OnePlus is a company that’s primarily characterized by the prices it sells its devices at. The company that coined the phrase “Flagship Killer,” OnePlus has gone through several stages in its 10 years of existence, and one stage saw the introduction of the Nord series of affordable devices. Some of these devices take on the Flagship Killer mantle, and I’m not just talking about the phones. I was given the opportunity to review the new OnePlus Buds 3 Pro.
When we think about OnePlus, we mostly think about the value it brings to the smartphone market, but we can’t forget about the audio market. OnePlus is always seen juxtaposed to brands like Google, Apple, and Samsung. They make some of the pricier TWS earbuds targeted at the average consumer market. So, when OnePlus comes to the scene with affordable earbuds, we tend to think about what the company will offer in terms of value.
But, what about its budget series of earbuds? I’ve reviewed a few OnePlus Nord products, but I haven’t used any of its Nord Buds. All I can say is that, from reviewing a few phones and a tablet from the company, OnePlus does a great job of weaving a tapestry of solid features, fun surprises, and just the right compromises to keep its prices down.
So, I’m expecting a pretty nice experience overall with these earbuds. So, are the OnePlus Buds the next in a long line of Flagship Killers, or are they dead in the water? Let’s find out in the review.
OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro Review: Design
In terms of design, these earbuds remind me of the Meze Audio ALBA. They’re eccentric in their design, but that’s what makes them so good-looking. There are several different oddly shaped parts of these earbuds that make them stand out in a good way. What struck me first were the bulbous stems. As the stems go down, they widen and round off at the end. I can say that I haven’t really seen any design like that before. They don’t just widen on the X-axis, but just a bit on the Z-axis. This, coupled with the fact that they round off at the bottom gives them almost a beer-belly look to them.
The “head” of the earbud (where the driver(s) is housed) has an ovular shape to it, and it’s tilted slightly. This gives them a slight AirPod look to them, but that makes them fit in the ear more easily. Also, the area where the head and the stem connect has a distinctive shape to it.
Rounding out the aesthetic, there’s a small pill-shaped flat section on the mostly curved stem. This indicates the capacitive touchpad. It doesn’t only indicate where to tap your finger for the commands, but it adds a bit of an accent to the design. The color that I have is the black color, and the earbuds have a mix of glossy and matte plastic.
The matte and glossy bits seem to alternate. The touchpad is glossy, and it sits on the matte stem. The matte stem connects to the glossy head which holds the matte rubber ear tip. I rather like the two-tone look of the OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro.
I don’t really know how to describe the overall look of these earbuds. It looks like the company strove to make these stand out by mixing a few different aesthetics. They’re a bit curvaceous, but they’re also angular. OnePlus went above and beyond to develop a specific look for these earbuds, and it succeeded.
Are these the most distinctive or good-looking earbuds on the market? That’s subjective, but I don’t think so. However, I really like the design. They shine in their balance of eccentricity and two-tone look.
The case
The look of these earbuds starts with the charging case. It’s the first thing you see, and it’s good at establishing the overall aesthetic of these earbuds. The case is this round pebble shape.
Just like the earbuds, the case has a two-tone look to it, but it’s different. Rather than being a cross between glossy and matte colors, the case has two matte materials. The top is made from a typical black plastic. It’s nothing special, but the bottom has the most style. The bottom is made from black plastic, and it’s speckled. This gives it that recycled plastic look to it, and it looks nice. The aesthetic look of the case clashes with the relatively clean look of the buds themselves, but not in a bad way. It’s eclectic.
Overall
Eclectic sums up the overall look of the OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro. There are clashing shapes, colors, and materials, but it all goes together in a pleasing way. They’re good-looking earbuds through and through.
OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro Review: Build and fit
These earbuds, and pretty much any earbuds under the price of $400 are destined to be made almost completely from plastic. Be that the case, these are well-built earbuds. When I pick up a pair of earbuds, I don’t really care much for the quality of the build materials or the weight in the hand. It’s not like I’m handling a phone.
