Pairing new audio devices with your smartphone is not as difficult now as it was before. One of the reasons for that is through the efficient Google Fast Pair feature. But apparently, OnePlus has other plans as they have now confirmed that their upcoming OnePlus Buds Pro will not be supporting Google Fast Pair. Instead, they will use their own fast pairing solution but it looks like it’s for OnePlus smartphones only. So if you’re pairing it with a different brand of smartphone, you’ll have to look for third-party options.
Google Fast Pair works as its name says. It lets you quickly pair accessories like earbuds and smartwatches with your Android device. It also lets you share the accessory across other Android devices as long as you’re signed in to the same Google account. It’s a very useful tool as you don’t need to go through all the step-by-step processes of device pairing that we previously used. As 9 to 5 Google says, it’s actually an underutilized feature.
It comes as a surprise that OnePlus is removing support for Google Fast Pair with their upcoming OnePlus Buds Pro. Their two other previous earbuds, the OnePlus Buds, and OnePlus Buds Z both supported it. But with early tests for the new earbuds by 9 to 5 Google, they discovered that it was missing. The company confirmed that they indeed removed it and then pointed out their own fast pairing tech for OnePlus phones.
The problem of course is for those users who will buy the OnePlus Buds Pro and other possible future OnePlus earbuds but will not use a OnePlus smartphone. They will have to rely on other pairing features like HeyMelody if they will pair it with other Android devices. This particular app will detect the OnePlus Buds Pro upon opening but it won’t be as seamless as the Google Fast Pair process. You also have to install the app as well.
We don’t know if OnePlus will eventually change its mind about removing support for Google Fast Pair. For now, when the OnePlus Buds Pro gets released, you’ll have to rely on other not-so-fast pairing features.
