OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC Review: A well-rounded wireless neckband with good sound

Pros:
– Loud and punchy sound output
– 6-band equaliser to tweak the sound further
– Effective active noise cancellation
– Comfortable to use for long hours, magnetic On/Off switch
– IP55 rated dust and splash resistance
– Good battery backup, super-fast charging
– Good call quality

Cons:
– Default sound is bass-heavy
– No dual-pairing support
– Transparency mode could have been better

Price: Rs 2,299
Rating: 4/5

With the majority of the focus shifting to true wireless (TWS) earphones these days, good wireless neckbands have been far and few in recent times. While the TWS earbuds are a lot cooler and offer freedom from cables, the neckband form factor still has its merits and also a lot of takers. Several potential buyers fear losing the TWS buds in transit or at home and prefer to have their earphones hanging around their neck instead. Some don’t like carrying the charging case around, while others prefer neckbands for their longer battery life.

It has been a year and a half since OnePlus released their Bullets Wireless Z2 neckband earphones; one of the decent neckbands we used in a while. Recently, the company added active noise cancellation (ANC) to that product and its model name, and the result is what we have for review today. Let’s see how the OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC performs and whether it was worth the wait.

OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC: Design and Comfort (8/10)
OnePlus hasn’t changed its neckband design in years, and the Z2 ANC looks exactly like the Bullets Wireless Z2 or even the Bullets Wireless Z before that. It is a fairly standard-looking OnePlus neckband with an all-black body with a smooth matte finish and a bit of gloss at the back of the earbuds. The OnePlus branding is subtly present on the battery module. The only hint of colour is on the inline controls that have red + and – signs on the buttons.

If you don’t like black, you also get a Grand Green variant of this product which wasn’t present in its older variants. This neckband is quite light, weighing under 30 grams, and you can barely feel the presence of the rubberised band around your neck. The earbuds sit lightly into the ears without any discomfort, however, I found the fit to be a little loose with the preinstalled medium-sized tips. They tend to pop out rather easily, and this is not even when working out or jogging. Speaking of workouts, this neckband is IP55-rated dust and sweat-resistant.

Coming back to the fitting issue, one way to address it to a point is by using the bundled large sized silicone ear-tips. That also improves the passive noise isolation with an improved seal, which is otherwise average at best. The inline controls are present on the left module along with a USB-C port. You get four buttons that are easy to access, and the key press feels just right. We will talk about their functionality in the next section.

OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC: Features and Specifications (8/10)
The control pod has four buttons that include volume up and down keys, a multifunctional button (MFB) between those two and another round button that lets you pair this neckband with a source device or quickly switch between two previously paired devices. The Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC lacks support for dual pairing though. The aforementioned MFB can be used to play/pause tracks, answer/end calls, jump to the next track (double click), go to the previous track (triple click) or toggle through ANC modes(long press).

Yes, ANC is what sets this apart from its predecessor, and promises to reduce up to 45 db of noise. There are three microphones on the neckband to take care of noise reduction in addition to calling. OnePlus has kept things simple in this department by not bothering with varying degrees of noise cancellation. You get to choose between ANC On, ANC Off and Transparency mode that lets ambient noise through.

You can choose which modes to toggle through in the companion HeyMelody app. If you use OnePlus or Oppo phones, you get the option in the phone’s Bluetooth settings itself, and do not need to install HeyMelody. You cannot alter the core playback controls of this wireless neckband through the app but can tweak the sound output; more about that in the performance section.

Each earbud is fitted with a 12.4 mm dynamic driver, and the back of the buds have magnetic tips that act as a power On/Off switch for this device (Off when stuck together and On when separated), something common to all OnePlus Bullets Wireless neckbands. The reconnection is pretty quick and generally done by the time you put the earbuds back in your ear. This Bluetooth 5.2 wireless neckband supports SBC and AAC codecs.

OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC: Performance (8/10)
These earphones are fairly loud and perfectly audible at 50 per cent volume when indoors, and you may need to push it up just a bit to 60 per cent or so in noisy areas outdoors. Like most OnePlus audio products, the default sound signature on the ‘Balanced’ preset is distinctly bass-heavy. The excess bass impacts the midrange frequencies and causes noticeable auditory masking. It makes the sound softer than ideal and impacts the vocals too in bass-heavy tracks.

