The product strength of Realme Buds Air 5 Pro is still good, it seems to upgrade the shortcomings of Realme Buds Air 3. The sound quality and noise cancellation are very good, and other aspects are also not bad.
Realme Buds Air 5 Pro specs and features:
- Bluetooth 5.3 with LDAC codec
- 7-11 hours playback of per charge (ANC on/off)
- Charging case can charge earbuds fully 3 times
- IPX5 waterproof rating (rain and sweat resistant)
- Spatial audio and game mode
- $56 – Check latest price on AliExpress, Amazon US, Amazon Germany, other Amazon countries or Banggood
Design and Comfort: Continuation of the series design style
Realme Buds Air5 Pro continues the style of the Realme Buds Air series in appearance. The charging case is still a round pebble shape, and the overall appearance is very close to the previous generation. The size of the charging case is similar to most in-ear tws earbuds, and it can easily into the jeans pocket.
The top of the charging case is inlaid with a transparent material part of the realme logo, which enhances its texture. There is a status indicator light on the front of the charging case, which changes color and blinks when opened lid, paired, charged and when the battery is low. The multi-function button is located on the right, and the surface of the button is made of matte metal. The USB-C charging port is located at the bottom of the charging case.
Realme Buds Air 5 Pro has a long headset stem in-ear design, and the headset stem is cylindrical. The sound cavity part is bean-shaped, and the earbuds as a whole have a certain sense of angularity. The bottom and top of the headset stem are equipped with pickup microphones to provide support for active noise cancellation.
Wearing the Buds Air 5 Pro is similar to other mainstream TWS earbuds, just place the earbuds in the ear canal to secure – no need for rotation.
The M-size eartips that are pre-installed on the Realme Buds Air 5 Pro can fit most people’s ears. While ensuring stable wearing, it also provides a certain “breathing space” for the ear canal – there will be no discomfort such as “stuffy” and “bulging”, taking into account comfort and sound insulation. Of course, for smaller or larger ears, S or L eartips are also available.
The wearing of Realme Buds Air 5 Pro is relatively stable, and the sound cavity part can be well fixed in the outer auricle. I’ve also walked, run, and cycled with them on – during moderate-intensity exercise, the earbuds can still be fixed on the ears and don’t worry about them falling off.
Connection, Control and APP
The earbuds uses a Bluetooth 5.3 chip that supports SBC, AAC and LDAC codecs. The pairing and connection process of the earbuds is very simple – open the charging case cover, then press and hold the function button for 3 seconds, and the earbuds will enter pairing mode. At this point, connect “realme Buds Air 5 Pro” in the bluetooth setting of the mobile phone to complete the connection.
Also, Realme Buds Air 5 Pro also supports Realme Link App. After installing the App, whether it is an Android or iOS device, you can set the earbuds in the App.
In the Realme Link App, you can check the battery level of the earbuds, sound effect selection, noise cancellation mode, dual device connection setting, game mode, golden hearing, wearing detection, enable LDAC, fit detection, custom EQ and firmware updates, etc. – It has many functions and is comprehensive.
The earbuds supports touch control, and the control area is on the top of the headset stem. Double-tap/triple-tap/long press can switch song, pause/play song, answer/end call, activate voice assistant, enable game mode, switch noise cancellation mode, etc. – but can’t control the volume. You can also customize the control method in the APP.
In my opinion – due to the simpler pairing process and the rich customization provided by the Realme Link App, the Realme Buds Air 5 Pro belongs to the “first echelon” among TWS earbuds. It can be quickly connected and deeply customized – whether it is ordinary users or audiophiles, it can easily satisfy.
Battery Life, Game and Video Playback
Real Buds Air5 Pro supports low-latency game mode, and the latency is as low as 40ms after turning on. Playing games and watching videos is no problem – it works flawlessly on both Android and iPhone with perfect sound and picture sync.
The battery capacity of the earbud is 60mAh, and the charging case is 460mAh. The single battery life with ANC off is up to 11 hours, and the total battery life can reach 40 hours. The battery life after turning on the ANC mode is up to 7 hours. Also, supports fast charging function – 10 minutes of charging, 7 hours of listening to music.
ANC: Noise cancellation depth is deeper and more immersive
This is the part I am most satisfied with about Realme Buds Air5 Pro. Although it is not as good as Vivo TWS 3, the noise cancellation is stronger than OPPO Enco X2 and OnePlus Buds Pro 2.
Thanks to the new deep-sea noise cancellation 2.0 technology, Realme Buds Air 5 Pro continues the dual-hybrid noise cancellation microphone design of feedforward + feedback microphone, allowing the noise cancellation range to reach 4000Hz and the noise cancellation depth to reach 50dB.
