Geek Lifestyle Review: realme Buds Wireless

Since the brand arrived in PH shores last year, realme has released a range of Android phones that offer great performance and cameras, all while having affordable price tags. Realme’s doesn’t just make smartphones though, the brand also has various accessories on offer.

For the upcoming 12.12 sale, the brand is releasing the realme Buds Wireless, a pair of neckband-style wireless earbuds that promise “Real Bass” while having a price tag that won’t break the bank.

Given how great realme’s smartphones are in terms of bang-for-buck, I was interested to see if the brand’s accessories live up to standards. To find out, I tested out the realme Buds Wireless for over a week. Here are my thoughts!

Design and Fit

What stands out about the realme Buds Wireless is its color scheme. The earbud’s button markings, wire, and part of the eartips feature realme’s signature bright yellow hue that’s balanced out by a black neckband and earpieces. Personally, I think the black-and-yellow colorway of the Buds Wireless works well, making it an attractive-looking pair of earphones for the style-conscious.

Aside from looks, the materials used in the realme Buds Wireless makes it a great partner for workouts. Even if it’s not exactly billed as a sporty pair of headphones, the Buds Wireless’ matte and rubberized finish should make it fairly sweat-resistant.

Comfort wise, the realme Buds Wireless feels like your standard pair of in-ear monitors in that if you find the right eartip fit, they can be comfortably worn for hours on end. For a better fit, make sure to try out the different bundled eartip sizes as the Buds Wireless comes with three pairs of eartips in the box. Aside from the extra eartips, the box also includes a microUSB cable for charging the earphones (no bundled charger here).

The earpieces of the Buds Wireless also come with eartip hooks, similar to what you’d find in sports earphones. The hooks help keep the earbuds in place; though if you don’t find the hooks comfortable, you can remove them with ease.

Sound Quality

The realme Buds Wireless’ box features the words “Real Bass.” Coupled with the fact that these headphones are tuned by DJ Alan Walker, I expected the Buds Wireless to deliver gobs of bass — and it delivered!

If you listen to a lot of pop, hip-hop, K-pop, or any primarily electronic genre, you’ll love the realme Buds Wireless. Songs like The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” for example, shines when played on the Buds Wireless; the bass is punchy without drowning out the vocals and the rest of the production. If you listen to K-pop songs like TWICE’s “Feel Special”, the Buds Wireless is also a great pair, with bass once again being punchy all while the vocals are loud and clear.

On the flip side, if you listen primarily to bass-light genres (think acoustic or indie rock), the realme Buds Wireless will just be okay. An example is Kacey Musgraves’ “Lonely Weekend” which sounds slightly muffled due to the boosted bass frequencies. In spite of the bassy sound signature, the realme Buds Wireless still delivers a decent to good listening experience for non-bassheads.

Everyday Reliability

While most neckband-style wireless earbuds have a dedicated power button, the realme Buds Wireless is unique in that to turn it off, you should just attach the two ends of the earpieces together (they attach magnetically). So to turn it on, just pull the earbuds apart and it’ll be able to connect to your smartphone or other device via Bluetooth. This on/off feature is nifty as you won’t have to fiddle with a power button, though putting it inside a bag might cause it to turn on, wasting battery life.

While there’s no power button, the realme Buds Wireless does come with volume rockers and an “R” button to play, pause, and skip tracks.

In terms of connectivity, the Buds Wireless was able to pair well with both my phone and my laptop. Other Bluetooth earbuds I’ve tried had trouble pairing from time-to-time, but the realme Buds Wireless connected quickly.

Finally, the realme Buds Wireless’ battery life did not disappoint. Realme claims that the Buds Wireless can last for up to 12 hours of use. While I didn’t reach 12 hours, I was able to listen for over 10 hours on one charge, meaning it has the advantage over true-wireless earbuds when it comes to battery life.

For my daily use requirements, the realme Buds Wireless passes with flying colors.

Final Geek Lifestyle Verdict — 8.5/10

Does the Buds Wireless live up to realme’s bang-for-buck reputation? Yes, it definitely does! The realme Buds Wireless has a good-looking design, great sound quality (especially for bass-heads), and it passes the daily use test with ease. The best part about the Buds Wireless though is its price; at only PHP 1,990, this pair of earbuds are one of the cheapest wireless buds you can get.

The realme Buds Wireless releases on December 12, just in time for the upcoming Lazada 12.12 Sale!