realme launched its Buds Wireless 2 as a successor to its first realme Buds Wireless neckband headset that was launched back in 2019. It is a huge upgrade since this comes with Bluetooth 5.0 with Sony LDAC Hi-Res Audio codec, bigger 13.6mm Bass Boost Driver, and promises up to 22h of battery life with support for Dart Charge fast charging. After using it for a few days, here is the review of the Bluetooth headset.
Box Contents
- realme Buds Wireless 2 in Bass Yellow color
- Different set of ear tips (Small, Medium and Large)
- USB Type-C cable
- User manual in yellow colour
Design and Build Quality
The headset has a 29g lightweight design. The in-ear buds have angled tips that perfectly fits in your ears, and doesn’t fall out easily even when you are running. There is a small wire connecting earbuds and the neck band. The band that you wear around the neck is flexible, lightweight and has a smooth finish. The bottom housing also offers a smooth finish even though it is made of plastic.
The back of the earbuds is magnetic that snap together when not in use and also have auto connection or disconnection feature that is available only in few headsets in this price range. So, when you want to pause, you can snap the buds together, and to resume, just remove them. The magnets used is powerful. You can see the microphone on the sides of the earphones.
On the right side, there is a USB Type-C charging port, which is not covered by any flap. On the same side there is are all the buttons that includes a power / multi-function button between the volume adjustment buttons, as well as ANC button. There is also a tiny LED indicator. The realme branding is present on the left side. This also houses the 135mAh battery. Since it comes with IPX5 ratings, it can withstand sweat and light rain, but you can’t immerse it in water.
You can also use the multi-function button to play or pause, answer, end or reject a call, change tracks and enter gaming mode. The ANC button also has customizable options.
Multi-function button
| Function | Multi-function button |
| Play / Pause, Answer a call, End a call | Press Once |
| Next track | Double Press |
| Previous track | Triple press |
| Voice assistant / Decline and incoming call | Press and Hold for 1s |
ANC button
| Function | ANC button |
| Switch between noise cancellation and transparency | Press Once |
| Connect to last connected device | Double Press |
| Enter or exit gaming mode | Press and Hold for 1s |
You can customize single-tap, double-tap, triple-tap, touch and hold and the ANC button’s noise cancellation modes with the realme Link app on Android and iPhone.
Connectivity, Pairing and AI assistant
The Bluetooth headset supports Bluetooth 5.2, so you can connect it to Android, iOS and others devices with Bluetooth support. It pairs to your phone quickly, just by pressing the multi-function button for 3 seconds to enter the pairing mode. You just have to select the realme Buds Wireless 2 to pair the headset. The LED light blinks when it’s pairing, and stops when the pairing is complete. This even has multipoint support, which allows the headset to maintain a connection with two devices and switch between them easily with a double press of the ANC button.
Audio Quality
Coming to the audio quality, these headphones offers fairly good audio quality with good amount of bass, thanks to 13.6mm Bass Boost Driver, but the mids are not the best compared to bass. Audio quality is almost the same as the realme Buds Wireless Pro model. In addition to Dynamic and Bright modes, it features Bass Boost+ Mode tuned by Chainsmokers, an American electronic DJ and production duo. If you prefer heavy bass, then this is the mode you need. This even has Sony’s LDAC Hi-Res audio codec for HD sound quality on supported devices, it also supports AAC codec that works in phones that have it.
There was a slight latency or audio video sync issue for videos previously, but it is better after the update. This could get better in the future. The update also adds support for iOS realme Link app.
With the LDAC enabled, audio quality is good with clear vocals and good amount of bass if you listen to loss-less audio since it supports up to 990 kbps at 32 bit/96 kHz. Latest smartphones have LDAC support, but some buds phones still don’t have it. Volume was good as well, and it is loud enough in 60% or 70% volume. There is a volume enhancer option that further increases the volume.
The earbuds offer a good amount of noise isolation, and dual microphones help when it comes to voice clarity during calls. The earphones also reduce the background noise to a certain extent that helps in a crowded or noisy environment and wind when you are travelling, thanks to its Vocplus AI noise-cancelling algorithm. For the price it’s decent, but it could have been better.
Regarding the Noise cancellation, the Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) blocks the ambient sound up to 25dB that helps in most cases. You can feel the difference when you are listening outdoors. The realme Buds Wireless Pro has up to 35dB ambient noise cancellation, so you can feel a slight difference in the quality. However, for the price it does a good job. The Transparency mode is also useful.
The low-latency gaming mode is useful when gaming since it reduces the latency by up to 35% compared to most headsets. The company says that the latency is reduced to 88ms in the gaming mode during internal testing. This is achieved by real-time dual-channel transmission and the new R2 chip. It is also easy to enter the gaming mode when you press and hold the ANC button. You get a music when you enter and exit the gaming mode, but the LDAC mode is disabled when you enter the gaming mode.
Battery Life
With the 135mAh battery on the headset, the company promises about 22 hours of battery life without ANC, 18 hours with ANC, 11 hours with LDAC and 10 hours with LDAC and ANC in 50% volume. I got over 10 hours of battery life with LDAC and occasional use of ANC in 50 to 60% volume. The battery life might vary depending on the usage such as LDAC, ANC and listening volume.
Charging the headset from 0 to 100% takes about one hour. There is also Dart Charge fast charging option that offers 12 hours of playback in AAC and 8 hours with LDAC without ANC in 10 minutes of charging, so it should be less with ANC.
Conclusion
Overall, the realme Buds Wireless 2 is one of the best neckband headsets with LDAC for the price, even though there is a huge competition from boAt in the price range. This is a huge upgrade to the realme Buds Wireless since it offers a good audio quality with LDAC and Bluetooth 5.2 that offers a strong connectivity, low-latency mode and comes with USB Type-C port with support for fast charging. Battery life might not be as good as the competitors such as boAt and OnePlus, but you have to compromise these for features like LDAC. It is available from Flipkart and realme.com for Rs. 2299.