It’s OnePlus season again. We’ve been on a tear of reviews from the company. We’ve covered the OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro earbuds, OnePlus Watch 2R, and the new OnePlus Pad 2. Well, the company is back with another set of earbuds. The latest in the flagship Buds Pro series is out with a third generation, and they set the bar pretty high. Let’s dive into what the OnePlus Buds Pro 3s bring to the OnePlus lineup.
Design
The first thing that hit me out of the box is the new case design. Yes, the case design. I’ve never seen a more handsome one, so I’m going to mention it here. The charging storage bin is wrapped in a faux leather material that adds a premium look and fantastic texture. It’s a small way to innovate between releases that I’ve never really considered, but glad OnePlus did.
After opening the case, you reveal the latest OnePlus Buds Pro 3 earbuds. Here, you find a familiar design to last year’s model. The teardrop and stemmed design is wrapped in a metallic finish but adds a new feature not found in the Buds Pro 2s. This is a new capacitive control strip.
Using this strip, you can now swipe up and down to actively control volume. You still have squeeze to pause/play and long press to activate other features like ANC profiles or voice assistants, but the addition of volume controls makes the Buds Pro 3s top of class.
Other design features are proximity sensors for knowing when your Buds Pro 3 earbuds are actually in your ears. You get spatial audio that works both on Android and iOS for a head tracking audio experience. Active noise cancellation is also on board, as well as clear calls powered by AI filtering.
Pairing is a breeze with any device, but especially on Android. The Google Fast Pair Protocol gives you an almost instant pop-up when a supported phone or
tablet is within range. This brings it up to par with first-party options in the Apple ecosystem, but for our fans of Google’s operating system.
Audio and calls
Let’s build off that final paragraph and dive into the audio and calls while generally using the OnePlus Buds Pro 3 earbuds. Simply, they are great. Audio is balanced, the spatial mode is pretty solid, and I think these are the best ANC Buds OnePlus has released to date.
Music playback is fantastic and robust for earbuds. OnePlus has always excelled at this, and the Buds Pro 3s add to this value. From deep bass in hip-hop, to more acoustics in bluegrass, I’ve found the EQ levels and performance top-notch. The same is true for simple vocal listening like podcasts. I’ve found that most earbuds are good at one or the other, but OnePlus has struck a balance here that works.
Voice calls are another great talking point when testing the OnePlus Buds Pro 3 earbuds. My calls came through crisp and clear on my end, with the AI filtering really lending a hand to block out background noises. The other participants in my talk time also said the audio was great, which is good feedback that other earbuds sometimes struggle.
Battery life
We all know endurance away from a charger is subjective, but I’ve found the OnePlus Buds Pro 3s to hit most of the company’s estimates in my test time. With ANC off and around 50% volume, you can achieve up to ten hours of playback per charge. Turning on ANC will drop this timetable down to somewhere between five and six hours, depending on the audio codec your phone supports.
This puts the overall battery life in the good to pretty good range when considering the market. Adding the case battery to recharge on the go, and you can get up to a maximum of 43 hours of total playback. There is fast charge built into the case to give you a 13 hours bump in just ten minutes. To completely refill capacity, it takes up to 70 minutes.
Wireless charging is also supported thanks to the Qi standard. This might be one of my few gripes with the case, though. For some reason, it has to be upside down to charge. It’s a small thing, but it is completely against the grain of any other device I’ve ever tested. Whether it’s another earbuds case, phone, watch, or tablet, I’ve never seen the charging orientation be face down. It’s weird and literally forced me to pull the manual out of the box.
Final thoughts
Pinnacle Selection represents our highest honor, one reserved for products that stand out in design, performance, and overall value.
Products earning this distinction exemplify excellence across the board, delivering an experience that truly rises above the rest.
When you see the badge, you’re looking at the best of what’s available in its category.
OnePlus has slowly become one of my favorite manufacturers in mobile tech over the years. The expansion and polish its brought to provide a full ecosystem to its users is admirable. The OnePlus Buds Pro 3 earbuds add to this lineup with a real, premium wireless audio option for its users. Oh, and the Buds Pro 3s are great with any other paired device too, regardless of operating system.
You can snag the new Buds Pro 3 earbuds in two colors this year: Midnight Opus (black) and Lunar Radiance (cream) for a retail price of $180. Right now, OnePlus is offers $30 off for the launch window. So, what’s the delay, get yours now at the link below.
Purchase the OnePlus Buds Pro 3 earbuds from OnePlus
