Price: Rs 3,999
Rating: 4/5
In early 2021, Realme changed the game in the budget True Wireless (TWS) earbuds segment the launch of the Buds Air 2. Never-before-seen features like active noise cancellation (ANC), customizable controls, multiple sound profiles, wear detection, as well as good sound quality, all well under Rs 4,000. This pair of headphones is still hard to beat in this segment.
As the competition draws closer, Realme wants to raise the bar even higher with the launch of its successor, the Buds Air 3, which promises to be better than its predecessor in almost every area. As well as better sound quality, the new Realme buds claim to offer better battery support and 42dB of noise cancellation, a huge 25dB jump that’s taken for granted in this segment. Are these actually the best TWS headphones under Rs 5,000? let’s find out
Realme Buds Air 3: design and comfort (8/10)
The design language of the Realme Buds Air 3 has been inherited from its predecessor. The shape is similar, but the new buds have shorter stalks. We got the Starry Blue variant to test, which looks classy. Just like the Buds Air 2, the stems are a slightly different shade of blue compared to the bud bowls. You have two other shades to choose from – Galaxy White and Nitro Blue.
While the buds look similar, the body here is much more compact and equally pocketable. The matte blue metallic finish looks great and doesn’t attract smudges or fingerprints. Despite the petite body, it packs a higher-capacity 546mAh battery that claims to deliver 30 hours of playback on a full charge. We will verify this claim shortly. The case has a tiny power indicator LED on the front, a Bluetooth pairing button on the side, and a USB-C charging port on the bottom.
The case weighs just 37.2g while the buds weigh 4.2g each. The processing quality of the buds and the housing leaves no room for complaints. The robustness of the buds is further boosted by an IPx5 rating for splash resistance. So you can wear them to the gym or while jogging without worry. You can take more than a few beads of sweat. Unlike the OnePlus Buds Z2, the case is not protected against the elements.
The earplugs have a comfortable fit and are extremely comfortable to wear for many hours. The silicone tips sit snugly in the ear canals and provide good passive noise isolation. There are three pairs of ear tips included in the box and it’s important to choose the right size for optimal ANC. The accompanying Realme Link app will help you choose the right one in case you can’t make up your own mind. The top of the stems are touch-sensitive, and touch sensitivity is generally good.
Realme Buds Air 3: features and specifications (9/10)
At the heart of the Buds Air 3 is the new Realme R3 chip, which claims to be more power efficient and better at noise cancellation. Each earbud houses a 10mm liquid crystal polymer driver and a pair of microphones for calls and noise cancellation. Just like the Buds Air 2, you get wear-detection sensors to pause the sound when you remove a bud from your ear and resume when you put it back in. It works as expected.
You’ll hear a beep each time you tap the touch-enabled zones. It gives you an idea of the number of taps registered for different controls. Touch gestures work well most of the time, with the occasional exception of triple tapping. The third tap sometimes doesn’t register if you type too fast. You can always assign something less important to this gesture thanks to the Realme Link app (available for both Android and iOS) that allows you to configure controls.
through the App lets you assign double-tap, triple-tap, or touch-and-hold gestures: play/pause, previous/next track, ANC toggle, voice assistant, or nothing. For some reason, the ANC switch here can only be assigned to the touch and hold gesture. In previous versions of Realme like Buds Air 2 or Buds Q2, you can also assign it to triple tap. However, you still cannot assign the volume control. By touching and holding both buds at the same time, you can switch to gaming mode, where latency can drop to 88ms.
The Realme Buds Air 3 is Bluetooth 5.2 compliant and supports AAC and SBC codecs. The buds also support Dolby Atmos if the source device is Atmos compatible. You can switch between three ANC modes – ANC on, Normal and Transparency mode that lets in ambient noise. As I mentioned, these buds can cancel up to 42dB of noise, which is a significant 25dB increase over most of the competition offers. Even better, it works great!
Realme Buds Air 3: Performance (8/10)
Decibel numbers aside, the Realme Buds Air 3’s ANC is by far the best I’ve found in TWS earbuds priced south of Rs 5,000. The fact that this product is under 4K makes it even more commendable. While understandably not in the league of Sony’s premium headphones, which are 4-5 times more expensive, the ANC here noticeably reduces low-frequency sounds like the hum of an air conditioner or the whirr of a fan indoors. It significantly reduces outdoor traffic noise and some human chatter, even on public transport or at work.