I tested the ANC function of the earbuds in different scenarios, such as office, subway, and street – the earbuds can effectively eliminate continuous low-frequency and mid-frequency noise – such as the sound of subway running, bus engine sound, car tire noise and so on. Also, the wind noise of the subway in the tunnel has also been suppressed to a certain extent, which is significantly improved compared with the previous generation.
Thanks to the wider noise cancellation range, Realme Buds Air 5 Pro is also better at suppressing mid-high-frequency noise and burst noise than most ANC earbuds. For example, the sound of keyboards and mouse clicks in the office has been significantly weakened.
Also, you can adjust the noise cancellation intensity (deep/medium/light) in the App or set it to adaptive ANC mode – which allows the earbuds to adapt to different scenarios, taking into account comfort and noise cancellation effects.
The ear pressure is more obvious than that of OPPO Enco X2, and there is also some rustling background noise – in order to reduce ear pressure?
As for the transparent mode, there is nothing special – it is the normal level of the same class.
Sound Quality: All-round improvement
Realme Buds Air 5 Pro uses a coaxial dual unit that is very similar to OPPO Enco X2 and OnePlus Buds Pro 2 – 11mm bass unit + 6mm microplane highs unit – the sound orientation is quite similar.
The bass of the Buds Air5 Pro is much thicker than that of the Realme Buds Air 3, and the bass extension is deeper. The highs are more detailed and noticeably brighter for cymbals. In general, the low-frequency quantity of the earbuds is sufficient, the mid-high-frequency is transparent and delicate, the human voice is full, and the details are rich.
Also, after turning on LDAC, spatial audio, Dolby Atmos and personalized calibration of golden hearing in Realme Link App, the listening experience of Buds Air5 Pro will be improved.
After LDAC is turned on, the wireless transmission bit rate will reach 990kbps. Under this transmission protocol, the earbuds will be able to restore HiFi audio more completely and retain more music details. Of course, LDAC itself is just a more efficient codec protocol – if you want to hear more details clearly, you need the sound source to be of sufficient quality.
After turning on spatial audio and Dolby Atmos, the soundstage will become wider when the earbuds presents audio content. Even with the same stereo sound source, after spatial audio calculation, its space sense can be greatly enhanced. The effect of this feature is very obvious – even users who rarely listen to music can appreciate the difference after turning it on.
Comparison and Verdict
Realme Buds Air 5 Pro – $65. Coaxial dual dynamic drivers – 11mm woofer + 6mm tweeter. Supports spatial audio and LDAC/AAC/SBC codec with Bluetooth 5.3. The maximum noise cancellation depth is 50dB and the bandwidth is 4000Hz. The single battery life is up to 11 hours (ANC on = 7 hours), and the total battery life is 40 hours.
OPPO Enco X2 – $119. 45dB noise cancellation depth and 4000Hz wideband. Designed by Dynaudio, tuned by Joe Hisaishi, second-generation coaxial dual unit (11mm dynamic driver + 6mm flat diaphragm driver). Supports LHDC 4.0 and LDAC codec with Bluetooth 5.2. The single battery life is up to 9.5 hours (ANC on = 5.5 hours), and the total battery life is 40 hours.
OnePlus Buds Pro 2 – $93. 11mm dynamic bass unit + 6mm dynamic highs unit with Dynaudio joint tuning. Bluetooth 5.3 with LHDC/AAC/SBC/LC3 codec. The maximum noise cancellation depth is 48dB. The single battery life is up to 10 hours (ANC on =8 hours), and the total battery life is 39 hours.
OPPO Enco Free 3 – $84. The maximum noise cancellation depth is 49dB. Except for the limit depth, the noise cancellation of most frequency bands is slightly stronger than that of Redmi Buds 4 Pro – but it is $29 more expensive. The single battery life is up to 7 hours (ANC on = 5.5 hours), and the total battery life is 30 hours.
Redmi Buds 4 Pro – $55. Very well-balanced product including price. Low-frequency noise cancellation is weaker than OPPO Enco X2, but high-frequency noise cancellation is stronger. The single battery life is up to 9 hours (ANC on = 5.5 hours), and the total battery life is 36 hours.
Vivo TWS 3 – $76. Qualcomm 1.2Mbps solution, the tuning is biased towards stimulation – but it is still the strongest noise cancellation earbuds among these wireless earbuds – the competitiveness is still very strong. The single battery life is up to 10 hours (ANC on = 7 hours), and the total battery life is 40 hours.
The product strength of Realme Buds Air5 Pro is still good, it seems to upgrade the shortcomings of Realme Buds Air 3. The sound quality and noise cancellation are very good, and other aspects are not bad. I’ve heard a saying – price is the best specification, price is the best tuning – Right?
Check Realme Buds Air 5 Pro price:
- Check latest price on AliExpress
- Check latest price on Amazon US
- Check latest price on Amazon Germany
- Check latest price on other Amazon countries
- Check latest price on Banggood
