Noise, an Indian personal audio brand, is one of the top brands in its market, mainly because of its affordable prices and capacity to offer features that aren’t frequently found on low-cost goods. It’s a clever strategy that Noise has employed to solidify its position in some of the most well-liked and quickly evolving gadget categories, such as headphones and smartwatches. The most recent product follows this recipe for success by providing a feature generally seen on more expensive goods for less than Rs. 2,000.

The Noise Buds Venus genuine wireless headphones with active noise cancellation are priced at Rs. 1,899, making the once-expensive feature much more widely available. The Noise Buds Venus are among the most cost-effective true wireless earphones with ANC available right now, and they offer many benefits. Does this mean the Venus is the most incredible wireless headset you can get right now for less than Rs. 2,000? Learn more from this review.

Water resistance for the Noise Buds Venus earpieces is rated at IPX5.

Design, characteristics, and specifications of Noise Buds Venus

Most true wireless earphones on the market today have a very generic appearance. However, the Noise Buds Venus has a distinctive appearance that aligns with the brand’s artistic philosophy. The earpieces offer an intriguing mix of shiny and matte surfaces that complement the charging case’s design. The earbuds stand out compared to most of those in this price range, which often have an expensive appearance.

The Noise Buds Venus’ earpieces have touch-sensitive controls and an in-canal fit that guarantees effective noise isolation to support active noise cancellation. Although bulky and protruding, they weigh only 3.5g apiece and don’t seem particularly cumbersome when worn. Even with the standard, medium-sized ear tips, I found the fit comfortable, but additional pairs — a total of three — are included in the box for some fitting customization. A USB Type-A to Type-C charging cable and an instruction booklet are also included in the package, which you’ll need to get used to the controls.

trangely, no accompanying app supports the Noise Buds Venus’ more expensive capabilities, including active noise reduction and low-latency gaming mode. Environmental noise cancellation is also available, and the headset’s quad-microphone technology enables voice communications, ANC, and ENC.

Given the lack of app compatibility, the Noise Buds Venus controls are pretty straightforward and cannot be modified. Still, you may control all of these features directly from the earpieces themselves, for which you will require the instruction manual. The controls are simple enough to understand and rely on different combinations of taps to control everything, including playback, volume, ANC, and gaming mode. Eventually, you’ll become accustomed to them.

The Noise Buds Venus’ charging case is the perfect size—neither too big nor too small—and features a USB Type-C connection at the bottom and an indication light next to the company name. It is convenient enough to provide a reasonable amount of additional charges to the earpieces and supports fast charging. More on that later. It will fit conveniently in your pocket. The headset comes in four color options: black, brown, green, and ivory. In my opinion, all of these alternatives look good.

A USB Type-C port is located on the Noise Buds Venus charging case.

The Noise Buds Venus’ technical specs include 10mm dynamic speakers, Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity, and SBC and AAC Bluetooth codecs support. The earpieces’ water resistance rating is IPX5, meaning they can easily withstand small water splashes and sweat. Additionally, voice help is supported by calling the built-in voice assistant on the associated smartphone.

Battery life and performance of Noise Buds Venus

The Noise Buds Venus are true wireless headphones with active noise cancellation for less than Rs. 2,000, which is already a very astounding claim. However, it is even better that they perform pretty well. The earphones have been adjusted quite well for the budget, but some of it is also supported by technically sound specifications, including compatibility with the AAC Bluetooth codec and Bluetooth 5.3.

Good tuning is already half the battle won for the Noise Buds Venus, considering that most inexpensive wireless earphones tend to fall short here. I was taken aback by the straightforward and uncomplicated sound, maintaining a solid balance between nailing the sonic character and allowing for a reasonable amount of detail.

Friendly Fires’ “Paris (Aeroplane Remix)” sounded great when played moderately because it had just the proper amount of low-end assault and high-end shimmer. It pleasantly engaging listening experience that let me concentrate on the music without abrupt outside disturbances. Budget wireless earphones serve that purpose, and the Noise Buds Venus accomplishes this without exerting excessive effort.

