At the beginning of March, OnePlus teased a new pair of buds. While many of us thought it would be the next iteration of the OnePlus Buds, it was actually the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 Lite all along. However, that is not a bad thing. The new version of the buds comes at a much cheaper price tag than the regular Pro!
After the unveiling, the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 Lite was up for pre-orders in China. The pair was priced at CNY 750 during the pre-order phase, and OnePlus started to ship them starting from March 13. And without the pre-order discount, the buds have a CNY 800 ($116) price tag, which is still lower than the regular Pro. But is it any better?
In-Depth Look at the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 Lite
So, what is the “lite” all about? Well, one thing is sure: the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 Lite design is the same as the regular Pro 2. However, the buds do come in a new color option, white. And with the addition of a new colorway, OnePlus decided not to offer green for this pair of buds.
Besides that, the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 Lite features an IP55 rating, meaning that the pair can survive sweat and rain. The buds also come with Active Noise Cancellation (ANC). And the great part is that the ANC of the buds can tune out 48dB of outside noise. So, the noise cancellation performance is the same as the regular Pro 2.
Furthermore, the Buds Pro 2 Lite boasts Hi-Res Audio Wireless streaming. The audio performance of the buds is tuned by Dynaudio and Hans Zimmer. For gamers, the buds have a special 54ms low latency mode.
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What about the battery life? Well, the Buds Pro 2 Lite has the same battery rating as the regular Pro 2. The buds can offer up to 9 hours of runtime, while the carrying case brings the total to 39 hours. With the ANC mode on, the total runtime drops to 25 hours.
The connectivity also remains the same as the originals. That is, the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 Lite has the support for LDHC 5.0. With it, the buds can offer a bandwidth of up to 1Mbps. Although the original Pro 2 did not come with this feature. But the pair is scheduled to get the update.
What’s Missing?
You must be wondering what’s the catch with the lower price tag. You don’t get Qi wireless charging with the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 Lite. The lower-priced buds also do not have head tracking. But even with that feature missing, you can still enjoy Spatial audio with them.
So, does that mean that the Buds Pro 2 Lite offers a better value than the originals? Well, yes, but only if you do not care about Qi wireless charging and head tracking. Other than that, the price difference between the new buds is just CNY 100 ($14.5). Considering that, you can not really say that the new buds are better than the originals.
But the real question is, will OnePlus launch the Buds Pro 2 Lite to the global market? There’s no official info about it. However, you should note that the originals go on sale from time to time. So, if you can take advantage of them, you can get the regular Pro 2 for a lower price than the Buds Pro 2 Lite.
Therefore, there is really no point in waiting for the buds to launch in the global market. If you like the features of the Buds Pro 2 Lite, get the originals instead.