Posted at 1:00 p.m
We love
We were immediately seduced by the sound of the OnePlus Buds Pro 2. We obviously went all out here with many concepts such as “Pure Harmony”, “Melody Boost”, two integrated 11mm and 6mm speakers, all overseen by film music composer Hans Zimmer.
All these technical marketing specifications often don’t say much. But we have to admit that these OnePlus Buds Pro 2 have great sound, all smooth but precise, with enveloping bass and crystal clear high frequencies. There are hardly any better in-ear headphones.
Connection to an Android phone is instant, with the headphones appearing on screen as soon as you take them out of the case. Once paired with a phone, they will automatically show up on other Android devices. You don’t have all of these benefits with an iPhone, but you can pair them manually via Bluetooth.
The OnePlus Buds Pro 2 share a similar design to the AirPods Pro, shaped like the head of a long-legged golf club. They fit in the ear well enough that you don’t have to worry about losing them during physical activity. There is an ambient noise cancellation function, ANC, which can be configured in four variants, from “gentle” to “maximum”. In the middle of the city it does a very satisfying job of drowning out the constant traffic noise but letting through short, high-pitched sounds. In the subway, the rumble is greatly muffled, but you won’t feel comfortable making a phone call.
The configuration on iOS is done in a home application, HeyMelody. On Android, the application is for connection only and settings are made in a sub-menu of the Bluetooth settings. All control of the headphones is done with a short or long pinch of the legs to answer a call, fast forward or rewind a song, activate or deactivate the ANC. One of the headphones can be configured to call a voice assistant to the rescue, the Google Assistant or Siri.
The music stops when you remove the headphones. Funny little gift, we have a mode called Zen Mode Air by pressing for three seconds. You will hear soothing sounds like birdsong or a crackling fire.
The tone can be customized with a feature called Golden Sound. And that famous spatial audio popularized by Apple? Basically, the sound is balanced between the two headphones depending on the head position. If you look straight ahead at a compatible mobile phone, you have the classic stereo effect. By turning your head, the sound moves as if it were coming from your phone, your computer or your TV physically and not via Bluetooth. We admire the ingenuity of the feature while questioning its usefulness.
The autonomy of each headphone is six hours with ANC, nine hours without this function. The case-headphone combo offers a maximum of 39 hours of listening time. The headphones are IP55 sweat and dust proof: they cannot be submerged in water, but they can withstand 1 bar of water pressure for 55 minutes.
We love less
OnePlus dangles “dual connection,” which allows it to “easily switch between two Bluetooth devices.” We’re not really dealing with a double connection. Despite using Bluetooth 5.3, the headphones need to disconnect from one phone to connect to another, whether between Android devices or with iOS. And we had to unpair them and then pair them again with one of our Android phones, a Pixel 7 Pro, which wouldn’t reconnect.
Only at the end of our test phase did we find the HeyMelody app particularly useful for an iPhone. On the OnePlus side, the mention was rather subtle.
You buy?
Well, spatial audio isn’t a very compelling selling point, and these headphones can’t stay connected to two devices at the same time. But most importantly, they produce very good sound with above-average battery life. The only thing missing for the iOS user is the ability to call Siri by voice and the availability of headphones across the Apple ecosystem. Android users now have this last option with Android 13.
The purchase is without a doubt highly recommended.
The OnePlus Buds Pro 2
Manufacturer: OnePlus
Price : $269
note : 9 out of 10