Test of the ONPLUS BUDS PRO: an attractive design for a very classic sound

Technical sheet Design Use and application Noise reduction Audio Microphone Autonomy Price and release date ConclusionCommentsSee the product sheetAvailable at 140 €

The latest addition to the brand's range of wireless headphones, the OnePlus Buds Pro are rather high-end true wireless headphones without however being offered at a premium price. Here is their full test.

OnePlus Buds Pro headphones // Source: Frandroid

After the first two pairs of wireless headphones, the Buds and the Buds Z, the Chinese manufacturer now offers a more premium version, but at a still controlled price, the OnePlus Buds Pro. How do they fare in the ever-busier market for true wireless headphones? This is what we will see in this complete test.

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OnePlus Buds ProDatasheet

This test was carried out with headphones provided to us by OnePlus.

OnePlus Buds ProDesign

Definitely, OnePlus seems to no longer know what to do with its range of wireless headphones, the OnePlus Buds. After a first open model, with rods and a metal plate on the outside, presented in a round case, the OnePlus Buds Z changed the situation at the end of last year. They resumed the rod format and the round surface on the outside, but this time came in a pill-shaped case.

The OnePlus Buds Pro // Source: Frandroid

For its new Buds Pro, OnePlus has once again changed the formula, and in a more radical way. Exit the round tactile surface on the outside – which maintained a certain coherence between the brand's headphones – here we are entitled to very tapered headphones. They are also, like the entry-level OnePlus Buds Z, in-ear headphones, but still with a rod format to ensure good support. As for the silicone tips, three formats are also offered according to the morphology of each.

In fact, it is especially at the level of the stem and the colors that the OnePlus Buds Pro play the card of originality compared to their predecessors. In fact, if the headphones themselves are white or black – depending on the version chosen – the end of the rods is metallic. An approach that is also reminiscent of that of Nothing ear (1), the first headphones launched by the new start-up of Carl Pei, himself founder of OnePlus. This choice of bigotry colors has the merit of changing in a landscape of particularly monotonous wireless headphones where most models are still all too willingly inspired by Apple AirPods. Here, the resemblance remains there, but the color has the merit of distinguishing the OnePlus models at a glance. US Customs will no longer have any reason to be wrong.

The OnePlus Buds Pro fit well in the ears // Source: Frandroid

As for the comfort of the earphones themselves, the stem format ensures good support. As always, the in-ear design won't appeal to everyone. Nevertheless, the presence of several pairs of tips will allow everyone to try those best suited to the size of their ear canal and thus ensure good passive isolation without too much discomfort. For my part, even after two to three hours of use, I only felt a very slight discomfort from the headphones without my buds. It must be said that their weight of 4.35 grams each allows them to be easily forgotten in the ear canal.

Water resistance and sports use

The OnePlus Buds Pro are perfectly usable in a sports setting. It must be said that they are IP55 certified, which therefore provides protection against both dust and water jets. Suffice to say that they will not suffer from a little sweat or rain. They also stay in place once put on the ears, even in the event of sudden movements such as when running, or jaw movements while chewing for example.

Quite rare to point out, even the case of the OnePlus Buds Pro is splashproof since it is itself IPX4 certified. Be careful though, just like headphones, it will not withstand immersion in water, but simply drops.

The case of the OnePlus Buds Pro

For the case of its OnePlus Buds Pro too, the manufacturer has revised its copy. We are not dealing here with a round case like the first OnePlus Buds or in the shape of a large pill like the OnePlus Buds Z, but with a square case that looks more like a box. Very clearly, the format is reminiscent of that of Samsung's latest headphones, whether it's the Galaxy Buds Live, Galaxy Buds Pro or even the new Galaxy Buds 2.

The case of the OnePlus Buds Pro // Source: Frandroid

This rather large, but fairly thin format — 60.1 x 49 x 24.9 mm — unfortunately makes it difficult to open the case of the OnePlus Buds Pro with one hand, despite the notch on the front to facilitate opening. Just below this notch, we will also find a notification LED indicating the charge level of the case or the headphones. On the back, under the hinge – rather wide and quite solid in appearance – we will have access to the USB-C socket for wired charging.

