These £59 budget Airpod dupes are small in price but big on sound
Chinese company OnePlus, are a significant player in the smartphone market, competing with other major brands like Samsung, Apple, and Google, they are best known for their flagship-threatening smartphones but OnePlus has been making some quality audio devices since 2018.
Those acquainted with OnePlus will instantly recognize the 'Nord' as one of their line of affordable, midrange smartphones. OnePlus has replicated that strategy on the Nord Buds by incorporating some premium features from their high-end devices into a more affordable option.
The second generation of the Nord Buds offers some great improvements on the original Nord Buds released in 2022, but are they worth it?
They are available in two colours, Lighting White and Thunder Grey, with a nice matte fingerprint and a smudge-resistant finish and some slight speckles on the case and stems that look good.
They follow the same basic shape as the previous edition at 27.5 x 21.05 x 24.4mm with flat, rounded rectangle shapes which I'm not a fan of this shape as they are very noticeable and make me feel like I have big Frankenstein bolts sticking out of my ears.
The small flat stems also feature circular touch panels that enable playback controls and are very easy to use and weren't being touched by accident al;l the time.
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While compact they really can put out some great audio for the price (OnePlus)The case is a compact pillbox shape, of 67.99 x 28.9 x35.5mm that now has softer edges that look nice and feels more comfortable in your pocket and it only weighs 37.5g.
Both the buds and the case are made from plastic making them very lightweight but not very solid. At only 4.7 g they are easy to carry and very comfortable in the ears, they also feel more solid and slightly heavier than the previous model.
Another stand-out feature for a budget set of buds, they are rated IP55 offering some protection from dust and low-pressure water jets from any direction, so they are ok in British weather.
They use Bluetooth 5.3 and the connection was simple and fast and without any issues and it remained stable all the time without issues.
I do wish they had an ear in detection to start or stop content as I would often remove them while listing to a podcast and forget to pause so by the time I'd put them back in I would be completely lost.
The touch controls are intuitive and straightforward with one tap to pause/play, a double tab to skip forward, a triple tap to go back, and a holding tap to enable ANC or turn on transparency mode.
The Nord Buds in black next to the Nord Buds 2 (James Ide)I was honestly surprised at the audio quality these 12.4 mm drivers manage to deliver with strong bass, which you don't often see in budget buds another thing that isn't often in this range is the inclusion of Dolby Atmos support, providing immersive surround sound which really elevates games music and films.
They were a lot clearer than I expected with great mids and trebles although the default balance profile still seemed a little bass-heavy. They are also a great choice for podcasts offering warm, natural vocals.
I couldn't see any noticeable lag on YouTube and Netflix videos which can be common at a lower price point.
Another feature you don't often see in this range is Active noise cancelation with the ANC here doing a great job and providing 25dB of noise reduction there is also a little bit of passive isolation too due to the fitting.
While it wasn't the most powerful ANC I've used it was able to easily dampen fans, and the hum of my PC and removed keyboard clicks but it couldn't quite remove background chatter or the noise of the underground.
Transparency mode allows the buds to activate the mics letting audio pass through which is great if someone asks you a quick question or if you need to hear an important train announcement.
Yet again, I was surprised at the clarity of my calls with the Nord Buds with callers clearly heard and able to understand me. Its 2 mics did a great job of isolating my voice from any background disturbances.
To get the most out of the Nord Buds 2 you'll need to download the Hey Melody App, this then allows you to update the firmware, see how much battery is left in each bud and the case, change the ANC and tweak your sound settings.
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The HeyMelody app has a decent amount of settings for your to tweak (OnePlus)
The app is simple but easy to use and there is also an Equalizer that you can play around with as well as 3 presets Bold, Serenade and Bass, which can be used to push mids and highs.
It also includes a slider for something called Basswave which can be used to further enhance bass but it was a little too much for me.
There is also a game mode that reduced any latency which can be crucial in online competitive games keeping your sound synced with the game.
The earbuds provide approximately seven hours of playback time when the ANC is turned off. Nevertheless, with the charging case, this extends to a total of 36 hours of playback. However, a quick ten-minute charge grants an additional five hours.
Having ANC on reduces the earbuds' this to five hours on a single charge, and the overall playback with the charging case drops to 27 hours which is a little short but still very usable. There is also no wireless charging and it does come with a OnePlus snazzy but short red charging cable a USB-A to USB-C.
For £59 from OnePlus and they are a fantastic deal and slightly more expensive than the original Nord Buds, but considering the addition of ANC and improved battery life and clearer audio performance this still seems very fair.
This price puts them in the same range as Google Pixel Buds A-Series and Sony WF-C500 which the Nords Buds beat due to the inclusion of ANC, transparency and better battery life.
Nord Buds 2 Pro Verdict 4/5
The Nord Buds 2 offer some really great improvements to some already brilliant budget buds with better sound quality, and the inclusion of decent noise cancellation.
The only real improvements I want to see in future are more solid build quality and a redesign of the flag chunky stems, however, those nitpicks aside, they are easily one of the best budget earbuds I've used and punch way above their weight with the inclusion of higher tier features that don't even appear in more expensive buds.
The Nord Buds 2 offer a solid audio experience on a budget that clearly stands out among others in its range.
The OnePlus Nord Buds 2 are available now from both Amazon and the OnePlus website starting at £59.99
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