POVA launched the POVA AI Buds Pro in India as one of the first with AI Meeting Summary and Translation earlier this month. Combining active noise cancellation with on-device intelligence and transcription, they aim to bridge the gap between everyday media consumption and professional workflow management. Here we have the review.
Box Contents
- POVA AI Buds Pro in Silver color
- Multiple pairs of silicone ear tips (S, M, L)
- USB Type-C Charging Cable
- Quick Start Guide & Warranty Card
Design and Build Quality
Sporting a sleek Silver finish, the POVA AI Buds Pro adopt a modern stem design with ergonomic contours. . The charging case (60x 60×28.5 mm, 48.3g) is pocketable and sturdy and slides to open. You can see the recording button on the inside.
There is a tiny silver ring around the top. You can see the LED light on the front.
The USB Type-C port and the pairing button are at the back.
At just 4.8g per earbud and compact dimensions (28.7×17.7×21.1mm), the earbuds provide a lightweight, fatigue-free fit for extended listening sessions. The earbuds come with an optical sensor for wear detection, so they can play/pause when you remove or put back the earbuds. With an IP55 dust and water resistance rating, the earbuds can easily handle gym sweat and light rain.
The fit was perfect, and it doesn’t come out easily, even during strenuous activities like running or workouts. Make sure you choose the right ear tips. Since the medium sized ear tips that was pre-installed was too big for me, it was slipping out, and the smaller ear tips woked perfectly.
Connectivity, Pairing, and Controls
The POVA Ai Buds Pro support Bluetooth 5.2 with LHDC Hi-Res audio codec with a transmission rate of up to 1Mbps for HD sound quality on supported devices. It also supports the AAC codec that works in phones that have it. AAC is enabled by default, and you need to go to the POVA AI app to enable LHDC from the Earbuds settings and choosing ‘Sound Quality first’ for it to work, and the buds restart after that.
The pairing process is very easy. Just press the pairing button for the buds to enter pairing mode after placing them in the case, then select the POVA Buds Ai from the phone’s Bluetooth settings. We tested it on the Pixel 11, POVA 8 Pro, and POCO M8 Power 5G, and never faced any pairing or disconnection issues. The app binds to a particular phone, so you will need to unbind if you want the app to work with a buds on another phone, which is bit frustrating if you need app access on multiple phones.
You can enable the dual connection option that lets you connect to two devices at the same time and switch the audio playback between them. It uses pinch controls like most high-end buds, which is good.
| Function | Left earphone (L) | Right earphone (R) |
| Play / Pause and Answer call / Hang calls | Pinch once | |
| Play next track or Reject a call | Pinch twice | – |
| Enable noise cancellation | – | Pinch twice |
| Play previous track | Pinch thrice | |
| Start / Stop recording | Pinch and hold | |
| Volume control | Slide on right or left earbuds | |
You can customize the controls of the POVA AI app on Android and iOS.
Wear detection also works for auto-answer calls when you pick and wear the earbuds, auto-transparency mode when you remove one earbud, and auto-call noise cancellation when wearing both earbuds during calls. These need to be enabled from the app. The Earbuds Fit Test option plays music to ensure that your ear tips make a good seal with your ear canal for better noise cancellation.
AI Productivity, Transcription, and Translation
Pressing the red dot on the charging case activates instant standalone recording without needing a phone connection, app launch, or network signal. The system uses an 8-microphone array with 7-metre ambient pickup and offers up to 4 hours of onboard storage across the earbuds, complete with voiceprint separation for up to 4 distinct speakers.
AI Summaries: Once synced via Bluetooth, POVA AI delivers a structured meeting summary, action-item list, mind-map, or full transcript in under 60 seconds.
Industry Templates: Includes 10 industry-specific templates covering legal, finance, real estate, and medical terminology, with one-tap export to WhatsApp, email, or CRM tools.
Live Translation: Supports 78 languages and 12 dialects in real-time, including Hindi-English mixed speech for face-to-face discussions, calls, and virtual meetings.
Live transcription works mostly for English, and the summary is useful. There is also a clear transcript with speaker identification, and the mind map is also useful. You get 600 minutes of transcription per month, which is more than enough, and there is a Pro plan that gives 1800 minutes and multilingual transcription at Rs. 1,100 per month or Rs. 9000 per year.
Audio Quality
Driven by custom 11mm dynamic drivers, the sound signature leans balanced with deep, punchy low-end and well-defined mids. Vocals remain crisp and forward, which benefits not only music playback and podcasts but also the clarity required for speech-to-text accuracy.
LHDC worked with POVA Buds 8 Pro and other phones without any issues. It features six equalizers – Balanced (default), Bass boost, Treble boost, Bright female voice, Deep male voice and Classic symphony – so that every song can be heard how it should. You can also create custom EQ.
Noise Cancellation and Call Performance
The earbuds offer up to 48 dB of active noise cancellation, effectively dampening low-frequency hums, office chatter, and commute noise. The adaptive noise cancellation works based on the ambient noise.
This also has Transparency mode that allows you to listen to ambient sound so that you can recognize the surrounding situation and any potential risks. The low-latency feature is useful when gaming and needs to be enabled from settings.
Featuring an advanced 8-microphone array paired with a dedicated Voice Pickup Unit (VPU), call quality is exceptionally clear. Background distractions are filtered out cleanly, ensuring accurate voice pickup for calls, real-time AI transcription, meeting summaries, and translation across 78 languages.
Battery Life
Each earbud houses a 60mAh cell capable of lasting up to 9 hours on a single charge without ANC. Combined with the 500mAh charging case, total playback reaches up to 40 hours without ANC. This is less when ANC is used and even less when you use it for calls with the use of multiple mics.
Refueling is versatile, supporting both fast USB Type-C wired charging (full charge of case with buds in under 2 hours) and Qi wireless charging.
Conclusion
The POVA AI Buds Pro carve out a unique space in a crowded TWS market by treating productivity as a first-class feature rather than an afterthought. While most earbuds focus solely on playback, the integration of on-device recording, AI-driven meeting summaries, and multi-language translation genuinely transforms them into an indispensable pocket assistant for professionals, students, and frequent travelers.
Paired with reliable 48dB active noise cancellation, crisp call quality powered by the 8-mic VPU setup, and a 40-hour battery life with wireless charging support, they get the audio fundamentals right.
While the case is slightly larger than standard options to accommodate the extra tech and onboard memory, the sheer convenience of untethered voice notes and real-time transcription makes the POVA AI Buds Pro a worthwhile, forward-thinking investment at its price point if you need the feature. Otherwise, there are other options that offer dual drivers and better audio, and several of the latest phones’ audio recorder apps include these AI features.
Pricing and availability
The POVA AI Buds Pro is priced at Rs. 14,999, and it was sold at the launch at an effective price of Rs. 12,499 with a bank offer, and the company also offered no-cost EMI. The earbuds are now available across Amazon India and Flipkart.
Pros
- Good audio quality with LHDC, dual-device pairing
- Up to 48 dB hybrid ANC is good
- Instant FlashRecord with 4 hours of onboard storage
- Robust 8-mic array + VPU for crystal-clear calls
- Up to 40 hours total battery + Qi wireless charging
- Real-time AI transcription & 78-language translation
Cons
- Case size is slightly bigger due to wireless charging and built-in recording
- No dual drivers
- Priced on the higher side