Launching in China, but may be headed westward
OnePlus is continually seeking new ways to deliver unique and stylish designs with its products, sometimes experimenting with textures and materials you won’t find in other manufacturer lineups. Just as a major software update is rolling out to the OnePlus Buds Pro, the company is also releasing a new design of their true wireless earbuds inspired by the illustrious Mithril armor from the Lord of the Rings series.
Unlike the two-tone style of the original colorways, Matte Black and Glossy White, the Mithril variant uses a single metallic coating from top to bottom. The coating is made from a non-conductive vacuum metallization (NCVM) technology that resembles the shiny look of chrome and maintains a fingerprint resistant finish.
While the coating is supposed to look and feel like metal, it’s also lightweight and shouldn’t interfere with any of the normal operations of the buds. This means the stems can be squeezed to control playback and calling functions, and the Bluetooth signal should have the same range and fidelity of the other two colors. Otherwise, all of the other specs and features remain the same as the model we previously reviewed.
These Middle Earth-inspired buds seem to be limited to release in China, and they launched with a very brief promotional price of ¥699 (about $110 USD), but they almost immediately rose to the standard retail price of ¥799 (about $125 USD) to match the two other colors. OnePlus has a mixed history of bringing special edition products to other markets, so it’s possible these will make their way to the US and Europe in the coming months. We’ve reached out to OnePlus to ask for confirmation.
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