Realme Buds Air 8 review: Safe and sensible TWS under Rs 4,000

I never quite got around to reviewing the Realme Buds Air 7. I had borrowed a pair from a colleague, used them on and off for a while, and then life happened. Still, what stuck with me was how good they sounded for the price. That alone made me curious about what Realme would do next with this series. Fast forward a bit, and the Buds Air 8 arrived. Once again, they spent a fair amount of time with a colleague before finally landing on my desk. When I did get them, I made sure to live with them properly rather than rush through a few days of testing. As the saying goes, patience is a virtue. Or at least, that is what I kept telling myself.

Realme is pitching the Buds Air 8 as a meaningful step forward. You get a new dual-driver setup, active noise cancellation rated at up to 55 dB, LHDC 5.0 hi-res audio support, and claims of long battery life. I have spent enough time using them daily to see how much of that actually holds up. By the end of this review, you should have a clear idea of whether the Realme Buds Air 8 are worth Rs 3,799. Let’s get into it.

Premium touch with a practical fit

Realme continues its ‘Master Design’ and the Buds Air 8 case does not look or feel like generic AirPods-style clones. The case has a rounded-square form with heavily chamfered edges. The top portion has a vegan leather finish with a lustrous Realme logo. The rest of the body has a matte finish. The angular edges aren’t sharp and offer good grip. The case is compact enough to easily slide into my jeans/pants pocket.

Inside the box, there is a glossier finish, and you’ll see the buds nested in their cavities. Overall, I would like to add that the Realme Buds Air 8 box looks very much like a jewellery box, the one that you get with rings. You can pick it in gold, grey and purple colours. We have the grey one, and even that looks chic.

The earbuds follow a familiar stem-based in-ear design. They are light and stay comfortably in the ear canal for long sessions. During commutes, calls, and extended listening, they did not cause pressure build-up or fatigue. You can try out the different silicone ear tips provided in the box to find the right fit.

With a good fit, you will have decent passive isolation and also have an improved bass experience. Once sealed properly, the buds sit securely and do not loosen easily during walking or gym use.

The Buds Air 8 are rated IP55 for dust and water resistance. That matters more in India than it sounds. It can give some confidence with respect to handling sweat, dust, and unexpected rain. The case, however, is not water-resistant, so some care is still required.

Feature-rich and stable connection

The Realme Buds Air 8 features Bluetooth 5.4 for connectivity and offers a triple-device connection, which is rare at this price. You can stay connected to a phone, laptop, and tablet simultaneously, and switching between them is smooth. But note that this feature is disabled by default, and you’ll have to enable it from the Realme Link app.

Speaking of which, the Realme Link app also offers options to control ANC levels, enable transparency mode, activate low-latency Game Mode, customise touch controls, adjust EQ, enable auto-play/pause, enable Spatial Audio and high-definition LHDC 5.0 codec. In case of touch controls, I wish Realme had given the option to assign function(s) to a single tap also.

The AI Chat feature in the Realme Link wasn’t working as expected, but you can set touch control commands to invoke the voice assistant, like Gemini and get answers or device-related help. You can also activate the Game Mode, which claims to bring down latency to around 45ms. This should be good enough for casual gaming and video playback. Even without that, I was having no problems in these casual uses.

Bass-forward, clear vocals, and safe highs

The Realme Buds Air 8 packs a 11mm + 6mm dual driver setup. That 6mm driver is a dedicated tweeter for brighter treble. This hardware with LHDC 5.0 codec and Clear Bass EQ profile offers a sound that is bass-forward with clear vocals and safe treble.

The bass sounds full and present, and tracks like Bad Guy by Billie Eilish offer a satisfying sense of weight. Kick drums in Black Skinhead by Kanye West land with authority, and basslines in Stevie Wonder’s Master Blaster feel rounded. Vocals are not buried in bass-heavy tracks; just surrounded by warmth. You would also enjoy pop tracks like Arijit Singh’s Into You with this pair.

I had no problem listening to podcasts, YouTube videos and vocal-centric music with the Buds Air 8’s tuning. Due to restrained treble, these offer fatigue-free listening. For more width, you can enable Spatial Audio mode. This, I must say, was one of the better implementations I have heard in this segment. Both vocals and instruments are pronounced in tracks like Riders on the Storm by The Doors.

In short, the Realme Buds Air 8 sound warm and engaging. The bass emphasis doesn’t present all details as clearly as it should. But considering the budget, the details, sound staging and overall sound signature are fine.

Also Read: Oppo Enco Buds 3 Pro+ review: The right ANC earbuds for everyday use?

Strong noise cancellation and reliable calling

Interestingly enough, I was using this pair alongside the newer Realme Buds Clip (review), the open-ear earphones. While open-fit earbuds have their place, I would still have an ANC earbud as my primary. The Buds Air 8 in particular claims up to 55dB ANC, and it does a good job in dulling down traffic chaos, office chatter, keyboard taps, and everyday home noises.

You can set the ANC to adaptive mode, which works based on your surroundings, but I preferred the Max ANC level. Transparency mode isn’t very natural-sounding, but it lets you hear and be aware of your ambience without removing the buds.

Call quality is fine. As for the overall connectivity, the buds were getting disconnected from the Realme Link app quite often. This has to be an issue with my review unit, and since it didn’t bother me in my daily use, I am just letting you know.

Long endurance and minor charging annoyances

Battery life is one of the Realme Buds Air 8’s biggest strengths. With ANC off, at 80% volume, and LHDC 5.0 enabled, I was getting close to 11 hours on continuous playback. That’s lower than Realme’s claim of 14 hours at 50% volume and normal mode. With ANC on and LHDC, the company claims 5.5 hours of runtime. So, set your expectation accordingly. The claimed total battery life is up to 58 hours with ANC off or 30 hours with ANC on.

Realme says the buds would take 1 hour, and both the buds and the case would take 2 hours to fully top up. During charging, I noticed the Realme Link app showed that one of the earbuds charged more slowly than the other one. The case supports USB-C charging, but you don’t get a Type-C cable in the box.

Should you buy the Realme Buds Air 8?

The Realme Buds Air 8 make a strong case for themselves by getting the fundamentals right and then going a step further. In daily use, they feel like a mature, well-rounded pair of ANC earbuds. The sound is bass-forward, punchy, and works with most tracks. ANC is effective enough to meaningfully cut down traffic noise, office chatter, and household distractions. Battery life is strong, and features like triple-device connection and LHDC 5.0 support add real value at this price.

They don’t have big compromises. But still, if I had to nitpick, detail, clarity and airiness take a back seat to bass and comfort. Transparency mode sounds functional rather than natural. The app experience can be inconsistent.

But taken as a whole, the Buds Air 8 deliver more than what most people expect under Rs 4,000. They are best suited for users who want strong ANC, loud and engaging sound, long battery life, and modern features without paying a premium. If you are upgrading from older budget earbuds or looking for a dependable daily ANC pair for commuting, work, and casual listening, the Realme Buds Air 8 are easy to recommend and currently one of the safest buys in their segment.

Keep reading Digit.in for similar audio reviews.

Also Read: Google Pixel Buds 2a review: Made for Pixel users, pleasant for everyone else