However, if a pair of earbuds is exceptionally cheap, you’ll be able to feel it. It’ll feel like you’re holding nothing in your hand because they use the cheapest grade plastic. Picking up the OnePlus Buds 3 Pro, I don’t get the sense that they’ve been cheaply made. They don’t feel overly premium, but they do feel to be made from quality materials. There’s just a bit of heft to them, and the plastic feels nicely sturdy.
Fit
When it comes to the overall fit, I have no complaints. I remarked on the shape of the heads, and they slope downward just enough to nestle right into the ear and stay there. No matter how much I shake my head, they don’t want to come loose, and that can come in very handy when you’re working out.
One thing about these earbuds, and it’s a bit of a double-edged sword, they tend to fit just a bit too well. It’s very easy to push the earbuds into your ear just a bit too far. It’s not far enough to cause any sort of damage or anything. They slip in far enough so that I can’t hear any audio coming from them. This is possible with other earbuds, but it’s very easy to do that with the OnePlus Nord Buds Pro 3.
I often find myself casually adjusting one of the buds only to accidentally push it in a bit too far. It’s not a dealbreaker; it’s just a minor annoyance.
Comfort
As for the overall comfort, I also have no complaints. As I said, these earbuds have a little bit of heft to them, but they don’t feel like they’re heavy. Heavier earbuds can start to bother you after you’ve been wearing them for a while. The OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro are light enough to wear all day.
They’re the kind of earbuds that make you forget that you’re wearing them after a while. It almost starts to feel like the audio is just flowing into my ears from no source.
These are nicely built earbuds that fit nicely into the ear and are comfortable to wear. There’s not much more that I can say on that.
OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro Review: Noise Cancelation
When it comes to cheaper earbuds, it’s much easier to assume that they’ll come with low-quality noise cancelation. Well, that may have been true several years back when noise cancelation was more of a luxury feature. Nowadays, many cheaper pairs of earbuds tend to have some pretty capable noise cancelation. It does its job if it enhances that feeling of isolation that we all long to feel when on a noisy bus or in a crowd of people.
When it comes to the noise cancelation on the OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro, I’d say that they do just that. These being affordable earbuds, I wasn’t expecting anything jaw-dropping, but I can say that I was pleasantly surprised.
Before digging into the numbers, my personal experience with the noise cancelation was really nice. Like I said, they do the job of bringing that feeling of isolation. When the ANC switches on, it instantly feels like I jump from walking outside to sitting in my room alone. They manage to sort of turn the world on mute.
They do a good job of canceling out much of the noise that I’d hear in my room. Typically, the noise in my room consists of my AC, space heater, laptop fans, and the outside AC units along with whatever ambient noise comes from the outside. These earbuds do a great job of cutting much of that noise. They do lack in a particular area, but I’ll discuss that later.
Outside test
When listening to these earbuds outside, the story is much the same. When I hear the ANC switch on, I hear the majority of the noise going silent. Much of the ambient noise from planes, traffic, wind, and other sources goes quiet.
Scientific test
To better test out the ANC of these earbuds, I ran a few sources of noise through a visualizer and found out where they peak roughly. Then, I’d listen to those sources with the ANC enabled to see how good these earbuds are at cutting different frequencies.
I tested my space heater, which peaks at about 50Hz – 100Hz, some white noise that peaked at around 100Hz – 200Hz with a spike at about 4kHz, and my laptop fan, which is pretty even, but has some peaks around 4kHz – 5kHz.
What I found out is that the noise cancelation is great at canceling the lower frequencies. So, the space heater and AC didn’t stand a chance. When testing it out with the white noise and laptop fan, it becomes clear that the ANC isn’t the best with higher tones. The higher tones of my laptop fan were unfazed. I didn’t really hear a difference in volume with the whistling sound that comes from the fans.
What this means is that when you activate the ANC, you’re going to hear a bit of a hiss. This is the ANC filtering much of the lower-end audio and letting the higher tones through.
