Realme’s latest flagship true wireless earbuds offer pretty much every high-end feature you could want from a pair of TWS earbuds in 2024. The Buds Air6 Pro earbuds feature dual drivers, active noise cancellation (ANC) rated up to 50dB, and LDAC support for high bitrate streaming.
Add in dual-device pairing, 360-degree spatial audio, and an IP55 rating, and you have the makings of a great pair of earbuds. All wrapped up in a sleek case that, along with the earbuds, should last up to 40 hours of playback.
But how do the Buds Air6 Pro compare to their main competitors, and are they worth the $89/$100 price tag?
Project
You’ll be hard-pressed to find any major design differences between the Buds Air6 Pro and the Buds Air5 Pro. The case and buds are the same size and fit as before, but you get two new color options.
Our review unit features a liquid metal color that Realme calls Titanium Twilight. It has a mirror finish that gets dirty quickly, but it also makes a cute pocket mirror that you can carry with you wherever you go.
The case is compact enough to fit in the coin pocket of my jeans, and its oval shape also fits in other small pockets inside my bag, jacket, or other clothing.
The stems of the Buds Air6 Pro also feature a polished titanium look, while the part that goes into your ears is a sleek dark grey color, similar to the “Nardo Grey” color seen on Audi cars.
Both the earbuds and their case are lightweight, which is always a good thing when dealing with wireless earbuds, especially if you plan on wearing them for longer periods. Realme says that the earbuds and case weigh 47 grams in total, with each earbud weighing just 4.5 grams.
The lightweight profile of the buds is also paired with a great in-ear fit. I used the Buds Air6 Pro with the default silicone tips in size Medium and didn’t experience any discomfort or accidental falls out, even during runs and gym sessions. The upper halves of the buds, combined with their curvature, made for a very comfortable fit for me, but you should always try them on first if you have the opportunity.
Each earbud also features 3 microphones and touch controls. The earbuds are also IP55 rated for splashes of water and dust. The retail package includes a USB-C cable and replacement silicone ear tips in small and large sizes.
Features and Companion App
The Realme Buds Air6 Pro adopt a dual-driver approach with 11mm dynamic bass drivers and 6mm planar tweeters. The advantage of having two drivers is that the 11mm woofers are in charge of the low and mid-range frequencies while the tweeters focus on the higher-range frequencies, which should result in a more detailed audio output.
Legacy SBC and AAC codecs are supported, as well as the high-bitrate LDAC version on supported streaming platforms, such as Tidal HiFi, Amazon Music Unlimited and Deezer Premium.
The Buds Air6 Pro pair via Bluetooth 5.3 and support dual-device pairing, Google Fast Pair, and a 55ms low latency mode.
You also get active noise cancellation (ANC) with a rating of up to 50dB and a frequency of 4,000Hz and a dedicated noise cancellation chip. The ANC is balanced with call noise cancellation, which claims to reduce ambient noise during calls and provide optimal voice pickup. Realme has also added its de-wind technology to help with calls in windy environments.
The Realme Link app offers a personalized audio algorithm with a tailored sound profile based on your hearing after a short five-minute hearing test. The app also offers ANC intensity controls with four noise cancellation profiles, a six-band equalizer to tweak the audio output, and the option to save your own custom presets. You also get a bass booster slider and MindFlow mode with eleven white noise modes.
Realme’s 360 Spatial Audio mimics the surround sound experience on supported content and rounds out the Buds Air6 Pro’s impressive feature set. As for touch controls, you can remap double- and triple-taps and touch-to-hold gestures on each earbud, but there’s no way to incorporate volume controls, which is a shame.
Buds Air6 Pro support in-ear detection, which pauses media playback when you remove one earbud from your ears and resumes playback when you put them back in.
Performance and sound quality
Buds Air6 Pro delivers vibrant sound with crisp highs and powerful bass right out of the box. Depending on your preference, you can adjust the frequency response via the EQ tool in the Realme Link app.
If you like to give your music a little extra punch, Realme’s Dynamic Bass Boost feature might be the right choice for you, as it automatically boosts the bass using its dedicated algorithm.
Once tuned to our liking, the Buds Air6 Pro delivered spacious sound with enough detail and great separation between different sound frequencies. The mids were balanced with vocals and instruments sounding really good, while the highs were also well-tuned. These earbuds are also very loud.
The dual-device pairing feature works almost flawlessly. The connection was solid and pairing was nearly instantaneous. There was a noticeable delay when switching between audio sources from my laptop to my phone, and I also had to pause media on one device and then manually start it on the other, but this limitation isn’t related to the earbuds themselves.
Incoming calls were seamlessly routed to my phone while I listened to music on my laptop, which is a great convenience feature that’s not always a given even with more expensive earbuds. We tested the Buds Air6 Pro paired with an iPhone 15 Pro and a MacBook Pro 14. Connectivity remained great throughout the review period, and I didn’t experience any disconnections even when I was further away from my audio source.
The ANC on the Buds Air6 Pro is fantastic and blocks out a significant amount of background noise. This is likely due to the snug fit in my specific ear shape and the six microphones spread across both earbuds.
As often happens, the Transparency mode did not convince me, as it was accompanied by a hiss that made the voices unnatural.
The touch controls worked well, but I did miss the volume controls on the buds themselves. I would also prefer if the stems were touch sensitive instead of having to touch the top halves of the buds.
Call quality with the Buds Air6 Pro is great. People reported clear reception of my voice in all scenarios, even on busy streets with passing traffic. The in-ear detection worked as expected, pausing and resuming media as soon as I removed or put the buds back in my ear.
Battery life
The Realme Buds Air6 Pro are rated for 10 hours of battery life from the earbuds with ANC off, while the case extends the total battery life to 40 hours. In our usage, we got up to 7 hours from the earbuds with ANC on and four additional charges from 0-100% from the case. A full charge for the earbuds and the USB-C charging case takes about two hours.
Verdict
The Realme Buds Air6 Pro offers high-end features like dual drivers, LDAC support, and top-notch ANC. All this paired with rich sound and a price tag just under €90/$100. That price tag is a bit steep considering that the Realme Buds Air5 Pro are on par with the Buds Air6 Pro in every category, while competitors like the CMF Buds 2 Pro have nearly identical specs at a starting price that is 30% lower.
The Buds Air6 Pro ticks a lot of boxes, offering a great in-ear fit, dual-device pairing, and customizable EQ that lets you tweak them to your liking. They may not be the best value right now, but we’re already seeing discounts here and there, so we can definitely recommend the Buds Air6 Pro to those looking for a pair of earbuds with a premium design, a solid feature set, and decent battery life.
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