Realme Buds T500 Pro review: Powerful audio in a ‘candy-sized’ box

Rating: 3.8/5India’s sub-Rs 5000 TWS earbuds segment is evolving, with brands catering to different price points that offer noise cancellation, high-resolution audio, and AI-powered features. With the new Buds T500 Pro, Realme is aiming to offer a mix of long battery life, ANC, and customisation features in a compact form factor.Priced at Rs 2,799, the earbuds feature 12.4mm drivers, up to 50dB of active noise cancellation, support for the Low-Latency High-Definition Audio Codec (LHDC), and a 6-mic setup for calls. We used the Lemon Cola variant of the Buds T500 Pro for a few weeks for music, calls, gaming, and streaming. Here’s our experience:The Buds T500 Pro comes with a compact case that follows a rounded “candy box” design. The Lemon Cola variant has a leather texture with a playful look, though the plastic build is noticeable in hand. The case is small enough to fit easily in pockets, and the included lanyard adds practicality for carrying it.The case and buds are both plastic. The hinge feels solid enough, and the magnetic closure is snug. The buds themselves weigh 4.5g each, and that lightness shows during wear. After 2-3 hours of continuous use, we didn’t notice any fatigue.Multiple ear tip sizes are included in the box, and the oval-shaped tips created a secure seal during our testing without causing the kind of pressure that builds up over long sessions. The fit feels secure enough for walking, biking, and light workouts, and the IP55 rating provides some protection against sweat and dust.These earbuds feature 12.4mm drivers, Hi-Res Audio support, and LHDC codec support. In daily use, the tuning is generally balanced, with a slightly bass-leaning touch. However, no matter what kind of music we listened to, the performance remained consistent.The kick in Daft Punk’s Get Lucky was clearly audible, but Badshah’s Paani Paani was also rich in sub-bass that did not affect the mids. At the same time, the sound profile is not totally bass-heavy, and those used to bass-y earbuds may even notice a lack of bass at first.Meanwhile, The Weeknd’s Blinding Lights which is rich in low frequencies that do not impact the synths in the background, and Arijit Singh’s Apna Bana Le also sounded very natural.Similarly, Kesariya from Brahmastra carried a clean mid-range that worked well for vocal-heavy tracks. Even on bass-heavy tracks like Lil Nas X's Old Town Road, the earbuds delivered punch without overwhelming the rest of the mix.Vocals are one of the stronger aspects of the tuning. Arijit Singh’s Tum Hi Ho retained its natural texture, especially in softer passages where finer details came through without compression. In Coldplay’s The Scientist, Chris Martin’s vocals clearly sit on top of the piano arrangement. The mid-range was warm without sounding over-processed on Shreya Ghoshal’s Lag Ja Gale from the 2023 recreation, keeping the presentation natural and not pushed forward.For high frequency control, cymbals in Bill Evans' Waltz for Debby had presence without being shrill at moderate levels. There is a bit of an edge in the upper mids at higher volumes, but it doesn’t become uncomfortable during longer listening sessions.Turning on LHDC will give you a noticeable boost in clarity and separation on compatible devices. On Hozier’s “Take Me to Church”, instruments were more distinct than on standard AAC playback. Jai Ho by A.R. Rahman was more clearly layered, especially in the orchestral sections. The difference is there, but it’s not enough to prompt users to adjust their daily listening settings.The Realme Buds T500 Pro earbuds also come with a gaming mode; while playing BGMI, the audio mostly synchronises with on-screen actions, including footsteps and gunshots.However, the 45ms of latency will affect users during fast-paced moments of a game, so competitive gamers may still experience some delay. For regular gamers, nevertheless, it is not a major problem because the audio response was very close to the gameplay for less intense games like Subway Surfers.For content streaming, the Realme Buds T500 Pro performed excellent, handling both voice and music. While watching the Mirzapur series on Amazon Prime Video, dialogues were clear in calm moments, whereas in ‘loud’ audio scenes, there was no sharp change in volume. The earbuds could transition from one sound level to another without constant volume changes.The spatial audio technology gives a bit of width to the audio. It does not fully replicate head-tracking, but it offers a broader sound than just stereo. The effect can be noticed when playing movies or long-form video content.On platforms like YouTube, where audio quality can vary by source, the earbuds did not amplify compression artefacts. Videos at standard quality sounded stable, which helps when switching between different types of content.In day-to-day usage, whether for streaming, short