OnePlus Buds review – affordable and high on quality

• The OnePlus Buds is the company’s first pair of truly wireless earbuds, featuring a simple design and long battery life.
• The OnePlus Buds comes with a stem design and promises 30 hours of battery life along with fast charging support.
• It also supports fast pairing and low latency mode, which should reduce the audio lag, especially while gaming.
• With a price tag of ₹4,990, the OnePlus Buds seems like a good deal, but how does it perform in real life? Read on to find out.
• Check out the latest news and updates on Business Insider.

The OnePlus Buds is the company’s first truly wireless earbuds, launched in India alongside the OnePlus Nord. It promises to perform without any fuss and supports quick charging, like every other OnePlus device.

OnePlus has had a lot of success with its Bullets series of Bluetooth earbuds, but has it been able to replicate it again with the Buds? Let’s find out.

OnePlus Buds price

The OnePlus Buds price in India is ₹4,990. It comes in three colour options – black, white, and blue. It is available for purchase on OnePlus India online store, Amazon, Flipkart, Croma, Reliance Digital, and OnePlus offline stores across India.


OnePlus Buds design – basic blues

Like other OnePlus devices, the Buds also come with a simple and functional design – nothing over the top, just about what you expect from them.

The OnePlus Buds look fairly similar to Apple AirPods, but given that it’s OnePlus’ first attempt at truly wireless earbuds, it’s not a big deal.

You get a plastic case with a smooth matte finish. The cover has a very satisfying feel to it when you use the case. Overall, it looks premium, given the price point. There’s a pairing button on the back, an LED indicator on the front and a USB Type-C port on the bottom.

The Buds themselves sport a glossy finish. Unlike a few other earbuds, the OnePlus Buds have a stem design – this helps to some extent when it comes to voice calls, since the mic is closer in comparison to regular earbuds.

The Buds are lightweight, weighing less than 10 grams together. They also stay in place firmly, so you don’t have to be concerned about them falling out. However, the fit might vary from person to person, so it’s worth keeping that in mind.

OnePlus Buds performance – value for money

When it comes to audio, the OnePlus Buds offers a fairly good experience. The audio is clear, leaning slightly towards the bass. That’s not a bad thing per se, since the balance is fairly good thanks to the 13.4mm dynamic drivers.

The price and design mean that you don’t get active or passive noise cancellation. Some amount of external sound still gets blocked, but you’ll be aware of what’s happening around you even with the volume turned up.

The OnePlus Buds offers touch controls on the back of the earbud. You can manage music playback and calls with single, double, and triple taps. The Buds also support fast pair – this is true, especially for OnePlus phones. All you have to do is open the case, wear the Buds, and by the time you keep the case back in your pocket, they get paired.

OnePlus Buds battery life – lasts long, really, really long

As far as battery life is concerned, the OnePlus Buds lasted for up to 6-6.5 hours with continuous music playback. On a normal workday, this means that the Buds should easily last you throughout the day.

OnePlus claims that together with the case, the Buds should last for up to 30 hours of usage. In my testing, I found that the Buds lasted me an entire week before the case and the charger ran out of juice. Note that the usage was distributed across the week and not continuous.

Additionally, the OnePlus Buds also supports fast charging – a 10-minute charge adds 10 hours of battery life. Even if you’re running out of power, a quick charge will easily get you through the day.

Conclusion

For its first shot at truly wireless earbuds, OnePlus has done fairly well with the Buds. The design might be inspired, but the overall feel and performance are great. And, when combined with the price, it means that you get a pair of high-quality earbuds at a fraction of the price.

SEE ALSO:

OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z earbuds review – heavy on quality, light on pocket

Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus bring good sound and battery life in a neat package

Klipsch T5 True Wireless earphones come with rich sound and good battery life