Finally, an Android rival to the AirPods Pro has arrived. OnePlus’s new Buds Pro 2 noise cancelling earbuds are some of the first on the market to support Google’s new spatial audio virtual surround sound tech, giving them a boost in a crowded market.
The earbuds cost £179 and compete directly with the similarly priced Pixel Buds Pro and £249 AirPods Pro, but with the added advantage of having an app for Android and iPhone so they are truly cross-platform.
The Buds Pro 2 have a fairly simple design and are slightly more compact than most rivals, including the AirPods Pro 2, making them light and comfortable to wear for long listening sessions.
The stalks are squeeze-sensitive for playback controls. Squeeze and hold to turn noise cancelling on and off, while taking out an earbud pauses the music. There’s no option for adjusting the volume so you’ll have to reach for the buttons on your phone for that.
The earbuds last up to six hours between charges with noise cancelling turned on, and charge just over three times from the little flip-top case for a total of 25 hours playback. The compact case is nice and pocketable, and charges in 100 minutes via USB-C but also has Qi wireless charging.
Specifications
Water resistance: earbuds IP55 (sweat resistant); case IPX4
Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.3, SBC, AAC, LC3, LHDC
Battery life: with ANC 6h earbud, 25h with case (9/39h ANC off)
Earbud dimensions: 24.3 x 20.9 x 32.2mm
Earbud weight: 4.9g each
Driver size: 11 and 6mm
Charging case dimensions: 61 x 50 x 25.4mm
Charging case weight: 47.3g
Case charging: USB-C, Qi wireless charging
Connectivity
The Buds Pro 2 tick all the Bluetooth connectivity boxes. They support the latest Bluetooth 5.3 with Fast Pair for Android, plus AAC, LC3 and LHDC audio standards, making them suitable for a wide array of devices. Either earbud can be used on its own for mono audio or calls, they support seamless switching between devices and can connect to two gadgets at once.
Good sound and spatial audio
The Buds Pro 2 generally sound very good for the money, comfortably keeping up with similar easy-listening competition at this price. They produce a nicely rounded sound with detailed highs, well-balanced mids and enough bass for most, even if they can’t quite reach the very deepest of notes. Separation of tones and their handling of complex tracks is good, and while they suit most music genres, some such as Britpop can occasionally sound a little flat.
The companion app has a full equaliser as well as a sound customisation system that performs a five-minute hearing test and tweaks the audio to your personal hearing profile accordingly.
The earbuds are among the first on the market to support Google’s new implementation of spatial audio virtual surround technology, which is baked in to Android 13. It works in a similar way to the popular feature used by Apple for AirPods with the iPhone, producing a more immersive, cinematic-like experience on the go, even if music is typically best left in stereo.
The Buds Pro 2 also have sensors in them that can track the position of your head in relation to your phone so that the centre channel of a movie, typically the dialogue, always sounds like it’s coming from the screen. It works very well.
Spatial audio requires games, music and video streaming apps to be updated, with the feature live for YouTube at the time of testing and other big firms expected to follow suit in the near future.
Noise cancelling
The earbuds have adaptive active noise cancelling that can ramp up or down depending on ambient noise, but it is fairly weak, meaning it was best left on its maximum setting. Even then they struggle with higher notes, including a car tyre noise, the typing of keys in an office and wind noise.
They will dampen the drone of engines or the roar of a plane, but can’t challenge the best for the ability to remove everyday distractions. The noise cancelling also changes the sound of the earbuds, making it a bit more forward and punchy, which isn’t necessarily bad. The transparency mode sounds fairly natural and is good enough for listening out for traffic or announcements, but is a bit quiet in conversation with other people.
Call quality was pretty good, but while my voice remained clear for the caller the earbuds let a fair amount of background noise through in busier environments.
Sustainability
OnePlus rates the batteries for at least 80% of their original capacity after 500 full-charge cycles but they are not replaceable nor are the earbuds repairable, ultimately making them disposable. The earbuds are not made from recycled materials and the company does not publish environmental impact reports or offer trade-in or recycling.
Price
The OnePlus Buds Pro 2 cost £179 ($179) shipping on 16 February.
For comparison, the Nothing Ear 1 cost £149, the Google Pixel Buds Pro cost £179, the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2 cost £279.95 and the Apple AirPods Pro 2 cost £249.
Verdict
The OnePlus Buds Pro 2 are some of the first Bluetooth earbuds to come to market supporting Google’s new spatial audio surround sound tech for Android.
They sound a cut above most easy-listening sets about this price and the spatial audio system works well for movies. The active noise cancelling does a decent job of reducing the roar of engines, but is weak against higher tones and so can’t compete with the best.
With an app available on Android and iPhones, they can be fully used with either platform, unlike some competitors. Support for connecting to two devices at the same time is a rare but welcome feature. A comfortable fit, decent battery life and a nice and compact case also make them easy to live with.
The lack of on-board volume controls is a little disappointing, but the biggest issue is that like most other true wireless earbuds the battery cannot be replaced, ultimately making them disposable and losing a star.
Pros: comfortable, good sound, spatial audio with Android, Fast Pair and multipoint Bluetooth, noise cancelling, cross-platform app, compact case, squeeze playback controls.
Cons: noise cancelling weak against higher tones, irreparable, no on-board volume control.
