realme Buds Air Neo (Rock Red) Unboxing and Review

Last year, realme Philippines launched a string of new products to complement the digital lifestyle of its young fans and one of them is the affordable True Wireless Stereo (TWS) earbuds - realme Buds Air Neo.

The realme Buds Air Neo promises super low-latency perfectly synced with the audio and visual of the user’s smartphone. The wireless experience is optimized by the Buds Air Neo’s R1 True Wireless Chip, which uses a new generation of dual-channel transmission technology. In terms of sound quality, the realme Buds Air Neo has a Dynamic Bass Boost (DBB) solution, allowing the device to unleash true bass potential and bring about the dynamism and layers of the bass.

Today, I was able to get my hands on one and I’d like to share my unboxing experience as well as the review of the device. So, let's deal first with the unboxing.

Unboxing the realme Buds Air Neo

Again, the packaging comes in realme's typical yellow-colored box with a clean look design.

The front portion indicates the Buds Air Neo branding, while the six important key features of the Buds Air Neo --- Super Low Latency, Dynamic Bass Boost, Open-up Auto Connection, Bluetooth 5.0, Smart Touch Controls and All-day Battery Life, are imprinted on the backside of the box.

You can also find the realme logo on both sides. While on the bottom indicates the brand details such as: model number, device variant, color and customer care details, there is nothing to look at the top portion.

Inside the Box and Accessories

After opening the lid of the box, you will see the high-gloss charging case protected by a matte plastic lining. Inside the charging case contains the realme Buds Air Neo.

Under the charging case and its white foam cradle is the piece of paper that shows quick tips, product information guide with warranty card and a short microUSB to USB cable for the charging case.

After unboxing, let us now take a look at the physical overview and proceed with my full review of the device.

Design and Walk Around

realme Buds Air Neo design is similar to most TWS you see in the market and sports the looks of the Apple AirPods. The Buds Air Neo uses glossy plastic for the charging case and earbuds, which are prone to fingerprint smudges. The whole setup weighs around 39g and feels solidly built, sturdy and fits nicely in the pocket.

As for the color, the realme Buds Air Neo comes in three color variants, namely: Pop White, Punk Green and Rock Red. My unit comes in Rock Red color.

On the front, realme Buds Air Neo contains the LED notification and the multi-purpose button. On the back is the hinge of the charging case. The case comes with a Magnetic lid to secure the buds.

Found at the bottom is the micro-USB charging port. There's no Type-C port; which you could get on the higher-priced Buds Air.

Now, let's take a closer look at the earbuds themselves. At the top is where the touch control area, front and back tuning hole is located. Meanwhile, the microphone and charging contact pins can be seen at the bottom.

Pairing and realme Link App

For pairing, the realme Buds Air Neo comes with Bluetooth 5.0 and uses Google’s Fast Pair technology. Right out of the box, you can pair your Buds Air Neo to your smartphone by opening the cover of the charging case and pressing the multi-purpose button for 3 seconds using the usual Bluetooth pairing or by downloading the realme Link app. Make sure that both earbuds are inside the charging case before pairing. When the earbuds are turned on, it will automatically reconnect to the previously paired smartphone.

To reset the earbuds in case of faulty pairing or when one of the earbuds is not working, just place them back in the case, keep the lid open, and press the same button for 10 seconds until the indicator light blinks fast. The earbuds will clear the original pairing record and then reset.

To check the battery life of the earbuds, just open the lid of the charging case and the LED notification will light up to give you an idea of its battery level. If you see the continuous green light, it means that the battery is sufficient and is more than 20%. If it's blinking, it means that it's less than 20% and you already need to charge it. The remaining battery of earbuds can be displayed inside the realme Link app.

Users are encouraged to download the realme Link application. The realme Link is an IoT management platform where you can easily manage and control your smart devices.

The app is available for all Android smartphones and can be downloaded through this link: bit.ly/2zE7nci.

The app will allow you to see if the device is connected, battery levels of each earbud, activate modes (Game mode, Bass Boost+ and Volume enhancer), customize the touch controls on the left and right earbuds as well as updates on the firmware.

The touch control area of the earbuds supports several controls: A double-tap answers a call, pauses or plays music and a triple tap skips to the next track. A long press on one earbud summons the Voice Assistant, which you will need to activate since it is disabled by default, while a long press on both earbuds enables the Super Low Latency Gaming Mode with matching sound effects, while volume will have to be adjusted on the source device.

Audio Quality and Comfort

As to the audio quality, it’s on the decent side for its price. You can feel the bass, the vocals are present and still clear, and it can also get very loud. As expected in this price range, the realme Buds Air Neo doesn’t come with noise cancellation.

For comfort, the Buds Air Neo is light and comfortable in the ears almost like it's not in your ear. It securely fits on my ear and doesn’t fall off even if I tried shaking, running and jumping really hard.

Latency and Other Features

The realme Buds Air Neo features a Super Low Latency 119.2ms when Gaming mode is activated. The low-latency mode works as expected, it reduces the audio lag which will be greatly appreciated by gamers.

The Buds Air Neo intelligently pairs with the user’s smartphone, a feature made possible by its R1 True Wireless Chip, which also comes with dual-channel transmission technology.

Additionally, the earbuds come with a 13mm Bass Boost Driver and are IPX4 rated for water resistance.

Battery Life

realme has assured all of these features can be experienced by users for a promised total playback of 17 hours. The single battery life of the earbuds last 3 hours of music playback with the volume at around 50% and 1.5 hours of talk time. The case should be able to give at least four more full charges and recharging the entire setup from 0% to 100% battery capacity takes around an hour and a half.

realme Buds Air Neo Specifications:

Waterproof level: IPX4 (earphones)
Frequency Range: 20Hz-20000Hz
Sensitivity: -88dB (-80 - -92)
Bluetooth Version: Bluetooth 5.0
Wireless Range: 10 M (30ft) / Class 11
Charging Interface: Micro USB
Audio Codec: SBC, AAC
Size: Earphones (40.5 × 16.59 × 17.70mm) / Charging Box (51.3 × 45.25 × 25.3mm)
Weight: Earphones: 4.1g (Single earphone) / Charging Box: 30.5g
Colors: Pop White, Punk Green and Rock Red

Price and Availability

The realme Buds Air Neo retails for Php1,990 and is available nationwide in both online and offline channels.

Verdict

If you’re thinking of getting a new budget True Wireless Stereo (TWS) earbuds in this price range, I highly recommend that you get this one.

Even though the realme Buds Air Neo doesn’t come with features like that of premium earbuds, it still comes with some important basic features and packs a decent audio quality, connectivity and battery life.

Edited and with additional inputs by Michelle Villa