OnePlus Bullets-Z Wireless Earbuds Review 2022, The OnePlus Buds Z Truly Wireless are comfortable, well-built in-ears designed to have a bass-heavy sound profile. While they deliver extra thumps and punch, their sound profile may be overwhelming for fans of a more neutral sound.
They’re stable in your ear, and they even have an IP55 rating for dust and water resistance, though we don’t currently test for this. Unfortunately, you can only access their controls and their companion app when you pair them with OnePlus phones. However, if you love a bass-heavy sound, they’re a solid choice.
OnePlus Bullets-Z Wireless Earbuds were launched alongside the OnePlus 8 series earlier this year. While most OnePlus fans were waiting for a pair of truly wireless earbuds to compete with the AirPods, Galaxy Buds, and the like, OnePlus instead launched the Bullets Wireless Z at a price of Rupees 1,999.
OnePlus Bullets-Z Wireless Earbuds is not exactly a successor to the more premium Bullets-Z Wireless Earbuds 2 – OnePlus undercut its own wireless earbuds to make the OnePlus Bullets-Z Wireless Earbuds an attractive option. But does it mean the Bullets-Z Wireless brings compromises to the table? Let’s find out.
Also This: Top 5 Best Earbuds For Android In 2021
OnePlus Bullets-Z Wireless Earbuds Review 2022
Build Quality, Design, Features, And Specification
OnePlus Bullets-Z Wireless Earbuds are fairly standard-looking neckband-style wireless earphones. In fact, they look almost identical to the OnePlus Bullets-Z Wireless Earbuds with an all-black body, smooth matte finish, and glossy earbuds. However, unlike the metal casing for the buds on its predecessors, you get a plastic shell here.
The OnePlus branding is subtle and easy to miss. The only hint of color here is on the inline control module that has red ‘+’ and ‘-‘ symbols on the buttons, and you get a bit redder behind the translucent silicone eartips. The rubberized neckband feels skin-friendly.
Performance
I already gave away a part of what you can expect from the performance of this device in the intro. To quickly recap, its audio output doesn’t match its predecessors, nor does its price.
The OnePlus Bullets-Z Wireless Earbuds is priced at half of what the first Bullets Wireless were at the launch and a third of what the OnePlus Bullets-Z Wireless Earbuds sells for. With that out of the way, we can now simply treat these as a pair of wireless earphones priced under Rs 2,000 in 2020, and judge them accordingly.
Also This: 5 Best Wireless Earbuds For Working Out
First things first, they are quite loud and produce ample bass that’s fairly tight. Though bass heads will be delighted with this pair, it is a bit more than ideal. Excess bass does impact the midrange frequencies, and that’s the case here too.
The mids feel a bit recessed, and while the vocals are reproduced pretty well, the instrument separation is not. That’s not unusual in headphones available in this budget.
Sound Quality
OnePlus Bullets-Z Wireless Earbuds doesn’t support the high-quality aptX HD Bluetooth codec, but that shouldn’t really be a cause for concern. In our testing, the OnePlus Bullets-Z Wireless Earbuds performed mostly well across genres, but the lack of bass was evident in songs like Wow by Post Malone.
Essentially, if you like bass, you’ll find these earbuds to be a little lacking in this department.
Apart from bassy songs, the OnePlus Bullets-Z Wireless Earbuds offers decent sound quality. As far as call quality is concerned, I found these earbuds to work just well. The in-line microphone is also positioned well, so audio distortion is minimal in indoor surroundings.
Ear Comfort
OnePlus Bullets-Z Wireless Earbuds are quite light and weigh just 28 grams; you barely feel their presence around your neck. The in-ear monitors fit nicely into the ear without any discomfort with medium-sized tips (in my case), and they do not pop out even during jogs.
But the passive noise isolation wasn’t all that great with either of the three pairs of bundled ear tips. A lot of ambient noise can be heard even in a not-so-noisy surrounding. The seal should have been better than this.
