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While TWS have become quite mainstream over the last few years, and come in shapes, sizes and prices that can pretty much fit all pockets, features like premium audio and ANC still remain relatively expensive propositions for most consumers. Fortunately, if one keeps one’s eyes open (and reads this section regularly), one can come across premium TWS that were once expensive but have now got super affordable, thanks to hefty price cuts. One of these is the OnePlus Buds Pro 2.
These premium TWS offer not only superior audio but also a number of software smarts that are generally found in buds priced at over Rs 10,000. And these buds were actually priced in that region – they were launched at Rs. 11,999 in 2023 – but two years down the line, are available at prices ranging from Rs 5500 to Rs 5,999, which is half their price. And at that price tag, they are terrific deals for anyone wanting a premium TWS experience on a tight budget.
The OnePlus Buds Pro 2 were a breath of fresh air back when they were launched two years after their release, they still look good. The buds come in a flat, squoval case which has OnePlus and Dynaudio written right on top. The small, shiny text offers a contrast to what is otherwise a matte case. There is a USB Type C port on the back of the case with a dot-like LED in front for showing battery and connectivity status. Flipping open the lid reveals the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 lying flat in the case.
The buds have a relatively conventional design with the slightly ballooned up buds on top, and a curved stem beneath them, but OnePlus has added a textural contrast to make them look different – the top half is matte while the lower half is glossy, with a metallic sheen, making them easily recognisable even when they are in the ear of the user. Just below the buds in the case is a small button for pairing, and a Dynaudio logo is present on the inside of the lid. Almost two years after their launch, they stand out in a subtle, classy manner.
The OnePlus Buds Pro 2 are incredibly lightweight as well – the case weighs 47.3 grams while earbuds weigh 4.9 grams each, which means you will barely even notice that you are wearing them, and can wear them for hours effortlessly. They are pretty solid too, coming with an IP55 rating, making them a perfect buddy for even the most sweaty cardio sessions, while in a nice touch, the case comes with X4 certification, giving it some splash protection as well. Both the case and the buds are made of plastic but feel quite premium. The lid flips open quite smoothly and shuts back down with a really satisfying snap.
There are three colour options in the buds, green, white and black, and all look very good even now.
Using the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 is easy. The OnePlus Buds Pro 2 support fast pairing so all you need to do is open the case and place it next to your phone. You can also press the button on the inside to put the buds in pairing mode, and select the buds from your device’s Bluetooth settings. The controls are on the stems of the buds and are pretty simple– single tap to play/ pause or to accept or end a call, double tap to skip a song or reject a call and triple tap to go back to the previous song. Pressing and holding switches on ANC mode, while holding a bit longer takes one to Zen Air mode, which offers relaxing white noise.
The OnePlus Buds Pro 2 are brimming with software smarts and come with audio from renowned audio brand Dynaudio (hence the labels on both top and inside the lid). This, combined with very good hardware is the reason why they are still flagship material even two years after their launch. They come with an 11mm woofer paired with 6 mm tweeter dual drivers, have three microphones on each bud, Bluetooth 5.3 support, with ANC and Transparency mode as well as spatial audio and head tracking support. They also come with multi-point support, allowing you to connect them to two devices at the same time and switch seamlessly between them.
Most importantly, they sound very good. They have a slight V-shaped profile and have noticeably sharp treble, but the bass is the hero of the sound here. The buds come with features like ANC, Transparency Mode, and Spatial Audio. ANC is right in the premium zone (you can personalise levels) and is capable of drowning out the noise of a loud cafe, while Transparency mode is effective as well, letting you know what is happening around you. The spatial Audio feature paired with head tracking is however, the most impressive of the premium feature list, and makes a very notable difference while watching movies and shows, with the sound seeming to move with our heads (a feature that one still gets mostly in high-end TWS).
Thanks to the bass-y touch and low latency, the buds perform extremely well in gaming sessions too. The focus on bass sometimes can make the vocals a bit muddy and also means the sound is not essentially ‘balanced’ but it does deliver a bold sound kick. There is even a Hi-Res audio mode for those who like greater clarity.And if you want to tweak the sound and other features, you can do so using the Hey Melody app, which works with iOS and Android. The app offers a plethora of other options – you can choose ANC levels, test your EarBud fit (there are three in all in the box), choose from different EQ presets – basically you get all the features that you can expect from a premium set of TWS.
Two areas where the buds shine the most are calling and battery. The call quality on the Buds 2 Pro remains top notch and the battery can last for up to 9 hours on the buds and 30 hours on the case with ANC off. Turn ANC off and the battery levels dip a bit– you get 5 hours on the buds and about 25 hours on the case which is still quite great. Thanks to fast charging, we could get up to three hours of audio time with just ten minutes of charge.
The OnePlus Buds Pro 2 were a premium offering with new-age smarts and high-end audio when launched in 2023. And honestly we thought they delivered very good value even at their original price tag of Rs 11,999, going toe to toe with the offerings of Sony, Sennheiser and even Apple in their price range. While their role as OnePlus’ flagship TWS has been taken over by the OnePlus Buds Pro 3, they remain excellent performers, and at their reduced price of Rs 5,999, they add a premium flavour to the mid-segment, comfortably beating the likes of the Sennheiser Accentum TWS series, the Samsung Galaxy Buds Core and Sony’s WF-C700N. In fact, given their new pricing and premium design, they even challenge the similarly priced OnePlus Buds 4, which were launched recently. If you want premium design and high quality audio with very good ANC and flagship features, but all at a price in the range of Rs 6,000, the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 are close to a no-brainer!