Fortunately, there is no ‘target zone’ for volume where the Noise Buds Venus functions at its finest, and volume variations don’t influence the sound quality more than you’d expect. This was helpful since it allowed me to adjust the volume of the music I listened to based on how I felt or how calm the environment was. However, a book of 60 percent was generally sufficient for indoor listening, and I would increase it to about 70 percent for outdoor listening.

Review of the Venus noise buds Noise

Although the Noise Buds Venus lacks an app and offers active noise reduction, this is not a significant issue because all features can be accessed through the earpieces.

If necessary, the Noise Buds Venus can be pretty loud. However, I could hear some grit after the volume reached 90%. You won’t need to go that loud in everyday use because the Noise Buds Venus mainly keeps up with contemporary genres at even modest volumes. The Noise Buds Venus struggled a little with voice calls in noisy locations, but call quality is sufficient for most usage cases.

Indian market’s top active Noise-canceling (ANC) headphones and earphones

Given the high price of earbuds, active noise cancellation on the Noise Buds Venus is relatively simple and only slightly reduces ambient Noise, failing to cancel it out entirely. With ANC enabled, even basic indoor noises like a ceiling fan’s whirling could still be heard, while outdoor sounds were even less affected.

Nevertheless, even at low volumes, it makes music easier to listen to, so it’s not entirely without use. Consider ANC on this a bonus rather than a USP of the Noise Buds Venus, as it falls short of the performance level you obtain with even the comparably priced Oppo Enco Air 3 Pro.

For the price, the Noise Buds Venus has a respectable battery life. With ANC activated and the volume set to 60%, the earphones lasted about 5 hours per charge, and the charging case gave them an extra four charges. With mixed-use, you may still reach the amount of listening time I could obtain during testing, which amounted to about 25 hours every charge cycle. The casing supports quick charging; a 10-minute charge is expected to provide roughly 2 hours of listening time.

Verdict

Budget-friendly active noise cancellation True wireless headsets are typically quite simple, particularly for entry-level products. This is true even of the Noise Buds Venus, which offers a very rudimentary ANC experience that only improves the entire experience a little but is still great. The Venus is a decent set of earphones for the price, except for one minor drawback—the absence of an app.

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In terms of personal audio, true wireless earphones might be all the rage right now, but the traditional neckband form factor is still widely used. With its legendary Bullets Wireless collection of earbuds having dominated the industry just as Bluetooth was reaching a degree of affordability and practicality, OnePlus is, without a doubt, one of the most significant brands in this market. Interestingly, OnePlus recently introduced the Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC in India and remains one of the few big proponents of the neckband form factor.

The OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC, which retails for Rs. 2,299, offers a traditional and well-known design with the added convenience of active noise canceling; this is a modest improvement over the OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2. Can this headset and the form factor become more relevant with the addition of ANC? Or should you invest in truly wireless earbuds? Learn more from this review.

Features of the OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC design

The OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC, as the name suggests, is just the Bullets Wireless Z2 with the addition of active noise cancellation. Therefore, most of the neckband-style wireless headset’s design has stayed the same. If you select the black color option, it will be difficult to tell if this differs from the earlier OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2. Interestingly, the ANC variant offers a green hue option that the non-ANC variant does not.

Indian market’s top active noise canceling (ANC) headphones and earphones

The OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC has a flexible neckband, small cords attaching to the earpieces, and controls on the collar itself, just like most neckband wireless earphones available today. The magnetic switch on the earpieces manages power; separating their turns on the headset while connecting them shuts it off. Due to how simple it is to separate the earpieces, this is once again prone to unintentional switches, with the headset frequently going on unexpectedly.

The buttons on the neckband, which are all on the left module, are used to easily switch between two paired devices, control playback, switch between ANC and transparency modes, and control volume. The charging USB Type-C port is located on the left module’s underside, while the right side is empty, aside from the OnePlus logo. The OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC is IP55 rated for dust and water resistance, just like its predecessor.

As previously stated, the addition of active noise cancellation, which is supposed to provide up to 45dB of noise reduction, is the only significant modification to the feature list of the OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC.

Other back features include:

• Automatic low-latency mode activation.
• Rapid switching between two linked source devices.
• Support for Google Fast Pair on supported devices.

