Realme has made some significant strides in India's smartphone business and has secured a top five position in the charts. A lot of its business also comes from the mobile accessories it sells. In particular, the personal audio business took off due to good quality and affordability. I can easily recommend a pair of Realme Wireless Earbuds to my friend who is looking for good earphones on a budget. The latest, the Buds Air 5 Pro, I like even more. These earbuds are stylish, they cost less than Rs 5,000 and you get a lot at this price. You get active noise-cancellation (ANC), support for the lossless LDAC codec, and support for spatial audio – all this for Rs 4,999. This price makes it an attractive option in a sea of wireless earbuds, but is it any good and can it be a worthy wedding gift? I have an answer for you in this review.
| parameters | Specifications |
| colour's | Sunrise Beige, Astral Black |
| Bluetooth | bluetooth v5.3 |
| connection range | 10 meters |
| noise cancellation | active noise cancellation |
| water resistance | ipx5 |
| sound driver | 11mm bass driver + 6mm micro-planar tweeter |
| audio codecs | AAC, SBC, LDAC |
| Battery | 10 minutes charge Playback: 7 hours |
realme buds air 5 pro design
The traditional design of earbuds hasn't changed much over the years. This is because it works and is convenient for most customers. The new earbuds from Realme continue with the oval-shaped cradle design that we have seen on previous models. This may seem boring, especially to those who have used previous Buds Air Pro models. But that doesn't mean it's bad. This is one of the most comfortable designs I have seen. The oval shape makes it more convenient than some other earbuds, which have a square or round shape. I always carried the earbuds casually in my pocket and its size kind of compensated for my lack of care.
You get Buds Air 5 Pro in two colors. The one you see in this review and the one I used is called Astral Black and the other one, which is a variation of white, is called Sunrise Beige. I like the version I'm using because black is my favorite color. But apart from that, the subtle patterns on the design of the charging cradle make it stand out. However, it may be a little gaudy for some people. If you are concerned about the hygiene of your gadgets, then you should avoid this Astral Black variant as it catches fingerprints easily. Both variants have a pairing button on the right side and a USB-C port on the bottom.
The case is well made, opens easily with one hand, and makes a satisfying click sound. Anyone wondering why the Buds Air 5 Pro used a film lid due to its low price will be impressed by how sturdy it is. The entire cradle is lightweight and the individual earbuds are ergonomic. They fit ears of all sizes, provided you choose the best ear tip fit. I usually wear earbuds while working out or running, so when I used the Buds Air 5 Pro, I didn't have to worry about them getting soaked with sweat. The earbuds easily repel water or sweat splashes and can last for hours. If you're into weird experiments, you can even take a bath while wearing earbuds.
I think the Buds Air 5 Pro have a different design but that's not a bad thing as it offers the features you'd expect.
Realme Buds Air 5 Pro performance
I think the Buds Air 5 Pro earbuds are designed for the preferences of Indian users. I say this because the signature sound output is bass-heavy. This is on by default, and most customers will not need to fix it. But those who don't like stale sound have an option. The realme Link app lets you adjust the sound. In addition to the four presets you get, you also have the option of granular control of High, Mid, and Low. If you put aside the earbuds' tendency to produce stale sounds, you'll mostly like the acoustics. I enjoyed listening to some songs because of how wide the soundstage of the earbuds is. I have experienced this range on most premium earbuds from the likes of Sony and Bose. The 11mm bass driver and 6mm micro-planar tweeter offer a wide package of music, which I liked. Sure, they may not be suitable for all types of genres, but if you listen to Bollywood and English pop music at maximum volume levels, you will love the earbuds.
Realme has also managed to introduce 360-degree spatial audio on the Buds Air 5 Pro. This feature, which is available on most high-end earbuds, gives a new experience to customers willing to spend around Rs 5,000. Spatial audio covers the entire auditory amplitude so you can detect the direction of an instrument. Realme's implementation of spatial audio isn't perfect. It sometimes seems weak and works with select phones (mostly Realme, Oppo and OnePlus). I still wouldn't discount this as you get to experience this feature on earbuds worth Rs 5,000. There's also support for LDAC, which is a lossless codec that allows you to listen to uncompressed audio from eligible streaming platforms like Apple Music. While this isn't very relevant to casual listeners, it could be a big help to professionals and audiophiles – especially at its price.
Another milestone in its achievement is the support of the ANC. While ANC has become mainstream over the past few years, depending on how much you're willing to spend on earbuds, it can be good, bad, or average. Considering the price of the Realme Buds Air 5 Pro, expectations are a bit low but make no mistake. With noise cancellation for up to 50dB of sound, the Buds Air 5 Pro are one of the most powerful earbuds for their price. What does that mean for you? If you are wearing these earbuds with noise cancellation turned on, you can easily listen to music and talk on the phone without background noise from office or home. If you're walking down the street with earphones in, you'll hear a faint sound of a car horn, which wasn't that annoying for me.
If you've never used wireless earbuds before, you'll be surprised at how easy the Buds Air 5 Pro are to pair. Thanks to Google Fast Pair, a prompt to pair the earbuds appears on eligible Android phones as soon as you open the lid. However, on iPhone, you have to go the old way to connect the earbuds. I didn't face any issues connecting the earbuds and throughout my usage, I never experienced any degradation in the earbuds. The earbuds also support simultaneous connection with two devices, which is one of the most useful features. I can take calls on my iPhone and listen to videos on my Windows laptop without any issues.
Although I don't often use gestures to control the earbuds because I like managing music playback from my phone, people who often rely on gesture input may find the experience a bit unpleasant. Sometimes the taps weren't recognized, so I had to tap the tap two or three times. I think the size of the earbuds has a lot to do with unresponsiveness.
realme buds air 5 pro battery
I absolutely love how long these earbuds have lasted for me. The total backup of Buds Air 5 Pro on a single charge is 30-35 hours. Turning off noise cancellation increases battery life. If you're someone who uses the earbuds for around two hours a day, the charging case easily lasts for a week and doesn't require recharging.
Verdict on Realme Buds Air 5 Pro
If you ask me what is the best pair of wireless earbuds under around Rs 5,000 right now, I would instantly recommend the Realme Buds Air 5 Pro. This is because they offer some top-class features like LDAC support and spatial audio at a low price. Most customers will like the default sound signature of these earbuds, tuned to Bollywood music. And those who like to tinker have ample options to customize the sound to their liking. The finish and inconsistent touch controls on the cradle may be frustrating for some customers, but I think these are solutions you'll have to make.
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