OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro Review

The OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro are the latest additions to OnePlus’ budget-friendly wireless earbuds lineup. With Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), and a long battery life, these earbuds promise great performance at an affordable price. In this review, we’ll look at the OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro and see if their features are good enough to compete with other popular earbuds. 

OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro Features

  • Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) up to 49dB
  • BassWave 2.0
  • Bluetooth 5.4 with Fast Pairing
  • 12.4mm Titanium-Coated Drivers for Deep Bass
  • Up to 44 Hours of Battery Life with Case and ANC off
  • Up to 20 Hours of Battery Life with Case and ANC on
OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro earbuds

Review

First off, I don’t get why these Buds are called “pro”, as there is no “non-pro” version of these buds. The OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro have a nice case, it comes in two colors, Soft Jade and Starry Black, and the case also has a sparkly look to it. On the bottom of the case, there is a pairing button, and a USB-C charging port. In the box, you get some silicon ear tips and a USB-C charging cable. 

OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro charging case

The earbuds themselves have a stem design, there are three microphones on each earbud, and when I tried them on they didn’t go very deep into my ears, which could affect ANC performance. The earbuds still feel secure, and you don’t have to worry about exercising with them because of the IP55 dust and water rating. You get 5 hours of battery life with ANC on, and 12 hours with ANC off. With the charging case, you get 20 hours with ANC on the 44 hours with ANC off. 

OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro earbuds microphones

You can customize the OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro from the OnePlus app. You can increase the bass, and you have three EQ presets to choose from. You can change the settings of each earbud separately. You can customize what your taps and presses do, but the long press takes a while to engage. There is also a fit test you can do to get a score on how well these buds fit your ear. 

The bass of the OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro is amazing, and they sound good too. There is some bleeding sound at high volumes, but that is the case with most earbuds. The vocals are detailed and clear, but the midrange is lacking. If you are looking for a neutral sound, then you will have to tweak the EQ to get it. 

These earbuds have ANC and transparency modes. You have three levels for noise cancellation, Mild, Moderate, and Max. There is also a Smart mode which automatically reduces the white noise based on your surroundings. The OnePlus Nord Buds Pro 3 don’t have good noise cancellation, this can be because of the seal on the silicon ear tips, and how they don’t go deep into your ear. Even on the max setting, I could still hear a good amount of outside noise. The transparency mode is good, you can hear human voices quite clearly with the earbuds on.

Verdict

The OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro retail for $80. They have a lot of quirks, and it is hard to decide if they are worth buying over something like the AirPods 4, you can get even better earbuds under the $100 price tag. Battery life doubles with ANC off, and since the ANC isn’t that good anyway, you are better off using them without noise cancellation. The best part is the bass, it gets very deep. There are three microphones in each earbud, but the performance is average.