Realme Buds Air Neo & PowerBank 2 Hands-on

Realme Philippines has officially launched its Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) devices in the country, the realme Buds Air Neo and the realme PowerBank 2. Check out our hands-on of the two products below.

realme Buds Air Neo

First up, is the realme Buds Air Neo, a True Wireless Stereo earbuds. The unit that we have here is in White, but realme will also release the Green and Red versions soon.

The unit comes with the earbuds, along with the case, manual, and a micro USB cable. There’s not much to talk about the design as it is similar to most TWS you see in the market. But that’s the beauty of this device; it looks simple and clean. If we’re going to compare, it takes after the original Apple AirPods.

The case is tiny and just enough to fit the earbuds. You might even find the earbuds a bit tricky to take it out of the case due to the limited space in the opening. It’s rounded, like a pebble, and smooth all around. On the front are the LED notification and the multi-function button, while down at the bottom is the micro USB port for charging.

Open the case, and the LED will light up to give you an idea of its battery level. At this point, the earbuds are ready for pairing. You can connect to it right way using the usual Bluetooth pairing, but we prefer going the longer route by downloading the realme Link app and connecting the Buds Air Neo from there.

The app will allow you to customize the touch controls on the left and right earbuds as well as update the firmware. Once you’re done setting it up, the earbuds will quickly connect to your phone with the help of Google Fast Pair.

The Buds Air Neo is light and comfortable in the ears. It’s snug and doesn’t fall off even if I shake my head.

As for audio quality, it’s on the warm side, meaning bass is more prominent. It’s thumpy, but the vocals are still bright and present. If you’re fond of pop and hip hop music, the Buds Air Neo will excel.

Connection-wise, the Buds Air Neo is equipped with R1 True Wireless Chip with a new dual-channel transmission tech. So far, the connection is stable, without noticeable lags when watching videos or playing games.

As for battery life, realme says that it’s capable of 3 hours of playback. You can extend it to 17 hours with power provided by the case.

realme Power Bank 2

If you’re looking for a stylish power bank for your existing smartphone or other devices, take a look at the realme PowerBank 2. It is available in two colors: Black and Yellow. It also comes with a 2-in-1 micro USB / USB-C cable.

What we like about this is the slim build and has micro stripes for its textured finish, so it’s easier to grip. It measures 15mm thin and weighs in at 216g. It has a 10,000mAh battery capacity, USB-A port, USB-C port, LED indicators, and a power switch.

It features a two-way 18W quick charge meaning it can recharge your device with 18W power but can also recharge itself using an 18W power adapter. It also supports the following quick charge protocols: QC, PD, AFS, SFCP, PE, and BC1.2.

Other features include a low-current mode for AIoT devices like the bands, smartwatches, and TWS, 13 layers of circuit protection, and no capacity degradation after charging 500 times.

The realme Buds Air Neo has an SRP of PHP 1,990USD 34INR 2,875EUR 32CNY 247, while the realme PowerBank2 is at PHP 1,190USD 20INR 1,719EUR 19CNY 148. Read our article here for the special initial offering on Lazada and Shopee starting June 19.