OnePlus launched the OnePlus Buds 3, the company’s latest and the first true wireless earbuds in the number series, after launching the Buds Pro series earbuds in the past few years. The new OnePlus Buds 3 brings several features such as dual drivers and LHDC 5.0 codec from the Pro model in the mid-segment.
Even though it misses wireless charging, it has fast charging. So, are these the best true wireless earbuds with ANC under Rs. 6,000? Let us dive into the review to find out.
Box contents
- OnePlus Buds 3 earbuds in Splendid Blue colour
- OnePlus Buds 3 charging case
- User guide
- Silicon ear tips (S and L, M pre-installed)
- Safety and Warranty card
- USB Type-C charging cable
Starting with the design, the headset comes in a familiar rectangular charging case with rounded corners, and it fits in your pocket. It doesn’t have a smooth finish like the Buds Pro 2, but has a matte finish, so it doesn’t attract fingerprints.
It has NCVM (NonConductive Vacuum Metallization) coating technology and high-powered CO2 laser engraving distinctive metallic texture and matte finish that creates a delightful interplay between subtle light and shadow, says the company. The charging case weighs 40.3 grams.
There is a tiny LED indicator on the front that glows in green and red colours. The USB Type-C port is present in the back.
Opening the case, you can see the slots for Left and Right earbuds with the markings. There is a function button in the middle. It has strong magnets to secure the buds in its place.
The headset has a plastic build and a glossy finish that attracts fingerprints easily, compared to the dual finish in the Pro model. You can also see the microphones on the outside. This uses touch controls, same as the Buds Z series and the Nord series, instead of squeeze or press controls in the Buds Pro 2. However, this has a touch slider for volume adjustment.
The earbuds weigh about 4.8 grams and feature an in-ear design. The earbuds come with medium-sized ear tips pre-installed, but you can change to bundled Large or Small sized ear tips if you wish. There is an Optical Sensor for Wear Detection so that it can automatically pause the audio when you remove it from your ears and play when you put it back. There is a microphone near the ear tips.
Overall, the headset offers a good build quality and fits your ears perfectly so that they don’t fall off your ears easily, even during outdoor activities like running or cycling. The earphones also have IP55 ratings for dust and water resistance, so it can withstand splashes or light rain, but you can’t use it when swimming. The case doesn’t have IP ratings, which was present in the Buds Z2.
Connectivity, Pairing, and Controls
The OnePlus Buds 3 supports Bluetooth 5.3 with LHDC 5.0 Hi-Res audio codec for HD sound quality on supported devices offering a transmission rate of up to 1Mbps, and supports AAC codec that works in phones that have it.
The pairing process is very easy for OnePlus (6 or later) devices. Just enable Bluetooth on the OnePlus phone, open the charging case of the buds, place the charging case close to the phone, and follow the prompts. To connect to a non-OnePlus phone or other Bluetooth device, place the Buds 3 into the charging case with the cover opened. Press and hold the setup button in the case for 2 seconds to enter Bluetooth settings. Then, select OnePlus Buds 3.
There is a fast pair option which works in latest Android phones. We tested it on the Pixel 8, Xiaomi 10T Pro and the OnePlus 12R, and never faced any pairing or disconnection issues. Since the phone pairs with the case and not the headset, you will need the case if you want to reconnect it or even turn on the headset if it’s disconnected from the phone.
You can enable dual connection option that lets you connect to two devices at the same time and switch the audio playback between them.
| Function | Left earphone (L) | Right earphone (R) |
| Play / Pause | Single tap | |
| Play next track or Answer call / Hang calls | Double Tap | |
| Play previous track | Triple Tap | |
| Enable noise cancellation or switch between noise cancellation modes | Press and hold for 1s | |
| Switch the device / Reject calls | Press and Hold for 3s | |
You can customize the controls from the settings if you have an OnePlus phone, or even from OPPO or realme phones. Other use the Hey Melody app on Android and iOS.
You can’t edit single press for play/pause, but can change double-press for next track to previous track or to launch voice assistant for either left or right or both the earbuds. The triple tap function can also be customized. You can slide to control the volume, which comes in handy. This can also be customized to switch track.
You can also choose at least two from Noise cancellation, Transparency, Noise cancellation off, when you press and hold either earbud. The autoplay / pause option when you remove the earbud can be disabled. The earbuds miss the Zen mode option, which is exclusive to Buds Pro series.
