TechRadar Verdict
With Realme Buds Wireless 2, Realme is democratizing ANC features at a price point that was hard to imagine a few years ago. The Buds Wireless 2 offers a lot of features that make it an easy recommendation from us — even though the audio is not the best in the segment.
Pros
- +
ANC on budget
- +
Battery life
- +
Good for calls
Cons
- -
The sound signature could be better
- -
Bass might be overwhelming for many
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Two-minute review
Realme has had great success with its audio products in the past be it the TWS, wireless Bluetooth earphones or wired earphones. The latest one to join the audio portfolio of the Realme family is the Realme Buds Wireless 2.
The Realme Buds Wireless 2 are the successor to the Realme Buds Wireless. Just like most Realme products, it is also priced aggressively and offers a lot more than what you’d expect from a budget Bluetooth earphone.
Starting off with features, the support for active noise cancellation is the star of the show here along with LDAC support. The ANC is effective and works well against low-frequency noise. The LDAC support is a welcome addition in the budget segment and it can be future-proofing if your device doesn’t have support yet.
While the audio quality isn’t the best in class, the Realme Buds Wireless 2 is still a great choice for casual users who prefer a neckband for calls and music listening with bass-heavy tracks. For most people, this might just be the right choice of earphones as you are getting a lot of features without having to burn your pocket.
The battery life is decent while you get excellent fast charging. The companion app makes the earphone more enjoyable along with a bunch of customization options. Overall, the Realme Buds Wireless 2 is great for its price. While it’s not the best in terms of sound profile, other features make it an easy recommendation from us.
Realme Buds Wireless 2 price and availability
The Realme Buds Wireless 2 are priced at Rs 2,299. They are available on Flipkart in Bass Gray and Bass Yellow colour options.
Design and fit
The Realme Buds Wireless 2 neckband comes in two colourways 一 Bass Gray and Bass Yellow. We are using the Bass Gray in this review, but the Bass Yellow might be the crowd favourite. The neckband weighs 29 grams and does not add any weight around your neck 一 in other words, these are very comfortable to wear for a long period of time. The earbuds are bigger than most other neckbands or even some wired earphones. But that is not a deal-breaker. The earbuds end come with an interesting disk design.
The neckband sports a 135mAh battery which is located on the right side of the band along with controls. Talking about the in-line controls, the Realme Buds Wireless 2 comes with volume up, multi-function, volume down, and ANC buttons. The Type-C charging port also sits in the same module. You also get a tiny LED indicator.
The length of the neckband is sufficient enough for using and removing it from the ears without having to struggle. The earbuds are the in-ear style with interchangeable eartips 一 you get one pair of L, M, and S silicone eartips. The buds at the end are magnetic and they connect to your device instantly as they come off and pause the content once the magnets are connected.
In terms of fit, these are comfortable and can stay in the ear as long as you binge-watch on your device. The Realme Buds Wireless 2 are also IPX5 rated for protection against sweat and water. Overall, we are pretty much satisfied with the design and fit of the earphones.
Audio
The Realme Buds Wireless 2 are powered by Realme R2 audio chipset, and it comes with Bluetooth 5.0 for wireless connectivity. We have seen the same chipset on Realme Buds Air 2 TWS as well. The earphones are also specially tuned by The Chainsmokers.
In addition to this, the Buds Wireless 2 also offers active noise cancellation up to 25dB. It has 13.6mm bass boost drivers with support for AAC, SBC, and Sony’s LDAC Hi-Res playback. Furthermore, there is also support for AI noise cancellation for calls, 88ms low-latency mode for gaming, transparent mode, and Google Fast pair support.
The sound signature on the Realme Buds Wireless 2 is fairly good, but not the best in the segment. You get a good amount of sound and you will be very happy with the result unless you are an audiophile. Thanks to the large driver on the inside, these create thumping bass, but the bass effect is not the best as it bleeds into mids as well.
The bass might be overwhelming for most people as the default mode sound itself will create ample bass. You can listen to audio in three modes 一 Bright, Dynamic, and BassBoost+. The Bass Boost+ option will add more bass while losing the focus on mids and lows.
Furthermore, these wireless earbuds also bring support for LDAC Hi-Res audio support where you can listen to lossless audio up to 990 kbps at 32 bit/96 kHz. Only a few smartphones launched recently to support this and enabling this feature also consumes more battery.
In a nutshell, while the Realme Buds Wireless 2 does sound fairly well, the sound staging and treble performance could have been improved. While this is not a deal-breaker for most, Realme can definitely improve this with an OTA update. If the best audio is your priority around Rs 2,000, the Oppo Enco M31 are still the best.