The irony of calling that preset ‘Balanced’ is never lost on me, nor is the redundancy of having another ‘Bass’ preset that makes the output even worse. The ‘Serenade’ preset errs on the other side and makes the sound bass-deficient and vocal centric. It can be handy in voice-heavy content like podcasts rather than music. And I saved the best for the last – the ‘Bold’ preset here is the real balanced preset, with tighter and punchy bass, better vocal clarity and well tempered highs with decent sparkle.

The Bold preset should do the job for most, but there’s scope to make these earphones sound even better to suit your taste, thanks to the Sound Master EQ (Equaliser). You get a 6-band equaliser, two bands each for low, mid and high frequencies, that lets you tweak the sound further and create your own custom sound profiles. Feel free to give it a shot without a worry. You can always reset it or get back to the Bold preset if you mess it up.

The soundstage here is decently broad for the segment, but the detail and imaging are average at best. But we are talking about wireless earphones priced close to 2K, and overall sound quality is energetic and enjoyable for its target audience. The latency is low enough when watching videos, with no perceptible lag between the video and audio. The wireless range is as advertised with a strong connection up to 10 metres with a clear line of sight.

Finally, we talk about active noise cancellation, which hasn’t been OnePlus’ forte in budget earphones. As I mentioned earlier, the Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC can reduce ambient noise up to 45 dB. The number is higher than what you get on the company’s midrange TWS earphones, the OnePlus Buds Z2 that sells for more than twice the cost of this neckband. Numbers aside, the ANC here is easily the best from the company across products south of 5K, and arguably the best I have come across in any earphones priced under Rs 3,000.

It cuts out a lot of low frequency sounds like the whirr of a fan or buzz of an AC or car engine. It also reduces some midrange sounds like human voices, though it cannot eliminate them entirely. Despite that, turning ANC on is mighty helpful when travelling in public transport. The Transparency mode could have been a little better though. It feels cosmetic as it tends to amplify every sound being let through. While it is useful in being aware of your surroundings, having a quick chat in that mode is a little difficult as human voices aren’t amplified enough.

OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC: Call quality (8/10)
The call quality is quite good on this wireless neckband. The person on the line was clearly audible and I was heard loud and clear by the other person too. The voices sound clean at either end and close to what you get when using the phone’s microphone. Ambient noise is kept in check reasonably well too. Though not eliminated completely, it never negatively impacts the conversation or the voice clarity even in the middle of a busy street, unless there are horns blaring, which no earphones can do much about.

OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC: Battery life (8/10)
The Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC put up an impressive show in this department. OnePlus promises a battery backup of 20 hours with ANC turned on and 28 hours without it. Now, these numbers may not seem as pompous as some of the budget neckbands claim to deliver these days, but this is perfectly acceptable battery backup for a neckband as light as this. More importantly, the actual battery life figures during our testing were pretty close to those promised.

This OnePlus neckband lasted close to 18 hours with ANC On all the time and another 9 hours with ANC switched off completely. With sporadic use of ANC, the Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC should last you for about 23 hours on a full charge, which is not bad at all. Even better, the fast charging here is actually fast. Though it didn’t match the 20 hours figure on the spec-sheet, a mere 10 minutes charge does give you close to 16 hours of play time, which is mighty impressive. A full charge takes about half an hour.

OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC: Price and verdict
The OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC launched for Rs 2,299 but can be purchased for Rs 1,999 in the ongoing festive sales with a one year warranty. That is a very reasonable compensation for what it offers. Other than a comfortable design, you get punchy sound output, a handful of sound tweaks, effective ANC, good call quality and battery backup and really fast charging. All things considered, it is an easy recommendation for anybody looking for a feature-rich wireless neckband with good sound.

As for alternatives, there aren’t too many wireless neckband options that can match up to the Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC in terms of features or performance in this budget. In theory, there’s the Realme Buds Wireless 3 with 30 db noise cancellation and superior 40 hours battery backup, but we are yet to test it and cannot recommend it at the moment. On the TWS side of things, there aren’t any great options with ANC around Rs 2,000. But without ANC, the OnePlus Nord Buds 2r does offer similar sound quality for a similar price. Worth a thought.