Sometimes “pretty good” isn’t good enough.
That’s the case with the new flagship earbuds from OnePlus, the OnePlus Buds Pro 2. These US$180 ‘buds do a lot of the things you’d want from a pair of earbuds at that price: Their sound quality is more than acceptable, they offer plenty of customization options, and the battery life is genuinely impressive.
However, Bluetooth bugs and inferior active noise cancelation compared to competitors like Apple’s Beats Fit Pro keep the Buds Pro 2 from greatness. Anyone who buys these will likely be satisfied, but you can do better without dropping much more cash.
A minor facelift
If, for some reason, you skipped the 2021 OnePlus Buds Pro because of their looks, I have bad news for you: Nothing has changed in that department.
Aside from a very slight reduction in size and a new “Arbor Green” colorway, the Buds Pro 2 look pretty much identical to the previous model. That is to say they look like off-brand AirPods Pro, with a mildly egg-shaped body, silicone ear tips, and an elongated stem protruding downward from the backside of the body.
There aren’t any changes to write home about with the charging case, either. It retains the vaguely rectangular shape (with rounded corners) from last time, and as far as I can tell, it’s the exact same size as before.
OnePlus also retained the same touch-sensitive stems from last time around. Instead of a simple press, you actually squeeze the stem to control playback. One squeeze pauses and plays, two squeezes skip ahead, three go back a track, and so on. Holding a squeeze for a few seconds also switches between ANC and transparency mode in case you need to order food or something without removing your earbuds.
To be clear, I don’t have a problem with any of this. The OnePlus Buds Pro looked slick and unassuming, living up to the “Pro” nomenclature. It also means that they’re exactly as comfortable as they were before. I wore these for several hours at a time with little issue.
If anyone sees you wearing these on the street, they might just think you have black or green AirPods Pro. They’d be wrong, of course, but who cares? Let the people think whatever they want.
App-tastic
Another thing that hasn’t changed much since the previous incarnation of OnePlus Buds Pro is how you configure the earbuds. On a OnePlus phone, it’s easy as can be: Simply open the earbuds case next to the phone, connect using OnePlus’s fast pair feature, and you can find customization options in the Bluetooth section of the phone’s settings menu.
It’s a little bit more troublesome on iPhone and Android, but not by much. All you have to do is download the HeyMelody app from the App Store or Play Store and you’re good to go.
To OnePlus’s credit, there’s an excellent amount of feature parity in this aspect across devices. iOS and Android users can adjust ANC levels, create their own sound equalizer settings and take an ear fit test to make sure the earbuds are worn correctly. You can also adjust touch controls and perform firmware updates here.
A big returning feature from last time is a short hearing test you can take, after which the earbuds will create a custom audio profile to fit your ears. It doesn’t make a dramatic difference, but just like last time, I did find that music sounded a little better after I did this.
As for features specific to OnePlus phones, there aren’t many. There’s a new spatial audio feature similar to what Apple introduced a couple of years ago. In theory, this is supposed to make music sound like it’s surrounding you rather than just beaming into your ears. This works with the little test tone in the Buds Pro settings menu, but I didn’t find that it had much effect outside of that. Of course, your mileage may vary, as it can differ from song to song and from app to app.
Aside from that, OnePlus phone users can enjoy “Hi-Res audio,” which is supposed to deliver higher quality audio at the cost of battery life and latency. Again, I didn’t notice a huge difference with this feature, but it might work better for you. You can also use a OnePlus phone to find the earbuds if they get lost, which is a nice touch and a pretty decent selling point for getting into the OnePlus ecosystem, in the event that you really like these earbuds.
Maddeningly inconsistent Bluetooth connectivity
Unfortunately, the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 start running into trouble when you evaluate their performance. Since that’s the most important thing about any pair of earbuds, that’s a pretty big bummer.
Let me start with the positives. Sound quality here is above average, with bass that kicks acceptably hard and an overall sound profile that doesn’t drown out more subtle instruments in dense compositions unless you turn the volume up too high. You shouldn’t do that anyway if you value being able to hear.
Just like last time, I used Sturgill Simpson’s “Call to Arms” as testing material. Aside from being a smoking hot banger, it’s also got a ton going on instrumentally. OnePlus Buds Pro 2 do a nice job of conveying everything the song is trying to convey. I really don’t have any complaints about the raw sound quality.
Noise cancelation is…fine. Even with the ANC set to max, a little bit too much noise makes its way in if you’re, say, walking down a busy street in Brooklyn. That’s a particularly tough stress test, but it’s one that the Beats Fit Pro pass with ease. OnePlus doesn’t do quite as well, but in most circumstances, it gets the job done.
Sadly, I had a really hard time getting the earbuds to work consistently. Bluetooth interference was a massive problem in my testing. The Buds Pro 2 work OK in a static setting, like a bedroom or office, but take them out and about and things change. In my experience, mundane activities like subway rides or walking in busy streets can result in so much Bluetooth interference that whatever you’re trying to hear essentially becomes unlistenable.
Of course, I understand not everybody lives in New York City. If you don’t deal with urban density on a daily basis, you may not encounter this problem. All I can say is that, in my experience, the Buds Pro 2 were not always up to the task when I wanted to take them away from home.
Having said all of that, I will point out that you can get around six hours of listening time on Buds Pro 2 with ANC turned on. That’s pretty sweet.
A hard sell
There are plenty of things to like about OnePlus Buds Pro 2. Their sound quality is splendid enough, and ANC works most of the time. They’re comfortable to wear for hours at a time, and they look pretty cool. On top of all of that, you get a bevy of cool app-based features, with plenty of parity across both OnePlus and non-OnePlus devices.
It’s just a shame that they don’t work very well in crowded environments, at least not at the time of writing. Perhaps a firmware update can fix that, but for now, these bad boys are a little hard to recommend given the competition. For just US$20 more, the Beats Fit Pro outpace OnePlus Buds Pro 2 in just about every way. The same goes for Google’s Pixel Buds Pro, if you’re looking for something a little more Android-centric.
If OnePlus negotiated the price down a little bit (perhaps into the US$150 range), this might be a different conversation. As things stand, however, you’re better off buying another pair of earbuds.
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