My Honest Realme Buds Air 3 Review – Worth it?

Related Articles

BeatO Curv Smartphone Glucometer Review – Does It Really Work?

June 2, 2023

It’s that time of the year when India gets into the festive season. Navratri, Dussehra, and Diwali take over the country. And over the last few years, another sort of festival that starts around the same time is the shopping festival. While I try to spend only on things that I need, there are times I do spend.

This time around I bought the Realme Buds Air 3 from Flipkart. It’s been a little over a week since I’m using it, and I guess it’s good for my quick Realme Buds Air 3 review.

Realme Buds Air 3 Review

I had been using neckband-type Bluetooth earphones for some time now. While they are good, the problem is that it has issues with multi-device pairing. Since I’m on and off work calls plus I watch videos on my iPad, I needed something that seamlessly pairs with two devices. Also, there was a charging issue with this one. Hence was looking for a new one and thought to give these Realme Buds Air 3 a try.

Packaging

This was my first order from Flipkart in like years. More often than not, I don’t find a product on FK but find it on Amazon, hence it became my default choice for all online shopping. Nonetheless, this was an open-box delivery. And I was like What is Flipkart Open Delivery? Basically, the delivery person will open the outer and inner packaging during delivery and click pictures to ensure there’s the right product.

I wanted to unbox it myself but that didn’t happen. Nonetheless, the packaging was nice. Looked premium. I ordered the blue color one because my Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G is blue too. The buds were inside the case along with extra ear tips and a USB type C charging cable. There’s also some documentation you want to read. I suggest you always read the user manual.

Overall, quite happy with the packaging.

Good Build Quality

Housed inside this small & cute case are the two earbuds. The case is made from good plastic which has a smooth, silky texture. So it just slips out of the hand, in fact, it happened many times. So I suggest getting a cover/case for it. There’s one charging LED that turns green while charging. There’s no battery percentage display as such.

The earbuds themselves are different. There’s a bulge near the tips and dual mics on each side that are used for active noise cancellation. The default ear tips fit me well. Further, these are my first TWS earphones in a long time and I felt it was not easy to put them in and out of the box. It will take some time to get used to it.

Connectivity & Pairing

First things first, make sure to download the Realme Link app. Without the app, you cannot do a lot of configurations. They have Bluetooth 5.2 and pair instantly with your phone. As soon as you open the case, your phone will get a pairing notification. The Realme Buds Air 3 can pair with multiple devices and do to that you need to press the button on the case to get this into the pairing mode.

In terms of multi-device connectivity, I’m satisfied with these. On one side I’m connected to my iPad watching videos, on the other I’m connected to my phone for work calls. The pairing is nice and seamless. For instance, if I’m watching a video on my iPad and there’s an incoming call on my phone, these buds will automatically pause the video and switch to the call. Post the call, the video resumes. I really love this.

The touch controls are quite good but sensitive at times. For someone like me who has long hair, when I try to fix my hair, I accidentally touch it and the media pauses. Otherwise, the touch controls are decent to play/pause, change track, change mode, etc. These don’t have touch-enabled volume change features. I so wish that was there

In terms of connectivity, it’s decent. While I’ve noticed that when multiple devices are paired, I found the connectivity to be just ok. Otherwise, it’s fine.

Audio Quality – Good for the price

Let me clarify that I’m not an Audiophile. I attend work calls and watch youtube videos. I wanted multi-device earphones and that’s why I got them. So I might not be able to give a very detailed specific review of the sound.

The earbuds provide 3 modes, transparent, normal, and noise cancellation mode. In the transparent it allows all the outside noise to pass. In normal mode, there’s partial blocking and lastly, the noise cancellation blocks all the noise.

The noise cancellation is decent for the price. It blocks a good amount of background noise. Again you cannot compare it with Airpods or Sony  WH-1000XM4, I prefer the noise cancellation mode over normal and transparent.

The sound quality is good, the bass is decent. And in noise cancellation mode, the sound does come out well. Talking about work calls, noise cancellation helps keep the background noise away and makes it easier to listen to the other party. In terms of my own audio, nobody complained to me that my voice had any issue so I’m assuming it’s fine.

Overall, satisfied with the sound quality.

Battery Life and Charging

The Realme Buds Air 3 promise a battery life of 30 hours in normal mode & 22 hours in noise cancellation mode with the case. While I’ve not calculated it, I’ve had it running for more than a day easily with the case. Since these have Type-C charging, I can even use my phone charger to charge them. They say it has fast charging, and I did feel it’s fast charging. Does charge quickly, so not an issue on it.

Final Verdict: Good For The Price

During my research I realized that Realme Buds Air has been evolving over the years, the original ones, Buds 2, Buds 3, and the newer Buds 3 Neo. Over the year the product has evolved as the Realme Buds Air 3 are quite good. The build quality is good, the sound is good and the ANC is decent. For ₹3500 these are a good pair of earphones to have with ANC. I used my credit card points for Flipkart vouchers and paid ₹400 in cash. So I won’t complain!

That’s about my Realme Buds Air 3 review. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below, tweet to me at @Atulmaharaj, DM on Instagram or Get In Touch.