Realme Buds Q2s Review: Unique Design & Good Audio On Budget

Realme Buds Q2s Charging Case Design

The Buds Q2s come inside a tiny cobble-shaped charging case with a transparent lid, which gives it a unique appearance. You can see the earbuds sitting inside neatly without opening the pocketable case.

The lightweight case is made out of plastic and has a matte finish. Its transparent lid, however, is glossy and susceptible to scratches. The build quality is decent for the price. The charging case (39g) has a Type-C charging port at the back and an LED indicator at the front.The Realme Buds Q2s are available in three colors- Paper White, Paper Green and Night Black.

 

Realme Buds Q2s Earbuds Design

The earbuds weigh 4.2g and feel light in the ears. They fit snuggly inside your ear cavity and don't fall off easily, making them a good pair of TWS earbuds for workout sessions. I also found these buds quite comfortable for long listening sessions.

Realme is offering three pairs of silicone ear tips to help you find the right fit for your convenience and comfort. Moving on, the outer tip/back of the earbuds has a textured layer with touch controls.

Last but not least, the budget TWS earbuds are IPX4 splash resistant that should offer some level of protection from water damage. The charging case is not water-dust resistant and should be protected from any possible damage.

Realme Buds Q2s Connectivity & Touch Controls

The charging case doesn't have a function button, so all you need to do is open the lid and look for the buds in the Bluetooth settings of your handset. The buds work on Bluetooth 5.2 and support AAC high-quality audio codec. I paired these budget TWS earbuds with Windows PC, Android/iOS smartphones and tablets and did not face any connectivity issues. It is worth mentioning that the buds lack Google Fast pair support.

The Buds Q2s support customizable (via the Realme Link app) touch controls. The double-tap, triple tap and long tap works seamlessly and lets you control stop/play music, pick/hang ongoing call and enable/disable the game mode when needed. You would still need the paired handset as the earbuds lack volume controls.

Realme Buds Q2s Audio & Call Quality

The Realme Buds Q2s supports both AAC and SBC codecs and also comes equipped with environment noise cancellation (ENC). The sound is produced by 10mm Bass Boost drivers and the budget TWS earbuds also feature Dolby Atmos for stereo surround sound, provided that your handset/tablet supports it. Since these are sub-2K TWS earbuds, the Buds Q2s come sans ANC and transparency modes.

For a pair of budget TWS earbuds, the Buds Q2s packs a punch. Thanks to 10mm drivers, the budget TWS earbuds deliver loud and distortion-free sound even at the maximum volume level.

The sound signature is a bit on a warmer side, which works pretty well for most genres, especially the ones popular in this price segment. I liked how these budget TWS earbuds are handling the bass output. While it can be boomy, the bass doesn't feel overwhelming or leaking into other frequencies.

Ample Sound Customization Features

Realme's companion app comes in extremely handy to customize the sound output. You can choose between three audio profiles- Bright, Balanced and Bass Boost+. As the name suggests, the bass boost+ should be enabled if you prefer thumpy bass in your music.

The bright focus on treble and vocals makes the sound a bit too shrill for our liking. Enabling 'Volume Enhancer' does make the sound delivery a bit louder and must be enabled if you are in a noisy environment.

Further, the Dolby Atmos settings allow you to make some effective changes to the sound output. I found the best output with the 'Movie' profile in the Scenario-specific profile as I prefer a bit of 3D surround. You can enable the 'Music' profile for more balanced sound output.

The 'Environment profile' also offers four sub-profiles but I didn't notice any changes in the sound output. Besides, you can further customize the sound output via the built-in equalizer. I wish Realme had offered the transparency mode on the budget TWS earbuds.

Overall, the Realme Buds Q2s offer a very enjoyable music listening experience on a budget. The bass could be a bit tighter; however, for its price, the budget truly wireless earbuds offer very impressive audio delivery. As for the call quality and ENC, the budget TWS earbuds don't set any new grounds but don't disappoint too.

Realme Buds Q2s Battery Life

The Buds Q2s offer a solid battery life. These budget TWS earbuds can easily last for up to six and a half hours on a single charge, depending upon your usage. If you stream the audio at 65-70% volume with AAC codec enabled, the buds will last for about five and a half hours.

The charging case can add another 5 full-charge cycles, which takes the battery life to a good 25-30 hours. For a pair of budget TWS earbuds, this is quite impressive. It takes about two and a half hours to refuel the battery from flat to 100%.

Gamers will appreciate low latency of 88ms for synchronized audio and visuals. Long pressing on the back of the earbuds activates the game mode.

Verdict

The Realme Buds Q2s are totally recommended to anyone looking for sub-2K TWS earbuds. These truly wireless earbuds ace the basics in terms of design, audio delivery and battery life. You will have a tough time finding a pair of TWS earbuds that offer better overall performance.