The latest addition to the Nord earbuds lineup is the OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro, which we purchased for review. At Rs 3,299, should you consider buying these over the competition? Let’s have a look.
Design & Comfort
The OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro gets a cobble-shaped case with a matte black finish. The case, as the name of the colour suggests, is starry black, and it has small dots representing the stars. It looks appealing to the eye and creates an identity for itself.
The finishing of the case feels premium, and it’s also quite pocketable. The hinge holding the lid is firm and doesn’t allow much unnecessary movement. Further, it opens up nicely due to the spring mechanism and closes up similarly.
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The front has a light that shows the case and buds’ battery status. At the bottom is the USB-C port for charging the buds. Next to the port is a pairing button that can be used to manually pair new devices.
The buds themselves have a dual-tone look, with plastic that has a glossy and matte finish. They also have a unique shape, with the stem getting thicker towards the bottom.
The in-ear design is well-made and fits snugly into the ear canal. It doesn’t come off even during vigorous tasks like jogging or running. Because they’re lightweight as well, the buds sit comfortable enough in the ear for extended listening sessions. They are also IP55 rated so sweat, dust, and some splashes shouldn’t harm them.
The buds also support Touch Controls, which can be customized via the HeyMelody app. These controls include single-tap, double-tap, triple-tap, touch and hold, and long touch and hold. They function adequately and typically work on the first attempt, rarely needing a second try.
OnePlus includes a couple of extra pairs of ear tips in different sizes in the box itself, alongside a short red-coloured USB-C cable, a sticker, and some manuals.
Audio quality, Call quality, App Features, Battery life
The Nord Buds 3 Pro packs 12.4mm “titanised” drivers with Basswave 2.0 technology and Bluetooth v5.4.
The audio quality is quite impressive for those who like bass, as it throws thumping bass right at you with each beat when the Basswave feature is turned on.
With it turned on, the bass can overshadow other frequencies in select tracks, but when it’s turned off, the Nord Buds 3 Pro offers a balanced experience for the most part. The mids are well-maintained, while the higher frequencies and vocals also sound clear.
The HeyMelody app has a Sound Master EQ option that allows you to choose your own sound signature. Through the custom mode, you can adjust a 6-band equaliser, which is impressive at this price point. The Serenade EQ preset turns down the bass further, while the ‘Bass’ and ‘Balanced’ options are self-explanatory.
The buds support AAC and SBC codecs, which I feel is a missed opportunity. OnePlus could have offered support for the LDAC or LHDC codecs, too, but that would have resulted in a price increase, so it’s a tradeoff you’ll have to live with. Connectivity-wise, I didn’t face any issues such as breaks in audio or anything of similar sorts.
The earbuds’ Active Noise Cancellation performance is excellent. Cancelling noise up to 49dB, the buds can suppress traffic noise to a large extent. Higher-pitched noises, such as the sound of a fan, could have been handled better, but those such as human voices, noises in a market, etc., can be cancelled out easily. You can even set the noise cancellation level from the HeyMelody app and choose between four options: High, Moderate, Low, and Smart.
The transparency mode is not the strongest, as ambient sounds tend to be mostly muffled. While there is some enhancement, it’s not to the level I would have anticipated.
Other features include a Game mode that can lower the Latency while gaming. In my experience, this feature worked well, bringing down the latency to an ideal level.
They also support multi-device connectivity, a feature that would be much appreciated by those who have two phones or need to have these connected to a phone and a PC at the same time. The Find My Earbuds feature can help you locate the buds in case you ever lose them.
The buds will also receive OTA updates from time to time to fix bugs or introduce enhancements. If you have a OnePlus or Oppo smartphone, you can access all these features from the device’s Bluetooth Settings page without needing to install the HeyMelody app.
There’s also support for Google Fast Pair, which makes the setup process quite easy. When I opened the case, my phone showed me a pop-up stating that the buds were ready to connect and pair.
Call quality of the OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro is also great, considering the price. It picks up loud background noises behind the wearer but cancels out unwanted noise for an ideal and clear calling experience. People on the other end of the call mostly didn’t complain about issues with my voice.
The buds pack a 58mAh battery each, while the case has a 440mAh battery. According to OnePlus, the buds can last about 5.5 hours with ANC turned on. However, because I was listening at higher volumes, I could touch the 5-hour mark but nothing beyond that. According to the brand, without ANC, you could reach up to 12 hours of listening time on a single charge.
With ANC turned off, the earbuds offer up to 44 hours of total playback time with the charging case. When ANC is enabled, the battery life drops to around 20 hours. While I didn’t hit these exact numbers during my rigorous testing, I came close, which is still quite impressive.