Oneplus released the Oneplus Bullets Wireless Z and the Oneplus 8/8 Pro at its annual launch event. They said the price in the US would be $49.99, which is about 3,800. But they priced the Indian and Chinese units at 1,999, which is almost half of that.
The cherry on top was when I got a 500 coupon from Cable of Fortune. I had to get one of these to go with my phone because it was cheap and within my budget. This review is based on my use for two weeks.
It’s Unboxing
The box is red and white, which are the phone’s signature colors. The new Oneplus branding and logo are on the front, and two of the phone’s best features are listed in the bottom left corner. On the front, there is a big picture of the item.
The box is like a matchbox, and to open it, you have to slide it down. There is a picture of Bullets Wireless Z with a slot for earbuds. When you turn this over, you get the earphone, which has a tag (like the new shirts). There is a box with all the paperwork and extras in it.
Neckband, Tips, Fit, and Magnets: Design and Comfort
The neckband is made of plastic, but it’s well made and I haven’t had any problems with it yet. When it’s around the neck, the Neckband looks like a U, but when it’s on the table, it looks like an O. It’s thickest at the ends, where that big battery is. The volume and mic controls are on a separate module on the left side, which made it hard for me to get used to.
It’s very comfortable to wear and won’t itch or cause a rash on your neck. For fit in-ear, it is pretty tight and doesn’t fall off easily, even after a good workout or shake.
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For being so small, the magnets in the earbuds are pretty good. Even though they don’t always connect when you take them off your neck, once they are attached, they are very secure. Getting them apart doesn’t take a lot of work either.
This earphone is made with great care and attention to detail. The black earphone has little bits of red all over it. The base color of the back of the ear tips is red. The Left and Right buttons are below each earbud in a very small test. The buttons to change the volume are red. If you look closely, you can see that the inside of the small hole near the earbud is also red.
It’s Pairing
By far, pairing is the easiest process on the market. When you pull the magnets apart, the buds turn on and can be found by all nearby devices. Even with Windows 10, you can pair it by separating the buds and looking for Bluetooth devices.
For later uses, it takes about 3 seconds from the time you separate them until you hear a beep. When you switch between devices, a default notification sound also lets you know.
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Sound
It probably falls behind in the race in only one area: sound. The earphone has a single 9.2mm driver and comes with the AAC codec and a 110ms latency by default (by using Fanatic mode). They come with a QCC3024 that shows up on the PC when it is connected.
I then tested the earphone with songs streaming on Spotify, FLACs, and some movies, including Ford v. Ferrari, which won the Oscar for best sound effects last year (btw, must-watch movie).
The sound isn’t for people who want a balanced sound; it’s for people who like a lot of bass, just like it says “Super bass.” The sound is heavy on the bass, and the mids and highs are a little bit hidden. The highs are a little bit on the sharp side. On these tracks, the vocals are good and fun to listen to. Classical or pop music won’t sound as good. The sound stage isn’t that great and sounds like it’s packed. But a little tweaking in the Equalizer on my Oneplus 7 Pro did the trick for me and my friend. Even at high volumes, there was no distortion.
A little bit of blame would go to the fact that aptX was left out and AAC was used instead, which isn’t as reliable on Android. A small problem is that it takes almost 4 seconds to switch from AAC to SBC. There is no active noise cancellation, but the device’s noise cancellation is better than average. Even when the volume is high, not much sound gets through to the person next to you.
Microphone
The microphone is good, and it fits nicely on your cheek. So, unlike the ones with the mic on the neckband, it can pick up sound very clearly.
For testing, I used the mic for some of the Zoom meetings and online classes where the other person could hear me but it was a little quieter. I also tried it for regular and WhatsApp calls, and there were no problems. The voice was clear, and it even picked up the wind when I was on the terrace. The mic can also be used to trigger the assistant, which I had no trouble doing.
Battery & Charging Performance
The battery life is nothing less than amazing. It can be played at 50% volume for more than 10 hours. When fully charged, the battery in a pair of earphones lasts about 20 hours, just as it says it should. From what I can tell, the battery is big and fits on the neckband itself. This makes them a bit heavier than other products that do the same thing. The standby or idle drain isn’t that high either. What I used must have been below 10% for at least 10 hours.
When charging, a red light appears near the button and stays on until the battery is fully charged, at which point it turns white. Using 20W Dash Charge, it takes 44 minutes to fully charge, 2 minutes to charge to 60%, 5 minutes to charge to 80%, and 10 minutes to show 100% charge, so I think the battery percentage is rounded up to 100. One thing to notice is that the Oneplus logo looks backward when the phone is being charged.
Auto Play
One of the best things about BW 2, which also comes with BW Z, is that the sound stops when you attach the magnets and starts again when you take them off. Settings > Sound & vibration > Earphone Mode is where you can find the feature.
Mode with low delay
As was already said, the Low latency mode does have a latency of about 110ms. It was fun to play games with these earphones. With the new update, the Game space now also shows how long a game has been played.
Conclusion
For the price and features that come with them, they are the best. The sound may not be the best in this range, but it is better than average. They have great battery life and charging that can’t be beat by earphones that cost twice as much. At this price, it’s easy to recommend because of the build quality, mic, and low latency.