It is also worth mentioning the Realme Buds Wireless 2 had an issue with audio latency while watching videos on Netflix, YouTube, etc and that was fixed via an OTA update after a few days and we did not face any issue thereafter. Gaming on the earphones with BGMI and CoD Mobile were daily good, but we were losing on audio for a second every few minutes. However, there was no audio latency.
ANC
In terms of the ANC, these earphones do offer noise cancellation up to 25dB. It cancels out most of the lower frequency noise, such as fan noise, medium traffic, etc. There is a good amount of difference between the ANC off and on state which means the ANC does work and it is effective. If you have enabled the volume enhancer mode it does block out noise from the outside world while the transparency mode allows you to listen to the outside as well as the media on the bud without having to remove it from the ears 一 a feature that’s handy during travelling.
Microphone
Thanks to the AI noise cancelling feature, the microphone performance was excellent on the Realme Buds Wireless 2. We could take calls even when we were on the move on a bike and the person on the other side also did not have any issues listening to the audio. The AI noise cancellation feature does make the audio bit less natural though.
Controls and app
As mentioned earlier, the Realme Buds Wireless 2 has four buttons for controls. The multi-function button which sits in between the volume controls can perform the following functions:
- Single click 一 play/pause; answer/hang up the call
- Double click一 next song
- Press three times 一 previous song
- Long press for 1sed 一 wake up the voice assistant
- Long press for 3sec 一 enter pairing mode
Similarly, the ANC button can perform the following functions:
- Single click 一 switch ANC/transparency mode
- Double click 一 return to the last connected device
- Long press for 1sec 一 enter/exit game mode
One of the best things about Realme’s AIOT products is the fact that you get a solid companion app that offers a bunch of customization options. Realme is also the only one to offer such a feature-rich app experience even for budget products.
The Realme Link app lets you customize controls like single click, double click, and long press. You can also change the audio listening mode in the app, change sound effects, and also enter a game mode in the app itself. The auto call feature enables you to pick the call automatically as you take out the buds. Lastly, it also displays battery percentage on the top so that you know when to chase the earphones.
We did like the feature that Realme Buds Wireless 2 offers and even more for points for the neatly done application. The double-tap to return back to the last paired device is handy especially if you have connected to your work laptop and phone.
Battery life
Realme makes a big claim when it comes to battery life, the Realme Buds Wireless 2 earbuds are rated to last up to 22 hours with ANC off(AAC) and up to 18 hours with ANC on(AAC) and 10 hours and 11 hours with ANC on(LDAC) and 11 hours with ANC off(LDAC) respectively. These all are if you listen at 50% volume. But, we did try out all our testing at 80% which is where the sweet spot for most people lies.
In our testing, we did manage to get a battery life of over a week with daily calls for 30 minutes, listening to songs, watching videos, and playing a bit of game. With ANC turned off and volume set at 80% we managed to get about 10 hours of battery life which is almost half of what the company claims, but we had set the volume at 80%. Regardless, these earphones should easily last for about a week for casual usages like calls, meetings, videos, and occasional gaming. The OnePlus Bullet Wireless does offer better battery life, but you will lose out on ANC and LDAC support.
In terms of changing, you get a Type-C port on the neckband which takes 50 minutes to charge the Realme Buds Wireless 2. However, the Dart charge technology offers 80% battery in just 10 minutes of charge which is rated to last up to 12 hours. In our testing, we found the earphones can last up to 7 hours with 80% volume.
Verdict
The Realme Buds Wireless brings a lot to the table such as ANC, LDAC support for Hi-Res audio listening, good battery life, and excellent charging speeds. But, it is not the best in the segment when it comes to sound quality. We think the Realme Buds Wireless 2 sound profile could have been better, but unless you are an audiophile this shouldn't be an issue. Also, the bass might be overwhelming at times 一 if you can live with these two the Buds Wireless 2 ate a great choice.
If audio quality is our top priority, the Oppo Enco M31 are still the best out there under Rs 2,000 and if you want better battery life, the OnePlus Buds Wireless Z are a good choice. However, you won’t be getting ANC, LDAC, and great companion app support on these two neckbands.
Buy it if...
- You want ANC on budget
- You want LDAC Hi-Res audio listening
- You want an excellent set of features
Don’t buy it if…
- Audio quality is your top priority
- You are not a fan of thumpy bass
First reviewed: August 2021
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