realme unveiled the new Narzo 30 series smartphones in India which include the Narzo 30A and Narzo 30 Pro 5G alongwith its new TWS earbuds, the realme Buds Air 2 which is the successor to the last year’s realme Buds Air wireless earphones. The key features of the realme Buds Air 2 are its ANC (Active Noise Cancellation), 25 hours of music playback, and fast charging support. Here’s our realme Buds Air 2 review.
realme Buds Air 2 Specifications
- Driver: 10 mm Bass Boosted drivers
- Connectivity & Ports: Bluetooth 5.2, USB Type-C
- Wireless Range: Up to 10 meters
- Protection: IPX5 Water Resistance
- Features: Active Noise Cancellation, Transparency mode, Game mode (88 ms latency), gesture touch controls, realme Link app
- Battery Runtime: 25 hours music playback, 120 minutes playback in 10 minutes charging, 5 hours playback (each bud)
- Battery Charging: 1 hour charging time (earbuds), 2 hours (with case)
- Colors: Closer Black, Closer White
- Weight: 34.5 grams (case), 4.1 grams (each bud)
- Dimensions: 60.3 mm x 57 mm x 24 mm (case)
- Price: ₹3,299
- Availability: realme.com, Flipkart
Design
Speaking of the realme Buds Air 2 design, it has a sleek and glossy surface, round form factor different than its predecessor, the realme Buds Air which looked like an Airpods rip-off. The design is much better than before, and it is easy to carry and hold, the edges are smooth and curvy.
The earbuds offer a sleek design with a matte finish on the head to prevent any smudges and eventually falling off. The top side has a design aesthetic, the bottom side has charging pins, and the front has touch controls for controlling the music, calls, and switch between modes.
The case feels light in weight as well as the earphones weighing 4.1 grams each. The overall quality of the earphones and case is impressive. The realme Buds Air 2 offers IPX5 water-resistant design meaning it can resist water spills and splashes.
The front side has an LED indicator that indicates pairing, battery health, and charging alongside realme’s branding. The right side has a button for pairing and the bottom side has a USB Type-C interface with fast charging cable inside the box.
In the box, you get a pair of earbuds along with the charging case in the box, a USB Type-C fast charging cable, a user manual, and earcups in different sizes.
Take a look at our unboxing and first impressions of the realme Buds Air 2 below.
Features & Connectivity
The realme Buds Air 2 comes with an Active Noise Cancellation feature which is usually found on premium category earbuds in addition to the Transparency mode. The ANC (Active Noise Cancellation) will cancel any background or ambient noise (up to 25 dB) from the outside so that you can hear a clear and audible sound whereas the Transparency mode allows you to amplify the ambiance and surroundings, the outside noise will be now audible to you.
Moreover, the earbuds offer a low latency mode of 88ms for gaming, this can be useful especially if you are playing multiplayer games. You also get a Bass Boost+ mode that triggers the bass enhancer to offer extra bass on the earbuds while playing the music.
The realme Buds Air 2 packs the latest Bluetooth 5.2 and it can be paired with direct Bluetooth or using the realme Link app. Pairing is easy, just open the case and search for the device on your Bluetooth device. The connection is fast, the moment you open, the earbuds are connected to your smartphone, your smartphone needs to have Bluetooth 5.0 or later.
The realme Link app will offer you a better user interface showing you the battery life of both the buds and the case, as well as a bunch of features, customization, and firmware updates. It can let you choose the modes, Bass Boost, as well as control the gesture shortcuts for the touch controls.
Performance, Audio Quality, & Battery Life
The Buds Air 2 is powered by realme’s homegrown R2 audio chip that offers 80% increased battery life and reduces the latency by 35% compared to its predecessor as per realme.
The Buds Air 2 packs 10 mm bass boosted drivers with DLC coating (Diamond-like Carbon coating) on the diaphragm. This will offer richer bass, clearer sound, and better frequency response as compared to the traditional diaphragm.
A larger driver often delivers better bass quality, for example, 13 mm drivers will offer much deeper and punchy bass as compared to 10 mm drivers, however, the quality doesn’t solely depend on the size of the drivers, there’s more to it, say stronger magnets like Neodymium may outperform the larger drivers with weak magnets.
You will find 13 mm dynamic drivers on the rival OnePlus Buds while on the other hand, the OPPO Enco W51 offers 7 mm drivers. The realme Buds Air 2 sits right between them carrying 10 mm drivers on each bud. The audio quality of the earbuds is exceptionally great for this price, the audio is clear on full volumes with no distortion.
The realme Link app has added new Bass Boost+ sound effects to enhance the sound quality. This new Bass Boost+ mode is developed in collaboration with EDM duo The Chainsmokers.
On the battery side, it offers up to 25 hours of total audio playback on a full charge. Yet it all depends on the volume levels and the modes that you use, higher volumes and active modes (ANC or Transparency) can impact the battery life. With ANC turned on, you can expect a battery life of up to 22.5 hours. Each earbud will last around 5 hours on a single charge.
Verdict
The realme Buds Air 2 is well designed, light in weight, and offers exceptionally great sound quality in its class especially with its bass booster. Among the key features of the realme Buds Air 2 include the ANC (Active Noise Cancellation) and Transparency modes that let you control the ambiance and surroundings. These two features make the realme Buds Air 2 a standout in its class. At the price of ₹3,299, the realme Buds Air 2 is highly affordable if you are looking for earbuds with ANC and extra features.
