Starting with expanding its product categories, Realme has been majorly focussing on Audio after smartphones. They did launch the Realme Buds Air, the Buds Air Neo under the sub Rs.4,000 category. Even then there was a price range which Realme missed out, the sub Rs.2000 category until now and as Realme strategies are clear and they intend to have their best products out there in every category, they launched the Realme Buds Q, a strong contender to the Xiaomi’s Redmi Earbuds S.
The Realme Buds Q has a completely new design compared to the Realme Buds Air and the Air Neo but is also the brand’s first truly wireless offering under the sub Rs.2000 price segment. Priced at Rs. 1,999 in India, these new pair of TWS earphones seem to be offering a really great value for money. So can this new Realme Buds Air, be crowned as the latest Budget TWS Champ? Let’s find that out in my review.
Box Contents:
- Buds Q Charging Case
- Buds Q
- Extra Eartips
- User Manual
- Micro-USB Cable
Design and Fit:
These new Realme Buds Q are completely different from the company’s other pair of TWS earphones out there. Instead of Airpods like buds with a long stem, Realme has chosen to opt for a bud-like a design pretty similar to the Samsung Galaxy Buds+. The Buds Q are packed inside a cobble shaped case, which has been designed by a renowned artist Jose Levy making sure that there aren’t any straight lines going through the case’s design.
Each of the buds weighs roughly 3.6g which is what the company has told us, and I rarely felt them in my ears even when using it for a long time. The Buds Q fit perfectly in my ear, it wasn’t even in a single situation when I felt the buds would fall off my ears. The silicon tips do offer a nice seal in the ear, although they do not have any noise cancellation, which wasn’t even expected at this price point. The charging case does offer a satisfactory sound while closing the case. The buds are made out of plastic and have a matte finish all over the buds except for a part that is glossy and houses the touch-sensitive sensors.
The Touch-sensitive part can be used to play-pause music, accept or decline calls or tapping and holding on both the buds at the same time activates/deactivates the Low Latency Gaming Mode. There wasn’t any issue we faced using the touch controls, but I felt that the time it took for the buds to respond was a little high. The touch actions of the buds are customizable and can be done via the Realme Link app.
The magnets in the case hold the buds well, and even when we turn the case upside down, the buds didn’t fall off. The Buds are also IPX4 certified, having a certain resistance to sweat and water. Having said that, We tried some exercises with the buds on, and those didn’t fall out from the ear and had a great fit.
Sound and Microphone:
For testing out these new Buds Q, I paired them with the iPhone SE 2020 and the OnePlus 7T, and as the specifications go, the Buds Q come with 10mm Dynamic Bass Boost Driver, comes with support for AAC HD Audio Codec, Bluetooth 5.0. The sound produced by these buds is largely focussed on Bass and mid-to-high frequency. The vocals are pellucid and the Treble is on point. Listening to music on 70-80 percent volume brings out the best results, and on turning up the volume to 100 percent, the sound signature tends to mix up the frequencies at instances.
The separation of the vocals and the instrument separation was just fine. It would have been great if Realme had provided a much better and balanced sound output similar to the Redmi Earbuds S. I tried to fine-tune to the audio with an audio equalizer app and liked the much better sound output than the sound that comes out of the box, and I would recommend you to do the same. I tried playing some intense games such as PUBG Mobile with the Buds put on the gaming mode, and there wasn’t much of a sound delay. Overall the gaming experience was good.
We also tried taking a few calls with the Buds Q, but since the microphone is placed far away from the mouth, in certain instances the receiver at the other end couldn’t hear me properly. The volume levels aren’t as good as the Redmi Earbuds S, but overall the combined experience of the speakers and the microphone is really good for the price.
Battery Life:
One of the most impressive things about the Buds Q is the battery life, although having been put in a small shell and being extremely lightweight, Realme claims that each of the buds could last about 4.5 hours on a single charge and with the case on about 20 hours. While that’s not completely true, We were able to easily get about 3.5-4 hours of usage with the buds on a single charge. The case could easily last for about 17-18 hours making these buds one of the best battery champs out there for the price. The case takes about two hours to charge fully and charges via a Micro-USB port which may be a bummer for some people.
Verdict: The New Budget TWS Champ?
For the asking price of just Rs. 1,999, we can’t complain much about the Buds Q. They clearly beat out the competition with battery life, touch controls, better fit, and a more premium and stylish design. They are extremely lightweight and comfortable in-ears for long usage, also the heavy bass sound signature of the Buds may attract a lot of consumers towards it. While these aren’t the best TWS earphones out there, they are really good for the price.
