Realme Buds Air 6 Review: Big Sound on a Budget

I bought the Realme Buds Air 2 back in 2021 on a friend’s recommendation, and that was one of the best decisions I made at the time as they offered pretty decent ANC without compromising on the overall sound quality. I later tried out the Buds Air 5 Pro and now that brand has released the latest iteration of their popular TWS series, along with the Realme GT 6T, I couldn’t resist testing them out. In this read, I’ll review the Realme Buds Air 6 and share my thoughts on them after a week of usage.

Box Contents

The unboxing is pretty much what you would expect from a typical TWS. Nothing fancy going on here. These are all the things you get inside the Realme Buds Air 6 box.

• Realme Buds Air 6 with the charging case.
• Pair of small and large ear tips (Medium tips pre-applied)
• User Manual
• USB A to C cable

Design and Build Quality

Key Takeaways

1. Design of the case is uninspiring.
2. The case with earbuds inside is lightweight but the build quality is quite good.
3. The buds have a longer nozzle preventing them from falling off easily.

The design of the Buds Air 6 case is pretty generic. The Flame Silver version, that we have here looks bland, to say the least. If you prefer something catchy, the Forest Green variant is the way to go. Realme continues the tradition of shipping their TWS in a pill-shaped charging case. So if you have used the last version, these will feel right at home. The metal-ish adds a soft matte texture, preventing fingerprint smudges and dust from latching on the case. It is a functional design but I am not a big fan of it.

I do have a complement, it’s that the case even with the buds inside is quite lightweight. This is thanks to its all-plastic build rated IP 55 for protection against dust and water. I typically don’t carry TWS cases in my pocket due to their weight but I had no issues carrying these.

When you open the case you are greeted with a splash of neon orange color (on the Flame Silver variant). Seems like Realme has taken a page out of CMF’s book. The orange inside the case compliments the grey finish outside adding a fun element to the design. I would even leave the case open sometimes as it looks prettier that way.

The orange inside the case compliments the grey finish outside adding an element of fun to the design

Talking about the earbuds, they have an in-ear design with the nozzle having a glossy white texture. The stems of the earbuds carry over that matte grey from the case but only on the front half. The nozzle has an elongated design to sit deeper inside your ear canals to create sort of a vacuum for ANC. Even the app recommends you push them deeper for a better fit. This does feel uncomfortable for the first few times but then you get used to it later.

The fit was decent. I had them on for a couple of hours and didn’t feel any irritation whatsoever. My usage time grew over the week, by the end, I could have it on for hours at a time. Another advantage of having the nozzle sit deeper in your ears is they don’t fall off easily. Whether you are rushing to work, or trying to squeeze in the metro, they will stay put on your ears.

Overall, I think in terms of design, Realme should have done a better job with these. But besides that, the orange inside was a nice twist in color and offered a unique dynamic. The buds are also well-designed. They don’t feel cheap even though they are made of plastic, and won’t fall off easily. Hopefully, Realme brings an improved outer case with the Buds Air 7.

Connectivity

Key Takeaway

1. Google Fast Pair makes it easy to setup and connect with earbuds.
2. The connection doesn’t drop and remains pretty solid overall.
3. The Buds don’t support dual-device pairing and Microsoft Swift.

On the topic of connectivity, Realme Buds Air 6 comes with Bluetooth 5.3 and Google Fast pair support. To pair them with your phone, open the lid of the case with the buds inside and press the reset button at the bottom.

Sadly, there is no Microsoft Swift pair support to quickly pair them with your Windows PC, and nor do they feature dual device pairing. I understand the lack of these features to probably cut down on cost but there are other options like the CMF Buds which offer all of the above connectivity options at a lower price.

I have to say that during my week-long usage of these buds, I didn’t face any issues regarding connectivity. There were no drops or such. After the initial setup, they paired with my phone as soon as I opened the lid. The experience was pretty good and reliable in general.

Sound Quality

Key Takeaways

1. Hi-Res LHDC support gives you a rich listening experience.
2. Bass is not overwhelming, doesn’t drown out other sounds either.
3. Decent sound seperation with clear vocals.

If there is one area where I can vouch for the Realme Buds, it’s the sound quality. Let me quickly get the specs out of the way. The buds come with a 12.4 mm deep bass single driver with LHDC 5.0 for Hi-Res sound, as well as AAC and SBC codecs. The Hi-Res audio support for the price is what’s impressive about these buds.

Coming to the main part, the sound quality. You see most earbuds in the budget category are tuned to be bass-heavy as people prefer loud stinky bass. But that also muddles the sound quality. With these, you get to experience all your favorite tracks and sounds in a completely new way.

With these, you get to experience all your favorite tracks and sounds in a completely new way.

The first day I had them on, I turned on Hi-Res mode and played Beyond Desolation from The Last of Us Part 2. There is a subtle lift in the music after the first minute that I didn’t notice before which changes the mood of, what is, a pretty depressing song. The trend remained the same for other songs whether they were Bollywood, Hip Hop, Pop, or Rock tracks that I usually listen to.

The sound separation between musical instruments is pretty clear. By default, it is set to be bass-heavy but you can change to the original mode in the companion app for better audio clarity. The highs are also pretty prominent here along with the vocals. But you can turn on the Volume enhancer if you want to put vocals in highlight.

The bass offered here is also the good kind. The Pure Bass option in the EQ settings gives you a good amount of bass that is enjoyable but not to the extent that it drowns out the treble. Or you can switch to the Deep Bass option and get your stinky loud bass. There is a Dynamic bass option but it didn’t make much of a difference.

Of course, you can pay more to get a better experience, but if you go by sound alone I think these buds are worth it.

