Along with the OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro smartphones, the Chinese company also launched its updated wireless earphones — OnePlus Bullets Wireless 2. Compared to its predecessors, this one comes with great sound quality, mainly because of the updated drivers and support for aptX HD.
However, the pricing of the Bullets Wireless 2 has also increased significantly. Let’s find out in this review if the price hike is justified against the features it offers.
What’s in the box
- OnePlus Bullets Wireless 2 earphones
- USB Type-C charging cable
- Silicone Carry Case
- 3 x Eartips
- User manual
- Safety and Warranty card
In the box, it comes with three pairs of ear tips to sheathe the angled nozzles. When you have found the right fit, it isolates the listener extremely well, rendering outside noise almost null. The company is also offering a red silicone pouch-type case in the box, which is identical to the old one.
Design, Comfort, and Working
In terms of design, the OnePlus Bullets Wireless 2 is similar to the original Bullets Wireless, featuring the same neckband and control module. Thanks to the rubberized material coating and the flexible collar, they are comfortable to use and has less amount of friction during wear.
Apparent change is in the earbud housing which is now much larger. The bigger housing makes room for the three-unit driver arrangement, divvies up frequency reproduction between the three components. The housing is magnetic and is quite helpful when they aren’t in use.
When the earbuds are hooked together, they automatically pause playback and when pulled apart, the playback resumes. The magnets also power the headset on and off in lieu of a dedicated button. It also features a button on the left which enables users to pair it with a device or alternate between two connected devices.
Along with the Quick Pair feature, the company is also offering Google Assistant support and Qualcomm cVc noise cancellation technology that offers improved voice clarity during calls.
Sound
The dynamic driver of the original model is paired with two balanced armature drivers, which improves clarity as well as high and low bass. This makes it a hybrid triple driver headset. However, the difference isn’t extreme but more on the subtle side.
It also comes with support for Qualcomm’s aptX HD codec that doubles the streaming bitrate of the audio files to 576 kbps from aptX’s 352 kbps. To take advantage of this, you’ll need to use a smartphone that supports this, such as OnePlus 7 Pro, Google Pixel 3, etc.
The earphones offer a detailed sonic signature and a wide soundstage for a crisp and clean sound, although the bass isn’t quite as punchy as its predecessor. While the lows leave room for improvement, the mid-range and high-end have improved.
The OnePlus Bullets Wireless 2 offers a frequency response range of 20-20,000 Hz. When the earphones are not connected to a device supporting aptX HD, they back to aptX which is still better than AAC and SBC on Android smartphones. While the support for Bluetooth 5.0 doesn’t improve the sound quality, it does help in ensuring a strong connection with the device.
The OnePlus Bullets Wireless 2 also does a good job with voice calls. The person on the other end could clearly hear on a call and we were also able to hear that person. Thanks to the tweaked design of the earpieces, the sound leakage problem has been fixed.
Battery
As for the battery life, the OnePlus Bullets Wireless 2 offers nearly double playback time compared to its predecessor. While the original model offered around 7 hours of playback on a single charge, this newer version offers around 14 hours of playback time.
One of the major reason behind this increased playback time is the support for Bluetooth 5.0 instead of Bluetooth 4.1. For charging, there’s a USB Type-C port and the company says that charging it for 10 minutes provides 10 hours of playback time and to fully charge, it needs about an hour. During our usage, we were about to get a little over 12 hours of battery life, which is pretty great for wireless headphones.
Verdict
We can recommend OnePlus Bullets Wireless 2 if you are looking for wireless earphones that don’t cost ridiculously high. The neckband design looks sophisticated and offers several features and the sound quality is also pretty good. The battery life on a single charge is also great.
However, audio quality isn’t your top priority and you want to save ₹2000, you can opt for the original OnePlus Bullets Wireless earphones as well, but you will also have to compromise on the battery life.
You can buy the OnePlus Bullets 2 Wireless from the company’s official website here.
Strengths
- Improved sound quality
- Goot fit
- Bluetooth 5.0 and aptX HD support
- Quick charging and battery life
Weakness
- No water resistance
- A bit pricey compared to its predecessor