Overall
Is the ANC groundbreaking? No. But, is it good? Yes! And, is it great for the price you’re paying? Heck yes! The ANC does a great job of eliminating the fundamental noise that we hear in our world. Much of the noise we hear exists on the lower end of the frequency spectrum. The important part is the feeling of isolation that I feel when I turn it on. I honestly think that the ANC is one of the strong points of these earbuds’ performance.
OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro Review: Audio Quality (Scientific)
Now, for that all-important question: how do these earbuds sound? I’m splitting this part of the review into two parts. For the first part, I’ll be taking a more scientific approach. I’ll be talking about different aspects like the bass, treble, vocals, and sound stage. Along with music, I’ll be using a few test audio samples that I made as benchmarks.
Bass
A bunch of earbuds and headphones released nowadays tend to focus on low-end audio. That can be an issue for people who want a more balanced sound. This happens more with more affordable headphones, as they’re aimed at the lowest common denominator with headphone users. Higher-end headphones and earbuds are better optimized for audiophiles who want a more balanced and customizable sound.
The OnePlus Nord Buds fall into the more affordable category, so you’d expect them to bring bass en masse. However, I think that OnePlus managed the bass in these earbuds rather well. One way that I evaluated the bass was by listening to my Bass test piece. It’s a short musical example with an emphasis on lower tones. I engineered it to peak at about 65Hz and gradually roll off as the frequencies get lower.
The thing that got me about the bass (not just with the test piece, but with other music) was how silky smooth it sounded. The bass was there, and it gave me that rumble in the back of the head. However, I think that it stopped just short of rattling the skull. Bass that heavy isn’t bad, as there are people who want that.
I think that OnePlus calibrated these earbuds so that they give you a nice amount of bass while stopping just short of muddying up the sound. I’ve reviewed several more affordable earbuds, and I don’t think that I’ve heard anything like the bass in these. OnePlus reached a nice sweet spot with the bass. They’re for people who want a more balanced bass sound with their music.
Treble
Moving onto the treble, I also used a test piece along with other music. This test piece is a short piece of music with a particular emphasis on higher tones. This piece has a bit of a boost at 6kHz.
Overall, I think that the treble is also another good aspect of these earbuds. When listening to the treble, I mostly listen for clarity and crispness, and that’s what I got. The test piece has instruments like piano, celeste, flutes, and violins. Those instruments all sounded nice, and the earbuds handled the 6kHz boost nicely.
Adding too much bass can make the audio muddy. Well, on the other side of that coin, adding too much treble can make the audio shrill. Even great pairs of earbuds can dip into the shrill side of the pool. That’s one minor gripe that I had with the Edifier Neo Buds Pro 2. They have great sound, but the treble can be a bit piercing.
However, the OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro keep things from getting shrill. While listening to the test piece with the EQ boost and other songs, I never felt any sort of fatigue from the higher notes.
Vocals
There are people who like to hear all of the intricate details in the human voice, and this is why it’s important for headphones and earbuds to really emphasize them.
I think that these earbuds do a nice job with the vocals. Listening to several types of media from songs to podcasts, I think that voices sound pretty detailed. They’re not super-detailed, but I can still hear a good amount of details in the voices. If you’re going to be listening to songs, you’ll definitely love them.
Sound stage
Another area where I’m impressed with the OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro is the sound stage. Again, these are affordable earbuds, and the sound stage is something that many companies making affordable earbuds tend to overlook. Many cheaper earbuds are just for pumping audio into your ears, and that’s it.
So, imagine my surprise when I REALLY sat down and listened to these earbuds. I was pretty blown away. To be honest, these won’t be anything special if you’re a true audiophile or you’re rocking more expensive earbuds from Sony or Bose. However, these are $80 earbuds we’re talking about.
