OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro Review: A Nice Pair of Budget Buds Despite Poor ANC

The tract of fund wireless earbuds is becoming progressively competitory by the day. For little than $100, you’ve got plentifulness of prime options, similar the Samsung Galaxy FE Buds for $80 and the $60 CMF by Nothing Buds Pro 2. The OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro, the fund offering from OnePlus, is priced aggressively astatine $50 ($80 astatine launch); these basal close beside its $70 OnePlus Buds 3 in presumption of terms point. 

These buds person a bully noise-canceling mic, precocious h2o and particulate resistance, and a agelong artillery life. They supply decent dependable for the price, and let’s look it, $50 is an fantabulous price. However, if you’re looking for prime ANC and intuitive controls, spending a small much currency mightiness not hurt.

OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro Review: Design

Impressive h2o and particulate resistance.

The Nord Buds 3 Pro are disposable successful a stunning Soft Jade and a Starry Black shade. Sadly, I received the latter. The Starry Black is not arsenic chill arsenic it sounds. It tries hard to springiness disconnected a bully galaxy-like look, but it conscionable looks similar your lawsuit caught immoderate dust. The small specks don’t lucifer stars and, for immoderate reason, aren’t connected the remainder of the case’s lid.

Apart from the starry theme, I similar the charging case. It has a beauteous pebble-shaped design, and its curved edges consciousness bully successful your hands. It slid easy into my pocket, and its rounded corners didn’t nutrient an awkward-looking bulge. For $50, it’s a beauteous good-looking lawsuit that’s mode sturdier than the CMF Buds Pro 2.

Unlike the Galaxy FE Buds, which athletics a h2o and particulate absorption standing of IPX2, these are rated IP55. You tin trust connected them astatine the gym for your sweaty workouts. I person been utilizing them astir the house, meaning these mediocre things person been going done a lot. They’ve been holding up beauteous good to the bedewed hands I taxable them to successful the room and the airy splashes they endure successful the washroom arsenic I cleanse my face. The lawsuit isn’t rated against particulate and water, truthful beryllium cautious not to driblet it successful the toilet. 

OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro Review: Fit and Controls

Annoying measurement control.

In-ear buds seldom enactment wrong my ears, portion on-ear earbuds usually supply a overmuch much comfy fit. These are immoderate of the fewer in-ear buds that were snug connected me. I instantly replaced the mean receptor tips connected the buds with the tiny receptor tips successful the box, and they hugged my ears choky passim the reappraisal period. The earbuds measurement 4.4g each and are comfy to deterioration for extended periods.

Weirdly enough, the lone mode to tweak measurement connected these is to delegate the ‘long interaction and hold’ motion connected the buds to either ‘volume up’ oregon ‘volume down.’ So, you tin lone usage your buds for 1 of the 2 actions. I acceptable it to ‘volume up’ and reached for my telephone to crook it down. How convenient. To complicate this adjacent further, different ‘tap and hold’ motion is utilized to rhythm betwixt the ANC modes. The lone quality is that the pat for measurement is 2 seconds longer, which evidently leads to a clump of mistaps. The remainder of the playback (pause, play, forwarding, oregon skipping tracks) is each handled by single, double, and triple taps.

OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro Review: Sound and ANC

Decent separation for the price.

The archetypal content I had of the dependable was however bass-heavy it was. It favors the debased end, with the mids taking 2nd spot and the treble being the slightest emphasized of each the elements. But the higher I raised the volume, the much you tin perceive the debased extremity deed its limits. It sounded thick, heavy, and muddy. It feels similar it mislaid the powerfulness it retained astatine a little volume.

In presumption of separation, these buds bash a bully occupation for the price. It was awesome that the $50 buds featured capable dependable imaging for maine to discern the assorted elements. The OnePlus Buds 3 inactive wins astatine providing adjacent much item than these buds, though, portion these were easy amended than the CMF Buds Pro 2.

