OnePlus Buds Z

The Evolution of the Bluetooth

Wireless technology has grown leaps and bounds in recent times. We will have to thanks the ever evolving wireless standards. Bluetooth technology, which works over 2.4 GHz frequency band has come a long way since the unreliable first iterations. Current bluetooth technology ensures higher amount of data transfer while using much lower power. This evolution of bluetooth standards has also made possible, miniaturization of devices while ensuring long usage period between battery charge.

The Audio ecosystem has benefited largely by these technology advancements. Wires in personal Audio devices are a think of past. So much so that phone manufacturers have started to drop the familiar and reassuring 3.5 mm port on phones. They expect you to make the switch, while you do not notice any appreciable difference in the quality of audio being delivered. Of-course, Audiophiles will always, and rightly, swear by the good quality cables connecting the audio device with the listening device. We the general consumers, meanwhile, will not notice the difference even if it was announcing itself loudly. This, while we benefit from the mess free experience, and continuous dropping cost of this technology.

The Second Iteration

OnePlus, the now established phone maker with the “Never Settle” attitude, seems to have a dream to evolve as an ecosystem of devices. They have already ventured in to TV, wired earphones, Wireless Earphones, Battery banks. There are rumors that OnePlus is working on a smartwatch for their ecosystem. It makes sense because having a well developed ecosystem keeps customers loyal for longer time. The world knows it from Apple.

However, the newly launched OnePlus Buds Z is the subject today. The “Z’ are successor to OnePlus buds.

The package has a very premium feel to it with smooth movement of the inner box, while opening it. OnePlus has mastered the packaging very well. The box contains the Buds in the charging box, a charging cable, quick start guide and safety and warranty manual. It also contains additional ear tips of two different sizes, Large and Small. Meanwhile, the medium sized comes pre-fitted on the bud.

Pairing the buds to you phone is easy. Simply switch on the bluetooth on your phone and open the charging case. The OnePlus Buds Z will show up as available for pairing on the phone. Give the necessary permission and you are good to go.

This is the first time I am using true wireless audio product. My previous wireless devices were Dell BH200, Skulk Candy ink’d Wireless and Sony WH-CH500. The WH-CH500 is currently working, however is is massively inconvenient to carry around. I had put off purchasing the true wireless pods because of many reasons. The beginners from reputed brands were too expensive for my use case. The Chinese re-brands didn’t instill confidence in me, though they were much cheaper. And OnePlus original buds were made of plastic mold without the silicon tips. I was confident they would not stay in my ears. I had similar terrible with Apple wired headset in that regard. The OnePlus Buds Z announcement, ticked all the boxes for me. So I didn’t waste much time buying them.

Performance and Features

Performance

In to my ears, the buds blew away my mind, first song. For my first song, I chose to have a deep bass drop  with sharp vocals. Eminem’s “Rap God” fits the bill very well. I am not claiming that the sound is audiophile quality. But I can claim that the bass is not muffled. The vocals are not overwhelmed by the bass and neither is Vice Versa. The high frequencies are clear. I hear a few notes which I never heard in my WH-CH500 or any previous wireless devices. The frequencies are clearly separated. At top volume, I didn’t observe any distortion. I finally feel I will not encounter any misheard lyrics situation. I am satisfied. Actually, I am more than satisfied.

I have the buds Z with me for less than 24 hours. It will take some time before I determine the battery life. But here’s one indication. Last evening I used them continuously for 4 hours. The battery on the buds dropped from 100% to 34%. That was while watching TV series, with slightly above mid volume. The buds can now be charged from the case 3-4 times, I feel. I am expecting miracles from the battery here. The company claims a total playback of 20 hours and I will not be surprised to extract it.

I took a range test at a distance of 10 m from the audio source, no issues at all. But that was line of sight move to another room and that’s a different story. But you can expect that from bluetooth

The fit in my ears was perfect and I didn’t feel ever that they would fall off. The additional tips will help people with different ear canal sizes.

Features

The charging case has a 450 mAh battery while the buds has 40 mAh each. The buds have IP55 rating, so sweat and light rains are not going to ruin your experience.

The buds come with some predefined gestures which can be used when paired with OnePlus phones. For other phones, try “HeyMelody” app by OnePlus in the Play Store. For OnePlus phones, the gestures can be configured within the bluetooth settings itself. Sadly, only double tap is the currently recognized gesture. You can configure what double tap does on each earbud. I’ve set left one for previous track and right one for next track. If you remove the earbud from your ear, the playback stops. If you put back the bud, the playback resumes, provided you put back within a certain time. This feature works quite well. But if you are lying down, the play back doesn’t resume once you put back the bud in ear.

A software update can easily add more gestures, if OnePlus is up for it.

OnePlus, if you are listening, raise the volume for phone conversation. The hearing volume is very low when receiving a phone call. This is one serious flaw in an otherwise a very good device.

Verdict

You can safely ditch the expensive buds/pods and go for OnePlus Buds Z. And you can easily up your budget to avoid those cheap re-brands, especially those which are from unknown manufacturer. The Buds Z are on pre-order on Amazon India and also available on OnePlus store. If you pre-order on Amazon, you can benefit form the current ongoing festival discounts on various bank cards.

(Disclaimer : I am not paid for this post. However, the links in the post a re affiliate links.)