Once the case is open, the earphones can be stored very easily in their place. If they fit easily thanks to a magnetic system – and the mention L and R – they can also be easily removed from the case. A rather appreciable ease of use when some manufacturers seem to be reluctant to the idea that we manage to remove the headphones from their case. It is also inside the box of the OnePlus Buds Pro that we will find the pairing button.

The OnePlus Buds Pro in their case // Source: Frandroid

While the OnePlus Buds Pro case can fit relatively easily in a pocket thanks to its low thickness of 24.9 mm, it is still rather bulky and will not be suitable for the smallest pockets. One thinks in particular of the pockets of women's trousers.

OnePlus Buds ProUsage and application

To connect the headphones to a smartphone, simply open the case, then press the synchronization button inside for a few seconds. The outer LED will then flash white and all you have to do is connect to the headphones in your smartphone's Bluetooth settings. OnePlus also communicates about compatibility with Google Fast Pair for Android smartphones, but I was unable to use this feature with my Oppo Find X2 Pro.

Touch controls

Unlike most wireless headphones, the OnePlus Buds Pro are not controlled by simple taps on the stems or the outside of the headphones. In fact, the rods are very tactile, but react above all to pressure, and not to simple support. So, in most cases, you'll need to pinch the stems of the headphones to control your music.

You have to pinch the stem to control the OnePlus Buds Pro // Source: Frandroid

Thus, a single tap left or right will pause the music, a double pinch will skip to the next track, a triple tap will skip back, while a long pinch will toggle between the noise reduction mode and transparent mode. The long pinch for three seconds will also activate Zen Mode Air – which we will discuss a little later.

On the personalization side, OnePlus allows, within the HeyMelody application, to modify certain touch controls. This is the case of the triple pinch which can also be used to launch the voice assistant, or the long pinch, of which you can change the noise reduction modes to which it switches - noise cancellation, transparency or noise cancellation deactivated . It is therefore impossible to assign the management of the sound volume to one of the gestures. It's all the more unfortunate that we would have appreciated that the headphones were also sensitive to simple presses, without pinching, to offer more control.

The pinch can be a good idea a priori, since it will avoid false support with a hood or by scratching the ear for example. But in reality, it is clearly a false good idea. Not only are the stems not very sensitive – we very often try several times to make the gesture – but in addition the pinching often involves moving the earphone in the ear. It's fine when you're alone at your desk, but it's much more annoying when you're running, for example.

The HeyMelody application

To modify these few touch controls and to take full control of the OnePlus Buds Pro, you have to go through a dedicated application: HeyMelody. As a reminder, it is this application that is used jointly for the audio products of OnePlus and Oppo.

In addition to the customization of touch controls and some classic functions such as updating the firmware of the headphones, the application will also allow you to switch between the different noise reduction modes which we will come back to in the dedicated part. The app also offers a Zen Mode Air feature. Activated with a long press – just like the change in noise reduction, which can be downright destabilizing – this is a mode for playing loops of sounds that are supposed to be soothing. Three types of sounds are offered: warm sunrise (with bird sounds), meditation (with calm music), summer coast (with wave sounds), night at the campsite (wood fire and cicadas) and Iceland (relaxing instrumental music and the sound of birds). Overall, if this function can find its followers, it remains largely incidental and people who are used to relaxing with music or relaxing sounds often have their favorite tracks on YouTube or a streaming service.

For its part, the OnePlus Audio ID function present in HeyMelody will give you a hearing diagnosis based on the frequencies you perceive or not. Lasting two to three minutes, this test will then allow the headphones to adapt their frequency response to your hearing. For example, if you have trouble hearing bass at low volumes, the headphones will increase the volume of the bass frequencies to help you distinguish them better. In fact, the difference is not obvious, but allows you to better enjoy your music.

The last function offered in the HeyMelody application will allow you to check that the headphones are correctly inserted in the ears using the microphones. There too, nothing revolutionary and we would have liked a more practical function on a daily basis such as an equalizer which is clearly missing from the application.

