TWS wireless headphones, that is, those in which the right and left speakers are not connected by wire, have long been the main source of sound around the world. In 2017, despite the rather mediocre sound, the first AirPods brought about a real revolution in the mobile audio market. It took other companies some time to develop competitive offerings, but now TWS models are available from both hi-fi audio equipment manufacturers and mobile providers like realme.
Realme is not new to the TWS headphone market, and the predecessor of the Buds Air 5 Pro, the Buds Air 3 model, enjoyed well-deserved popularity, but it is the current flagship of the line of realme’s most interesting wireless headphones. today.
Appearance
Realme Buds Air 5 Pro comes in two colors, black and white. The glossy black version is more spectacular and the white version is more practical, because it gets dirty less easily. However, the concept of “marking” refers more to the case than to the headphones themselves. The case itself is compact and easily fits in any pocket. Headphones in the case are firmly fixed, do not fall out, but are easily removed. This is important, because for many TWS earphones, getting each one out of the case becomes a quest.
Photo: Dmitri Bevza/RG
The headphones fit securely in the case. Photo: Dmitri Bevza/RG
Otherwise, these are ordinary clean TWS headphones with silicone ear pads made in the “leg” form factor. Let’s remember that there are also drop-shaped TWS headphones. It is impossible to say which of the designs is better, but as a rule, the ears get less tired in earphones, and the eardrops sit more closely in the ear and provide better passive sound isolation.
Sound
Now let’s move on to the most important thing, to what determines the class of headphones, to the sound. Realme Buds Air 5 Pro is equipped with two 11mm bass speakers (sound drivers) and a 6mm tweeter. Headphone developers claim that thanks to this design, the Buds Air 5 Pro can reproduce sound in a very wide frequency range, from 20 Hz to 40 kHz. It’s hard to say which is more marketing (the human ear doesn’t hear sounds in such a wide range) or technical calculation. Sound engineers say that the frequency range of the speakers, which goes beyond the limits of human hearing, provides cleaner sound in the audible range, as distortion often occurs at the upper and lower frequency limits. of the speakers. One way or another, the Buds Air 5 Pro perform well, as they say, in a flagship way.
Photo: Dmitri Bevza/RG
Photo: Dmitri Bevza/RG
If we talk about the nature of the sound, then it can be called “crystal clear”, perhaps even for someone’s taste it will seem harsh, but this is already a matter of user preferences, the quality of the music track and settings. . Yes, that’s right, the setup. There are many of them. In addition to a good level of hardware, the Buds Air 5 Pro have a realme link application, without which about a quarter of all the advantages of this model are lost. This app is arguably part of the earphones themselves, though it’s not only meant for the Buds Air 5 Pro, but also for controlling a wide variety of realme devices.
Realme link and other “magic” software
Before moving on to the actual link, we note that the Buds Air 5 Pro supports Google Fast Pair technology. When you open the case, an animation appears on the smartphone with a suggestion to connect the headphones.
The realme link app unlocks many features of the Buds Air 5 Pro that are not available without it. Let’s start with the fact that it allows you to customize the control of the headphones. That is, on double, triple and long taps on each earphone, you can “hang up” a certain action: pause / play, active noise reduction, volume, etc.
In the app, you can check the fit of the headphones and choose the optimal size of the ear tips (however, we could not guarantee a perfect fit). You can connect the headset to gaming mode with a very fast response time and set up a connection with two devices at the same time (a very good option).
realme link app Photo: Dmitry Bevza/RG
It is also possible to select a default sound profile (in our opinion, there is not enough profile for voice and podcasts in the default settings) and adjust the equalizer. If the equalizer is too lazy to adjust, then you can quickly “launch” the bass using the “Dynamic Bass” knob.
Separately, we note support for the LDAC HD codec. If your smartphone or tablet supports it, then you should definitely enable it. As the manufacturer states: “LDAC HD offers sample rates of up to 96 kHz and code rates of 990 Kbps for studio-quality acoustic sessions.” If translated into Russian, then this means that when LDAC HD is turned on, the sound quality will improve.
The test dispelled our skepticism regarding the use of LDAC HD in TWS earphones. The sound really gets better, not only on very high-quality special test recordings, but also on regular music streaming services. The main benefit of using LDAC HD with the Buds Air 5 Pro is more sound detail and the ability to hear each instrument better.
