Review of Realme Buds Air 2 headphones - balanced both in sound and functionality

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

A model in which there is nothing superfluous, but what is, works as it should.

The TWS headphone market is oversaturated, with analysts saying that 7 out of 10 headphones sold in 2021 will fall into this category. New items from different brands come out almost every week, and it is very difficult to find among this variety a model that suits the price, sound, workmanship and usability.

But that's what reviews are for. The heroes of today are the Realme Buds Air 2 headphones - affordable, compact and, it seems, with an excellent balance of all important parameters.

Table of contents

• Specifications
• Appearance and equipment
• Control
• Application and connection
• Sound, noise cancellation and conversations
• Autonomy
• Outcomes

Specifications

Type of emitters	Dynamic, 10 mm
Earphone weight	4.1g
Connection	Bluetooth 5.2
Supported codecs	SBC, AAC
Noise suppression	active, up to 25 dB
Moisture protection	IPX4
Battery case	400 mAh

Appearance and equipment

Getting to know the technology begins with its packaging - the Buds Air 2 has a cheerful lemon color. A black version of the headphones is painted on the compact square box, regardless of which model is inside, and it is available in black and white.

The box also contains a bunch of pieces of paper, a short USB-C charging cable, and a bag containing two pairs of silicone eartips - larger and smaller than those already on the headphones.

The nozzles themselves are oval and shallow, like the sound guides. Considering that the shape of the nozzles is proprietary, you will have to take care of them: it will not be so easy to find suitable ones on sale.

Headphones of a quite familiar design: a ball on a leg. We got the black version for testing. The part of the case where the speaker is located is matte, and the leg shines and collects all possible prints, dust particles and hairs.

The case is also made of the same easily soiled black plastic. It is small, rounded, and resembles a floss box in size and a pebble in shape. On the front panel, it has one status LED: it glows green when the cover is opened and when charging is complete, and in some cases flashes white or red, for example, when pairing via Bluetooth.

At the bottom end of the case there is a USB-C connector, it is through it that the headphones are charged. On the right side, there is a button for switching on the pairing mode - completely invisible.

The inner part of the case is decorated with both glossy and matte plastic. Headphones fly into their sockets with a neat "chpok", gently magnetizing.

There are no complaints about the assembly: no backlash, no burrs - nothing like that. The impression is spoiled only by slippery glossy plastic.

Control

The touchpads are located at the top of the headphone cylindrical legs. In the standard version, both left and right are responsible for the same functions:

• By double-tapping the touch area, you can pause or re-start the track, accept or end a call.
• Pressing it three times will turn on the next track in the playlist.
• Long press rejects the incoming call.
• Pressing both earbuds at the same time switches between noise canceling and noise transmission mode.

The proprietary application makes it possible to reassign the aforementioned functions, as well as select others in the settings: launching the voice assistant, switching to game mode (with less delay), playing the previous track.

The earbuds sit deep enough in the ears, but the sensor is very responsive, so you don't need to press the Buds Air 2 into the eardrums in order to get a response from them. Sometimes, however, the sensor works out a triple press as a double, but such oversights are rare.

It is a pity that it is impossible, for example, to assign volume control to the second earpiece. Perhaps this feature will be added with subsequent software updates.

Application and connection

To control the headphones, a proprietary Realme Link application is offered, which is available for both Android and iOS. In it, you can customize not only the Buds Air 2, but also many other devices from the Realme ecosystem.

Application not found

For Realme Buds Air 2, several important options are available in the app. At the very top of the device page, next to the icon of the headphones themselves, the charge level is displayed as a percentage for each of them separately, as well as for the case.

Below is the squelch control menu. Three options are available: Noise Reduction, Standard Mode, and Transparency. The former, as the name implies, uses external microphones in order to suppress noise, the latter, on the contrary, lets the sounds of the surrounding world into the headphones. In the same menu, you can choose between which modes the headphones will switch by clicking on the touch panels, if this function is enabled in the settings.

The section "Sound Effects" allows you to select the character of the sound of the headphones. The default mode is "Dynamic" - the most balanced. There is also Bass Boost +, which adds low frequencies, and "Crisp", in which the sound in the mids and highs becomes brighter. Under the mode icons there is a volume up switch, which increases its maximum level.

Enabling Game Mode reduces audio latency to 88ms. Realme claims that this is 35% less than the previous generation Buds Air. This mode is useful not only in games, but also when watching videos: this way the sound is better synchronized with what is happening on the screen.

At the very bottom, in the "Other" item, you can select whether the headphones will automatically stop playback if at least one is removed from the ear, enable the auto answer function when removing the headphones from the case, and reassign the touch panel functions.

If an update has been released for the headphones, the application will prompt you to download it. The headphones must be kept out of the case during the update, and the application cannot be closed or minimized. After the update, Buds Air 2 should be put in the case and pulled out again - then all the changes will work.

Headphones are connected to a smartphone without any problems. The first time they start, they automatically enter pairing mode and remember the device they made friends with. In order to connect the headphones to another source, you need to open the lid of the case and hold the button on the side for 3 seconds until the LED starts to glide smoothly white.

Buds Air 2 can only be connected to one device at a time. But the last two sound sources are stored in their memory, so it is very easy to switch between a laptop and a smartphone or two smartphones.

