Realme Buds Air 3S Review: An elegant TWS for all your audio needs

Realme Buds Air 3S Review Summary:

Editor’s Rating- 3.4/5

Earlier this year, Realme sent Buds Air 3 that was customized with one’s name on the case. The brand is now back with the next in the Air Series TWS, with the Realme Buds Air 3S that has been launched for a price of under Rs. 3000. The newly launched buds sit between the marquee Realme Buds Air 3 and the budget Realme Buds Air 3 Neo. It promises to deliver a good listening experience at affordable prices. But is it worth considering? Or the brand has compromised with the quality due to cutting down on the price? Let’s find out.

JUMP TO…

• Price and availability
• Unboxing
• Design and Fit
• Connectivity, Controls & Features
• Sound and ANC
• Battery
• Should you buy it?

Realme Buds Air 3S Price & Availability

The Realme Buds Air 3S is priced at Rs. 2499. It comes in black and white colors and will go on sale on September 14 via the Realme store and Amazon.

Realme Buds Air 3S Unboxing

The Realme Buds Air 3S TWS comes in a white cardboard box with the name and photograph of the device on top. The box contains-

• Realme Buds Air 3S with charging case
• 1 pair of small-sized ear tips
• 1 pair of large-sized ear tips
• Type-C charging cable
• User guide
• Warranty card
• Info card

(Medium-sized ear tips preinstalled on the buds)

Realme Buds Air 3S Specs

• Driver-11mm Triple Titanium Bass
• Bluetooth- 5.3
• Range-10m
• Noise cancellation- ENC
• Charging- USB Type-C
• Battery life (case)- 460mAh
• Battery life (buds)- 43mAh each
• Dimensions (case)- 58.6x53x27.2mm
• Dimensions (buds)-2.20×2.80×2.32cm
• Weight (case)- 40.5 grams
• Weight (buds)- 4.4 grams each

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Realme Buds Air 3S Review: Design & Fit

Gadgets these days are no longer just necessities for the youth. Youngsters want audio and wearable devices that flaunt their style that reflects their personality. This is the reason why brands like Xiaomi and Realme are not only providing better features on their TWS devices but also ramping up the design quotient. The same trend has been continued by Realme with its latest launched Buds Air 3S. The Realme Buds Air 3S comes with a new design language and has a design that is inspired by the music box. The design is minimal but boxy and comes in white & black colors. I received the black color buds for review and loved the case’s appearance and buds.

The case is rectangular in shape with curved edges and has a transparent lid. The buds inside are visible without opening the case. The backside of the charging case has a USB type-C port for charging while the inside has the tagline ‘Dare to Leap’ written in bold. There is an LED indicator in the middle of the two buds inside the case. The only drawback of the case is that it gets scratched very easily and the color is black, those scratches are clearly visible under sunlight.

Coming to the buds, they have very short stems for a compact appearance and the ear tips are made of silicone in wing shape. This unique shape makes the buds fit better into the ears and short stems make sure, they are more comfortable to wear. The back of the buds is made of NVCM with vacuum plating to create a ceramic texture. This gives the buds a stylish look. Moreover, silicone is friendly to one’s skin and offers a snug finish making sure buds don’t fall off easily. The case weighs 40.5 grams whereas each bud weighs 4.4 grams. Both are lightweight and easy to carry around.

The Buds come with an IPX5 rating for protection against splash, rain, and sweat which makes it a perfect companion for the gym, jogging, and any other form of workout. All in all, there are no complaints about the design & fit of the Buds Air 3S.

Realme Buds Air 3S Review: Connectivity, Controls & Features

The Realme Buds Air 3S comes with Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity. The latest version of Bluetooth makes sure that the connectivity is even more seamless. It has a transmission range of 10m but sometimes, the buds got disconnected while I was on the premises of my home with my phone not near me.

The buds have 69ms super low latency in full link mode which synchronizes the audio and video perfectly for a better gaming experience. The Buds are easy to connect to android phones as it enters into pairing mode as soon as you open the lid of the charging case. Just switch on the Bluetooth on your smartphone, look for Bluetooth devices that are ready to pair near you, and click on Buds Air 3S to get started. The led indicator inside the charging case turns green as soon as you open the lid and then turns white as it enters into pairing mode. The light will start turning red when the battery will be weak.

The Realme Buds Air 3S comes with smart touch controls. Here’s how these controls work-

• Double tap on the bud to play or pause the music/answer or end a call.
• Triple tap on the bud to go to the next song in the playlist.
• Long press 2s on one bud to increase or decrease the volume level.
• Long press both earbuds for 2 seconds to switch to normal or game mode.

The touch controls can be customized by linking the buds to the Realme Link App.

The Buds come with various smart features as well. These include dual device connection and opening up auto connection and google fast pair. These features are useful if you use the buds throughout the day.

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Realme Buds Air 3S Review: Sound Quality & Call Quality

The Realme Buds Air 3S comes with an 11mm Triple Titanium Bass Driver that claims to provide good quality audio. The buds come with Dolby Atmos support and customized EQ tuning as well. Listening to music with these buds is a mixed kind of experience for me. The audio quality has its own pros and cons. While the songs with lower notes, those which are soothing melodies (Maine Tera Naam by Shreya Ghoshal from Ek Villain Returns) sound good even at higher volume, songs that have peppy fast beats and more bass (Nadiyon Paar from Roohi) sound shaky at higher volume.

The vocals are mostly precise and clear. I heard songs like Fitoor by Arijit Singh (Shamshera) and the Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 title track and I found the singer’s voice to be slightly distorted during some tracks. Although customized EQ tuning comes with modes like bass boost, clear bass, natural balance, and clear vocals, turning them on didn’t make much of a difference to the audio quality. All in all, audio quality could have been worked upon by the company.

The earphones have a dedicated gaming mode that works alright, but there are slight delays, which is common for budget TWS devices. It has Bluetooth 5.3 for connectivity so that helps a lot.

Coming to noise cancellation, the buds Air 3S come with 4-mic microphones AI ENC Call Noise Reduction. This feature claims to reduce or blur out the noise around you when you are on a call. I tried taking calls using the device and found this feature to be not up to the mark. While I was in a noisy environment, the person at the other end had difficulty listening to my voice, despite me talking louder than usual. Having ANC would have made it a better experience.

Realme Buds Air 3S TWS Review: Battery

The Realme Buds Air 3S comes with a 460mAh battery for the charging case and a 43mAh battery for each earbud. The buds along with the case provide a listening time of almost 25-30 hours. This means if you use the buds for 3-4 hours daily, the battery will last for almost a week without charging. It really is long battery life.

Moreover, the buds charge very quickly. They reach 100% in just an hour and a 10-minute quick charge provides for 5 hours of listening time in normal mode.

Review Verdict: Should you buy Realme Buds Air 3S?

The Realme Buds Air 3S can be called a mixed bag which has its own pros and cons.  While the buds have a stylish design & are a comfortable fit, they lag behind in terms of connectivity range. The touch controls and battery life are decent but some major drawbacks come in the form of a lack of ANC and not-so-premium audio quality. If you are a casual listener who needs a TWS without burning a hole in your pocket, then Realme Buds Air 3S might be the one for you.