The Bluetooth connection

As for the wireless standard, OnePlus has made its headphones compatible with Bluetooth 5.2. The manufacturer also communicates on a low latency of 94 ms. In use, if I could not verify this delay, it is quite clear that the OnePlus Buds Pro offer significantly reduced latency compared to most competing headphones. However, it is far from perfect. 94 ms is still long enough to perceive a certain lag between image and sound when playing mobile games. It should also be remembered that the main video applications, such as YouTube, Netflix or Twitch, take this latency into account in order to perfectly synchronize the sound and the image, regardless of the headphones or Bluetooth headset you are using. It is therefore mainly in mobile games that this latency will prove to be annoying.

The OnePlus Buds Pro offer a stable Bluetooth connection // Source: Frandroid

Main advantage of Bluetooth 5.2, the stability of the connection is there. Unless you want to trap the OnePlus Buds Pro on purpose, they shouldn't suffer from a connection problem. During my test week, I only had a few small connectivity jumps, essentially by trying to provoke them. Even with the smartphone in my front jeans pocket and my hand over it, the headphones continued to play as if nothing had happened. I had to bend over backwards to notice a problem.

The headphones can also be used individually, with only one in the ear and the second stored in its case. Be careful though, proximity sensors automatically pause the music when you remove one of the two headphones. Note also that, when one of the two headphones is stored in its case, the other will also recover its stereo channel to broadcast a mono sound combining the left channel and the right channel. A practical function, but not all manufacturers think of.

OnePlus Buds ProNoise canceling

In addition to the passive isolation provided by the silicone tips of the headphones, the OnePlus Buds Pro have an active noise canceling function. This is automatically activated by default when the headphones detect that they are placed in the ears.

If OnePlus does not detail how its noise reduction works, the number of microphones used or the presence of a microphone inside the headphones for hybrid reduction, the company nevertheless communicates on a noise reduction capable of suppress a level up to 40 dB. As we have seen, noise reduction can be managed by pinching the stem of the headphones for a long time, or, more finely, using the HeyMelody application on a smartphone.

On the application, three levels of noise reduction are offered: noise cancellation, intelligent or maximum noise cancellation. In use, however, it is difficult to feel a real difference between the three levels of noise reduction. Proposed by default, the "intelligent" mode seems however more effective in not generating an audible soft effect in the microphones. After a short time of adaptation, it will indeed reduce white noise, thereby causing a somewhat more present blockage effect. Note, however, that this blockage effect is present in all three active noise reduction modes.

Overall, the noise reduction offered by the OnePlus Buds Pro is quite convincing. It will greatly reduce the level of background noises, such as a PC fan, the hum of traffic and even voices slightly. The headphones can thus be compared to certain rather effective models in the 80 to 150 euro segment such as the Huawei FreeBuds 4i, the Nothing ear (1) or the Beats Studio Buds. However, we are still far from the noise reduction offered on more high-end headphones such as the Sony WF-1000XM4 or the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds. This can be heard in particular on occasional noises such as a vehicle passing nearby, tapping on a computer keyboard or the voices around you, which all remain well and truly audible.

Transparency mode

In addition to noise cancellation mode, the OnePlus Studio Buds also include a transparency mode. This will simply reproduce, using the transducers of the headphones, the sounds picked up by the external microphones. The result is decent, but still clearly lacks naturalness. We feel quite clearly that the sound reproduced is not that heard directly by the ears, but that it is a sound produced by the speakers.

OnePlus Buds ProAudio

In terms of the audio characteristics of the headphones, the OnePlus Buds Pro are equipped with 11 mm diameter dynamic transducers. They are able to offer a frequency response of 20 to 20,000 Hz. Regarding the Bluetooth audio codecs offered, OnePlus headphones are compatible with the most classic, AAC and SBC, but also with LHDC. As a reminder, this codec offers three bit rates, at 400, 560 or 900 kbps.

The OnePlus Buds Pro speaker grille // Source: Frandroid

To test the sound quality of the OnePlus Buds Pro, I connected them to an Oppo Find X2 Pro smartphone, then listened to songs on Spotify in "very high" quality (ogg vorbis at 320 kbps), but also songs in lossless stored on my smartphone. I also used the LHDC codec for these audio tests.

