There is mincing words here, no this or that: The OnePlus Buds Pro 3 are the best earbuds OnePlus has ever made. So much so that it is better in every way than the the OnePlus Buds Pro 2, which has been my go-to earbuds for over a year. The only time in the last one year when the Buds Pro 2 was not in my bag, whether I was travelling or working in office, was when OnePlus launched the OnePlus Buds 3 earlier this year. It was a bit of a dilemma, you see.
While the Buds Pro 2 is good, and we even loved them in our review, there were some caveats like no control for volume from the buds and average ANC, which I felt was somewhat better with the affordable OnePlus Buds 3. However, being a budget option, the Buds 3 obviously did not deliver the sound quality that Pro offered. This led to me constantly switching between the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 and the OnePlus Buds 3 — that is until now when I got my hands on the OnePlus Buds Pro 3.
For the past week, the OnePlus Buds Pro 3 has been my go to earphones, and not once have I felt the need to switch back to anything else. The audio quality is excellent, the ANC is impressive, and this time OnePlus has finally given these Pro Buds the much-needed design makeover.
Specs first, though. OnePlus says that with the new OnePlus Buds Pro 3, they’ve improved the dual drivers (11mm + 6mm) and has even included dedicated dual DACs, enhanced by Dynaudio’s expertise. These earbuds feature advanced adaptive noise cancellation with a noise reduction depth of up to 50 dB for an immersive listening experience. The Buds Pro 3 supports Bluetooth 5.4, and the controls now include squeeze and swipe gestures.
The Buds Pro 3 claims to offer a battery life of up to 43 hours and fast charging capabilities. The buds are IP55 rated for dust and water resistance, which is useful given how frequently in can rain in some parts of our country. Of course, don’t inundate them into water or swim wearing them. But they should handle light rain, splashes or sweat during gym workout all fine. Similar to the Buds Pro 2, the OnePlus Buds Pro 3 also supports wireless charging, with wired charging taking around 70 minutes to fully charge the case.
Pebble shape premium design
The OnePlus Buds Pro 3 has brought all the needed upgrades —and for the better. But one of the biggest changes is definitely the design. Since the first-gen Buds Pro, OnePlus has stuck with the rectangular case, which the company even offers with its more affordable earbuds like the OnePlus Buds 3. Though there is no issue with this “boxy” case, it has surely started to look boring. Now OnePlus is breaking monotony with the Buds Pro 3. The new buds come in pebble-shaped case.
For this review, I am using the Buds Pro 3 in Lunar Radiance colour variant, which has a plastic build with off-white faux leather finish and a metallic colour border. While the colour looks premium, the build is super sturdy, especially the hinge, which, contrary to the plastic build, is made of metal and feels very solid. Never flimsy at all. On that note I was at first a bit sceptical about the light colour as it could have been prone to dirt, but the material used is good enough to keep the smudges and scratches minimal. So far in close to 10 days of use, the box and buds remain spotless.
Though in case you want to play safe, there is also a black colour variant of the Buds Pro 3 for users who want to go with a darker shade.
Coming back to the design of the case, on the front, OnePlus has engraved its logo, while at the back, there is the branding of Dynaudio. At the bottom, the earbuds has the USB-C charging port, the LED indicator for battery and connectivity. On the left side, there is a button to setup the Bluetooth connection.
Inside the case, the Buds come with the same dual-tone finish similar to their case. The buds are off-white, kind of creamy in colour, and the stems have a shiny metallic finish. Here, I want to highlight that while the buds offer a good fit, at least for me, they are a bit large, so some users with extra small ears might find the fit a little uneven. The best part is that the earbuds are lightweight and never felt heavy even during long hours of wear.
Audio is just perfect
Audio is the main job of any earbuds, and the OnePlus Buds Pro 3 is totally bang on here. I am often out on the road, going from this place to that. Office, work travel, daily chores, some shopping and whatnot. I used the Buds Pro 3 all the time in the last 10 odd days and it totally me enjoy my “me time” with the music I love. Whether it was playing the latest hit “Big Dawgs” on loop or my personal playlist, which is a mix of Bollywood, K-pop, and global pop, the new OnePlus Buds Pro 3 belted out exemplary audio quality with crisp and clear sound, balanced vocals and a decent amount of sound stage that would highlight different instruments. For instance, when I was playing the classic “Until I Found You” by Stephen Sanchez, the audio quality from the OnePlus Buds Pro 3 was perfectly balanced. I could hear every word while equally enjoying the background score, which is all piano and drums.
There’s also an option to customise the performance and there are other features like Golden Sound, which the HeyMelody app by OnePlus offers. So, whether it’s vocal-heavy or bass-heavy, you can tune it according to your preference.
The Buds Pro 3 also offered clear call quality, and there were no noticeable issues with that, even during calls in crowded areas or while travelling in an auto.
Best ANC in OnePlus buds
Be it travel, or an attempt focus on work by filtering out gossip and chatter from colleagues, earbuds keen often keep you away from noise. And with premium earbuds you just want that perfect active noise cancellation. However with Buds Pro 2, my experience with ANC has been a mixed bag. But it seems OnePlus has taken a note and has fixed the ANC performance with the Buds Pro 3. Whether I was in the middle of chit chats in office or trying to keep my ears safe from noise pollution while travelling, I found the Buds Pro 3 perfectly cut down on all that extra noise. The earbuds allowed me to seamlessly switch between focusing on tasks and enjoying music without any distractions.
OnePlus has also fine-tuned the transparency mode, which helped me to stay aware of surroundings when needed, without compromising on the noise-cancelling performance. So whether I was travelling in auto while stuck in traffic or in a noisy office, the Buds Pro 3 ensured that my peace of mind was not disturbed.
Battery goes on and on
OnePlus promises a battery life of over 43 hours with the Buds Pro 3. In my experience over the past week of using the OnePlus Buds Pro 3, I only had to charge the device once, and that was just to test the charging speed by the end of the weekend. In other words totally astounding battery life for a product that comes with ANC. On average, I use the earbuds for about 4-5 hours daily, mostly in ANC mode. So, almost a week without stressing over charging is impressive.
OnePlus Buds Pro 3 review: You can definitely buy them
As I said at the starting of this review, the OnePlus Buds 3 Pro are by far the best TWS earbuds by OnePlus. They are excellent in all that they do. The fit could be an issue for some. But other than that, full marks to OnePlus for this. And the best bit: not only they perform well, they also look classy and elegant in this Lunar Radiance variant. I feel at this price of Rs 11,999, the Buds Pro 3 are among the best buds you can get.