Audio gear is always a complicated purchase if you’re easily swayed by compelling marketing, and that’s especially true if you have anywhere in the neighborhood of $200 to spend on thebest true-wireless earphones. OnePlus is the newest brand targeting that price with itsOnePlus Buds Pro 2, unveiled alongside theOnePlus 11earlier this month. The launch-day marketing mentioned upcoming support for the Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) Audio specification, and it looks like it’s here already.
Not even a month after the product’s debut, OnePlus is making good on its promise to bringBluetooth LE Audiosupport to the OnePlus Buds Pro 2. Based on a tweet from 9to5Google contributor Max Weinbach, it appears the feature is now rolling out to Buds Pro 2 owners. If you aren’t familiar, the Bluetooth LE Audio standard is a variation of the standard LE protocol developed by the Bluetooth SIG. As the name suggests, we often find the latter in wearables and object trackers, because it delivers better power efficiency than classic Bluetooth.
The Bluetooth LE Audio standard is like the best of both worlds, combining the battery benefits of LE protocol with high-quality audio transmission enabled by the classic Bluetooth standard. While minimal and infrequent operation of onboard radios achieves battery gains, the LE Audio standard uses the Low Complexity Communication Codec (LC3) to enhance sound quality. AsArs Technica explains, the Bluetooth SIG proudly claims the LC3 codec delivers better audio quality and lower compression than the default SBC codec used by most classic Bluetooth headphones and earbuds. The technology has been in development since around 2015.
OnePlus promised the Buds Pro 2 would support the new standard sometime later in 2023. Like most things promised in the future without a timeline, we weren’t expecting it to arrive soon. OnePlus pleasantly surprised us, and it’s all for the better. With LE Audio support, you can get the best battery life out of your earbuds, but if you prefer a high-sound-quality codec like LHDC with Spatial Audio, the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 can manage that too. These attributes make these high-end true-wireless earbuds one of the first few adopters of the LC3 codec, and a great value-for-money purchase.
