 "OnePlus Nord Buds 2r review: Dolby Atmos-powered wireless earbuds on budget")
Along with the Nord 3 5G smartphone, Chinese electronics maker OnePlus on Wednesday launched in India the Nord Buds 2r wireless earbuds. These budget earphones boast large audio drivers powered by Dolby Atmos. This feature is scarcely available in true wireless earbuds, especially in the budget segment. That said, OnePlus aims to democratises premium sound with the Nord Buds 2r. But are these earbuds good in terms of experience? Let’s find out:
Design
The Nord Buds 2r come in a pill-shaped case, which is lightweight but thick and broad. The case has rounded corners, which makes it slide inside pockets and other tight spots such as waist pouches without effort. The case has a no-frill design with plastic body covered in matte texture for good in-hand experience. There is no button on the case, but there is an LED light indicator on the front for battery and charging status, and a USB-C port on the rear for charging.
Coming to the earbuds, they are lightweight and modestly sized. Unlike other stem design-based wireless earbuds, the Nord Buds 2r has flat stems with inward curves on the top side encapsulating the sensor for touch controls. These are in-ear earbuds with soft ear tips for a comfortable experience. The Nord Buds 2r are IP55 rated for resistance against water and dust ingress.
Features and app
The Nord Buds 2r supports Google Fast Pairing, which allows the supported device to discover and connect with the earphones in no time. Therefore, pairing the earbuds for the first time with a supported smartphone is a straightforward process. Putting the earbuds back on pairing mode for connection with other devices, however, is a tedious process. To do so, you need to long press and hold the touch area on the right earbud. Unfortunately, the earbuds do not always register long press and hold. Since there is no multi-point connectivity, you need to put the effort to bring it back in the pairing mode every time you need to connect it with a different device.
Multi-device connectivity is a challenge, but the earphones are easy to use otherwise. It is primarily because of the supplementary smartphone app, named Hey Melody, which lets you switch between pre-set equalisers, change touch controls, find the earbuds, and update their firmware. The app is required on non-OnePlus smartphones since OnePlus smartphones have these functions built-in to the earbuds Bluetooth menu.
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Audio quality
The Nord Buds 2r boasts a large 12.4mm audio driver, which is tuned for bass-rich output. For price optics, the audio quality is good with deep bass, modest vocals, and balanced trebles. There are built-in pre-set equalisers, called Sound Master EQ in the app, for balanced, bass and bold output. In each of these, the sound output changes marginally. Likewise, the custom equaliser setting does not deviate far from the default sound profile. Nevertheless, average users would like these earbuds for loudness and bass-rich audio signature.
Coming to Dolby Atmos, it is limited to OnePlus 7 onwards devices only, including Nord series smartphones and OnePlus Pad. Dolby Atmos is best experienced with Apple Music service since it is the only platform with Dolby Atmos content available. Otherwise, the earphones sound as good as any other stereo earbuds with limited soundstage.
As for the voice calls experience, the earbuds work fine in environments with limited ambient noise. Since these are in-ear type, there is good passive noise isolation. However, the other side still gets to hear the disturbance, especially in loud ambient noise environments.
Verdict
At Rs 2,199, the OnePlus Nord Buds 2r is a value proposition in budget true wireless earbuds segment. If you are in the market for affordable wireless earbuds that excel in music playback, these earbuds are a clear choice. Moreover, the accompanying app for the earbuds is packed with useful features, making it effortless to manage them according to your preferences.