Once again I bring you to our website an analysis of some in-ear headphones. A device that, as I have already told you on occasion, almost all phone brands have the odd option in their catalog. Well, the person in charge of incorporating a new model has been Oneplus with its Buds Pro . But why should you go for these headphones over the third-party alternative? Today I want to tell you what I liked the most and what I liked the least about these headphones after having tried them during the last weeks.
Recognizable at a glance
As you will already know if you have read or seen any of my reviews, I want to start talking to you about the design of these headphones since it is the first thing that will enter us by sight before purchasing them. They may not be as flashy as the Ear (1) that I already told you about a few months ago but, in this sense, I think Oneplus has done very well. Without losing the typical aesthetics of a cane hearing aid, he has endowed it with an elegant design that gives it character.
As usual, this equipment will be stored and transported in a case that will also function as a loading dock. Both parts can be purchased in two different colors: Glossy White and Matte Black . Specifically, as a good lover of dark environments, the ones I have tried are the dark finish and, personally, I have loved them. The truth is that I am somewhat tired (to put it in some way) of glossy finishes, and being able to opt for a matte color mixed with those metallic gray canes seems like a success in terms of design.
For its part, the case also has this matte black aesthetic. When opened, the headphones lie flat on the surface and are not inserted as such in any hole as we would with Apple Airpods. However, you can rest easy because where we support them it has a magnetic surface in the area of the charging pins that will prevent them from accidentally falling out.
As I said, through this case is how we can charge the headphones by leaving them inside. This system has given me around 35 – 36 hours of use in total , being the autonomy of the headphones separately of about 4 – 5 hours. My results may not be the same as you would get because, in the end, the autonomy depends on how we use them: the maximum volume, the degree of noise cancellation, etc.
And, speaking of autonomy, when loading the transport case we can do it in two ways:
- Through the USB-C connector on the back. This, in turn, has Oneplus Warp Charge technology with which, with just 10 minutes of charging, we will have plenty of battery to end the day.
- Through wireless charging with Qi technology. This one, unlike the previous one, gave me the impression that it was slightly slower than using the cable itself.
On the other hand, now delving deeper into the hearing aids themselves, the upper structure is somewhat more rounded than the options of other manufacturers. Of course, as good in-ear headphones, these include the pad that we will introduce into our ear. Here I recommend that, among the 4 options that we find inside the box, you try the one that best suits your ear, since it is an important aspect for your comfort and that the noise cancellation works correctly.
Great quality, although more customization is lacking
Now is the time to move on to the section on the user experience and its functionalities. And, the first thing I want you to know is a different and differential aspect of this device with respect to its competition.
While to control what we are playing through the headset, others bet on the touches, the Oneplus Buds Pro have opted for the pinches , although it may seem strange to you. Through the pole of each earphone we are going to control what is sounding by pressing this section. So depending on how many times we press and how, we can do different things:
- A single pinch will activate play and pause playback.
- Two pinches will go forward from song.
- Three consecutive presses will give us the possibility to go back to the previous song, or they will activate the assistant. We can configure this through the “Heymelody” app on our smartphone.
- If we hold down the baton and release we can change the noise cancellation mode. Here we enter the active noise cancellation (with two levels of action), the transparency mode (to listen to part of what sounds around us or have a conversation) and deactivate the cancellation .
- Holding down the stick for several seconds will activate Zen Mode Air . These are nothing more than predefined sounds to relax like white noise, forest sound, water and some more that we can configure in the application itself.
Here I have to admit that I have mixed feelings with this way of interacting with the headphones.
At first, I could not do it correctly and you could see me walking down the street pressing one of my headphones and with a slightly strange face. Then I realized that when pressing in the right place (it was easier than it seemed) the headphones emit a small response sound indicating that you are interacting with them, which makes the task quite easy.
Finally, the way “talking” to them ended up liking me more than all the ways I had tried so far because this way accidental touches are avoided. You know, it’s rare for you to pinch the earpiece on the stick by mistake.
However, what I have not liked so much has been the minimal customization of gestures that we have. I would have liked to be able to control the playback volume for example, being able to deactivate the long press to activate the Zen Mode Air which is not something that I am going to use normally.
And well, let me tell you what I found in terms of the audio quality ,that’s what headphones are for. The truth is that the sound they transmit seems to me of great quality, with quite correct bass (taking into account that it is in-ear) and with very clear audio. This is mainly due to two aspects:
- The 11mm drivers that boost the sound to enhance it.
- The use of the LHDC codec which, in addition to providing us with great quality when it comes to playing content, is a low latency codec.
When making calls we will also have high quality sound thanks to both the triple microphone, which are capable of canceling audio up to 40 db , and the audio processing system.
To give you greater peace of mind, you should know that this equipment has IP55 protection against water and dust. Therefore you can take it wherever you need or use them while doing sports without problems.
Oneplus Buds Pro, are they really worth it?
Having said all of the above, and now that I have also told you both the details that I liked and those that I did not like, it is time to talk about the price. An important detail when buying this type of equipment and that a small difference can make the balance fall towards yes or no.
If you want to get a unit of these Oneplus Buds Pro you will have to pay 149 euros . It may not be the cheapest model on the market but, taking into account everything they offer, despite having aspects that could be improved, in my opinion I would buy them.