One small issue I’d like to point out is that the buds sound a little different with ANC on and off (a bit more detailed in normal mode). Most may not even notice the difference, but it needs to be fixed in a future firmware update. While the transparency mode doesn’t sound entirely natural, it gets the job done. It amplifies ambient noise so you can be aware of your surroundings or have a conversation without taking the buds out of your ears. The wireless range is good with a strong connection at 10 meters with no obstacles between the source and the buds.
Speaking of sound quality, it differs a bit from its predecessor. While the Buds Air 2 had a fairly balanced sound, the Buds Air 3 boosted the lows slightly and made the bass more prominent. Luckily, it’s fairly tight and punchy and doesn’t overshadow the mids very much. Mid-range response is pretty good here with ample clarity on the vocals. Instrument separation isn’t as great, however, which could be due to a fairly narrow soundstage, making the sound seem like it’s crammed into a smaller space.
The highs are pretty sharp; they are usually well tempered and yet have a lot of luster. However, they tend to sound a little hissing when you crank the volume above 80%, which you don’t need to do very often. All in all, the overall sound output feels a little more refined and personable than that of the Buds Air 2 and will appeal to the masses. There were no latency issues when streaming videos with no noticeable lag between video and audio. These Realme buds are loud enough at around 50% to 60% volume in most cases.
As always, the Realme Link app offers three sound profiles – Balanced, Bass Boost+ and Bright, of which I found the Balanced profile to be the best. The company has a little more for you this time in the form of a custom sound profile. It boosts specific frequencies based on your listening skills and creates a personalized equalizer. The concept is similar to the Audio ID feature found on the more expensive OnePlus Buds Pro. It can make the buds sound better than the balanced profile for everyone, but it’s worth a try.
Realme Buds Air 3: call quality (7/10)
Call quality is pretty decent on the Realme Buds Air 3, but I can’t call it an improvement over the Buds Air 2. The shorter stems here just add that extra little distance between the mics and your mouth, likely resulting in a slight drop in voice clarity in comparison. People on the line were perfectly audible both indoors and outdoors. But occasionally I had to repeat myself at the request of the listener.
Wind noise cancellation generally works well, but not without flaws. Sometimes you need to adjust the direction of the stems to cut through the wind noise. The buds managed to keep other ambient noise at bay pretty well. Another improvement here is support for multipoint or dual pairing. The Realme Buds Air 3 can connect to two devices at the same time and works well. Oddly enough, this feature is disabled by default and you have to enable it through the app.
Realme Buds Air 3: Battery life (8/10)
The company promises 22 hours of playback with ANC on and up to 30 hours with ANC off for the buds and case combined. During our testing, the buds lasted almost four and a half hours with ANC on constantly and volume at around 60%. And with the ANC off, they lasted almost 6 hours. The case can charge the buds at least three times more, with total battery backup ranging from 18 to 25 hours depending on how long ANC is on.
This may not match the advertised figures, but the battery support is more than satisfactory for the segment. These buds also support fast charging. A 10-minute charge gives you almost 100 minutes of normal mode playtime. The buds take around an hour to fully charge from zero, while the case takes just over 90 minutes. The battery level of each earbud and charging case can be viewed in the companion app.
Realme Buds Air 3: price and verdict
The Realme Buds Air 3 can be purchased for Rs 3,999 with a one-year warranty. It’s a few hundred rupees more expensive than the Buds Air 2, but thanks to the more refined sound quality, better battery support, and most importantly, the category-leading ANC, you’ll easily get your money’s worth. These features also make it one of the best TWS earphones under Rs 5,000 in India at the moment.
The main competitor of these Realme buds is the OnePlus Buds Z2, which shares similar features. Its ANC might not be as good, but the sound quality and battery life are slightly better for a thousand bucks extra. If ANC and touch controls aren’t required, and you’re looking for great sound quality and solid battery support on this budget, then you should definitely consider the Soundcore Liberty 2 and Lypertek Levi. But if you’re looking for a feature-packed pair of TWS buds with the best ANC under 5K, it’s hard to look beyond the Realme Buds Air 3.
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