I feel like I’ve spent the last two years desperately trying to understand OnePlus’s go-to-market accessory strategy. From the colorful-but-disappointing OnePlus Buds to the horrendous OnePlus Watch to the cheap-and-cheerful OnePlus Buds Z to the redemptive OnePlus Buds Pro, the company’s accessory strategy, much like its phone releases, has been hit-or-miss. Mostly miss.

So I had lower-than-low expectations for the OnePlus Buds Z2, which iterate on the company’s earlier budget earbuds in interesting and impressive ways. And while I wouldn’t recommend them to everyone, especially sticklers for music fidelity, I do think the Z2 earn a place in the list of the best wireless earbuds — at least for some people.

OnePlus Buds Z2: Hardware and design

You’d be forgiven for mistaking the Z2’s case and earbuds for their predecessor’s, which themselves look like an AirPods knockoff arrayed horizontally in a pill-box coffin. The Z2 make some small but notable improvements to the original’s formula: the case itself is ever-so-slightly narrower and therefore easier to pocket, while the OnePlus logo appears more confidently darker on the glossy white plastic.

OnePlus Buds Z (left) vs. OnePlus Buds Z2 (right)

The buds themselves also get a modest redesign, shaving off a few millimeters from the stem while enlarging the tip casing to accommodate larger drivers and more technology.

While the year-over-year refinements are appreciated, these still look and feel very cheap; the glossy plastic and imprecise seams betray their $50 origins, and I don’t feel particularly confident they’ll last more than a couple drops to the hard pavement.

OnePlus Buds Z2: Sound & ANC

The OnePlus Buds Z2 employ the same 11mm drivers found in the Buds Pro released in the late summer of 2021. But they’re not tuned the same, which is an important distinction. The default sound profile, a deep and rattly bass-heavy curve, tries to appease what I think OnePlus believes is the target audience for $100 earbuds: young people who have grown up accustomed to songs being mastered at a steep curve, prioritizing deep lows and exaggerated highs. This is a mistake, especially when we have heard how good these drivers can sound with the more neutral profile on the OnePlus Buds Pro; more so because there’s no way to adjust the EQ.

As a result, I don’t like using the OnePlus Buds Z2 for the thing it was largely designed: listening to music. Which is a damn shame, because it’s good at a lot of other things. In single-earbud mono mode, the Buds Z2 work nicely for podcasts or audiobooks, allowing you to enable a natural-sounding transparency mode if necessary. The earbuds support auto-pausing when they’re removed from an ear, and the active noise cancellation with both buds in use is actually quite effective, though not quite as good as the more expensive OnePlus Buds Pro.

OnePlus Buds Pro (black) vs. OnePlus Buds Z2 (white)

Android users get Fast Pair support, which is a big deal — if you haven’t experienced the convenience of opening the lid of your wireless earbuds case and seeing the connection prompt on your phone as if willed by magic, you haven’t lived. To make the most of the buds on a non-OnePlus device, you have to download HeyMelody, a bad app with a worse name developed by Oppo, OP’s ostensible partner in crime.

Inside HeyMelody, you can adjust ANC strength (23db or 40db, depending on your needs), along with independent earbud controls and firmware updates. OnePlus users get native support for all of these features in the Bluetooth menu — no waste-of-an-APK required — along with a spatial audio toggle by way of Dolby Atmos, though in my testing — even after a firmware upgrade — I did not see a toggle to enable it.

OnePlus claims that the microphone quality has been improved on the Buds Z2 over their predecessors, though I had mixed results. In a quiet room, friends and family told me I sounded pin-prick clear, though a bit far away, almost like I was on speaker phone at a distance. I confirmed this through a recording connected to my computer. Friends and family also told me that the OnePlus Buds Z2 picked up every tiny background noise – opening drawers, turning on and off the kitchen tap, writing on a piece of paper — as I was going about my business downstairs. I also confirmed that, and it all but made my voice inaudible.

But introduce a predictable, repeating sound — a whirling fan, or the consistent drone of street traffic — and the Buds Z2 do an outstanding job eliminating those particular frequencies. The algorithm usually takes a couple of seconds to kick in and normalize, but it does a very effective job.

OnePlus Buds Z2: Battery life & Miscellaneous

OnePlus claims five hours of battery life with ANC on and seven hours with ANC off, which is a larger delta than many of its competitors claim these days, likely owing to a less power-efficient microcontroller. I’m not thrilled with those numbers, but they’re in line with similarly-priced competitors like the Samsung Galaxy Buds2 and Nothing ear (1). Plus, USB C-based charging is sufficiently fast to negate any real anxiety.

The case offers around four additional top-ups, too, so in my three-week testing period, I rarely concerned myself with the buds’ longevity. Similarly, I worked out with the IP55-rated earbuds a few times, too, and they’re no worse for the wear for it. With many under-$100 earbuds slapping an IPX4 rating — meaning just the occasional splash of water, not a forceful projection, like IP55 offers — I’m more than content taking these into the great outdoors once the weather warms up.

OnePlus Buds Z2: Should you buy them?

Probably. I really like the OnePlus Buds Z2, far more than I expected given the desultory debut of their predecessor. Given OnePlus’s propensity for bundles and discounts, buying these at their $100 MSRP would be a mistake — wait for that inevitable sale — but you could do far worse, even if you don’t have a OnePlus device (in fact, the ownership of a OnePlus phone confers no real advantage).

If you’re a Samsung user, I’d still recommend the Galaxy Buds2 because they sound better and offer more fulsome ANC. Overall, I think the Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro offer far more value for the same price, but if you don’t mind the AirPods-like aesthetic, these are an easy recommendation.

Buy if:

• You like the AirPods look without Apple’s pricing
• You enjoy overemphasized bass and treble
• You want a comfortable, compact pair of water-resistant earbuds

Don’t buy if:

• You care about sound fidelity
• You can’t stand another pair of AirPod lookalikes