The company’s first audio product in the Nord series and currently least expensive truly wireless earbuds are the OnePlus Nord Buds. The Nord Buds are designed to be a no-frills pair of earbuds for people on a tight budget, starting at just $39 per pair.
OnePlus has simplified everything with the Nord Buds, leaving out active noise cancellation, wireless charging, fancy codecs, and even in-ear detection. Fast charging, an IP55 rating, and four microphones with AI noise reduction are among the features you do receive. With a distinctive and captivating design.
WATCH FULL REVIEW: OnePlus Nord Buds True Wireless Earbuds Unboxing Setup Review
Key specs
- Battery Life: 7 hours (buds), 30 hours with case
- Microphone: Yes, 2 per earbud
- Audio codecs: SBC, AAC
- Bluetooth: 5.2
- IP Rating: IP55 (buds). N/A (case)
- Charging Port: USB Type-C
Case
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An accessory case in the form of a pill is styled in a similar matte black plastic, continuing the design theme.
The OnePlus name, which is printed on the lid in unobtrusive glossy black letters, is the only distinguishing feature.
Only the front status LED and the back USB-C port, which is located next to a nearly invisible pairing button, are other distinguishing features.
Style and design
With clean, flat sides and straightforward geometric shapes, the OnePlus Nord Buds have a modern appearance. The charging case is shaped like a typical pill, but it has flat sides and distinct, sharp edges.
The matte case surface has few panel gaps, tight lid tolerances, and a matte finish. Even the pairing button is flush with the surface and barely discernible when first looked at on the back.
The earbuds’ inner ear portion shifts from having sharp geometric edges to having a more organic shape. Since the release of the OnePlus Buds Pro, OnePlus has been using new oval-shaped ear tips on all of its products.
The Nord Buds are comfortable to wear for extended periods of time without putting undue pressure on any part of your ear because of their small size and light weight. However, because of their small size, they can be a little tricky to handle, especially with large fingers.
Battery life
According to OnePlus, the Nord Buds’ earbuds have a battery life of 7 hours on a full charge. Additionally, OnePlus promises 5 hours of playback time after just 10 minutes of charging.
Audio quality
The upper mid-range and treble response are muted, and the OnePlus Nord Buds have an aggressively bass-boosted sound.
The mid-bass and upper-bass are overemphasized in the bass, which tends to obfuscate the entire sound spectrum. There is a lot of bass, but it’s mostly sloppy and muddy and of no particular quality.
The sound is dark and one-dimensional as a result of the overall tonality’s strong bass emphasis. On other recent OnePlus audio products, we have noticed this overemphasized bass response, but the Nord Buds suffer from a double-whammy of an underemphasized treble as well.
The verdict
Image credit: TechVisibility YouTube
For $39 earbuds, there must be a significant drawback somewhere, right? There is, of course, and with the Nord Buds, it is the sound. The volume is very faint even at 95 decibels.
Overall, there aren’t many issues to be unhappy about. They have a fairly distinctive design that is comfortable, a good microphone, and a respectable amount of battery life.
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