OnePlus Buds have garnered a lot of buyers in the last few years and that’s not limited to the budget version. The Buds Pro series has offered notable features and performance that have made them appealing for many and the new Buds Pro 3 looks to offer a lot more to its existing package.
The Buds Pro 3 has launched for Rs 11,999 which is the same as its predecessor but the new design overhaul, audio upgrades and hardware changes will put it at par with Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 3 and other premium TWS earbuds in the market.
So, does the OnePlus Buds Pro 3 offer enough in the tank to make a compelling choice for buyers once again? We used the device for a few weeks and got our answers.
New Buds, New Design
The Buds Pro 3 is getting a new charging case which looks sleeker than the Buds Pro 2. The finishing has also improved with the leather-like material now available in both white and grey variants. The USB C charging port is at the bottom now but the new design means the case cannot stand on a surface like its predecessor.
The pairing button sits on the right side of the case. The case doesn’t have an IP rating this year, but the Buds come with IP55 rating which makes it splash resistant. The case supports both wired and wireless charging which is never a bad thing.
Coming to the Buds, these are slightly heavier but you don’t feel the weight while wearing them which is comfortable when you have them for long hours. The buds sit tightly in the ear and even while working out we didn’t feel they would fall off or slip out. The stem-like design has still been preferred and we’re fine with the minor tweaks made to the buds.
Big Upgrades On Audio And Sound
The Buds Pro 3 now features dual DAC drivers which is meant to improve the sound quality and give you a louder output. The Buds Pro 3 does both of these things effectively and the wider soundstage is immersive and rich thanks to the support for spatial audio with head tracking which is available through the Hey Melody app.
OnePlus is also using Dynaudio for sound engineering on the Buds Pro 3 like the other variants and the sound performance will keep most people happy with all the popular genres covered. When it comes to supporting codecs, the Buds Pro 3 offers LHDC but LDAC codec is strangely omitted by the brand.
Now, coming to the sound quality, we felt the deep bass on the Buds Pro 3 isn’t overpowering but definitely punchier than the Buds Pro 2. We played our favourite test tracks to gauge its versatility and compared it with the output from the Buds Pro 2 to see the differences. We also noticed that the ANC levels have been bumped up which makes it effective in most situations. However, we felt the noise doesn’t get completely isolated in a loud environment. You can change the settings and try other modes from the app.
The other important change is the quality of audio calls through the Buds Pro 3 which becomes evident with the additional mics and the voice pick up bone sensor. We didn’t face any issues hearing the caller and the two-way channel audio was clear without any stutter or network breakages.
Does It Last Long?
OnePlus claims the Buds Pro 3 can last for up to 43 hours on a single charge, can we attest to those numbers or does the Buds Pro 3 fall short? During our time with the Buds Pro 3 we noticed some improvement on the battery front which was better than the Buds Pro 2 but not as much as we would have liked.
We got the buds running for over 3 hours after filling up the tank with the case. That’s where the fast charging support comes to the rescue and gets you plugged in quickly.
OnePlus Buds Pro 3 has definite upgrades with louder audio performance and the design changes help them add more hardware power that deliver an all-round experience.
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