OnePlus Buds Z Steven Harrington Edition
Realme has been launching the Master Edition of its devices partnered with big designers for some time now. OnePlus, on the other hand, took partnerships to new levels with things like the OnePlus 5T Star Wars Edition, OnePlus 7T McLaren Edition and more. Unlike its phones, it is partnering with independent designers and artists to launch special edition versions of its audio devices like the new OnePlus Buds Z Steven Harrington Edition.
Steven Harrington is a renowned artist and designer. The company has partnered with him to help them in giving the OnePlus Buds Z a funky makeover. Here we will be taking a look at how these new earbuds perform in real life.
OnePlus Buds Z Steven Harrington Edition Review: Price
Due to these being a special edition variant, the buds do come with an over the box premium, as the OnePlus Buds Z Steven Harrington Edition are priced at Rs 3,699. The base Gray and White colour options are priced at Rs 2,999.
The Rs 600 premium charged for the special edition does not bite, considering these will be a unique pair of earbuds that you get to own, while others keep on rocking the boring old colourways. These will also make a few heads turn and many questions will be thrown your way about the unique looking buds.
OnePlus Buds Z Steven Harrington Edition Review: Design
Truly wireless earphones have gotten extremely popular these days, thanks to most manufacturers removing the 3.5mm headphone jack from their phones. But honestly, I feel that the world is filled with generic White coloured AirPods lookalike truly wireless earphones. So anything different, even by a small bit manages to catch my eye a lot faster than usual. OnePlus Buds Z Steven Harrington Edition has managed to do just that, well even excelled at it.
The OnePlus Buds Z Steven Harrington Edition managed to speak to me at the first glance. I am so impressed by the unique and funky look that I have been using them as my primary pair for some time now.
OnePlus Buds Z Steven Harrington Edition
The overall, Cyan and Purple colour looks quite appealing and the cartoonish drawings, might seem a bit over to many in images, but in real life, they just add to the charm. Due to the special paint job, the charging case and the buds both have a matte finish, which looks and feels very good.
The only thing about the design I did not like that the internal panels of the charging case remain white. I would have appreciated if OnePlus covered the internals also in the funky paint job.
The pill shape box is perfect for storage and does not take up much space and the in-ear design is quite good also. The long stems also help balance the earbuds well inside the ear.
OnePlus Buds Z Steven Harrington Edition Review: Performance
With the OnePlus Buds Z the company has brought in serious improvement to the sound quality, compared to the original OnePlus Buds. This could in part be credited to the in-canal fit, which ensures proper noise isolation and well-directed sound. But, the pact is that the drivers are bigger and better, and also come with AAC Bluetooth codec support.
The Buds Z manage to reproduce a good amount of detail and deliver the sound with precision. The device was able to provide punchy lows, decent mids and good highs, during my usage. The lows was the best part of me using the device, with them being able to deliver a good amount of bass, making me enjoy my Punjabi music a lot.
Listening to Riders of the Storm, I could feel the rain tapping in the background and the echo of voices. Also the lyrics were quite clear, providing a serene listening experience. Listening to Hotel California made me realise how much the buds are able to bring up the nuances in high-resolution audio.
OnePlus Buds Z Steven Harrington Edition
Moreover, the Buds Z also comes with support for Dolby Atmos, using which I heard Sweet Home Alabama and found out that the soundstage is quite wide, with a good amount of details. However, I still feel there is still some room for improvement in this area, which the company could perform better in with its next pair of earbuds.
Listening to Godzilla, I found that the device is even able to keep up with high paced songs, while maintaining the bass and the tempo. This made me quite happy, because I could hear all the beats and tunes with all the lyrics clearly, even though they were too high paced.
Call quality during my usage was also pretty nice, with both the ends clearly communicating with each other. I found the calls made using these well connected and did not have any listening or microphone issues.
OnePlus Buds Z Steven Harrington Edition Review: Battery
OnePlus Buds Z Steven Harrington Edition
The battery is one of the major factors that one should keep in mind while purchasing a pair of truly wireless earbuds. And the OnePlus Buds Z do manage to deliver on that. I was able to get around four hours of usage per charge from the buds, while the charging case was able to completely charge the buds three times in a go. The buds and the case were completely charged within an hour with the OnePlus Dash charger.
OnePlus Buds Z Steven Harrington Edition Review: Verdict
Using the OnePlus Buds Z Steven Harrington Edition brought a smile to my face, and not just because of its unique look. The sound quality is also quite good and I was able to have a really good time while listening to these. I think that the company can improve a bit on its mids and make the sound stage a bit wider, but overall, the Buds Z perform really well.
I recommend that you spend the extra bucks and get the Steven Harrington Edition, as it is quite unique, looks good and will help you stand out in a market filled with Black and White buds.
