The Nord Buds 2 are the latest entry-level successor to last year’s Nord Buds. These are still some of the cheapest earbuds OnePlus sells, but at $59, the Nord Buds 2 are $20 more expensive than their predecessor.
For that price, the Nord Buds 2 add active noise cancellation, making them the cheapest OnePlus earphones with this feature, and also one of the cheapest pairs of earphones you’ll find on the market from a reputable brand with this feature. Is that enough to justify the price increase? Let’s find out.
Project
The Nord Buds 2 have a slightly modified design compared to the previous model. The case has the same basic shape but the edges have been curved, leading to a more rounded shape. The new case is also slightly smaller than the previous one. Like the previous one, the new case has a good fit and finish for the price but no IP rating.
The new case also comes in a lighter gray color with a metallic sheen. The body is a lighter shade of gray than the lid and has an interesting speckled pattern, which looks like dust at first glance. The back of the case has a USB-C port for charging and a pairing button so flush with the surface it’s barely visible.
The earphones follow the theme of having a slightly modified version of the old design. They have the same flat pill-shaped stems, but the raised circular touch area is now set into the body with a glossy clear plastic instead of the chrome finish. The stems have the same speckled appearance, which in this case almost looks like the ear buds are covered in dandruff. Maybe someone should have thought of that before pulling the trigger on the paint.
Regardless of the modifications and paint job, the Nord Buds 2 are still very distinctive and cool looking earphones. They are also quite small and light and have proved to be comfortable for long sessions. The earphones feature an IP55 rating, making them resistant to dust and water.
Software and features
The Nord Buds 2 can be controlled via the Bluetooth settings on OnePlus phones or via the HeyMelody app on other Android and iOS phones. The earphones have the same basic feature set as the original Nord Buds but with a couple of additions.
The main novelty here is active noise cancellation. You can turn it on or off or switch to transparency mode. There is no automatic or manual level adjustment here nor any custom tuning for your ears.
ANC and sound settings
Sound can be adjusted via the Sound Master EQ menu. Four presets are available here along with an option to create custom profiles using a 6-band EQ. A new feature here is BassWave, which was introduced with the OnePlus Buds Pro 2. It’s supposed to be an algorithm that dynamically adjusts your sound but it’s really just another bass knob. You can increase or decrease the bass level with a positive or negative offset.
The Nord Buds 2 also offer good control over touch gestures. You can single, double and triple tap and each of these can be adjusted or disabled for each ear. You can assign play/pause, previous/next track, voice assistant or game mode, but unfortunately there is no volume control option. You can press and hold to switch between ANC modes and a long tap and hold to switch to the previously paired device.
Headphone controls
Both equalizer and earbud control feature changes are saved on the earbuds themselves, which means they’re transferred to any device you pair them with, even if that device doesn’t support the app.
Unfortunately, one major omission from the original Nord Buds carries over to this model, namely the absence of in-ear sensing. The earbuds have no idea when they’re being put on or taken off, which means they can’t play or pause as a result. Similarly, ANC remains active even if you remove both earbuds, and removing one earbud does not switch to transparency mode on the other earbud.
This would have been a great feature to include in the original model. I’d go so far as to say that I’d rather have in-ear detection than ANC, at least the kind of ANC that comes with the Nord Buds 2, but more on that later.
Performance
Audio quality
The Nord Buds 2 have the same 12.4mm dynamic drivers as the previous model. They still support the same SBC and AAC codecs although the Bluetooth version has been updated from 5.2 to 5.3 which means nothing for the audio quality.
In terms of audio quality, the Nord Buds 2 are very similar to the original with minor tuning differences. The default EQ profile is called Balanced, which is ironic considering it’s extremely bass-heavy. The bass is quite thick and lumpy with excessive low-mid energy. It works with some genres and songs, but also feels overpowering and pointless on others.
The voice has a soft, pleasant tonality on this preset. Vocals have a good timbre and content like podcasts sound nice thanks to the added warmth. The midrange may not stand out in the mix, especially next to the lows, but it isn’t dipped or pushed back as is the case with most other traditional tunings.
The treble has similarly smooth energy with no abrupt peaks or sibilance. The Nord Buds 2 adds a little more sparkle in the top end than the otherwise similar sounding Nord Buds tuning, which makes it a little more balanced than its predecessor, which was all about that bass.
