OnePlus Silver Bullet Earphones Review

OnePlus, the very interesting brand from China is well known more for its marketing tactics than for its products. The OnePlus One smartphone was a beauty but people always had something to say about the invite system and the different stories around it, for someone who wanted to get one. Just like other brands, OnePlus isn’t limiting itself to smartphones, as it also has the power bank, headphones and other accessories alongside. That even includes a miniature drone.

The OnePlus Silver Bullet earphones are priced cheap, look sleek, but they do face a question about the quality of sound output when compared to the competition. The price of Rs. 899 ($15) seems quite attractive, but the Silver bullet headphones face the heat from Xiaomi’s Piston headphones, and a few other from other well known accessories manufacturers.

Clad in a white square-shaped box, these good looking earphones come in a combination of white, silver and red colors, where the silver band is shown on the ear plug, and red is all for the text. A red cube in the centre allows for the long wire of the headphone to wrap around it, and the box contains ear plugs of different sizes to suit the size of the ear and help in comfort.

The wire of Silver bullet headphone seemed very delicate and fragile, and even felt like it might get messy, but it won against the odds, as we faced no issues during our two months of usage. The wire was tough, though slim, and we just felt the feel should’ve been better.

Although I would prefer the buttons to be separately given rather than a single tall one that can be pressed at different areas for specific functions, the set here is chunky and good, both in looks and tactile response.

As far as the audio output and the noise cancellation are concerned, this is the area where we were a little disappointed. It cannot be called close to the best in its price range, or in comparison with the Xiaomi’s Piston 2. For the different sound types we tried, the highest volume level showed that level of distortion which we feel unacceptable for an earphone. On the other side, the sound is put out as smooth on normal levels, and the comfort of the ear plugs make it an even better experience.

Calling one as a winner would be unfair, as the personal choice differs when it comes to headphone selection, but this clearly isn’t a winner for us. Each has its own advantage over the other.

[blockquote right=”pull-right”]You know you are looking at something with heavy expectations, when the company has done so well in the other departments already. But OnePlus hasn’t done as good with the Silver Bullet, as it did with the OnePlus One.[/blockquote]The OnePlus Silver Bullet earphones work with almost all devices, from a little GSM phone for FM, to the Apple Macbook Pro, not to mention the few smartphones we used it with. Another noticeable plus about these, is that the control switch is on the right wire and thus, is easy to remember as the ear pieces are marked for left and right ears.

To sum it up, the noise cancellation and heavy audible levels ignored, these should become the perfect ones for daily use with your smartphone. If you are a hard core music fan and wouldn’t want to compromise, some alternatives from Bose, or the Xiaomi’s Piston 3 should be something you should look at. Of course the pricing could be a little higher, but you won’t be stuck to something that doesn’t deliver the best always.

Note: This was interesting – the headphones were left in the pocket and got washed once, and drenched in rain a couple of times, but the performance stays the same, though the color on the ear plug got faded.