OnePlus Buds Pro 2 review

Though they’ve solely been common for the final 5 years or so, wi-fi earbuds at the moment are so ubiquitous it’s troublesome to know the place to start when shopping for a pair (except you simply go and purchase AirPods, after all).

The underside line with the OnePlus Buds Professional 2 is they’re a few of the greatest wi-fi earbuds for beneath $200/£200/€200, with options you don’t usually discover at this worth vary reminiscent of very good energetic noise cancelling (ANC) and Hello-Res Audio assist.

The successor to the OnePlus Buds Professional really feel a little bit cheaply made and I skilled some connection points however judged on their sound high quality and ANC the Buds Professional 2 are successful.

Design & construct

• Light-weight
• Squeezable stems
• Matt plastic

The Buds Professional 2’s barely low-cost feeling and looking plastic case flips as much as reveal black buds which can be comprised of matt plastic. The buds choose up floor scuffs simply, as does the case. However at 4.9g per bud they’re very light-weight and comfy to put on.

Every bud has a shiny metallic accent on the stem to boost the look a bit, with a few grilles on the top of the buds, mics on the underside of every stem, and two silver contacts for charging within the case.

That is commonplace fare for earbuds and the case is kind of compact, hardly noticeable even in a entrance trouser pocket. My overview unit was black however you may as well get inexperienced, the colors matching the 2 hues of OnePlus 11 telephone.

I discovered the most effective match with the small dimension silicone ear suggestions, that are included with medium and enormous sizes too. OnePlus has sensibly opted for barely flatter oval formed suggestions that keep in my ears higher than round ones.

The buds snap magnetically flat into the case to cost, with a single USB-C port on the case to cost the entire bundle. The buds are IP55 water and dirt resistant, so can stand up to gentle rain however not a lot else past that if you wish to be protected.

Sound high quality

• Excellent bass response
• Wonderful soundstage
• Hello-Res assist

The Buds Professional 2 sound phenomenally good out of the field, and I turned extra impressed the extra I used them. They’ve twin 11mm and 6mm drivers co-designed by audio firm Dynaudio, a partnership that seems to have paid off.

They’ve an excellent, punchy bass response that doesn’t overpower the combo, giving many songs the drive that the unique recording had however is misplaced on lesser earphones.

Days by Tv shines with good separation of the guitar arpeggios and the bass guitar effectively represented. It’s a busy track, however the buds provide a definite soundstage.

The bass guitar, drums and horns on Jazz on the Autobahn by The Felice Brothers are effectively produced with the suitable emphasis on all the suitable frequencies and with good stereo subject.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

Kim Deal’s Want I Was pulses with its supposed menace whereas the guitars on Chaise Longue by Moist Leg punch by way of the combo the place supposed. Not all wi-fi earbuds are this clear and well-calibrated for the compressed Spotify streams I examined them with and through which most individuals shall be listening to them.

The buds can even get extremely loud – nearly too loud. The excessive finish of One Extra Time by Daft Punk obtained on the verge of grating, however the buds gave an excellent thud to the monitor regardless of being on the fringe of their capabilities with such a full combine.

Dipping into some Beethoven was additionally not out of the query with the Buds Professional 2 displaying thought of steadiness and heat with a recording of Piano Sonata No. 14 in C Sharp Minor. I used to be impressed with what number of genres the Buds Professional 2 deal with effectively, maybe digital music apart as talked about.

The buds’ secret weapon is their Hello-Res audio playback compatibility because of the LHDC 4.0 lossless codec (OnePlus says an replace to five.0 will come quickly). At their time of launch in February 2023 that is nonetheless comparatively uncommon for wi-fi earbuds, and partly as a result of it is advisable to pair them with a suitable playback machine and file codecs.

I examined them with the suitable OnePlus 11 and a few of my favorite tracks in domestically saved FLAC format. REM songs Harborcoat and So. Central Rain sounded unimaginable, with nearly as a lot roundness and readability as I discovered them when performed on a devoted Sony Walkman participant with good high quality wired in-ear screens.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

The draw back is LHDC is a much less frequent codec for telephones to be suitable with than LDAC. You’ll have to examine in case your telephone helps LHDC, or the Buds Professional 2 gained’t play again in hi-res. Other than the OnePlus 11, the Oppo Discover X5 Professional helps it, however not many different common telephones. Test the specs of your telephone before you purchase the buds otherwise you’ll be upset.

The identical {hardware} match up limitations apply to the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Professional, that are restricted to hi-res solely on Samsung telephones.

Total, the Buds Professional 2 are highly effective, punchy earbuds with the bonus of Hello-Res assist, futureproofing them for when such a characteristic, hopefully, turns into extra broadly obtainable on common streaming platforms.

Regardless of this, I got here throughout some connection points. The buds would sporadically pause audio in each Spotify and Pocket Casts, significantly once I used them with a Samsung Galaxy telephone, nevertheless it additionally occurred with the OnePlus 11 regardless.

I needed to take my telephone out to press play once more, because the bug meant the squeezable stems turned momentarily unresponsive to urgent, which normally performs or pauses.

It occurred typically sufficient in my testing that I’m assured this can be a bug. Hopefully, it may be mounted with a software program replace however for now, it’s placing me off absolutely recommending them.

