I recently did a comparison of the realme 16 Pro+ and HONOR 400 Pro, where the affordable realme camera phone unexpectedly came out on top. And if the company is doing great with smartphones, what about earbuds? I got myself the new realme Buds Air8 Pro in black (Master Black) and wore them for a week. Now I’m sharing my impressions.
Review of the new realme Buds Air8 Pro earbuds
realme Buds Air8 Pro Design
The first thing you notice when unboxing is the case. It’s rectangular, with beveled edges and a mirror-like surface that literally reflects everything around it. The design was created by Naoto Fukasawa — a Japanese minimalist industrial designer who also worked on the realme GT Master Edition. The case’s faceting is inspired by diamond cutting: the edges refract light at different angles, and in sunlight, the case truly sparkles.
The earbuds case has a mirror-like surface
The Master Black version looks sleek and restrained — while simultaneously appearing more expensive than its price suggests. The only caveat: the mirror surface instantly collects fingerprints. In black, this is more noticeable than in white. You’ll either have to accept it or constantly wipe it down. The case with earbuds weighs 53 grams and is unnoticeable in your pocket.
Inside there’s even Naoto Fukasawa’s autograph
The inside of the case has an Excimer matte coating — soft, warm to the touch, and non-slip. The contrast between the mirror exterior and matte interior works well. There’s a manual pairing button and a charge indicator on the front, and a Type-C port on the back. The official price of the realme Buds Air8 Pro in Russia is 8,999 rubles until June 29.
Connecting and Setting Up the realme Buds Air8 Pro
Each earbud weighs 4.8 grams and is barely noticeable in your ears. The package includes three sizes of ear tips: S, M, and L. It’s worth carefully selecting the fit, as it affects both passive noise isolation and bass quality. IP55 protection means sweat and rain are no problem. I used them in the gym without any worry.
The earbuds are miniature and glossy
Connecting the realme Buds Air8 Pro to a smartphone is simple: you open the case, and the earbuds appear in the Bluetooth device list. On realme Android smartphones, pairing happens automatically without going into settings. On other devices — standard Bluetooth pairing, no surprises.
The earbuds connect instantly via Google Fast Pair
They use Bluetooth 6.1 — the first time I’ve seen this version in earbuds; I haven’t even seen it on smartphones yet. Setting up the realme Buds Air8 Pro through the realme Link app gives access to everything: gestures, equalizer, ANC modes, AI features. Gestures are customizable — double tap, triple tap, long press, swipe on the stem for volume control. Very convenient.
realme Buds Air8 Pro — Earbuds with Great Sound
Each realme Buds Air8 Pro earbud features an 11mm driver for low frequencies and a 6mm planar tweeter for highs. Each has its own DAC — highs and lows are processed separately, without mutual interference. Theoretically, this provides a cleaner sound with good detail at both ends of the frequency range. In practice: the bass is tight and controlled, not overpowering the mids. The highs are detailed. Voice in podcasts and speech is clear. For wireless earbuds with great sound under 10,000 rubles — this is an excellent result.
The earbuds have a fairly large driver
I’ll mention the LHDC codec separately. The earbuds support audio transmission up to 1 Mbps, 24-bit, 192 kHz (that’s lossless Hi-Res Audio). But for this to work, you need a smartphone that supports LHDC. Without it, the difference in sound will be imperceptible. With LHDC, the sound becomes noticeably more spacious and detailed — especially with classical music and jazz. For pop music and podcasts, the difference is minimal.
You can customize the sound in the app
The app includes a Golden Sound personalization feature: the earbuds play a series of sounds, analyzing your hearing profile to create a custom audio profile.