Sound, noise cancellation and conversations

On the Buds Air 2 page, the developers proudly report that The Chainsmokers - DJ and singer Andrew Taggart and DJ Alex Pall - took part in tuning the sound of the headphones. The duo is now in 27th place in the list of the 100 best DJs of our time.

It was with their help that the Bass Boost + mode was designed, but we can say that in the "Dynamic" mode the headphones are sharpened just for EDM and any other electronics. This music sounds right - perky, lively, rave, with beautifully iridescent high frequencies and with a cool dense bass, while not drowning out everything that is in the melody. The early Pink Floyd, replete with various effects, also sounds pleasant - maybe not too detailed, but emotionally and to the extent necessary psychedelic.

But classical and symphonic rock loses some of its charm due to the fact that the mid-range is presented with a slight echo. By the way, you can also feel it when listening to podcasts, watching videos on YouTube and streaming on Twitch - this is especially noticeable on voices and neat notes on an acoustic guitar.

In general, the headphones are more likely to delight fans of The Prodigy, Depeche Mode and Pet Shop Boys than fans of Nightwish and Rodrigo y Gabriela. This is not to say that genres other than electronic music sound terrible. But it is on electronics that the character of Buds Air 2 is revealed to the maximum. The "Clear" sound mode slightly removes the massiveness in the bass, while leaving the same clarity in the beat, but still does not hide the cheerful and rhythmic nature.

Due to the fact that the headphones sit very firmly and deeply in the ears, it feels like the music is playing right inside the brain, so you should not expect much volume and scale from Buds Air 2. But such a fit has a very good effect on the work of noise cancellation: the sounds of the outside world practically do not get into the ears.

If you take one earphone out of your ears, the second will automatically switch to noise transmission mode - so that you can hear everything. However, if you hold the removed earphone in your fist, it will think that it has been returned to your ear, and the noise canceling mode will turn on again.

Shumodav itself is very good. It feels like it rivals that of the Sony WF-1000XM3. But he was not spared the trouble of most headphones with active noise cancellation - the wind.

The microphones of Buds Air 2 are located on the side surfaces of the legs, they are not covered by anything and work perfectly in calm weather: you can walk along a busy highway and practically not hear cars and buses passing by. But as soon as any wind appears on the street, problems begin: it blows into the microphones and chthonic howls are mixed with the music.

This is how the noise canceling system works: it picks up all the noise it hears and processes whatever it can handle. This is the behavior of most active noise canceling headphones, including full-size models.

But on the Buds Air 2, the noise canceling mode can be turned off. Then the microphones will not work and, accordingly, pick up the wind. The busy highway will become a little more real, but thanks to the deep and tight fit, the headphones provide high-quality passive noise isolation, which is enough for comfortable movement in the city. Active noise cancellation is a nice bonus that works great in calm weather, in transport and indoors.

High-quality voice transmission is provided by dual microphones, complemented by a proprietary ENC noise reduction algorithm. The interlocutors do not complain about the sound: they say that the voice is heard clearly, the connection does not break, the extra noise does not drown out anything (only if it is not a highway).

Autonomy

The headphones are very light, primarily due to the fact that they have small batteries: only 30 mAh each. But thanks to the energy-efficient R2 chip and the use of the Bluetooth 5.2 codec, on one full charge, each earphone will last up to 4 hours with noise canceling on and up to 5 hours with it off. Together with a case with a capacity of 400 mAh, the autonomy of the headphones is 22.5 hours when noise cancellation is on and 25 hours when it is off.

We tested the headphones with the native Realme 8 Pro smartphone and with the Sony XZ3. And our measurements coincide with the passport ones: in the noise reduction mode, the Buds Air 2 did not quite last until 4 hours. The right earbud was sometimes discharged a little faster than the left. Perhaps the reason is that the touchpad was most often used from this side.

The headphone case charges to a maximum in about 2 hours, but after 10 minutes of recharging, the headphones are almost half powered. The indicators are very good.

Outcomes

You can be surprised pleasantly or unpleasantly, and Realme Buds Air 2 are in time for the first option. Due to their size, weight and shape, they are surprisingly comfortable, do not fall out of the ears during training and provide good noise isolation. And yes, thanks to the waterproof IPX4, they can be used during sports: they will definitely survive sweat and even a small shower.

The compactness has extended to the case: it is very neat, well-assembled, pleasant to hold in your hands, and the lid snaps like some fidget toy.

The sound of headphones with character is not very bright, but noticeable. You can enjoy music of any genre in them, but it should be understood that the rhythm section will stand out in all modes except “Clear”, and the voices will sound with slight after-sounds.

Noise cancellation works well, but, unfortunately, it is not protected from the wind in any way, so it is better to turn it off outdoors in bad weather. The noise transmission mode is also effective and will prevent the cyclist from sneaking up unnoticed.

During the test, the headphones never turned off, did not lose connection with the source, did not stutter and worked well even three walls from the smartphone. They have two drawbacks, in addition to the noise-canceling microphones, which are not protected from the wind: the annoying black gloss, which collects all the dust and prints, and the lack of the ability to adjust the volume.

But at a cost of 5,499 rubles, these are more trifles than disadvantages. The Realme Buds Air 2 headphones have incorporated all the functionality necessary and sufficient for modern fully wireless headphones, adding comfort and a good cheerful and lively sound to it.