Microphone Quality

The Realme Buds Air 6 comes with 3 microphones in each earbud coming to a total of 6 mics. I wouldn’t rate them as good as the previous Buds Air 5 which offered better mic quality. But from my experience of using them when commuting from office to work and back with a mask on, they were pretty good. None of my friends and family reported any mic issues on call.

It picked up my voice pretty well, even when in traffic. However, I did have to talk louder when navigating through the busy bazaars of Shastri Nagar or pull down my mask at times. But all in all, the mic quality was decent, to say the least. I don’t think you would have a problem using them in most scenarios.

Noise Cancellation and Transparency Mode

Key Takeaways

1. The noise cancellation mode is good at drowing out most enviromental noises.
2. High pitched sounds and voices from people standing next to you will be audible.
3. Transparency mode is servicable at best, human voices through it sound very artificial.

In terms of noise cancellation, the Realme Buds Air 6 can cancel out 50 dB using its Active Noise Cancellation 2.0 technology. It also includes 4000 MHz of ultra-wide noise reduction frequency with smart options to change the strength of ANC depending on your environment. But that’s just on paper. What does it mean in day-to-day life?

The noise cancellation offered here is quite strong. It cancels out most of the environmental noise around you. Using them in the metro with a song playing at 30% volume, I could barely hear people around me. It even drowned out the station announcements in the Metro which almost led me to miss my destination station.

If someone is standing close to you, their voice will leak into your ears. But I feel this could be like a safety measure. High-pitched sounds like the screeching of tires or close-by horns will be audible to you. I noticed that the Smart option in Noise Cancellation settings regularly defaults to Moderate even when I am in low-sound environments.

On the other side, the Transparency mode is serviceable. It works as intended enhancing the environmental noise around you. But I often had to take out the buds as the human voices sounded artificial with this mode enabled so I had trouble understanding what the other person was saying to me. Turning on the Enhance voices option does help rectify this issue a little but it didn’t feel enough.

I am hoping for an update to improve the transparency mode but Realme does not usually release updates to its TWS frequently. I have seen only updates so far and that did not fix the issue.

Touch Controls

Touch controls in another place where there is not much customization available. You only have three actions, and between them, you cannot set one to decline incoming calls or change volume.

The touch target is pretty small. It is a small groove located at the top of the stem of both earbuds. Since I suffer from fat finger syndrome, I often miss touching the exact grooves when carrying out a tap or two for my intended action. I don’t know what made them switch from the earlier design which offered the entire length of the stem for touch activation.

Battery Life and Charging

Key Takeaways

1. The buds can last up to 6 hours with ANC and other features enabled.
2. With a fully-charged case, these buds should last around 2-3 days on heavy usage.
3. Charging speeds are slow taking almost two hours to charge the buds and the case together.

The battery life of the Buds Air 6 is amazing. On my first day, I had a pretty tough time trying to kill them. I had noise cancellation set to max, Hi-Res, and Voice enhancement enabled, with the volume set to 50%. I used them throughout my 2-hour commute and in the end, managed to take the battery down to only 70%.

Realme claims 6.5 hours of battery life with ANC enabled and a total of 40 hours including the charging case. I think my testing also led me to somewhere around the 6-hour mark where they finally started to give up reaching 10%. Throughout my testing of a week, not once did I charge the case itself. Yes, I am not that heavy of a user but had them on me whenever I was commuting.

So for a heavy user, you can expect these buds to last for around three days without charging the case. When the time did come to charge, it took about 2 hours to charge the case along with the earbuds and an hour for the case itself. I guess it is a good thing that its battery lasts this long because putting it to charge is not something you would want to do often.

Companion App Experience

Key Takeaways

1. Realme Link app requires account creation to customize the Buds Air 6 experience.
2. The app is easy to navigate but might sign you out randomly.
3. Pairs the device automatically to your Realme account.

Realme Buds Air 6 needs you to install the Realme Link app which is the default app for all Realme accessories. You can download it from the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store depending on your phone.

I have used this app before and what I don’t like about it is that it requires you to create an account. Let’s say you go through the hassle of creating an account and signing in, but the app might randomly sign you out at times. This issue has been there for years now and I have given up hoping Realme would provide a solution.

The app automatically recognizes the buds once connected to your device. It will link them to your account which you have created. It gives you access to switch between different noise modes, and access features offered within said modes.

For Realme Buds Air 6, it lets you see the battery capacity of each earbud and the case. You can enable Hi-Res audio, switch between EQ modes, turn on Game mode, do an Ear fit test, access the Mindflow mode which is for breathing and meditation, and change button controls.

The UI is simple and easy to understand and you shouldn’t face any problems figuring out which option is where. You can set a custom equalizer from the EQ mode option if you are not happy with the presets provided. It is a pretty decent app for the Realme Buds Air 6 and if you use other Realme devices like me, then you may already be familiar with it.

Should You Buy the Realme Buds Air 6?

In conclusion, I have to say that the Realme Buds Air 6 is one of the best-sounding earbuds that you can get at this price range. I am happy that the Hi-Res support isn’t just a fancy gimmick but provides value and enhances the listening experience. Of course, it is not something that can beat out IEMs or other expensive earbuds. So don’t expect it to when buying them.

I am impressed by their sound and I have to admire Realme for offering this experience, unlike other brands. However, the design team needs to get back on the drawing board and need to make some improvements which I feel are missing on this one. Especially with the case and the touch targets on the stem.

But if a friend or family member asks me which TWS to get if they have a strict budget then I would point them to the Buds Air 6 for sure. I think for a reviewer, and someone who tests multiple gadgets, this line is enough to let you know that these are genuinely good for the price.