realme Buds Air6 Pro review
realme Buds Air6 Pro emerge as a solid contender in the mid-range TWS earbuds space, potentially taking the crown of the best TWS in-ear earphones away from the Oppo Enco Air3 Pro. The improvement over the last-gen Buds Air5 Pro is noticeable, and for the price, you get a pair of earbuds that are solid performers in terms of features, sound signature, and battery life. The only place where I would say you tread with caution is with the aesthetics of the buds and their app. If you are not a fan of blingy design or an app which you have to sign in, to make any good use, then you should look elsewhere. Your options would be the Oppo Enco Air3 Pro and the OnePlus Buds 3, both of which are solid performers for the price.
realme Buds Air6 Pro, competing with the likes of the Oppo Enco Air3 Pro in the mid-range TWS in-ear earphones market, hit the ground running on a great note! As I noted in my first impressions article that I penned after spending 24 hours with these in-ear earphones, they are a solid offering for ₹4,999. I was sceptical about their performance in the long run, but once I was done testing these in-ear earphones, all my doubts went away. Read along to find out how the realme Buds Air6 Pro fared in my testing –
The design of the realme Buds Air6 Pro is polarising. The case has a glossy, chromatic finish, which looks awesome to some, and for others, it is a turn-off. I passed around these TWS in-ear earphones at the Digit Test Centre, and the thoughts echoed by the team seconded my observation. Another thing that would put these in-ear earphones on the fringes of many buyers’ radar is the fact that the body of the case is very prone to scratches and is a definite fingerprint magnet. So, take the call for yourself.
The overall build of the case and the buds is strong, and the case has a nice heft to it. There is no metallic hinge, which is something that I personally crave, but the plastic hinge holds up well in day-to-day use. They build on to the expectations set by their predecessors, the realme Buds Air5 Pro. The fit of the buds also stays closely in line with that of the Buds Air5 Pro and makes them fit well in for a variety of people. The buds hold their own when you are working out, and the case, thanks to its rounded design, is fairly pocketable, too.
In terms of features, the realme Buds Air6 Pro leaves no stone unturned. These earbuds come with all the customisation that you could ask for, thanks to the realme Link app. I would like to borrow a line from my first impressions article of these in-ear earphones – “The UI of the app is clean, polished, and intuitive. One of the standout things is the Golden Sound Test, which is the name given by realme, to their personalised tuning feature. When I did the test, it made the sound brighter for me, with better imaging of instruments. Definitely a win there.”
Apart from that, you have the mindflow feature, which helps in meditation and mindfulness activities with its great selection of peaceful melodies that you can access from within the app. The best part of the app is the custom EQ that you can use to tune the buds to your liking. As I mentioned in every audio review of mine – Everything related to audio is subjective. This stands true for the design, features, and, most importantly, the sound signature of the product. So, having an EQ is a great addition to any audio product.
You can customise the controls from within the app, do the very useful ear-tip fit test, and use realme’s own version of custom audio analysis, the Golden sound test. In my case, the Golden sound test and the ear tip fit test worked together to tune the audio, bringing out the best of these earbuds for me. Do not forget to give it a try, along with the others that are baked into these earbuds.
My biggest gripe with the app, as I mentioned in my earlier coverage of the realme Buds Air6 Pro, is the fact that the app does not allow you to access any of the features without signing in. In this era of tech, where privacy and data security remain something that is very important for us, it is a big turn-off. Other TWS companion apps tend to limit the functionality of their app without sign-in. However, basic customisation and controls are still available for people. However, this is not the case with the realme Link App. I would like to request that the brand opens the gates to some features in the app so that folks who do not want to share their data or log in to the app can use it.
Coming to the performance of the realme Buds Air6 Pro. This was the area where I held my judgement until I used these in-ear earphones for a longer period of time. And they did not disappoint me. The earbuds pack an ample amount of performance for the purists as well. But you will need to tune them to ensure that you get the best of them. These earbuds pack a dual driver setup – 11mm bass driver, and a 6mm micro-planar tweeter. With a dual-driver setup, it is important for the brand to tune the drivers properly so that either of the drivers does not mask the other’s audio.