gaming sessions or general listening, the earbuds remained consistent without drawing attention to latency or sync issues in most situations.The Realme Buds T500 Pro comes with active noise cancellation rated at up to 50dB. While this figure is theoretical, real-world performance holds up well for everyday environments. Constant background sounds such as air conditioners, ceiling fans and distant traffic were reduced to a level where they no longer felt distracting. In metro travel, the normal banter people engage in had been noticeably subdued, to the point of completely drowning out everything else around them.Furthermore, regarding how well the headphones handle human speech, conversations in cafés have been cut back substantially, so they are no longer a distraction, although they were not completely eliminated. In situations like working and studying, human speech is a stronger distractor than other noises.A fit-detection system powered by AI runs in the background, refining noise cancellation based on how the earbuds sit in your ear. There’s no way to control this manually, but it does help keep a consistent experience as you move around. The increase in pressure occurred steadily, and there were no disparities in cancellations during transitions between positions or during small adjustments for comfort.An adaptive ANC system adapts to different environments without experiencing sudden changes. This transition from a quiet indoor environment to a noisy one happened seamlessly as the headphones automatically adjusted. The transparency mode also worked as expected, allowing just enough external sound to enable quick communication without removing the headphones.For telephone calls, the six microphones ensure stable voice capture. Despite moderate background noise, the speech recorded indoors was perfectly audible.Bluetooth 6.1 is one of the features of the Realme Buds T500 Pro, and it maintains strong connectivity throughout day-to-day use. Among the useful new features is the ability to connect with three different devices simultaneously. In my experience, connecting a laptop for a video call and using my phone to take a call happened seamlessly without having to pair again. The transition sometimes took a moment, but it remained consistent enough to rely on through regular usage across multiple devices.The Realme Link app provides access to sound customisation and feature controls. It includes EQ presets such as Pop, Rock, Bass Boost and Clear Vocals, along with an option to create a custom EQ profile. The presets are tuned so that the sound profile changes without heavily altering the overall balance. The custom EQ is easy to adjust and requires little effort to fine-tune.The earbuds also include an AI Face-to-Face translation feature. It works for short interactions, but in practice, it feels limited and is not something most users would depend on regularly.Additional features include a wear detection function that reliably pauses playback when the earbuds are removed and resumes when worn again. The Find My Earbuds option adds an extra layer of convenience if the earbuds are misplaced.Realme Buds T500 Pro battery life depends on how these functions are used. With ANC disabled and the AAC codec used, the buds lasted about 13 hours, which matches the company's claims. If users enable the ANC and LHDC codecs, their lifespan will decrease significantly to around 5-5.5 hours. The charging case helps extend battery life. Even though we have not tested the full cycle with all the features mentioned above, the 56-hour figure seems realistic given our experience testing these headphones for several days.Charging is handled via USB-C and remains stable during use. A short top-up session of around 20 minutes added a few hours of playback on the earbuds, which proved useful for quick recharges between usage.The Realme Buds T500 Pro comes with an impressive price tag of Rs 2,799 and claims to be an all-rounder for daily use. Tuning is more about balancing than emphasising any aspect, while the drivers’ increased size helps lend body to music.The noise cancellation is tuned for real-world scenarios and aims to remove consistent noise without making it feel artificially silent. Features like multi-device connectivity enhance overall usability, especially for those switching between devices throughout the day.On the other hand, some issues need to be addressed. The combination of all those advanced functions will affect the battery. In addition, this device favours performance over aesthetics, despite being small enough for portability. It is fair to say that some artificial intelligence-based improvements deliver their expected value but do not serve as crucial parts of the product.For users looking for earbuds that can handle music, calls, streaming and gaming without requiring constant adjustments, the Buds T500 Pro offers a consistent experience and is worth considering.