The realme link app also has the ability to adjust the level of active noise cancellation and customize the noise cancellation for the user’s ears. In general, in terms of active noise cancellation, the manufacturer claims that its level is 50 dB, which is 8 dB higher than that of the Buds Air 3, and a wider range of 4000 Hz. In practice, you will not get Absolutely silent, but the rumble of cars, wind noise and other background noise is eliminated quite well. Specifically, we traveled in the Buds Air 5 Pro in the Moscow metro and we can say that even there you can listen to music and podcasts, and not the roar of the train. Yes, the volume will have to be turned up, but this is unavoidable on the subway with any TWS earphone.
realme link app Photo: Dmitry Bevza/RG
But that is not all. In realme link, you can optimize the sound character of the Buds Air 5 Pro using the so-called “Golden Sound Profile”, for this you need to insert headphones and pass a listening test of approximately three to five minutes in a quiet place. The app will determine which frequencies you hear better, which ones are worse, and will balance their volume during playback. The option is interesting. On many records (but not all) it actually improves the sound.
Also note the support for “spatial audio”. This is not Dolby Atmos, but as the description says, designed according to the HRTF head functional model, the realme algorithm that creates three-dimensional spatial sound. When watching movies or playing games, this option significantly adds immersion.
The last thing to say about the realme link is that, like most similar apps, it shows the charge level of the earphones and the case.
realme link app Photo: Dmitry Bevza/RG
Running time, water protection, communication.
Headphone battery life at 50% volume with a standard AAC codec is 11 hours straight and 40 hours when recharging from the case. The inclusion of active noise cancellation and the LDAC HD codec reduces the operating time, but still, the headphones work for too long a time. Charging time via Type-C connector (case + headphones): 120 minutes until fully charged. Charging the headphones from the case: 50 minutes for a full charge.
Buds Air 5 Pro is equipped with 6 microphones and ENC ambient noise reduction technology for phone calls and instant messaging. We would not recommend calling someone on the subway, but in the city on the street everything is very worthwhile.
Another important point is the IPX5 moisture resistance, which will protect the headphones, even in heavy rain.
Comparison with competitors
We carefully compare the realme Buds Air 5 Pro, which is asking for 9 thousand rubles, with two other headphones from China that have already earned a good reputation for music. These are Shanling mtw300 (11k) and Anker Soundcore Liberty 3 Pro for (14k).
If you compare Buds Air 5 Pro with Shanling mtw300, then the sound quality is almost the same (mtw300 has softer tone), but mtw300 is just great sounding headphones for listening to music without active noise cancellation, Buds Air software capabilities 5 Pro, protection against humidity and with a very average microphone quality
Compared to the Anker Soundcore Liberty 3 Pro, which is also packed with various software options, the realme Buds Air 5 Pro don’t sound quite as rich, but they fully “bear” Liberty in terms of battery life. Well, it is impossible not to notice the price difference between these models.
Who will adapt?
Realme Buds Air 5 Pro is worth taking a closer look at for those who are no longer satisfied with the sound quality of entry-level TWS earphones, who are looking for high-quality universal TWS earphones, not for the money of the space. Other models may even surpass them in certain parameters, but really the Buds Air 5 Pro has few competitors in terms of the combination of features, sound quality, technical specifications and software in the corresponding price range.
Advantages:
high quality sound; Extremely advanced application with a large number of options and settings; Universal character of headphones. Equally suitable for music, podcasts, movies, games, phone conversations;Waterproof;Long battery life.
Cons:
Relatively high price Delivering crisp sound that won’t be liked by everyone Not all ears provide a perfect fit. You have to try the headphones on before you buy them.
Specifications:
Colors: white, black; Active Noise Cancellation (ANC); Sound drivers: 11 mm bass driver + 6 mm microplanar tweeter Frequency range: 20 – 40,000 Hz; Operating time: (50% volume with AAC playback quality) noise reduction off), Separate headphones: 11 hours (noise reduction off); Bluetooth version: 5.3; Stable connection: up to 10 m; Dust and moisture protection: IPX5 (headphones only); Audio codecs: AAC, SBC, LDAC; Charging time: via Type-C Connector (case + headphones) 120 minutes for full charge, charging headphones from the case: 50 minutes for full charge.
