OnePlus has announced its first set of true wireless earbuds, called, not unsurprisingly, the OnePlus Buds. While the company is best known for its smartphones, it has long released headphones at the same time as a new mobile device. The OnePlus Buds are no exception, and join the firm’s OnePlus Nord phone on today’s launch roster.
What’s the big feature here? Like its phones, the OnePlus Buds have fast charging. Just 10 minutes charging the case will return 10 hours of total music playback. Using the case’s internal battery, the Buds have 30 hours use in total, and fully charged the earbuds will return seven hours of playback. It’s also not clear whether you’ll have to use a OnePlus charger to get the 10-minute fast charge, as OnePlus’s phones use a proprietary charging system.
The OnePlus Buds share a similar design to Apple’s AirPods, with short stems attached to the drivers, which do not use silicone tips to create a sound-isolating seal. They are kept inside a flip-top case when not in use, which comes in a bright blue color with a yellow interior. There is a yellow accent around the outside of the Buds’ driver unit too. Not exactly subtle, but they’ll definitely catch the eye, however you can also buy a simple white or black version too.
Inside each Bud is a 13.4mm driver and three active microphones to reduce ambient noise during calls, but they don’t add any kind of noise cancellation for music. OnePlus has added a bass boost feature, plus the Buds support Dolby Atmos, although there’s no word on codec support yet. The OnePlus Nord and other OnePlus phones all support AptX and AptX HD, as do the Bullets Wireless 2, so it would be great to see at least AptX supported.
Finally, the OnePlus Buds have an IPX4 water resistance rating, which makes them suitable for use in the rain or when you’re sweating on a run. The OnePlus Buds join a long line of wireless OnePlus headphones, all of which used a neck strap design, had long battery life, and various useful features like an auto-off when the earbuds were magnetically clipped together.
The OnePlus Buds will be available through OnePlus’s own website starting July 21, with a price of $79 or 79 British pounds.
Updated on July 23: Added more battery specifications, colors, and clarified price.
