What you need to know
- OnePlus launched a Buds management app exclusive to its own branded phones earlier this month.
- The company plans to bring it to other Android phones in the future.
- It says it'll be supporting phones which have Android 6.0 or newer.
OnePlus earlier this month rolled out a OnePlus Buds app to its phones, allowing users to manage their OnePlus Buds from a single location. While it drew criticism for being "forced" onto users phones, the biggest issue with the app was that it was a OnePlus specific experience. If you didn't have a OnePlus phone, you'd be unable to download and run it. It's not known how many OnePlus Buds users aren't using OnePlus phones, but there could be more than a few out there.
OnePlus this week (from Piunika Web via 9to5Google) clarified that it intended to launch an app for managing your OnePlus Buds on other non-OnePlus branded phones, including even older OnePlus models such as the OnePlus 3 and 3T.
Responding to customer queries in a Chinese Q&A session, the company said:
Q: Can Buds be used with phones other than OnePlus or phones before OnePlus 6. Can you customize the double-tap touch function and upgrade the headset firmware?A: We will launch a dedicated APP for managing OnePlus audio accessories in the future, which can support three-party Android phones with Android 6.0 and above, as well as OnePlus 3 / 3T / 5 / 5T, to realize the customization of OnePlus Buds double-tap touch function, and Headphone firmware upgrade.
The OnePlus Buds themselves are fairly decent true wireless earbuds that have good battery life and call quality but lack ANC and look a fair bit like AirPods if you're wearing the white models. Other smartphone OEMs have launched their own wireless earbuds recently with different takes on the form-factor. Samsung has the Buds Live, Google has the Pixel Buds, etc. If you're looking for a great pair of true wireless buds, you're spoilt for choice.
OnePlus Buds
These earbuds can only really be mistaken for AirPods if you ignore the color options and the fairly low price. The overall sound is nice, but the lack of ANC could be a dealbreaker if you're looking for it specifically.