As you can see in the graph below, the sound signature of the realme Buds Air6 Pro is pretty close to that of the Oppo Enco Air3 Pro, which we consider to be the best TWS under ₹5,000. We can see anomalous peaks and dips across the frequency range when looking at the graph of the realme Buds Air6 Pro. And this is reflected in the real-world performance of the realme Buds Air6 Pro as well. Out of the box, the sound signature of the earbuds is bass-forward.
In tracks like Rescue Me by OneRepublic, you can notice that there is a significant emphasis on the bass, which tends to eat into the vocals and their clarity. However, in tracks like Selkies by BTBAM, you get a lot of detail, and the dual driver setup shines through. However, there is still residual bass, which might put off some of the purists who are looking for a flat sound signature. As for the overall staging of the sound, it is very intimate from the get-go, but with 360-degree spatial audio and other presets in the app, you can maximise the overall soundstage of these earbuds.
To get a close-to-neutral sound signature, you will have to go into the app and apply an EQ layer. You can choose from the variety of presets in the app or go for a custom curve. The six-band EQ should suffice for most people. If you are going for the presets, I would recommend the Nature Balance preset. That gave me the best results.
Now, we come to the microphone performance of the buds. It held its own in the relatively quiet office environment. The voice is clear and close to natural. However, I did notice a slight reverb added in, which I believe can be easily fixed by an OTA update.
You can listen to a sample I recorded in the office here –
But when faced with challenging situations, say if you are on the curbside, taking a call, then you might experience some noise seeping through, reducing the overall clarity.
As for the ANC, you can expect above-par performance from the realme Buds Air6 Pro. I wore these earbuds on a recent flight that I took. They managed to block off all the low-end humming of the engine, and the chatter between my co-passengers was also blocked out effectively by these buds. I only experienced a few high-pitched sounds coming through, but with the buds on, I was able to get a sound sleep. You can also customise the noise cancellation levels.
I generally set it to max, but you can choose to apply your own preset. I would stay away from the Smart mode though, as it tends to bring in irregularities in the level of ANC, which the buds tend to handle poorly. When in transparency mode, I did not expect any anomalous amplification of frequencies, and the sound coming through was also very close to natural. Well done, realme!
You can safely use these earbuds in the office to block out all the distractions or, during your commute, to block off all the noise around you. A word of caution, though – When walking on the streets, it is recommended that you either turn on transparency mode or use the Mild preset to stay aware of your surroundings at all times. Also, turn down the volume to around 20 per cent to stay extra safe.
The battery life on the realme Buds Air6 Pro, to put it simply, is satisfactory. The buds lasted almost 7 hours in my time of use, with the volume set to 50 per cent, LDAC mode on, and ANC turned on. This is just half an hour shy of the numbers claimed by realme. So, I am happy with these numbers. Depending on your use and the number of modes that you are toggling on and off, your mileage may vary. You can maximise the battery life of the earbuds by turning ANC and high-res audio mode off and maintaining a consistent connection with your source device.
The total battery life of the buds, as per my testing, came to be around 26 hours, with some charge left in the case. When you are out of charge, you can top up the battery of the earbuds by just charging them for 10 minutes to get 7 hours of playback, as claimed by the brand.
realme Buds Air6 Pro emerge as a solid contender in the mid-range TWS earbuds space, potentially taking the crown of the best TWS in-ear earphones away from the Oppo Enco Air3 Pro. The improvement over the last-gen Buds Air5 Pro is noticeable, and for the price, you get a pair of earbuds that are solid performers in terms of features, sound signature, and battery life. The only place where I would say you tread with caution is with the aesthetics of the buds and their app. If you are not a fan of blingy design or an app which you have to sign in, to make any good use, then you should look elsewhere. Your options would be the Oppo Enco Air3 Pro and the OnePlus Buds 3, both of which are solid performers for the price.