Noise cancelling & sensible options

• Excellent ANC
• No in-ear detection
• Spatial audio assist

The noise cancelling on the buds is superb. The one pairs I’ve personally used that I believe greatest the OnePlus are Apple’s second-gen AirPods Professional and the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2. Sony’s WF-100XM4 are additionally nice, however I struggled with the match.

These rivals actually shut the world out in addition to the most effective over-ear ANC headphones can. OnePlus is sort of there although, which is mightily spectacular contemplating their worth.

On a packed London Underground prepare, I might hear all the main points of my favorite Interpol album with solely the uncancellable rattle of the loudest rail noises on the capital’s Tube system hovering within the background – very dampened although.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

You possibly can choose from delicate, reasonable, and max ranges of cancellation or set the buds to sensible mode to sense which is greatest. I tended to depart them on sensible mode, so spectacular is the impact. There’s additionally a transparency mode for listening to the world round you whenever you’re sporting the buds.

Discovering the controls for the buds is a ache. Even on the same-brand OnePlus 11 it’s not apparent you should faucet by way of to the controls through the Bluetooth settings menu. On different Android telephones, you should obtain the HeyMelody app, which isn’t even OnePlus branded and isn’t pushed to the consumer by the software program.

This lets you choose personalised ANC that claims to contemplate your ear canal construction to tailor the degrees for you. All stated, the impact is superb. OnePlus even pre-loads the buds with 5 white noise tracks to play offline reminiscent of birdsong and tenting scenes so that you can tune into, to tune out. They’re very nice.

You may as well choose from EQ presets or create your individual to tailor the sound profile. The buds are additionally able to spatial audio however with out many suitable Android apps utilizing the know-how but it was a little bit troublesome to check. OnePlus says it really works with any dual-channel audio.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

To check I needed to play songs then go into the buds’ settings and activate the operate. It made songs sound very tinny and they’d steadily distort. That is probably as a result of the buds and telephone (working Android 13) is attempting to create a spatial replica of a track that could be a compressed stereo stream. Apple is having extra success with its personal Spatial Audio for Apple Music as a result of the tracks are solely suitable once they have been really mastered for the 3D impact.

I respect the tracks I attempted weren’t essentially suitable however whenever you give customers the choice to make use of a operate on audio it’s not designed for then you definitely’ll get individuals (like me) utilizing it incorrectly and have a foul expertise.

To manage playback audio playback, OnePlus has nabbed the AirPods Professional’s squeezable stem. It really works effectively, however like Apple’s buds, you may’t management quantity with out whipping your telephone or smartwatch out. You may as well skip tracks and change between ANC and transparency modes, or invoke a voice assistant.

There’s additionally no in-ear detection right here, a characteristic frequent on many different buds that pauses audio whenever you take one bud out of your ear and resumes it whenever you pop it again. I missed it.

Battery & charging

• Strong all-day battery
• A number of costs with case
• Wi-fi charging

OnePlus guarantees 25 hours of battery life with ANC and 39 with it off, which incorporates the costs from a completely charged case. There’s a small USB-C cable within the field, however no wall plug as per traditional.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

I by no means ran out of battery in a single sitting with the buds however I used them how I usually use buds – for an hour or so at a time and by no means for eight hours straight with out a break.

The case (and buds) may be charged for 10 minutes to get three hours of playback, which is a neat characteristic, and the case can recharge on a Qi wi-fi charging pad too.

Value & availability

The OnePlus Buds Professional 2 value $179/£179/€179 which is an excellent worth contemplating their sound high quality and noise cancelling chops alone.

You should purchase them direct from OnePlus within the US, UK and Europe.

The buds are lower than the $249/£249/€299 second-gen Apple AirPods Professional by far, and a a lot better choose should you use an Android telephone. In addition they undercut the £250/$280 Sony WF-1000XM4 and $299/£279.95/€299.95 Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2, suggesting the OnePlus aren’t actually premium earbuds – however I believe they maintain their very own, significantly with their wonderful ANC and hi-res audio assist.

Samsung’s Buds 2 Professional additionally assist hi-res (with the suitable arrange) at $229/£219/€229.

You could find the Sony for in regards to the worth of the OnePlus today although, which I’d suggest for his or her superior sound, ANC and sensible options. However should you want the AirPod-esque OnePlus design then you must go for the Buds Professional 2 – I’ve small ears and so they match me a lot better than the Sony.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

Verdict

OnePlus has an excellent product within the Buds Professional 2. They’ve good common match, very good ANC, excellently tuned audio with spectacular bass response and good battery life besides.

Hello-Res assist additionally ensures they’re future-proofed for the still-emerging know-how (when it comes to Hello-Res wi-fi audio a minimum of) however you should make certain your telephone helps the LHDC commonplace, and I’d ignore utilizing the spatial audio characteristic in any respect till that commonplace has additionally matured.

The wi-fi earbuds market is a crowded place however should you use an Android telephone then the OnePlus Buds Professional 2 are a wonderful possibility. They’ve shocked me by being higher than their price ticket suggests and might maintain a candle to merchandise by audio titans Sony and Bose for round $100/£100/€100 RRP much less.

Specs

• Lively Noise Cancelling
• Wi-fi: Bluetooth 5.3 LE, LHDC 4.0
• Voice management: Sure (not automated)
• Contact controls: Sure
• Battery life: 25 hours complete with ANC, 39 with out (each with case)
• Ear suggestions and wing suggestions: Three sizes
• IP55 sweat and climate resistant (buds)
• Weight: 4.9g per earbud, 47.3g case