OnePlus Buds Pro: An audiophile’s delight

The set can play music for 38 hours without the active noise cancellation on

OnePlus has entered a new segment with the launch of the Buds Pro True Wireless Stereo (TWS) earphones.

The set comes in a rather compact charging case that can be carried around in the pocket without much discomfort. The Buds come with extra eartips and also a USB Type-C charging cable.

The Buds sit quite comfortably in the ears and one will even forget they are there after a few minutes of wearing them.

So, how does it fare in the audio tests?

One of the first songs I test audio products with is Mojave Club by Marvin Hamlisch (from James Bond’s The Spy Who Loved Me). The track has a lot of background stringed instrument accompaniments and I consider it to be a good test track for audio products. The OnePlus Buds Pro shone in that department as the strings were clearly audible to me. This track did not have much bass but the midrange was very much evident and the OnePlus Buds Pro did not disappoint in that department either.

Next, I played the main track of the James Bond movie. Here, again the metal instruments, cymbals and the triangle were all highlighted as was the midrange without any of the frequencies being overpowering.

Now the next test track was (I Just) Died In Your Arms by Komodo, a remix of the original track by Cutting Crew. The bass was tight and well controlled. At no point did it feel overpowering. Generally, if one is overwhelmed with the bass at the first instant with a pair of headphones or earphones, one is bound to end up with a headache after long hours of listening. But that was not the case with the Buds Pro. The bass is good but did not give that overamplified and initial awe-inspiring feeling that one is bound to regret later.

For a good taste of midrange, I played Dire Straits’ The Man’s Too Strong as the track has an ample amount of acoustic guitar work. The ‘attack’ of the guitar can be felt on this track and the throatiness and slight gruffness of Mark Knopfler’s voice can be accurately felt is every evident.

As an audio enthusiast, the audio quality is most important to me than other features in a pair of earphones. So, the OnePlus Buds Pro passes the audio test with flying colours.

Call quality was also fair and no complaints in that department either.

What works well is the active noise cancellation (ANC). Just put them on and one can immediately feel a lot of ambient sound cut off. According to the specifications, 40dB is the noise cancellation achieved.

For the record, the OnePlus Buds Pro feature 11mm dynamic drivers and the sensitivity is 102 dB at 1KHz for India, while it is 4dB less for the rest of the world. The frequency response is 20 to 20,000 Hz.

OnePlus says that with the ANC off, playback is 38 hours with the charge full, while with the ANC on, it is 28 hours. A mere 10 minutes of charging gives the user 10 hours of playback.

Pairing is a breeze and I did not have any problems in doing so. The earbuds are IP55 rated for water and sweat resistance, while the case is IPX4 rated.

The OnePlus Buds Pro is available in Matte Black and Glossy White and at a price of Rs 9,990.

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