The Earbuds fit test option plays music to ensure that your ear tips make a good seal with your ear canal for better noise-cancelling.
Audio Quality
The OnePlus Buds 3 has Dual Driver that includes a 10.4mm dynamic driver covering and a 6mm planar diaphragm tweeter, offering an ultra-wide frequency response range of 15Hz to 40KHz.
LHDC 5.0 worked with OnePlus 12R. OnePlus said that LHDC will work with older OnePlus devices such as OnePlus 9 series and later and Nord 2 and later.
The audio quality is crisp with clear vocals and good amount of bass that is not that punchy as the older models. Highs are good, but the mid-range is average.
OnePlus Audio ID 2.0 lets you create your personalized audio experience. It plays different sets of audio which you need to listen. Based on this, it comes up with a hearing enhancement solution based on your hearing characteristics. After setting this up, I feel a slight improvement in the audio quality, but this might vary depending on the user.
3D Audio and EQ
This doesn’t have Spatial audio with head tracking present in the OnePlus Buds Pro 2, but has OnePlus 3D audio, which uses software to create spatial sound.
It features four equalizers – Balanced (default), Bold, Serenade and Bass – so that every song can be heard how it should. You can also create custom EQ.
If you feel the bass is not enough, there is BassWave feature that boosts bass even more, and you can select the strength. Golden Sound lets you customize the audio based on the ear canal and hearing characteristics. There is also Hi-Res mode.
Noise Cancellation and Call Performance
Regarding the Noise cancellation, the Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) blocks the ambient sound that helps in most cases. You can feel the difference when you are listening outdoors. For the price, it does a good job. Compared to 40db ANC in Buds Z2, this offers 49dB ANC and personalized ANC that scans the ear canal and offers a suitable audio. There are Smart, Max (49dB), moderate (20dB) and Mild modes (10dB).
The Smart noise cancellation option works well in blocking the noise. The quality is good, but I still feel that the Samsung Buds Pro at a higher price offers better noise cancellation.
This also has Transparency mode that allows you to listen to ambient sound so that you can recognize the surrounding situation and any potential risks. It can turn on the transparency mode automatically when you remove a single earbud. The low-latency is 94ms, same as several OnePlus Buds. This useful when gaming, but it again limited to OnePlus phones with the game mode enabled.
Coming to the call noise cancellation, it uses AI-powered noise reduction algorithm and three ENC microphones to cut external noise. This does a good job in cutting down wind and traffic noise. During my use outdoors, wind noise was complete cut out to the receiver, but the traffic noise was faintly audible.
Battery Life
The earphones pack 58mAh battery that promises about 10 hours of standalone battery life and 6.5 hours with noise cancellation enabled. During my use with LDHC and noise cancellation on and off rarely, I got about 6 hours of battery life in about 60% volume, so it is good. For calls, it lasts for less than 4 hours since it uses call noise cancellation tech.
With the 520mAh charging case, it promises up to 44 hours of total battery life without ANC and 28 hours of total battery life with noise cancellation enabled. I got about 36 hours with mixed use, which is decent. The green light in the case indicates that the battery is high, and it turns red when it is low. You can also see the charge left in the case in the HeyMelody app when the earbuds are placed in the case.
Charging the case fully with the earbuds takes about an hour. It also has fast charge, so that you get 7 hours (charging case + earbuds combined) of playback with 10 minutes of charging with ANC off, and 2 hours of listening with 10 min charge with earbuds alone with ANC off.
Conclusion
Overall, the OnePlus Buds 3 offers good audio quality, good noise cancellation and brilliant call noise cancellation for the price, as well as important features such as volume controls, making it a better pick compared to the OnePlus’s own Buds Z2 or other models such as realme Buds Air 3 Pro.
Even though this has a compact design, the glossy finish for the buds might not impressive everyone. The battery life is good, but it is not impressive if you make a lot of calls. Priced at Rs. 5,499 the earbuds will be available from Amazon.in, OnePlus online store and OnePlus Experience stores and select offline stores starting from today February 6th with several launch offers.
Pros
- Good audio quality, LHDC 5.0 support
- Good call quality with call noise cancellation
- Up to 49dB ANC is good
- Dual-device connectivity
- Volume controls
- IP55 ratings for the headset
- Good battery life with fast charging
Cons
- Glossy design for the earbuds
- Battery life is not the best for calls
- No IP ratings for the case