The true wireless earbuds market has grown quite significantly this year. Most smartphone manufacturers have announced at least one TWS earbuds in 2019 and a lot more are coming our way in the next few months. Realme also joined this party a few days back and the company is targeting the affordable segment of the market with its Realme Buds Air, which is priced competitively at Rs. 3999 (~$56). Like a lot of TWS earbuds, the Realme Buds Air takes its inspiration from the best selling Apple AirPods series. Today, we take a quick look at how closely the Buds Air resemble the AirPods 2.
I would like to start this article by saying that the Realme Buds Air is no way an AirPods clone. While it definitely takes its inspiration from the best in the industry, there are a lot of differences to set it apart from the AirPods 2. The earbuds come in three different colors which include white, black, and yellow. We’ve got the white one for review, which is the ideal color for this comparison.
Realme Buds Air vs Apple AirPods 2: Earbuds
Like every other TWS earbuds in the market, the Realme Buds Air package consists of two parts – the two earbuds (L & R) and the charging case. The earbuds come very close to mimicking the AirPods’ design but it’s not an exact clone.
The Realme Buds Air feature relatively round and large heads in comparison to the slightly smaller, oval shape of the AirPods. So despite having a similar sensor layout as the AirPods, it’s very easy to distinguish between the two based on the shapes alone. Another big differentiator for the Buds Air is the absence of the mesh at the back.
While both the earbuds feature a similarly sized stem, they have significantly different charging connectors. The AirPods feature a metal round connector at the bottom of the earbuds while the Realme Buds Air feature an open design with two connector pins at the bottom. The microphones are located at the back of the stem on both the models.
Editor’s Pick: Apple leads the True Wireless Earbuds market, Xiaomi in second place
Realme Buds Air vs Apple AirPods 2: Charging Case
When it comes to the charging case, the similarities between the two earbuds end. The Realme Buds Air comes with a much more compact and rounder charging case. When you keep the two cases side by side, you can see that the AirPods 2 case is slightly longer and thinner than the Realme one. To be honest, the AirPods case looks a bit more refined than what Realme offers but that’s expected given the huge price difference.
The Realme Buds Air charging case features a pairing button on the front with an LED light. On the other hand, the AirPods 2 case features the button at the back with the text: Designed by Apple California. Similarly, the Realme case features the text: Designed by Realme on its back. But I wish Realme had implemented a better design for opening the case. The back design looks pretty cheap.
You can charge the Realme case with a USB-C port at the bottom, while the AirPods 2 case takes in a lightning connector.
While there are some similarities between the Realme Buds Air and the AirPods 2, the former can really stand up on its own as competitive TWS earbuds in its price segment (Rs. 3999 on Flipkart). We have been testing them for the past few days and our first impressions have been quite positive. Wait for our full review of the Realme Buds Air in the next couple of days.
Till then, you can check out our latest review of the Huawei Freebuds 3 where we pit it against the industry leader: AirPods Pro. We feel the Freebuds 3 with active noise canceling sounds amazing for a wireless headphone and is a competitive alternative to the AirPods Pro that’s way more expensive.
UP NEXT: Huami Amazfit TWS earbuds to launch at CES 2020 next month
