The OnePlus Nord Buds 2r are the company’s entry-level earphones and a scaled-down variant of the Nord Buds 2 we saw a few months ago. The new model mostly loses the ANC and transparency modes along with a few other minor things, while retaining the basic audio performance and feature set.
Project
The Nord Buds 2r look similar to the Nord Buds 2; the earbuds have the same basic shape but the stems have been rounded and the overall earbuds are a bit smaller. This makes them a little more fussy when handling than the Nord Buds 2.
The case for the two models looks similar, but the Nord Buds 2r case is ever so slightly smaller and has a redesigned interior. Also missing is the pairing button found on the Nord Buds 2 case; now you have to press and hold the touch sensitive area on both earbuds at the same time to enter pairing mode. This is much less convenient than the pairing button on your case, but not something you should do often.
The Thunder Gray and Lightning White colors of the Nord Buds 2 with the speckled finish have been replaced with Deep Gray and Triple Blue for the Nord Buds 2r without the speckles. The overall build quality and finish are otherwise the same which is to say decent for the price and you also get an IP55 rating for dust and water resistance.
As with the Nord Buds 2, the Nord Buds 2r are comfortable enough to wear for extended periods. The silicone ear tips look thinner and cheaper than those of the Nord Buds 2, but they don’t affect the comfort.
Software
Nord Buds 2r are supported natively on OnePlus devices and via the HeyMelody app on non-OnePlus Android devices. The iOS version of the app doesn’t detect these earphones, which also applies to the Nord Buds 2.
Software experience is essential; you can choose from three EQ presets, which is down by one from the Nord Buds 2. I’m not sure why even the cheapest model has to have fewer EQ presets like they cost money to implement, but I digress. You also get a custom equalizer with six bands and can create multiple profiles.
Besides that, you can also adjust gesture controls for individual taps. I found this useful as the touch area on the earbuds is very sensitive and very easy to tap while inserting or removing the earphones. I had to disable the gesture for a single tap to avoid unintentional play/pause. On that note, the Nord Buds 2r, just like the Nord Buds 2, don’t have wear sensing, so you’ll have to manually play and pause when inserting or removing them.
OnePlus wireless headset software
Other than that, there really isn’t much else to do here. The software experience is so simple that there wasn’t even an option to update the firmware. OnePlus said the option will come before the earphones go on sale. At the time of writing, the earphones were in version 106.106.101 with no upgrade option. We will update the review as soon as the option to update the firmware becomes available.
I’m hoping OnePlus plans to add this feature as my review unit could definitely use a software update. There was a tendency for the sound to drift from channel to channel during use, with one driver slowly getting louder than the other. It could go either way, but it often veered left and only a restart or long pause would hit it. Problems like these are why we have software updates, and not including the option would be very harmful.
Performance
The Nord Buds 2r have the same 12.4mm dynamic drivers as the Nord Buds 2 along with the same Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity and SBC/AAC support.
The Nord Buds 2r have the typical OnePlus sound with overwhelming bass presence. The mids are smooth with a mellow timbre and no sharp dips, but the highs are dull and lackluster. The overall sound is boomy but with pleasant vocals and a veiled top end. It’s pleasant enough to listen to and will appeal to those who like lots of bass, don’t like bright highs, or a combination of both.
The pricier Nord Buds 2 sound similar in the bass and midrange department, but have a more pronounced sizzle in the top end, which the Nord Buds 2r lacks.
If you prefer a more balanced tuning, you can try the Bold preset, which dampens the low end considerably while also boosting the highs. This preset has a curious dip in the mids, which pushes vocals to the bottom of the mix, so I personally prefer using the EQ, which can provide good results. Any changes you make are saved on the earbuds and carried over to the next device you pair it with.
Unfortunately, the sound is dull and lackluster. This is to be expected for budget wireless earbuds, but it never fails to shock me how much better wired earbuds that cost less than these Nord Buds 2r sound in comparison. Switching to my Salnotes Zero at 7HZ, the difference was day and night, both in terms of tuning and resolution.
OnePlus likes to brag about its Dolby Atmos support, but as I’ve said countless times in previous OnePlus reviews, this is a feature of their phones, not the headsets. The earbuds have no inherent Atmos capability and will only “support” Atmos if the paired device does. You can also pair earphones from a different brand to a OnePlus phone with Atmos and get Atmos sound.
Microphone performance was decent; in a quiet room, vocals sounded reasonably clear even if they fluctuated at times as the background noise cancellation did its job. In noisy environments, the noise canceling did a great job eliminating the noise. The voice became understandably muffled but was still perfectly audible. Overall, pretty good performance for voice calls.
Nord Buds 2r have good latency performance. By default, the latency is low enough that it’s not really an issue, except maybe in games. With low latency mode enabled, either manually via the HeyMelody app or automatically on OnePlus phones when it detects a game, the latency was very low and not noticeable at all.
The earphones also had decent connectivity performance. Other than the audio drift issue, there were no disconnects or stutters and things worked as expected.
Drums
The Nord Buds 2r have a claimed battery life of 8 hours of continuous playtime. In my tests, I got 7 hours and 14 minutes, which was a pretty good result. After a quick ten-minute charge from 0%, the earbuds went on for another 2 hours and 9 minutes. The battery is smaller on the Nord Buds 2r (36mAh vs 41mAh on the Nord Buds 2) and therefore battery life is about an hour shorter.
Conclusion
The Nord Buds 2r are priced at INR 2,199 which is INR 800 less than the price of the Nord Buds 2. In my opinion, there is really no reason to choose the Nord Buds 2r over the Buds 2 when the price difference it’s so small, and the latter is just better overall. The cheaper and better sounding Oppo Enco Buds2 are also a smarter option. The Nord Buds 2r will have to cost a lot less if they are to justify their basic specs and performance.
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