OnePlus Buds Pro true wireless earphones test: up to their high-end ambitions? – Digital

The OnePlus Buds Pro offer three modes of active noise reduction, the operation of which is not very intuitive to assimilate: each has its strengths and weaknesses, which are not really those that we imagine by reading the title of each mode.

The “adaptive” mode is the one on which the headphones are set by default … and it is also the least convincing of all. Very confusingly, it seems to focus its efforts on the high frequencies, for a result that turns out to be only marginally better than simple passive isolation of the headphones. The “noise reduction” mode itself has no interest in comparison to the “maximum noise reduction” mode, which is greater than or equal to it over the entire audible spectrum.

So let’s focus on the latter, which offers an attenuation of exterior noise certainly sensitive and appreciable, but very far from achieving the manufacturer’s promises. While the latter proudly announced an attenuation of up to 40 dB, we must in truth rather be content with 20 dB at best – enough to calm the hum of an engine or the rolling of a train, but not create a real silence bubble for the user.

What’s more, the algorithms employed by the headphones cause a very large rejection of noise towards the treble – which is why, on measurement, the active noise reduction curves are significantly above the passive isolation curve at from 1 kHz. As a result, non-static noises, such as human speech, remain very clearly perceptible. So don’t expect the Buds Pro’s noise reduction to help you improve your concentration in a noisy open space; it will not be of any use to you in this circumstance.