Realme Buds T500 Pro Review: The best TWS earbuds under Rs 3,000 in India

Pros:

Cons:

Price: Rs 2,799

Rating: 4.3/5

While the Air series of true wireless (TWS) earbuds from Realme gets all the attention, their T series buds are generally the sleeper hit and offer exceptional value. We now have the latest from the series, and probably for the first time with a Pro suffix. The Realme Buds T500 Pro promises every feature imaginable in this price bracket and some more for an incredibly competitive price tag. But is the performance equally impressive? Let’s find out.

Realme Buds T500 Pro: Design and Comfort (8.5/10)

The design of this product is different from all others from the brand, especially the charging case. The rectangular candybox design is quite cute and unique in comparison to most of the products around. We got the Orange Mint flavour (I mean variant) for review, with matte silver on the outside and bright orange on the inside when you open the lid. The combination works well. The case is fairly compact and pocketable.

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A charge indicator LED is located at the front of the case, while a USB-C charging port is present at the back. A Bluetooth pairing/reset button is absent. The earbuds look cool too with a largely white body and a coat of silver (same shade as the case) at the back of the stems. There’s a circular indentation at the top of the stems to denote the touch zones; the touch sensitivity is good.

The earbuds are light at 4.5 grams each and have fairly short stems. They sit comfortably in the ear with a snug fit, and do not pop out even during a workout or a jog. The right sized silicone tips from the bundled options offer decent passive noise isolation and help in improving active noise cancellation (ANC) performance too. The earbuds are IP55 rated dust and splash resistant but the charging case does not have any ingress protection.

Realme Buds T500 Pro: Features and Specifications (9.5/10)

When it comes to features, the T500 Pro has everything one expects at this price point and beyond. For starters, each earbud is fitted with a 12.4 mm dynamic driver, three microphones for calling plus ANC and a 62 mAh battery. The case can hold 530 mAh of charge. The buds claim to offer up to 50 dB noise cancellation with varying degrees of ANC, which I will talk about shortly. It also flaunts something I haven’t seen before in TWS earbuds - Triple-pairing support to connect these earbuds to three devices simultaneously; it works perfectly fine.

You also get wear detection sensors to pause the audio when you take a bud out the ear and resume when you put it back in. These Bluetooth 6.1 compliant earphones support LHDC 5.0 codec along with SBC and AAC, which is impressive for the segment. The only feature missing here from the superset of all products selling under 5K would be the slide controls present on the OnePlus Buds 3 and Nord Buds 4 Pro. But I am nitpicking.

You do get the usual double/triple tap and touch-and-hold gestures to assign various tasks to from the companion app. However, it could have used one more gesture as the current set limits you. For instance, if you assign playback controls to the double and triple tap and ANC modes to touch-and-hold, you cannot have volume control on the buds.

You need to install the Realme Link app to configure controls and use other features of the T500 Pro. The app is available for Android and iOS both. Unlike in the past, you need to register to use the app, something I am not a fan of. Other than controls, the app lets you alter the sound output with a 6-band equaliser and four audio presets. Then there’s Mindflow Mode (similar to Zen mode on certain OnePlus buds) that plays a soothing white noise or a soft tune to help you relax or sleep.

Realme Buds T500 Pro: Performance (8.5/10)

These Realme buds are loud enough in the 50 to 60% volume range even when outdoors. Though latency figures haven’t been specified, there was no perceptible lag between the video and audio when streaming videos from OTT platforms. The wireless range is as advertised with a strong connection up to 10 metres with a clear line of sight. The ANC performance is quite good for the segment with the company claiming a maximum noise reduction of 50 dB.

When enabled, it significantly reduces several low frequency ambient sounds like the whirr of a fan or the AC buzz when indoors and the sound of car engines when outdoors. It is handy in public transport too in reducing quite a bit of the human chatter, though it cannot eliminate it completely. And it does all of that in Moderate and Max modes both. There’s also a Smart mode that automatically adjusts the intensity of ANC depending on the ambient noise. It works well and I would recommend using it.

