OnePlus Buds Review – Solid TWS For OnePlus Users

The OnePlus Buds come at a price of Rs. 4,999 in India. The earbuds are available in three colour options: Grey, Nord Blue, and White.

The OnePlus Buds pack the following items inside the box:

• Earbuds
• Charging Case
• Type-C Cable
• Documentation

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Before we talk more about the OnePlus Buds, let’s see what on-paper specs look like:

• Connectivity: Bluetooth 5
• Supported OS: Android & iOS
• Battery: 420 mAh
• Weight: 4.7 g (earbud), 37 g (case)

There are a few different ways to evaluate the design of OnePlus Buds. The charging case is where the true wireless journey begins, and the OnePlus Buds seems to make an excellent first impression. They have a nice appearance and feel for the asking price; the charging case has a lovely matte finish, a relaxing swing to its lid, and good magnetic feedback when you put the buds back into the case or take them out.

If you placed the buds on their backside and asked people to identify the earbuds, they would most likely say they were AirPods. And I don’t blame them for this, they really do look very similar. Other than that, there’s a button on the backside for pairing and a type-C port on the bottom for charging.

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The OnePlus Buds, like many other earbuds with a full-plastic build that pokes into the ear canal without any kind of silicone tips, which seemed quite comfortable at first. It didn’t take long for me to forget they were inside my ears since they were so light.

I just wish I could say the same thing after they’d been there for an hour. The OnePlus Buds were comfortable for a while but eventually started to feel tight and uncomfortable whether I was running or sitting at my desk.

The OnePlus Buds work okay for exercise and sports. They come with an IPX4 rating making them a good companion for your gym sessions. While they’re secure enough for a casual music session, they might come off during more rigorous exercise. Furthermore, you need to pair them with a OnePlus smartphone in order to use their controls. Overall, they’re reasonably comfortable and quite portable.

The earbuds have 13.4mm drivers and Dolby Atmos audio support, but only when used with a OnePlus phone. The audio quality is excellent for most of the time. There’s no doubt those drivers could indeed deliver a lot of bass, to the point of being overpowering. Although sonic profiles are totally subjective, we found them to be enjoyable to listen to, with a gentle bass response and good clarity within the mids and highs.

While OnePlus does not currently support changing the EQ via an app, you can use Android’s built-in EQ. I tested out the OnePlus Buds with a variety of musical styles and songs and found that they were consistent with almost any style of music.

The Buds have a lot of bass right away, and because the mids as well as higher tones are a little mellow, this makes the overall sound a little muddy. Everything else is overpowered by the bass.

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The average user who uses these earbuds for the first time and listens to music will likely think they sound really good, but I believe these buds could benefit from brighter tones and higher mids to be more easily heard. In some cases, it can be difficult to tell one instrument from the other due to a lack of clarity as well as a strong bass emphasis.

Both the microphone and the earbuds don’t have much noise cancellation. I recorded some voice memos along with listening to music on the buds while cars were passing by. All of that could be heard clearly in my recordings.

The OnePlus Buds are quite loud, which is especially useful during voice calls. In terms of call quality, voices were perfectly clear on my buds, and the other person on the call could hear me clearly as well. However, the microphone is quite sensitive and picks up quiet voices well at the expense of picking up the background noise.

The OnePlus Buds packs a 420 mAh battery inside the case and 35 mAh inside each earbud. OnePlus claims that the earbuds can deliver a playback duration of 7 hours on a single charge and 30 hours when combined with the charger. However, is this true?

I got about 6-6.5 hours of playback during my testing period, and the case offered another three charge cycles. So the numbers are not exactly precise but not far also from the claims. I would add that the battery life would depend on your usage and volume level.

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Overall the battery life is solid, but you know what better? Its fast charging speed. You can quickly charge the buds using the fast charging feature. Just put the buds in the case for 10 minutes, and you will get 100 minutes of playback time.

On the other hand, plug in the case using the type-C cable and get 10 hours of listening time with just 10 minutes of charging. It’s an easy win over the Apple AirPods, at least in the battery department.

The OnePlus Buds come with Bluetooth 5.0 support and a 10-meter connectivity range. In my experience, the OnePlus Buds paired quickly and seamlessly with my phone. However, at this budget price, you must lose something, and that something is the controls.

You cannot adjust the volume level using the buds, and the main physical control is a double-tap, which will act as skipping the track for most users. When you get a call, double tapping it accepts it; double tapping it while you’re on the phone ends it. Pretty simple right?

Owners of OnePlus phones can set the left and right earbuds to fast-forward songs, play/pause a track, or launch Google Assistant. You cannot set those functions if you do not own a OnePlus phone.

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The earbuds contain sensors that automatically pause and resume music when you remove them from your ear. That’s a clever move that enables the Buds to maintain their long battery life promise and is practical if you’re the type of person who frequently puts and removes their earbuds.

Finally, OnePlus has added a Find My Earbuds feature, which is a plus.