Oneplus Buds 3 was launched recently for a price of Rs.5,499 in India, $99.99 in the USA, and £89 in the UK. For that price tag, it has quite a lot to offer, Active Noise cancellation(ANC), LHDC 5.0 codec, Volume sliders, fast charging, and much more.
I recently bought Oneplus Buds 3 and have been using them for a few weeks now. While they do look impressive on paper, are they any good in real-life scenarios? Well, let’s find out in my in-depth review of Oneplus Buds 3, where I am going to cover every aspect of them, from design and comfort to sound quality and battery life, to help you determine if these earbuds are the right fit for your audio needs.
Design and Build Quality
The OnePlus Buds 3 has a sleek and minimalist design, just like the OnePlus Buds Z and OnePlus Buds Z2, but with subtle refinements. The charging case, with its matte finish, feels premium to the touch, even with a plastic build, and is compact enough to fit comfortably in your pocket.
The earbuds themselves feature an ergonomic design that has a secure and comfortable fit, even during long listening sessions. One significant improvement is the IP55 rating for dust and water resistance, making the Buds 3 more durable and suitable for workouts or outdoor activities.
They also have touch sliders on the side, which you can use to change the volume and for various gestures for different tasks, but more on that in the function section.
Fit and Comfort
One of the most important things that people don’t pay attention to while purchasing earbuds is the Fit and Comfort. Luckily, you won’t face any problem with that in Oneplus Buds 3.
They will fit in your ears without any problem and will sit there comfortably even in 2-3-hour-long listening sessions. There are 3 different changeable ear tips included with these buds.
For me, the ear tip that came in default worked well without any problem. However, we all have different ear sizes, so you might need to change the ear tip to find the perfect fit for yourself.
OnePlus did a very cool thing this time: they included a sort of fit test inside the settings, which checks how well earbuds fit your ears with a click of a button. So, if you are not sure about the fitting of earbuds in your ear, you can take the help of this feature.
As for comfort, the earbuds are very light, and after a couple of seconds of putting them in your ear, you won’t even notice that they are there. Even when you wear them for several hours, they remain quite comfortable.
One of the biggest fears people have with wireless earbuds is that they fall off from ears and you lose them. Well, I checked them while doing intense gym workouts, fast running, and riding my bike in traffic, and they stayed securely fit in my ears without falling off.
I even checked them by shaking my head very rapidly to see if they would fall off; once again, they didn’t disappoint me. You can check out this testing in the video above. So, if you are concerned about losing earbuds due to poor fit, you won’t need to worry about that with the OnePlus Buds 3.
Sound Quality
Before we talk about the Audio quality, I want to let you know that I am not any sort of Audio Expert.
I like all sorts of music and played a variety of songs on these buds, pop, rock, EDM, Punjabi, classical, bhajans, Bollywood, and pretty much everything you can name.
Yeah, I know I have pretty weird taste in music. Anyway, this is what I can tell about the sound quality based on my listening experience
First up, OnePlus has made considerable improvements in audio performance with the Buds 3. I know this because I have used previous OnePlus Buds as well.
Equipped with a 10.4mm woofer + 6mm tweeter dual drivers, the earbuds deliver a well-balanced sound in almost every song.
The bass is punchy and pronounced without overpowering the mids and highs, which remain clear and detailed.
The sound quality is surprisingly great for earbuds in this price range. I don’t think you will find such an immersive listening experience in this price segment.
The Buds 3 also features multi-directional 3D audio, which enhances the spatial audio effect. It may not be that useful when listening to music; however, it’s a complete game-changer for gaming as well as for watching movies, TV series, and other videos. It makes your gaming and content consumption much more immersive.
OnePlus Buds 3 also supports LHDC 5.0 Codec and Hi-Res audio. You can access them using Bluetooth settings on the OnePlus smartphone and the HeyMelody App on other Android smartphones.
Unfortunately, Hi-Res audio isn’t supported for iOS. However, my listening experience didn’t change much on the iPhone compared to the OnePlus smartphone.
Yes, Hi-Res does create a slightly better audio experience, but it doesn’t make a huge difference, and most people didn’t notice.
In order to test this out, I gave buds to a bunch of my friends and played songs with Hi-Res audio and without Hi-Res audio; not a single one of them was able to tell the difference.
Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and Transparency Mode
One of the standout features of the OnePlus Buds 3 is its active noise cancellation. The earbuds use a triple-microphone setup to effectively reduce ambient noise, making them ideal for use in noisy environments. The ANC is adjustable, allowing you to choose between different levels of noise cancellation depending on your surroundings.
ANC on these earbuds is mind-blowing, especially when you consider the price tag. I don’t think you will find a pair of earbuds that has such great ANC capabilities in this price range.
I tested them in a crowded metro, while riding the bike, in the gym, and in the general outdoors. As soon as you pop them in your ears with ANC set on max, it’s bye-bye to all external noise, and you will experience complete peace of mind.