Fortunately, as with the Nord Buds, the tuning of the Nord Buds 2 can be changed drastically using presets. The featured Bold preset lowers the bass to more manageable levels while also adding more energy to the highs. It tends to sound a touch too bright due to too much treble boost and the vocals fade into the background, sounding pretty average, even compared to the Balanced preset.
The Serenade preset is all about the midrange and is probably the most balanced preset here overall. The midrange is a bit forward and nasal than it should be, but otherwise has the most reasonable bass and treble tuning.
The Bass preset is basically the Balanced preset with even more bass and a little extra treble. The BassWave setting can be used to add even more bass in case you prefer to hear nothing else, but a better use is to set it to -5 on the Balanced preset so you can roll the bass down to a more reasonable level while enjoying again of the sweet tuning of the middle and treble.
Custom EQ is useful but limited by 6-band EQ. Also, bass, even on the lowest setting, can still be on the louder side. However, using the curve above, I was able to get the earphones to sound quite good, at least in regards to frequency response.
Other than that, the sound is absolutely mediocre and there’s not much you can do to improve it. Details and resolution aren’t bad but they aren’t impressive either. The sound is also quite boxed in, sounding largely stuck in your head with very little sense of space even on spacious tracks.
Aside from minor tuning differences on the preset and BassWave setting, the Nord Buds 2 sound very similar to the Nord Buds. It’s not that there wasn’t room for improvement, but OnePlus has decided to focus its attention on other aspects for the sequel.
Microphone
Like their predecessor, the Nord Buds 2 have surprisingly good microphone quality. There is a slight tinny to the vocals, but other than that they sound very natural with good background noise suppression. If you only need something for voice calls these would work very well.
Noise cancellation
The Nord Buds 2 have active noise cancellation, a feature not found on their predecessor. As mentioned above, it’s simply an on/off function with transparency mode added.
The ANC level is mediocre at best. As usual, there is some attenuation in the lower frequencies and some in the mids but not much in the highs. The earphones themselves, however, have decent passive isolation, so overall the effect is still decent. Similarly, the transparency mode isn’t great, but it’s better than having to take the earphones off.
On my concocted 5-point scale, where 4 is the current best ANC implementation and 0 is no ANC, the Nord Buds 2 would be a 1 at best. It’s still better than no ANC, but I’m not really sure I want to pay the extra for it.
Latency
The Nord Buds 2 have very good latency performance. On OnePlus phones, games automatically turn on low latency gaming mode while you have to manually enable it when using the HeyMelody app. Once enabled, the latency is surprisingly low and perfectly usable for most games. Video playback is not a problem on smartphones either as the video player will automatically sync to compensate for the delay.
Things are different with computers as there is no automatic sync and this is where most Bluetooth products fall apart. Luckily, since the Nord Buds 2 have relatively low latency by default, even without game mode and auto-syncing, the earbuds work quite well. Latency is somewhat noticeable with high frame rate video, but not so much with 24fps content, and even less if it’s animated. The game, however, is not recommended.
Connectivity
The Nord Buds 2 had no connectivity issues and the earbuds worked reliably every time.
Battery life
The Nord Buds 2 have a claimed battery life of 5 hours of continuous playback with ANC enabled and 7 hours with ANC disabled. In my testing, I got 6 hours 13 minutes with ANC enabled and 8 hours 34 minutes with ANC disabled. These are quite a bit higher than the figures quoted as well as being big numbers on their own so you won’t see me complaining.
After a ten-minute charge from scratch, the earphones played for 2 hours and 25 minutes with ANC on and 3 hours and 16 minutes with ANC off.
Conclusion
The OnePlus Nord Buds 2 are a modest upgrade over their predecessor. They look similar, sound similar, and have equally good mic, latency, and battery life.
Adding ANC may not be worth the extra price depending on your region; I certainly wouldn’t recommend paying the extra $20 in the US, and you’d be better off getting the still-decent first-generation model for $29 now discounted. In India, the price difference is only INR 300, in which case the new model is the one to get.
Overall, however, the Nord Buds 2 are a good entry-level pair of earphones. I really would have liked to see in-ear detection as this is my main issue with earphones. Sound quality isn’t fantastic either, but if that’s your priority, go wired and pick up a pair of 7Hz Zeros or Moondrop SSRs. But if you want to stick with wireless, the Nord Buds 2 are a decent choice in this price range.
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