The Transparency mode, though usable, feels a little cosmetic. You get options to reduce the wind noise as well as boost vocal frequencies, but none of the options make it feel natural. Let’s not forget we are still talking about a sub-3K product and the performance is perfectly acceptable for the price range. More importantly, it does help you stay aware of your surroundings or catch an announcement and even have a quick chat with the buds in your ears, though you will need to strain your ears a bit for the last part.

Moving on to the sound quality, the default sound signature of the Realme Buds T500 Pro is distinctly bass-heavy. No surprise there given that the default sound preset is Clear Bass. You also have a Deep Bass preset in case you want some more. Serenade preset tones down the bass a lot and is best suited for voice-heavy content like podcasts, not so much for music. Lastly, the Original Sound preset is easily the most balanced of the lot and the one you should use in case you don’t like to tinker with equalisers.

Speaking of which, you get a 6-band EQ to create a custom sound profile that suits your taste in sound. You can create multiple profiles that can be used in different music types. Even if you don’t understand equalisers, here’s a small trick I will suggest for the T500 Pro. Choose to create a custom EQ and leave all the bars as is. This flat profile delivers a nicely balanced and energetic sound output that works well across multiple genres of music.

There is still ample bass to enjoy without overpowering the midrange frequencies too much. The vocal clarity on these buds is quite good and the highs are tempered well without losing their sparkle. The soundstage is not too broad though and could have been slightly better. The same goes for instrument separation. But all said and done, the sound quality of the Realme Buds T500 Pro punches above its weight given its price tag.

Realme Buds T500 Pro: Call quality (8/10)

The call quality on these earbuds is quite good indoors and very much acceptable in noisy outdoor areas too. People on the line were clearly audible to each other most of the time. When outdoors, the background noise and wind noise are kept in check, but the ENC algorithm is probably a little aggressive and softens the voice clarity a bit, but it’s still amply clear. Hence the Realme Buds T500 Pro is a good option for your calling needs.

Realme Buds T500 Pro: Battery life (8.5/10)

These earbuds boast of impressive battery backup figures with the company shedding light on what one can expect in different scenarios. Realme claims 13.5 hours of audio playback for the buds alone and 56 hours overall with the charging case at 50% loudness with ANC off when using AAC codec. With ANC switched on, those figures drop to 8 and 33 hours respectively. When using LHDC codec, the corresponding figures stand at 9 and 36 hours and 5.5 and 23 hours without and with ANC respectively.

We carried out our entire testing using LHDC codec with the loudness in the 50 to 60% range for the better part. The buds lasted a little over 5 hours with Smart ANC enabled all the time and close to 8.5 hours without ANC. With the charging case, the overall battery backup ranged between 21 to 34 hours depending on your ANC usage, which is quite impressive. The numbers will be noticeably higher on AAC. The buds can be charged fully in less than an hour, while the case takes another hour to get to 100.

Realme Buds T500 Pro: Price, verdict and alternatives

The Realme Buds T500 Pro is priced attractively at just Rs 2,799 with a one year warranty, and certain colour variants can even be purchased for Rs 200 less at the moment. I cannot think of anything more feature-rich under Rs 3,000 in India. On top of that, these Realme buds offer good sound quality with LHDC codec support, effective ANC, impressive battery backup, good call quality and features like triple pairing and wear detection, making it not just an easy recommendation but the product to beat in this segment.

As for competition, you do have a couple of options that can keep it on its toes if not beat it. The OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro and CMF (by Nothing) Buds 2 Plus with similar features, performance and price are viable alternatives in case you can’t find the T500 Pro or find its design too funky for your taste. If you are looking for something better, you will need to spend around 4K for the OnePlus Buds 3 or the OnePlus Nord Buds 4 Pro for better sound, ANC and slide controls.