While Buds 3 does filter out almost all the noise from the environment, it still retains some important noise. For example, station announcements on the metro. You can check the video above to see how well ANC works on the OnePlus Buds 3.
ANC is so good that sometimes I use it purely to block all the outside noise without listening to any music. If you are looking for the best earbuds with Active noise cancellation at a budget price, the OnePlus Buds 3 will probably best choice.
There is also a transparency mode, which is another useful feature; it will let all the audio through without removing the earbuds. It’s particularly handy when you need to talk to someone really quickly.
Both ANC and Transparency modes can be controlled with gestures. So, you can quickly switch between them based on the scenario.
For example, for the most part, you will use ANC to block noise; however, if someone is trying to say something to you, you can quickly switch to transparency mode with a gesture and then back to ANC when done with the conversation
Battery Life and Charging
Previous OnePlus buds were great, but one thing in which they were slightly behind was the battery life. OnePlus Buds 3 completely fix this problem.
As per OnePlus, earbuds offer up to 7 hours of playback on a single charge, with the charging case providing an additional 30 hours. This means you can expect around 37 hours of total listening time, which is impressive for earbuds in this price range.
In my personal use case, I used them for 3-4 hours every day with ANC on and volume at 85%, and it lasted for over a week before completely running out of battery.
Now, it may last longer or shorter for you depending on your use case. However, in my opinion, one week of battery life is solid, especially when using ANC all the time.
On top of the solid one-week battery life, OnePlus Buds also support USB-C fast charging. Charging speed is really quick; it won’t even take a full hour.
With speedy charging and long battery life, you will practically never run out of battery on these earbuds. Even a few minutes of charging will give you hours of playback time.
Connectivity
The OnePlus Buds 3 have Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity, which is really stable and connects seamlessly with your devices. The pairing process is straightforward, especially with OnePlus devices, where the earbuds connect automatically when the case is opened.
I didn’t experience any lag or jitters while using the earbuds, and it also has a good range. You can easily move around within a 10-meter radius without the connection being dropped.
In the past, having a wall between your smartphone and OnePlus earbuds created some connection issues. However, that’s no longer the case with the new OnePlus Buds 3.
Call and Mic Quality
Not everyone buys earbuds for listening to music; some people buy them for making calls.
Call quality is really impressive, thanks to the triple-microphone setup that effectively reduces background noise during calls. Voices come through clearly, even in noisy and crowded environments.
Mic works really well even during the game. To be honest, I didn’t expect such good mic quality from the budget earbuds.
Features
When it comes to features, Oneplus Buds 3 are loaded with them.
Volume sliders and Gestures
One of my favorites is the volume sliders. They are located on the side; you can slide up and down on them to change the volume, and it works without any problem even when you are wearing them.
These sliders can also be set up to be used for next/previous instead of changing volume. You can check the video above to see how it works.
Furthermore, those same sliders also have touch gestures that can be used for several different tasks, like play/pause, next/previous, Voice assistant activation, switching between ANC and transparency mode, turning on gaming mode, and others.
These gesture settings are directly accessible from Bluetooth settings in Oneplus smartphone, or you can use the HeyMelody App to customize the settings. Both method works without any issue.
Different sound modes and useful settings
Aside from gestures, there are also other settings in there like Golden Sound, 3d audio, game mode, dual connection, earbud fit test, and find my earbuds.
Golden Sound scans your ear canal and performs hearing tests to create a similar listening experience. In order to use Golden Audio, first you will also need to perform the earbuds fit test.
The earbuds fit test is a really useful feature. You simply put earbuds in your ears and click the play button in the test. It will automatically check if your earbuds are securely fitted in your ears. This feature will help you find the right ear tip size for you.
Find My Earbuds is another life-saving feature. Let’s say you removed your earbuds and put them somewhere, and now can’t find them anywhere. You can go to settings and click on Find My Earbuds to play loud beeps, which will help you locate them.
The only condition is that earbuds need to be connected to your phone, meaning it will work in 10- meters radius. However, it’s still useful and won’t be found in budget earbuds.
Game Mode
OnePlus Buds 3 have a game mode, which reduces latency to 94ms to enhance audio performance during the game. However, this feature only works with OnePlus smartphones. Do keep this in mind if you are purchasing this for gaming.
Should you buy it?
The OnePlus Buds 3 are a great option if you are seeking affordable true wireless earbuds with a strong feature set. With its elegant design, impressive sound quality, effective noise cancellation, and robust battery life, it offers excellent value for its price.
While it may not compete with high-end models in every aspect, it’s certainly the best in the mid-range segment, making it a worthy consideration for anyone looking to upgrade their audio experience without going broke.
One last suggestion I would make is that, even if you are looking to buy cheap earbuds, do consider saving up some money and going with this slightly more expensive OnePlus Buds 3. You will get ANC, premium design, much better audio quality, tons of features, and an overall great experience just by spending a little more.
