So, which one should you choose if you happen to want less expensive wireless earphones? We spent some time with both of those alternatives to look which one comes out on top.

Design

Each the Realme Buds and the Mi Neckband rent a neckband-fashion design, with cables emanating out of each give up. It is a attempted and tested layout and, in our experience, we've by no means had any troubles with this shape component. We pick them over a cable tethering us to our telephones, even though it could now not be surely wi-fi like the AirPods.

Mi Neckband Mi Neckband

Mi Neckband

The neckband on the Xiaomi has a extra rigid, flattened design than most neckband-fashion earphones. The neckband remains flexible, however it would not quite disintegrate and crumple into smaller length like some different fashions, together with the Realme Buds. This means you can not exactly fold it to preserve it for your pocket.

Realme Buds wireless Realme Buds

Realme Buds wi-fi

The Realme layout is extra flexible, which means it could be bent into any shape and squeezed into your pocket.

The Mi Neckband body is made absolutely out of plastic. It is no longer necessarily reasonably-priced however there's no pretense of opulence here, both. The cables coming out of both ends are also alternatively skinny and saved their kinks even after being outdoor of the packaging for numerous weeks. The earphone casing is constituted of metallic, even though it's very light-weight.
Mi Neckband Mi Neckband

Mi Neckband

The Realme Buds have a rubberized neckband but the two weighted modules at both stop are encased in metal. The striated cables, even though even extra adamant about keeping their kinks, are thicker and in a shiny color of yellow. Extra flashes of yellow are visible at the controls and the internal of the silicone ear suggestions. The earphone casing is thicker and also created from steel. You furthermore may get a fixed of fins to preserve the ear buds in your ears at some stage in workout but they can be eliminated if now not required. Speakme of workout routines, the Realme Buds are also IPX4 certified for splash resistance.

Both the earphones have controls positioned on the modules on the give up in their neckbands as opposed to at the earphone cable itself. This effects in both having non-intuitive and awkwardly positioned buttons which might be frustrating to use. You are probably higher off simply the usage of the controls for your cellphone.

Realme Buds wireless Realme Buds wi-fi

Realme Buds wi-fi

Each earphones have magnets in them, which allows the casing to snap collectively as they hang from your neck. Snapping them collectively turns the Realme Buds off and separating them turns them again on once more. On the Mi Neckband, you need to manually turn them on or off using the physical button on the aspect.

Usual, the Realme Buds are in reality the nicer looking and feeling of the 2. They're additionally extra flexible, have sweat and water resistance, and the automated power off when you snap them collectively is a handy characteristic. The Mi Neckband decidedly sense like budget earphones in comparison.
Features and operation

With each earphones being price range fashions, there isn't plenty right here to speak approximately regarding features. There is no accompanying software for both and neither supports software program updates.

The Realme Buds aid SBC and AAC audio codecs. The latter is an unusual preference, especially for the reason that these will generally be paired with Android gadgets, which don't work with AAC as well as Apple's gadgets. The Mi Neckband, on the other hand, most effective helps the basic SBC codec.
Realme Buds wi-fi vs Mi Neckband Bluetooth Earphones

As referred to earlier than, the Realme Buds activate or off absolutely through snapping the two audio system collectively magnetically. At the Mi Neckband, you have to flip them on or off the usage of a button on the facet, which also happens to be the pairing button.

The implementation of this strength/pairing button is rather unusual that could make one think Xiaomi has never made or used another Bluetooth headphone earlier than making this one. Urgent and maintaining the button whilst the earphones are off turns them on however also right away puts them into pairing mode. After that, they will pair to the ultimate paired tool or hold searching. It does this every single time despite the fact that on maximum different Bluetooth merchandise, allowing paring mode requires a significantly longer press and preserve then the only required for turning it on.

It is even worse at the same time as turning the earphones off. Pressing and conserving the button again puts the earphones in pairing mode and you need to maintain pressing the button to move past that and for the earphones to eventually transfer off. It's completely baffling why the earphones are in a steady hurry to enter pairing mode and why the button acts greater as a pairing button than energy button, in particular with it no longer assisting the snap to show off gesture discovered on the Realme Buds.
Realme Buds wi-fi vs Mi Neckband Bluetooth Earphones

However, Xiaomi is understood for making terrible choices concerning Bluetooth on its telephones, along with not permitting you to turn off tool visibility when Bluetooth is on and now not nonetheless now not helping Bluetooth absolute extent for audio merchandise even in MIUI eleven, so we shouldn't be surprised via this.

The Realme Buds, then again, work quite an awful lot as you would expect any regular Bluetooth audio product to paintings and you don't have to let cross of habits formed for nicely over a decade of using Bluetooth merchandise to apply this one.

Each earphones guide Bluetooth five.Zero. Neither had any connection problems throughout checking out with our iPhone XR.
Performance

Being finances earphones, one has to mood expectancies on the subject of sound excellent. At this charge point, a few concessions must be made, whether it's in the high-quality of the substances or the amount of engineering attempt that has long past into making and tuning them.

Having said that, the Realme Buds still sound like washing your ears with heat mud. The sound is congested, narrow and lacks any form of musicality to it. To signify that a person genuinely tuned it this manner is laughable.

