Listen on the Apple AirPods Pro, and the beautiful balance and control makes it sound like a different song. It thumps and booms away throughout, but due to the tight soundstage and boosted treble, it doesn’t seem to overpower the vocals, and instead shrouds the song’s cute and addictive tune in a thick blanket of bass. Twice’s Scientist undoubtedly has a strong bass line, but the finesse of the song has been removed with the OnePlus Buds Z2. The design may be subtle, but there’s no doubt OnePlus has tuned the Buds Z2 for bass because, blimey, it can be overpowering.

The driver is the same one found in the OnePlus Buds Pro, plus there is Dolby Atmos, and AAC and SBC codec support.

Inside each ordinary-looking Buds Z2 earbud is an 11mm driver and three microphones, along with a tiny 40mAh battery. It’s just a shame they look rather generic. Each bud has an IP55 water -resistance rating that even lets you clean them with a rinse. I have worn them for four hours straight and suffered no problems. The Buds Z2 are very light at 4.5 grams each and don’t cause ear fatigue at all. While I’m not especially taken with the look of the OnePlus Buds Z2, I can’t fault the comfort or the durability. A button on the back of the case puts the Buds Z2 into pairing mode, and there’s a single LED on the front to indicate the status. There’s also a short USB Type-C cable to charge the battery in the case. The medium suited me best, and according to the MyMelody app, provide a good seal in my ears. In the box, you get three sets of eartips in small, medium, and large. OnePlus is definitely going for subtlety here, but the case and the Buds Z2 design borders on the boring.

They’re certainly not ugly, but they’re not inspiring either. A short tube-like stem protrudes from the featureless speaker housing, with visual interest provided only by a sunburst-style, CD-like end plate. OnePlus has chosen a simple design for the Buds Z2 as well. OnePlus TV: Everything you need to know about the brand new 4K TV The true wireless OnePlus Buds play for 10 hours with a 10-minute charge OnePlus expands low-cost Nord range with $39 Nord Buds

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