For the past two years or so, we have seen open-ear designs for earbuds trying to take a front-row seat, with multiple brands launching their open-wear wireless earbuds – from Bose and Nothing to now Realme with its Buds Clip. The new Buds Clip come at a price point of Rs 5,599 and aim to offer this relatively less mainstream design.
The pair is designed like a curved barbell that is placed in a standing position in the charging case. I like how smoothly you can pull them out from the case by holding the middle of the barbell curve, and these go straight into the ears on the same sides – the longer, broader side on the outside of your ear and the smaller bud side on the auricle of your ear. The buds are IP55 dust and water-resistant, and while the case is all matte textured, the buds are glossier in finish. The case has the Realme branding and a relatively big LED indicator at the top, while its USB Type-C port sits at the bottom next to the physical pairing button. The buds weigh 5.3g each and are really comfortable to wear. You have to just try and adjust them the first time, maybe, but it didn’t take too long to figure out the ideal position for them for your ear. The buds don't go inside the in-ear canal; instead, they stay on the auricle surface, so your ears are never closed – the open design's feature. These come in Titanium Gold and Titanium Black (the one I tried) colour options.
The Buds Clip are powered by dual 11mm drivers and support Bluetooth 5.4 with AAC and SBC audio codec support, but no LDAC. There's dual-device pairing support, and I find them to connect reliably and quickly with devices – whether Android or Windows. The buds are quite ample in the bass and do a decent job of handling treble with vocals on most occasions. There's no active noise cancellation, of course, but these do a pretty good job of keeping details intact and not losing out on background instruments for tracks in movies and shows, as well as in genres like Rock, Metal, Punjabi, and Bollywood. I also liked how consistently it handled dialogue delivery for streaming purposes, something wireless buds can struggle with at times. You can use the Realme Link app to change EQ settings, modes, and check for firmware updates.
Each earbud has a 45mAh battery, and with the 530mAh of the charging case, they are meant to last over 40 hours in total. The buds didn’t show any unusual battery drainage, regardless of the listening mode in place. Mic quality seemed okay and nothing too remarkable for outdoor usage.
The Realme Buds Clip are a pretty good first take from the company at open-ear wireless stereo buds that are comfortable to wear and would be liked by many who don’t like the clogged-ear feeling from wearing audio gear for hours, whether for work or entertainment purposes.