Controls for the OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 Anc Review

There are two customizable buttons on the OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC and volume controls.

Specifications and the OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC app

Finding app support on neckband earphones is uncommon but not unheard of, and the OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC does. The HeyMelody app for Android supports the headset. When the headset is paired and connected, these settings are accessible through the system Bluetooth settings on a compatible OnePlus or Oppo smartphone.

Although the actual controls and customizations are reasonably simple, they provide access to the OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC’s essential features. The approximate charge level, transparency and active noise cancellation modes, rudimentary customization of the two customizable buttons, and equalizer settings are all included. Four equalization settings are available for quick access, but advanced users can design their equalizer modes to suit their listening preferences.

The main features of the OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC remain essentially the same; the headset has 12.4mm dynamic speakers with a frequency response range of 20-20,000Hz and a sensitivity rating of 112dB. The headset supports the SBC and AAC Bluetooth codecs and uses Bluetooth 5.2 for connectivity (an upgrade from Bluetooth 5 on the non-ANC model).

Review of the OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 App

The app-based capabilities are accessible through Bluetooth settings on specific OnePlus and Oppo phones.

The battery life and performance of the OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC

The OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC and its non-ANC predecessor share more than identical design and technical details; the sound is comparable. With the natural, flat equalizer option, you get a definite bass-heavy audio tuning, though you can adjust the EQ if you’d like.

I used a OnePlus 9 Pro and an Apple iPhone 13 Pro with the OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC for my review. The headset used the AAC codec on both smartphones because advanced Bluetooth codecs were unavailable, and there was no audible difference between the two source devices. The sole difference between the two platforms was that app settings could only be accessed on the OnePlus smartphone.

Review of the Oneplus Bullets Wireless Z2 Anc logo2. OnePlus

The appearance of the OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC resembles the earlier non-ANC model.

Like previously, the OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC can provide volume levels that considerably exceed most wireless headphones with neckbands. You can still reach loud enough listening levels at even the 50% volume barrier, even if you’re unlikely to push it to high grades for your hearing. You should increase it to about 70 percent in exceptionally noisy circumstances, but anything higher than that is unnecessary and dangerous.

The audibly powerful bass can be either a good or a bad one, depending on the music you usually listen to. For instance, the Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC did a fantastic job of faithfully recreating an EDM concert’s auditory signature and big subwoofer-style vibe with Croatia Squad’s quick beats and swift attack across most of their tunes.

On the other side, when I listened to Dua Lipa’s song Dance The Night, the snappy bass slightly dominated the song’s vocals and melodies. The OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC has a certain amount of intensity to its sound profile that I found difficult to move away from, at least while listening to the correct music. Of course, you can adjust the equalizer settings to turn things down a notch if you want. Over time, it would get tiresome to listen to, but it was part of the fun for me.

The OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC has active noise cancellation, which functions admirably for a headset with a suggested retail price of about Rs. 2,000. Most low-pitched background noises, both inside and outside, were effectively muffled, leaving just a faint hum for some sounds, including the spinning of a ceiling fan and the sporadic sound of a light breeze.

A magnetic switch that controls power frequently accidentally turns on the headset.

Given that ANC has been introduced as a feature, the OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC’s battery life is exceptional for a neckband-style wireless headset. With ANC enabled and the medium-level volume, I could use the earbuds for about 18 hours on a single charge. Fast charging makes it possible to fully recharge the 220mAh battery in as little as 15 minutes, a feature the competition still needs to catch up to OnePlus.

Verdict

The neckband wireless earbuds market is now primarily confined to the more affordable price range, a shadow of what it once was. In exchange for giving up the convenience of genuine wireless networking, there are still worthwhile options to consider. You get more excellent performance in terms of solid hardware and functionality. The OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC isn’t in any way fundamentally new or groundbreaking, but it accomplishes enough to be helpful for the price.

The OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 ANC does an excellent job with most things, including effective active noise cancellation. Still, the strong bass is hit or miss, depending on the type of music you listen to, and the magnetic power switch is particularly prone to being accidentally turned on. You can purchase the non-ANC variant for a little less, but paying a little more money and obtaining the ANC variant is worthwhile.

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