Introduction :-
In a market flooded with true wireless stereo (TWS) earbuds, Chinese electronics maker OnePlus is pushing to keep the neckband trend alive with its recently launched Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC. The earphones feature up to 45 DB of active noise cancellation, which is missing from previous neckbands in this lineup. The new Bullets are powered by a 12.4mm dynamic driver, which is said to hit up to 102Db maximum sound pressure level. OnePlus claims 28 hours of battery life with ANC off and 20 hours with noise cancellation. Rs. At 2,299, the OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC seems like a better package compared to similarly priced true wireless earbuds. is it?
Anxiety Free- Design ?
If I remember it correctly, the Bullets Z2 ANC seems to have inherited their looks from its predecessor, which isn't a bad thing at all. It is a sleek and stylish earphone with a matte finish that feels smooth to the touch. The cables are not braided, but they have a nice texture that gives them a premium feel over normal wires.
Now let us tell you the first advantage of neckband earphones. They just fit better. Maybe it's because the TWS earbuds are a bit heavy and keep pulling themselves down and out – whatever the reason, these neckbands stay put. And even in the slim chance they slip, there's no need to panic. They hang around your neck and won't go anywhere unless in aerobics or someone snoops and steps on them.
This is a huge relief for someone like me who never gets the fit right with TWS earbuds, no matter how many ear tips or earbuds I try. They always act like they want to get out of my ear at the first sign of activity. And this makes me anxious sometimes.
Battery :-
The on-battery time and fast charging option is a big plus for the earphones. On a full charge, the earphones work for over 20 hours in mixed usage. For charging, there is support for fast charging in which a 10-minute quick charge provides around 15 hours of battery life.
Design and Comfort :-
The Bullet Wireless Z2 ANC has a fairly basic design that we are all familiar with by now. The entire body has a rubberized texture and the neckband is extremely flexible.
The left stem has a full set of controls for volume, playback and ANC functionality, which I sorely miss on the TWS models. The center button can be pressed once to play/pause, pressed two-three times to skip back and forth between tracks, and pressed and held to change ANC modes.
There is also a multi-function button provided, which actually does only two things. You can press and hold it to start pairing mode, or you can double-press it to instantly switch to a previously connected device. All the buttons work well and have a good quality feel to them.
In terms of build quality, the neckband feels sturdy and the earbud cable feels reliable. You also get an IP55 rating for water and dust resistance.
Comfort is subjective and depends on the user. I had forgotten how annoying it can be to have a neckband on your bare neck or a cable brushing against your face in the beginning. But it was also extremely convenient to just remove the earbuds and snap them together magnetically to close them without messing with the case and potentially dropping the earbuds. It is also impossible to lose just one earbud or case. Depending on how you want to look at it, it's a tossup between which is more convenient, the TWS or the neckband.
Verdict :-
At Rs 2,299, these neckband-type earphones offer multi-point connectivity and active noise cancellation. These features are not available in wireless earbuds in this category. So, these are the features that the earphones have going in its favor. Otherwise, there are better sounding TWS options available in the market.
Performance :-
The Bullet Wireless Z2 ANC features 12.4mm titanium-coated dynamic drivers. The earbuds support SBC and AAC codecs over a Bluetooth 5.2 connection.
The Bullet Wireless Z2 ANC has average audio quality by default. The sound is the same overwhelming bass-heavy assault that has now become the OnePlus house sound.
The bass on the Z2 ANC is very strong as a default and ridiculously balanced preset. It coats the entire frequency range in a thick layer of mush that the mids and highs never escape. It's not particularly precise, clear, or even palatable
Mid-range can be good when not masked by bass. The vocals have good timbre if a little too warm and stuffy, and can be very pleasing at times.
High levels are disappointing. There isn't enough energy in the top end to balance out the sound, which makes the overall sound signature particularly dark, muddy and one-sided.
OnePlus seems at least partially aware of the shortcomings of its default tuning, which is why there are two presets dedicated to reducing bass. A featured Bold preset reduces the bass slightly, helping to bring out the mid-range in the mix. Unfortunately, it doesn't do much to improve the highs, which are still very masked. Serenade lowers the bass further, which then pushes the mids further into the mix, causing the sound to have an inverted V-shape as the highs refuse to play.
Conclusion :-
OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC is a good value product for the price. Depending on how you feel about the well-constructed, neckband design, it can be comfortable, with good microphone quality and great battery life. ANC also works reasonably well and connectivity performance was solid. When paired with OnePlus devices, you also get good latency performance for gaming.
That leaves out audio quality, and the Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC is the latest victim of OnePlus' poor default audio tuning. Thankfully, it's easy to work around it and get a decent listening experience that's good enough for the price.
Overall, the OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC is worth considering if you're still in the market for neckband-style wireless headsets.