See This: Top 5 Best Bluetooth Earbuds For Android
The placement of the inline controls is spot on. They are easy to access, and you end up pressing the right buttons on most occasions without having to look at them. The keypress feels just right too. These earphones are IP55-rated sweat and water-resistant, so you can carry them to the gym or in a light drizzle without having to worry about them going bad.
Call quality
Things function as expected in this department with not much to complain about. The person on the line was clearly audible and I was heard loud and clear by the other person as well. The voice doesn’t feel boomy or tinny and is close to what you get when using the phone microphone.
Read This: Best Budget Wireless Earbuds 2021
However, you need to bump up the loudness a fair bit to hear the person on the line clearly. Noise cancellation isn’t the best here and a bit of ambient noise can be heard when using these earphones outdoors. But it’s not a deal-breaker.
Long battery Life
Despite cutting back on some features to bring the price down, the OnePlus has made a drastic improvement in the battery life of the OnePlus Bullets-Z Wireless Earbuds when compared to the OnePlus Bullets-Z Wireless Earbuds.
The OnePlus Bullets-Z Wireless Earbuds’ battery life is rated at 20 hours, and in my testing, they lasted for at least 18 hours before I decided to plug them in.
Besides, they don’t take too long to charge either, OnePlus has added Warp Charge support, so you can juice them up for 10 minutes and enjoy 10 hours of audio.
Related: 5 Best True Wireless Earbuds Under $100
The OnePlus Bullets-Z Wireless Earbuds claim a battery life of 20 hours, and it delivers on the promise. In fact, it does a tad better under a standard usage scenario. After using the earphones for approximately three hours daily, they lasted just over a week, thus clocking in excess of 21 hours of total playtime before I had to charge them again.
The volume level was around 70 percent during the course of my testing. I have only seen the PTron Zap (Review) do better (24 hours) among the wireless neckbands I have tested to date.
Weight
I’ve been using the OnePlus Bullets-Z Wireless Earbuds for a few months now, and one of the best things about them is their weight. Despite its metal earbuds, the Bullets Wireless 2 weighs just 32 grams.
As a result, there’s no strain on your neck or your ears. The Bullets Wireless Z takes this a step further, weighing just 28 grams. With these earbuds, the OnePlus has cut some corners to bring down the price by 67% when compared to the OnePlus Bullets Wireless 2 Earbuds, which launched at 5,990.
The neckband style design is thick yet comfortable thanks to the rubbery material. The earbuds also come with silicone tips that are really soft, so no matter how your ear canal is shaped, they settle in really well.
Read This: Best Wireless Earbuds For Running
Price Range
The OnePlus Bullets-Z Wireless Earbuds are priced at Rs 1,999 with a one-year warranty and can be purchased on the company’s website, as well as on Amazon India or Flipkart. Is it worth buying? If you have used other OnePlus Wireless earphones in the past, it would be best to avoid the Z.
However, for its selling price, it is not a bad pair at all. Yes, it could have been better in my opinion, but the sound is a subjective matter. If you like extra bass in your audio, you may love these earphones. If you like a more balanced sound, then you may not.
In that case, you should strongly consider the Oppo Enco M31 (review coming shortly) that sells for the same price. However, if long battery life is a key parameter, then you simply cannot go wrong with the OnePlus Bullets-Z Wireless Earbuds.
OnePlus Bullets-Z Wireless Earbuds Pros & Cons
Pros
- 10 Minutes of Charge = 10 Hours of Music
- Decent Audio Quality
- Quick Charging, Pairing, Switch
- Splashproof Design
- Magnetic Earbuds
- Button Controls
- Deep bass
- Low Latency
- Bluetooth v5.0 with QCC3024 chipset
- All Devices Compatible
- 1 Year Warranty
Cons
- Noise Cancellation
- Fast charging with OnePlus charger only