From the outset, we find a sound signature quite close to the OnePlus Buds Z released at the end of last year. The OnePlus Buds Pro thus offer fairly round bass, but which lacks a bit of breadth. The bass is thus present, but we would have liked a rendering with a little more breath. Still, on Billie Eilish's Bad Guy, the bass pad in the background manages to make itself felt without stifling the other sound frequencies. It is especially the voices, therefore the low mids, which are pushed by the OnePlus headphones. Still on Bazd Guy, the voice of the American singer is very present and the headphones manage to offer a warm sound... most of the time. With a volume around 70%, however, I could hear saturation in the voices. However, I did not have this problem on Norah Jones' Come Away with Me. The title of the jazz singer makes it possible to give pride of place to the mids and highs, whether with the piano or the guitar. Again, the warm appearance of the OnePlus Buds Pro stands out clearly on this title.

The OnePlus Buds Pro offer pleasant sound, but lack depth // Source: Frandroid

The headphones also do very well on more electro tracks, like Justice's Phantom Pt. II, or hip-hop like Eminem's Berzerker. Not surprising given their propensity to heal the mids and offer decent bass. The highs are also present, even if they are more discreet than the bass or the mids.

You will understand, overall, we are dealing here with a rather warm and balanced sound that does not do too much in the bass while putting the voices largely forward. A sound that should appeal to the greatest number. Unfortunately, OnePlus does not offer a real equalizer in its HeyMelody application, as we saw earlier. If you want to change the balance of the different frequencies, you will actually have to cheat by going through Audio ID to pretend that you are hearing the bass or treble badly so that the OnePlus software increases their volume.

Apart from the sound signature of the headphones, the OnePlus Buds Pro unfortunately offer rather weak dynamics, failing to distinguish between sounds played at high volume and those that should be produced at a lower volume. This is particularly audible on Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, the restitution of which quite clearly lacks breadth and dynamism. This is also the main criticism that we can make of the OnePlus Buds Pro: they offer a fairly flat sound which may lack breadth and which gives a feeling of being veiled, slightly muffled.

OnePlus Buds ProMicro

For voice calls and voice recording, the OnePlus Buds Pro use a noise reduction system with three microphones. In fact, your interlocutor will clearly perceive your voice, even in a rather noisy setting. While it may have an echoing sensation, the headphones are quite effective and capture the voice quite distinctly thanks to the stem format.

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During my test, when calling a colleague with the earphones, he told me of a voice recording that was quite convincing in that he was able to understand what I was saying to him. The noises around, if they remained present, were however attenuated by the noise reduction and my voice remained very central. Finally, as often, it is after one or two seconds that the OnePlus Buds Pro will be able to attenuate constant noises like the sound of a tap. It will therefore take a little time to adapt to the headphones. However, even once the audio processing has started, the voice remains of good quality and the noise reduction does not render it unintelligible as is sometimes the case with competing models.

OnePlus Buds ProAutonomy

To ensure the autonomy of its headphones, OnePlus has integrated 40 mAh batteries in its Buds Pro. The case benefits from a 520 mAh battery. According to the manufacturer, this would ensure up to 7 hours of autonomy for the headphones with noise reduction and 38 hours of autonomy thanks to the case, still without noise reduction. However, with noise reduction, the announced autonomy is only 5 hours for the headphones, and 28 hours for the case.

By activating noise reduction in smart mode and turning the volume up to 80%, I was able to use the OnePlus Buds Pro for 4h27 before both headphones ran out of battery. This is not only a little less than the duration announced by OnePlus, but it is especially particularly low on the headphone market. As a reminder, under the same test conditions, the Nothing ear (1) can work for 5:05, the Beats Studio Buds for 5:31 and the Huawei FreeBuds 4i for 7:45.

The USB-C socket to charge the OnePlus Buds Pro case // Source: Frandroid

For recharging, OnePlus indicates that 10 minutes of charging the case can recover up to ten hours of listening. However, the manufacturer does not indicate the duration for a full charge of the headphones. By placing the fully discharged OnePlus Buds Pro in their case, I was able to go to 40% battery in 10 minutes and 80% battery in 20 minutes. It took 38 minutes for a full recharge, a good point.

The case can be recharged using the USB-C socket on the back, or by using a wireless charging base, which is compatible with Qi charging by induction.

OnePlus Buds ProPrice and release date

The OnePlus Buds Pro have been available for pre-order since August 18th. The first deliveries are expected on August 25th. Two versions are offered, in glossy white or matte black, both priced at 149 euros.