Both mono listening and deterioration detection are supported, which means you tin perceive with conscionable 1 earbud in, and your playback stops erstwhile you plug the buds retired of your ears and resumes arsenic soon arsenic you plug them backmost in. They besides enactment a find my earbuds diagnostic connected the app that you tin navigate by hitting a small play button. I tried it, and the charging lawsuit produced a faint small beep that tin beryllium beauteous adjuvant if I’m successful the aforesaid country arsenic it’s in. The Nord Buds 3 Pro tin simultaneously link to 2 devices. I connected them to my iPhone and the Nothing Phone (2a) Plus. I rapidly listened to euphony connected my iPhone and remapped its gestures connected the Nothing phone, wherever I downloaded its companion app, HeyMelody.

The ANC connected these buds is truthful anemic that I often couldn’t archer whether it was on. I perpetually cycled betwixt the ANC modes astatine location portion doing chores, and each dependable sounded the same, including the pat running, the integrative and insubstantial bags I was sorting, and adjacent the bug spray I was utilizing to get a gnat successful my kitchen. I would absorption connected however large a circumstantial dependable is with ANC disconnected and past repetition the enactment with ANC on; determination is hardly immoderate difference. It was the aforesaid astatine enactment erstwhile my coworkers were talking down me, and I could perceive each azygous connection contempt ANC being on. This wasn’t high-pitched chatter close adjacent to me; that would inactive beryllium forgivable arsenic it’s harder to silence. It was a debased hum a fewer feet distant from me.

Photo: Artem Golub / Gizmodo

OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro Review: Battery Life and Mic

Mic cancels upwind truly well

The Nord Buds’ 44-hour artillery beingness is beauteous successful enactment with what competitors connection (OnePlus Buds 3 astatine 44 hours, CMF Buds astatine 43 hours). The Samsung Galaxy FE Buds, with their 30-hour artillery life, mightiness beryllium the lone ones these are trumping. You get 12 hours with ANC off, which goes up to 44 hours with the charging case. Turning ANC connected would trim that to 20 hours successful total. 

There’s nary wireless charging connected these, which shouldn’t beryllium a astonishment considering their $50 price. They bash connection speedy charging, though. A 10-minute complaint promises 11 hours of playback. 

The Nord Buds 3 Pro boasts an “anti-wind design” for its mic, which they elaborate arsenic an “outer metallic mesh and cavity operation to artifact upwind sound [and] an interior acoustic mesh that further filters retired upwind and different noise.” I tested this in-depth with the upwind extracurricular and artificial upwind from my operation fan, and it worked great. My caller reported that they couldn’t perceive immoderate sound adjacent erstwhile my look (and earbuds) were astir 2 inches from the fan. 

Photo: Artem Golub / Gizmodo

OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro Verdict

The OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro ticks a batch of boxes but leaves a fewer indispensable ones unchecked. They supply a snug fit, sufficiently awesome dependable imaging, and a precocious h2o and particulate absorption rating. Their mic is fantabulous astatine canceling noise, and the artillery beingness tin easy past you much than a week of dense usage. But they don’t bash ANC well, for which their terms shouldn’t beryllium an excuse, considering some the Galaxy Buds FE and the OnePlus Buds 3 bash an fantabulous occupation astatine it with akin terms points. I tin forgive the bass getting heavy astatine higher volumes since that relies connected operator quality, and I shouldn’t expect overmuch from a $50 device. The measurement power was finicky to usage and was thing that could’ve been avoided with a somewhat much intuitive design. Some other frills, specified arsenic enactment for uncovering my earbuds and mono listening, are invited features.

Still, astatine their humble price, the OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro offers mode much than it lacks. That’s crushed capable to opt for these unless the lack of prime ANC is simply a implicit dealbreaker for you. In that case, the mentioned rival offerings from Samsung oregon OnePlus are decent alternatives. For conscionable $20 more, you get acold amended ANC connected the OnePlus Buds 3.