In the age of true wireless earbuds, the old-school neckband style feels a bit dated and overbearing in some ways. That said, there are various advantages to this form factor, the biggest of which is reasonable pricing for the features and performance offered. OnePlus continues to push the form factor, and its latest neckband-style wireless earphones take the tried-and-true winner one step further.
The OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC is exactly what the name suggests, a fairly capable Bullets Wireless Z2, but with the addition of active noise cancellation.
OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC first impressions: Familiar design
The OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC really doesn’t differ much from its non-ANC predecessor. Both headphones look and feel the same. This includes a flexible neck strap, physical controls, USB Type-C charging port, and magnetic controls. As before, magnetically connecting the two earbuds together turns them off, while separating them turns them on.
Interestingly, if you pair it with a compatible OnePlus smartphone, you’ll get some app-like controls (in the Bluetooth settings), including the ability to cycle between ANC and transparency modes, equalizer presets (including The ability to create fully custom presets yourself) ), as well as a very small degree of customization of the physical buttons on the neckband. It takes some time to build muscle memory, but once you figure it out, the controls are convenient enough.
Admittedly, connecting headphones feels a little weird to me in 2023, but the advantages of neckband headphones can’t be ignored. Aspects like battery life, fast charging, tuning, and ANC performance tend to benefit from this form factor, as do pricing and value-for-money propositions. I will address all of these issues in more detail in my review.
OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC first impressions: Good active noise cancellation
The biggest change here is the addition of active noise cancellation, and the sound and sound performance of the OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC is largely as expected. This means that if you listen to a lot of bass-heavy tracks, you can expect a sound that’s powerful and bass-driven, as well as loud and occasionally tiresome.
Of course, the key feature of active noise cancellation is what sets it apart. The price is around Rs. OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC’s active noise cancellation is 300 times better than regular Bullets Wireless Z2. In my initial listening impressions, it’s nothing special or comparable to advanced ANC, but it’s definitely better than the basic ANC found on similarly priced true wireless earbuds.
Battery life is something I’ll explore in more detail in my full review, but I did have a chance to try fast charging, which is on par with the rather impressive 20-minute charging time offered by the OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2.
As mentioned, I’ll be writing a full review of the OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC soon, but it’s safe to say there aren’t many such products left. The neckband-style form factor of wireless earphones retains a significant advantage when it comes to pricing, and the Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC are arguably the best earphones you can buy for around Rs 100. 2,500 or so, especially now that it has active noise cancellation.
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