I think that the sound stage is better than some other earbuds around this price and higher. The sound is so spacious and open. When I close my eyes, I can make out the positions of all of the instruments and singers. It doesn’t sound like the audio is being shot right into my ears. Rather, it feels like I’m right in the middle of whatever band, orchestra, or studio.
I think that one thing that contributes to this nice sound stage is the great well-balanced bass. It’s very clear and unmuddied. That lends to the nice open nature of the sound.
While being open, I can still hear the thumping from bass drums, and I still feel the rumble from lower instruments. It’s open, but it’s not too open.
Overall
Taking the sound as separate parts, I can say that these are excellent earbuds. The bass has this pleasing silky smooth sound to it that adds so much character to the sound. The treble is nicely balanced so as to avoid being shrill. Also, the vocals are nice, and the sound stage is much better than the $80 price tag would indicate.
You’re not going to love these earbuds if you’re an audiophile, but I think that even audiophiles can appreciate how good these earbuds sound for their price.
OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro Review: Audio quality (Personal experience)
Reviewing earbuds isn’t all about test pieces and kilohertz. I can take all of the different parts of the sound and analyze them, but what’s more important is how these parts come together to create an all-around great sound. So, the second part of the audio portion is just my personal experience with listening to some of my favorite music.
I chose some of the songs that I listen to from artists and groups that I love. I chose them based on some of their specific audio qualities to really cover a wide range of sounds.
“Thank You For…” By Hall & Oates (1972)
I think that this song is a good test of these earbuds’ sound stage. The song itself begins very personal with just a singer and a guitar. However, halfway through, the strings jump in and the audio opens up.
At the beginning, it felt up close and personal, as intended. When the strings came in, it literally felt like I was in the studio with them. The best thing about the audio is the fact that I got a good sense of the size of the string orchestra. Obviously, they weren’t going to bring in the New York Philharmonic to back them. This was a small studio string ensemble, and I could hear that. The sound stage is really accurate.
Also, both of their voices sounded beautifully detailed. Since this is a pretty personal song, the voices were very exposed.
“Nights On Broadway” by The BeeGees (1975)
Music in the 70s had a certain pleasing warmth that plays well with earbuds like these. This song is a little bit of a mix of flavors. The synthetic bass is really bassy, but it also has some crunch to it. It’s not as crunchy as a bass in 80s pop. I bring it up because it sounds amazing with the OnePlus Nord Buds Pro 3. They managed to reproduce all of the lower tones in the bass while properly representing the iconic crunchy sound that represented the BeeGees’ sound during this era.
Also, we hear the singers singing both regularly and with falsetto. No matter, all of the voices sounded nice. It’s with the voices that I get a good idea of the sound stage. The falsetto voices sound off to the side and off a bit. They almost come in as a voice in your head while you’re listening to the chorus.
“Be Who You Are” by The BeeGees (1981)
This song goes through a few different phases, and they each test the earbuds in different ways. It begins with a two-minute orchestra introduction. I give these earbuds props for delivering a lush and warm sound. The orchestra in this song, I’m 110% certain, is much larger than the one in the Hall & Oates song, and I could hear a much larger sound.
The next section, the verse, has Barry singing along with the orchestra. His voice comes through clearly over the orchestra. I feel like his voice was EQ-ed just a bit higher than other songs I listened to. I think that, especially when he started singing falsetto, the audio started to approach the shrill territory, but it didn’t quite cross the threshold.
Moving onto the chorus and interlude, these have everyone playing. Just like with the beginning, everything sounds lush and full.
“How Old Are You?” by Robin Gibb (1983)
I chose this song because it really represents the early 80s pop sound. It’s not quite as warm as what we heard in the 70s, but it was before we heard a lot of the high-pitched synth and crunchy bass that we heard later in the 80s.
It’s a bit of a sweet spot in terms of warmth and crunch, and I can hear that. Nothing about the mastering really stands out in terms of the low, mids, or highs. Since this is a very balanced sound, it’s a good song to test the overall balance of these earbuds’ sound. Overall, I think that these are very balanced earbuds.