Realme Buds wireless vs Mi Neckband Bluetooth Earphones

Beginning with the bass, the low-cease at the Realme Buds is lackluster, with neither the accuracy nor any quantity to make up for it. The mids most effective appear to exist in the decrease mid of the frequency spectrum, in which they stumble upon as mellow however still lacking any form of element and presence. The highs, then again, are so awful you may need to rent the offerings of Hercule Poirot to clear up The Case of the missing Treble. At a factor inside the frequency spectrum, the drivers simply surrender and depart it up to you to replenish the pinnacle half of of the spectrum with your personal creativeness.

The sound is also weirdly congested and compressed and the soundstage is non-existent so it all appears like it's happening inside the middle of your head.

Noticeably, despite trailing at the back of the Realme in the preceding classes, the Mi Neckband redeems itself nicely in arguably the maximum critical class. They actually sound quite decent and there appears to be at least some idea long past into how they sound.

The Mi Neckband has a louder and greater outstanding low-end reaction, specially within the mid-bass area. It is obviously not accurate however it seems to have a few persona as a minimum, unlike the dead low-give up at the Realme. The mids lack some energy inside the decrease-mid region but are fairly robust otherwise with out an excessive amount of of a dip that we commonly locate in price range audio gear. Finally, the excessive-give up is once more rolled off here more than we might like and the higher mid/decrease high region is mainly dull however relying at the genre this will or won't be great.
Realme Buds wi-fi vs Mi Neckband Bluetooth Earphones

The coolest issue approximately the Mi Neckband sound is that it does not sound as compressed and congested as Realme Buds. Surely, neither of these are high-quality sounding earphones, but the Xiaomi sounds proper sufficient for the charge and you may without difficulty get a few enjoyment out of them however the Realme just doesn't make us want to concentrate to them.

Both those earphones are at ease, so that is not an problem. Each use silicone eartips but the ones on the Realme are softer and nicer. Both do a first rate sufficient job of blockading external noise with none active noise cancellation.

In phrases of microphone quality, the Realme Buds are a long way and away advanced than Mi Neckband, which sound like paying attention to a radio broadcast in an old conflict movie. The Realme Buds have a much more sensible audio, that too despite the same old Bluetooth audio compression troubles for voice calls.
Battery existence and charging

Each the earphones right here have reasonable battery existence, however there is absolute confidence approximately which one is the unrefuted champion here. Realme claims 12 hours of battery existence for the earphones, which in itself is reasonably fantastic however they definitely lasted for 14 hours in our trying out.
Realme Buds wi-fi vs Mi Neckband Bluetooth Earphones

The Mi Neckband, on the other hand, declare most effective eight hours and even as they too went above and past that claim and lasted for nine hours in actual checking out, it is nonetheless a very good five hours less than the Realme.

As a ways as charging is involved, both take approximately  hours to price absolutely. Both also annoyingly nevertheless use microUSB connector. Xiaomi puts it beneath a flap, which is cumbersome. Realme has its open however the hole within the shell is sort of symmetrical so it is hard to tell which way you must function the cable earlier than plugging it in and it's smooth to get it wrong nearly whenever.
Verdict

Writing this verdict is a chunk frustrating. The Realme Buds need to have won easily as they've so much going for them and that they trounce the similarly priced Mi Neckband in nearly every issue. They've highly exact design and construct, consisting of IPX4 water resistance. They've notable microphone overall performance and also terrific battery existence. All of that and they may be still tremendous low-cost.

In evaluation, while not a bad product in line with se in any factor apart from the bargain basement microphone and the general silliness with the controls, the Mi Neckband does trail in the back of the Realme Buds in practically every area.
Realme Buds wireless vs Mi Neckband Bluetooth Earphones

Besides the most vital element, apparently, because on the subject of the sound quality, the Mi Neckband wipes the floor with the Realme Buds. It is no longer even that the Xiaomi sound mainly extraordinary; it's simply that the Realme sound quite rubbish typical and there are infrequently any genres of music that are tolerable on them.

Based on that cardinal sin by myself, we would would not advocate the Realme Buds wi-fi and alternatively suggest going with the Mi Neckband. In India, they may be priced at INR 1599, which is likewise cheaper than the INR 1799 charge for the Realme Buds wi-fi and you greater or much less get what you pay for with them.

However, in case your finances permits it, we would suggest going with our favorite in this segment, that's the authentic OnePlus Bullets wireless. At INR 2992, they're twice the fee of the Mi Neckband on the time of writing but they may be a hundred% really worth the extra money. They're a whole lot nicer basic than both of those two models and run circles around them in phrases of sound nice. If you may discover them, they are properly worth the value.

Realme Buds

Pros

    excellent layout and build first-class
    IPX4 water-resistance rating
    incredible battery lifestyles
    exceptional microphone satisfactory
    Low value

Cons

    negative audio fine
    Awkward controls
    microUSB connector

Mi Neckband Bluetooth Earphones

Pros

    Low price
    first rate audio pleasant for the price

Cons

    bad microphone exceptional
    demanding strength/pairing button
    now not as bendy as different fashions of comparable design
    microUSB connector