and Weight | Charging Case: Height: 51.3 mm Width: 45.3 mm Depth: 25.3 mm Weight: 42.3 g Earbuds: Weight: 4.2g |
| Charging Case | Qi Wireless Charging Type-C Charging |
| Battery | Up to 17 hours playback |
| Sensor | Optical sensor for wear detection |
| In the box | Buds Wireless charging case Type-C charging cable Quick Guide Book |
Design
The one we received was the realme Buds Air in yellow colour, and I must say, it looks amazing. It stands out because every other TWS earbuds are either black, or white. But this bright yellow colour really pops and makes you stand out as you flip open the case and take the earbuds out.
The realme Buds Air reminds me a lot of the Apple AirPods, and I quite like it. It’s light, and very pocketable. It has a similar looking charging case, the only difference is the pushable button in the middle section of the front. That’s the button to initiate pairing mode.
The top lid of the charging case does feel a bit finicky, as the hinge is rather loose, so that the lid easily closes. This was done probably to keep the charging case closed to reduce the chances of the earbuds falling out. But for me, I would’ve preferred if the hinge was tighter and the opening of the top lid more user-adjustable.
There’s a USB Type-C port at the bottom, that supports fast charging and also wireless charging on the back of the case. Right above the button, there’s also an LED indicator to notify you of the charging/pairing status.
Comfort
The realme Buds Air are surprisingly comfortable. I thought the elongated bar on the bottom of the earbuds would annoy me as it would keep touching my cheeks, but I was wrong. I can use it for the entire day (I actually did, for the battery life test), and my ears wouldn’t feel uncomfortable at all.
I experience no audio fatigue whatsoever, and the realme Buds Air can really stay in place no matter how I move my head. Whether I’m jumping, running, or headbanging, once it’s in, it stays in lane.
However, if you are wearing any earrings, the realme Buds Air might bump into the earring. It’s a small issue, just thought you should know.
User Experience
Pairing the realme Buds Air with my smartphone is fairly simple and quick. All I needed to do was just flip open the charging case, hold the pairing button, tap “connect” on my smartphone and I was good to go. Once I put the earbuds into my ear, it automatically played the music that was already in my Spotify “Now Playing”. When I take it off, it would automatically pause the music I was listening to. This happens 100% of the time, and I’m glad the wear detection feature works so well.
Upon pairing it for the first time, the realme Buds Air touch sensor only recognises double tap to play/pause music. To change that, you’d need to connect the device with the realme Link app. In the app, you can then change what a single tap and hold, double tap, and triple tap does.
- Play/Pause
- Volume Up
- Volume Down
- Next Track
- Previous Track
In the app, you can also perform a firmware update. Once you’ve set these settings, they’ll stay universally set even if you pair the earbuds with another device.
That being said, the touch sensors does have a slight delay with each command. After double tapping or triple tapping, there’s a short delay before the command is carried out. It’s not a dealbreaker, just something you should know. The sensor takes a while to recognise the taps issued and performs the corresponding actions.
When it comes to video or gaming, I’m glad to report that the realme Buds Air suffers no audio lag at all. Just tap and hold both sides of the earbuds, and you’ll enter gaming mode. The audio gets synced across simultaneously, and that’s really important especially when you’re watching a video or gaming so you don’t hear lagging audio/dialogue.
Audio
I am really impressed with the audio quality of the realme Buds Air. For such a small pair of TWS earbuds, it is capable of delivering a decent amount of sound stage. There’s a bit of depth to everything you hear, you feel as if there’s a distance between you and the song being played.
For me, I like loud music and the realme Buds Air can get really loud. But still, I’d recommend the 80% volume mark as maximum cause anything above that, you might just go deaf. Also, anything above 80%, you can’t hear anything else from the outside world, but those beside you can hear what you’re listening to.
The realme Buds Air has 12mm drivers and it has really nice and clean lows, with great mids. This give you thumping bass with clear vocals. It does lack a bit of highs, as treble is a little low. But who cares about treble, when you have all that bass to play with.
As for call quality, it is excellent. The person on the other end of the call could hear us clearly, with very minimal background noise when in noisy environments. The microphone also picks up voice really well, thanks to the mic being positioned at the bottom of the elongated part of the earbuds.
The realme Buds Air also has the environment noise cancellation feature, and I think it works pretty well. No complaints there. Even with loud thumping EDM in my ears, I can still hear my wife calling me to do the house chores. It’s either the feature works really well, or my wife is just really loud.
Battery Life
Our experience with the realme Buds Air’s battery life is pretty similar with the company’s claims. Just the earbuds alone, they lasted me a good 2 hours and 54 minutes (realme claims 3 hours). As for the charging case, it offered an additional 14 hours and 2 minutes of use.
As mentioned above, it charges via USB Type-C and has wireless charging too. However, charging the device can get the case a little warm.
Conclusion
For RM299, I’d get the realme Buds Air without hesitation. At that price point, it’s great for those who want to take their first dip into the world of TWS earbuds. However, if you don’t like the elongated form factor earbuds, you can go for something even smaller like the UGREEN TWS earbuds.
It fits nicely (for me), has great bass and microphones, and looks outstanding, literally. If you wish to purchase one for yourself, you can head on over to realme’s official Lazada store page, right here.
