OnePlus Buds Pro 2 review: That good, eh?

India’s TWS market is booming and each tech firm needs a chunk of it. OnePlus managed to make a roar with its reasonably priced Nord Buds collection, reserving its Buds Pro-series for premium consumers. The unique OnePlus Buds Pro was well-received by critics and shoppers alike, and the corporate builds on its reputation to ship an improved and refined Buds Pro 2.

OnePlus Buds Pro 2 has MelodyBoost twin drivers, which function an 11mm + 6mm design co-

created with Dynaudio for deeper and extra dynamic bass and clear highs. We get to select from one default Dynaudio equalizer setting (EQ) and three customized equalizer profiles – particularly Bold, Serenade, and Bass. But what’s fascinating is that the Buds Pro 2 now has Spatial Audio in collaboration with Google, which provides an immersive listening expertise. There’s extra although. Let’s dive in.

Design & Comfort

Designed for long-wearing periods, the Buds Pro 2 has a matte coating and chromium stem. The earbuds can be found in two shades, Obsidian Black and Arbor Green. The earbuds are IP55 rated for water resistance and have the standard contact controls. Having used the Buds Pro 2, it’s protected to say they are often worn for lengthy hours and the contact controls are a lot refined. Each earbud weighs just below 5 grams. The ear ideas securely match the ear canal, however there are completely different sizes so that you can check to get that excellent match.

The earbuds are available a barely bigger case in comparison with the earlier mannequin. But that does not imply it’s pocket-friendly. They match comfortably within the denims pocket however get compact should you’re carrying the telephone and the case of the earbuds in the identical pocket. The case has a USB Type-C port on the again and a bodily button inside. There’s an LED indicator to alert for battery and pairing standing. For added comfort, the case helps Qi-certified wi-fi charging, which got here in fairly useful for us.

The pressure-sensitive contact controls are responsive, which does not make the earbuds pop up whereas interacting. The lack of quantity management is a missed alternative right here.

The Buds Pro 2 look nice when worn. The mix of matte and shiny end is in excellent coordination.

Audio and ANC efficiency

Notably, OnePlus has upgraded the codec to LHDC 4.0 Lossless Hi-Res Audio. The earbuds provide adaptive noise canceling and there is a transparency mode if you would like to remain conscious of your environment. There are additionally three mics on every earbud for readability throughout voice calls. The earbuds may join to 2 units concurrently.

There are two fascinating options price mentioning, one is that the built-in IMU sensors nudge you to keep up a very good head and cervical backbone posture and the opposite one is Zen Mode Air.

Coming to the efficiency, the dual-driver setup paired with an 11mm driver in every bud delivers lows and mid tones with good accuracy. Even the excessive frequencies are dealt with properly, because of the devoted tweeter. To customise the settings, you may want the HeyMelody app. Having used the earbuds with OnePlus 11 and different telephones (iPhone 14 Pro in our case), we discovered the previous to be the most suitable choice. The earbuds do not carry out in addition to they do with OnePlus 11, the output is obvious, with punchy notes which can be bass-heavy. Overall, the earbuds ship balanced audio and OnePlus’ signature tuning is obvious. Without the HeyMelody customizations, you may discover the efficiency underwhelming.

The preset profiles assist swap between completely different sound profiles, however you get to create your distinctive Audio ID referred to as Golden sound, which targets a fuller sound suited to your ears. The ‘Hans Zimmer Soundscape Tuning’ preset and BassWave bass enhancement provides a pleasant punch to the audio,

The Buds Pro 2 additionally include ANC, which is sweet, however inferior to AirPods Pro 2. The transparency mode works as marketed, and the entire noise cancellation blocks undesirable noise to an extent, and with music, you will not hear exterior noise. We appreciated the good ANC mode, which adjusts to the ambiance fairly properly, and it remained our default mode until we had a desire to listening to one thing particular.

Finally, the Zen Mode Air has been retained to ship the white noise of your alternative. It is one thing you’ll be able to simply get used to for falling asleep.

The name high quality on the Buds Pro 2 is barely improved. We did not have any complaints whereas utilizing the earbuds for calls whereas driving. It surpasses the visitors sounds and wind noise properly.

Spatial Audio

Spatial audio works solely with OnePlus 11and OnePlus 11R and it really works with precision. We cherished how the pinnacle monitoring labored whereas streaming films on the TV. The encompass sound throughout racing scenes and motion sequences took us proper into that second. The fastened spatial audio is extra fitted to binge-watching content material. To see the distinction spatial audio makes within the Buds Pro 2, simply flip it off and it’s evening and day.

For the worth that the Buds Pro 2 are available, the spatial audio it provides is kind of outstanding.

Battery life

Finally, the Buds Pro 2 is alleged to final 25 hours with ANC and 39 hours with out noise canceling. The charging case, which has a flat and compact design, shops three extra expenses. The battery on the Buds Pro 2 is a powerful USP. With 60 p.c quantity, the earbuds can final six hours whereas utilizing ANC and near 10 hours should you select to show off ANC. Since the case shops three expenses not less than, we may simply use the earbuds for anyplace between 20 to 30 hours earlier than plugging them in.

Verdict

At Rs 11,999, the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 is a strong funding forOnePlus 11and OnePlus 11R consumers. There aren’t any bundle provides like what Samsung provides, however that is alright contemplating the telephone’s worth is nearly half. If you wish to avoid wasting money, the OnePlus Buds 2R prices Rs 2,000 much less, however you lose out on wi-fi charging and head-tracking, that are high quality options to be missed.

The audio efficiency is vigorous and punchy, and the extent of customisation you get with the Buds Pro 2 is spectacular. Due to the dependency on HeyMelody app and Spatial Audio being an unique function, it’s laborious to advocate to non-OnePlus 11-series telephones.