Realme buds wireless 2 review: Is it affordable to Price at under ₹3000/.
The good thing is that even on a strict budget, you can get some good options. Especially with the entry of smartphone brands into the scene, the choices have gotten better for the customer.
Realme is one such name that has made its mark in this space for its affordable offerings. As of summer 2021, it has a decent range of audio products to its portfolio which includes earphones packing treats like active noise cancellation, water resistance, low latency game mode, etc within the sub-5000 INR slab.
Take, for instance, its latest neckband tagged Realme Buds Wireless 2 which comes at ₹2,299 and even touts Hi-Res sound with Sony’s LDAC codec support. This is something usually found in upstate ear/head-phones only. Sounds too good to be true, right? Well, I am about to tell you if it is.
Realme Buds Wireless 2 Unboxing
The Realme Buds Wireless 2 comes in a small rectangle box, within which you get:
What's inside the box?
. The neckband
. A pair of Small, Medium, and Large Silicone . Ear Tips
. A USB-C cable
. User Guide
Specifications :
. Bluetooth: 5.0; With multipoint; SBC, AAC, LDAC
. Charging Interface: USB-C
. Microphone: Yes
. ANC: up to 25dB; Vocplus AI Noise . Cancellation for Calls
. Bluetooth Range: Up to 10m
. Driver: 13.6mm
. Frequency: 2.4GHz to 2.4835GHz
. Game Mode: 88ms
. Battery: 135mAh with Dart Charge
. Water Resistance: IPX5
. Weight: 29g
. Price in India: ₹2,299
Realme Buds Wireless 2 comes in two colors viz. Yellow and Gray. I got the latter and I like it better too. The build quality is assuring. They seem strong while being flexible, and are light on the collar. The finish of the polycarbonate and rubber feels smooth to touch.
They sit tight in the ears and don’t just fall sideways that easily. I like the weight balance and overall construct of these collar earphones. When not in use, you can snap in the magnetic heads of the buds together, which pauses the music.
Rest, rounding off the design segment is IPX5 protection (against sweat and splash), a USB-C port, control buttons, and a tiny LED indicator. Like the former two. I will get to the controls later on. But, the LEDs come to play in the coming section.
Pairing is easy thanks to Google Fast Pair. The earphones will start looking for connection as soon as you power them on. BTW, they turn on when you detach them. However, if you want to manually activate pairing mode, simply tap on the multi-functioning button (MFB; present between volume rockers) for at least 3 seconds until the LED lights up green. From the Bluetooth settings of the target device (phone, laptop, etc), select Realme Buds Wireless 2, and the connection takes place.
Upon tethering, it works over Bluetooth 5.0 within a 10m range. I didn’t face any drops or disconnects. The call quality was fine too. You also get to seamlessly switch to other devices connected to the target device with a single tap of a button.
Buds Wireless 2 features four buttons in total. There are volume keys, an MFB, and a noise cancellation button. You can configure each of them to do actions like invoking Voice Assistant, enable game mode, control music playback, switch between connected devices, etc with different tap combinations. These settings can be changed from within the Realme Link app.
The app also lets you choose the Noise control modes, Sound effects, enhance volume, and activate the Game mode or Auto-answer system. I wish there was an option to lower/increase the volume though.
Realme offers 88ms of super-low latency, which should come useful in games and while watching videos. Initially, I had faced some lag while watching YouTube videos but not lately.
Besides SBC and AAC, Realme Buds Wireless 2 also supports the LDAC codec. In supported devices (like the Realme X7 Max, I tested it on), LDAC can output high-res audio up to 32-bit/96kHz over Bluetooth at up to 990kbps. Sony also claims this “achieves the higher sound quality than conventional codecs, even in a bad connection environment”.
But since we aren’t talking of high-end equipment, let’s talk more realistically. LDAC definitely adds oomph and between SBC and LDAC, you will hear the difference in terms of instrument sound reproduction and vocal clarity. This has to be turned off for game mode to work.
At 50%, it is plenty loud, but for the purposes of testings, I had the volume slider swiped up about 70/80%.
Within the Realme Link app and pressing the lowermost button toggles between Noise Cancellation, Normal, and Transparency mode. ANC (up to 25dB) is good enough to mostly tamp down the surrounding noise. I could still hear indoor noises from Washing machines, utensils, TV, and tile cutter (in the neighborhood). But, if I play music along with ANC, the experience was pretty isolating.
The app also lets you choose between three sound profiles viz. Bass Boost+, Dynamic, and Bright. I mostly used Dynamic, which I feel is the sweet spot. But, occasionally I move to Bright to listen to the instruments and sounds in the higher frequencies. I didn’t use Bass Boost+ as the result was boomier than I like.
Pros
. Good Sound and Call quality
. Fairly good build
. USB-C charging
. Decent battery life
. IPX5 water resistance
. Multiple configurable controls
Cons
. One or two instances of audio delay during use
. ANC lets in some amount of noise.
