OnePlus Buds review: truly wireless with AirPod-like rigid design, great battery life, aggressive $79 pricing, but custom controls are for OnePlus phones only

The Verge 2020-07-22 Chris Welch

Context & Ripple Effects

In mid-2020 OnePlus jumped into true wireless earbuds with an AirPod-like rigid shell and aggressive $79 pricing — but the review flags the catch: custom touch controls only work on OnePlus phones, making this less a standalone audio product than an accessory bolted onto the company's handset base. Samsung answered within weeks with its own unconventional Galaxy Buds Live.

The arc since then runs in three directions: the line moved upmarket a year later with the $150 Buds Pro adding ANC; co-founder Carl Pei left to found Nothing and priced its $99 Ear (1) squarely against his old employer; and per the restructuring reporting, OnePlus has since confirmed it will wind down operations in the US and Europe while continuing in China — stranding exactly the Western audience this $79 product was built to recruit.

First-order effects

Buyers on OnePlus phones get genuinely cheap, long-battery wireless earbuds; anyone on iOS or another Android brand gets a crippled feature set, since the headline controls are software-gated to OnePlus handsets.

Second-order effects

Samsung's rapid follow-up with the Buds Live shows rivals treating the sub-$100 tier as contested ground rather than a niche, while Nothing's Ear (1) turns OnePlus's own co-founder into a direct price-and-design competitor in the same bracket.

Third-order effects

The pattern points to true wireless earbuds hardening into phone-brand loyalty locks — features gated to first-party ecosystems — and OnePlus's later retreat from the US and Europe under parent Oppo's restructuring shows how fragile an accessories business becomes when it depends on a shrinking regional phone base.

The trend: Phone makers are using aggressively priced, software-locked earbuds as ecosystem glue — a playbook whose value collapses in any market where the parent phone brand stops selling.

Discussion

@tnkgrl Myriam Joire on x
1/2 As somewhat of an audiophile (with a pro background in video game audio), I think the @OnePlus #OnePlusBuds sound great, especially for $80. They're detailed and balanced, and very neutral. There's no annoying bass emphasis here, just a clean low end. They don't need EQ.
@benwood Ben Wood on x
4/4 @OnePlus, @getpeid and the team should be applauded for creating such a buzz around a mid-tier smartphone. With the exception of Apple's iPhone SE, I can't remember a mid-range device getting so much publicity ahead of its launch. https://twitter.com/...
@parkerortolani Parker Ortolani on x
these look like toys that would be very uncomfortable lodged in your ears https://twitter.com/...
@dcseifert Dan Seifert on x
OnePlus now has its own AirPod clones, and they are only $80. but you'll really want to own a OnePlus phone to use them. here's @chriswelch's review: https://www.theverge.com/...
@chriswelch Chris Welch on x
I reviewed the OnePlus Buds. If the goal was to make more affordable AirPods for people that use the company's phones, OnePlus did a pretty okay job. https://www.theverge.com/...
@backlon Dieter Bohn on x
@JonPorty And @chriswelch has a full review of the OnePlus Buds. They very much look like AirPods and although they're only 80 bucks, they work best with OnePlus phones. Hooray for semi-propriatery headphones who needs a headphone jack! :| https://www.theverge.com/...
@davegershgorn Dave Gershgorn on x
OnePlus is pretty smart here: You can buy the beginnings of a phone “ecosystem” for under $500 https://twitter.com/...

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