“Two of Hearts” by Stacey Q (1986)
Moving onto some rather epic late 80s pop. Everything about this song is explosive. This is different from “How Old Are You?” in that there are key areas where the audio stands out. Starting off with the bass, it’s super bombastic, and the earbuds do a great job of playing those lower tones. There’s also some crunch to the bass, just like with “Nights On Broadway,” but it’s more exaggerated, and I can hear it.
Moving onto the percussion; it wouldn’t be a late 80s pop song without loud and crashy off-beats. So, you’ll hear some loud spikes in the higher frequencies, but they still don’t become shrill.
Moving onto Stacey’s voice, she stays in a pretty high register, so it sticks out in the music. Her voice sounds nice, and it doesn’t sound shrill at all. However, there is one thing I have to say about the voice. Typically, it feels like 80s music was engineered with more high-end than with 70s music. This, coupled with the higher-pitched percussion and synth, gives the music, in general, a higher-pitched profile.
I say this because it sounds like her voice had a bit of a boost in the higher frequencies. Thus, every time she says a word with the letter “S” or “T”, it really sticks out, and that’s the only part of the song that sounds shrill. The S’s and T’s are pretty piercing.
In terms of the overall sound stage, this song was mixed to have a pretty open sound. These earbuds really represented that. I think that they were able to put the bass, percussion, voice, and synth in their own little pocket in the sound.
Somethin’ You Wanna Know by TLC (1992)
Moving into the early 90s, this song has a warmer sound, but it still has some of the traits we heard with later 80s music. This song almost reminds me of how balanced “How Old Are You” is, but there’s a bit more of an emphasis on the low-end audio.
I think that these earbuds do a great job of delivering the bass from songs in this era. Overall, this song is very balanced, but I can still hear some pretty strong off-beats. They aren’t as powerful as “Two of Hearts”, but they still sound pleasant nonetheless.
Everything else I mentioned applies to this song like the great vocal performance and sound stage.
“All I Ask” by Kenny Loggins (1997)
I chose this song because it has some really low and rumbly bass. I’d say that this is the bassiest song on this list. Just like I said before, the bass is silky smooth. The thing about this song is that the bass really surrounds the head and encompasses you. Well, with these earbuds, the bass surrounds the ears, but it doesn’t smother them.
Overall
I think that the OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro sound really good, and they sound phenomenal for their price. I only gave an example of a few genres, but these earbuds will sound great no matter what you’re listening to. OnePlus did a great job with these earbuds, and I think that you’ll enjoy them too.
OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro Review: Battery
I typically use these earbuds when I’m working and with the ANC on. I typically get between 5 and 5.5 hours on a single charge. That’s not bad for a pair of TWS earbuds. With the charging case included, the earbuds were able to last me a couple of days.
One thing I found was that the earbuds themselves have pretty basic battery life, but the charging case has some of the best battery life of any that I’ve tried.
When it comes to charging, it takes about 1 hour to charge the earbuds and about 1 hour and 30 minutes to charge it to full. Also, popping the earbuds in the charging case for about 15 minutes will charge them for about 5 hours.
OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro Review: Final verdict
Going into this review, I didn’t really know what to expect. This is my first pair of TWS earbuds from the OnePlus Nord series. Also, I use the Cambridge Melomania M100 as my main Bluetooth headphones, so I have become accustomed to that level of quality.
But, after putting them on and using them as my daily earbuds, I quickly found out just why OnePlus has remained the Flagship Killer brand. While they’re not as good as flagship earbuds, these earbuds give you some amazing audio quality. The quality is great in general with rich bass, an open sound stage, crisp treble, and great vocal performance. At only $80, I wasn’t expecting them to be quite so well-rounded.
I recommend that you buy these earbuds if you want to break into the more expensive premium earbuds market. There are higher-quality and more feature-rich earbuds out there, but you’ll be paying twice the price. You’re going to get an amazing experience with the OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro!
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