OnePlus held an event today dedicated to the OnePlus 8T, in which it unveiled the long-rumored refresh of its flagship from earlier this year. Alongside it, the company also unveiled the OnePlus Buds Z, a more affordable variant of its truly wireless earbuds, which were simply called OnePlus Buds.
This is similar to how the company introduced the Bullets Wireless Z after launching the Bullets Wireless last year. That means this new model is, of course, cheaper, coming in at $49.99, but there are also some sacrifices. The total battery life of the OnePlus Buds Z is 20 hours, down from the 30-hour battery life of the more expensive brethren. This is despite slightly bigger batteries per earbud (40mAh instead of 35mAh) and in the charging case itself (450mAh instead of 420 mAh). They also don"t charge as quickly, though you can still get three hours of playback from a 10-minute charge.
Feature-wise, they include some of the same capabilities as the OnePlus Buds, like a gaming mode that offers low latency while playing games, pausing music automatically when you remove the earbuds, and Google Assistant support.
Design-wise, the Buds Z use an in-ear design, rather than the half-in-ear design of the Buds, meaning you actually get rubber tips to hold the buds more firmly. The case itself is also different, opting for a more oblong design instead of the rounder look of the original Buds.
Aside from the regular white and grey variants of the OnePlus Buds Z that are available, there"s also a special edition designed in collaboration with Steven Harrington, which come in a green-ish color and feature some art on the earbuds.
As mentioned above, the OnePlus Buds Z will cost $49.99, though it"s possible the limited edition will be more expensive. They"ll arrive alongside the OnePlus 8T.