OnePlus Nord Buds 3 review

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The Nord Buds 3 are the most recent in-ear really wi-fi earbuds from OnePlus and an India-exclusive product. These are the newbie model of the Nord Buds 3 Professional that launched a few months in the past and the brand new entry-level mannequin within the lineup.

For essentially the most half, this is identical product, simply with a few adjustments, most notably to the lively noise cancellation. This implies you might be nonetheless largely getting the identical design, the identical drivers, and the identical and even higher battery life. All that for 30% much less cash appears like deal however we should see if it is price it.

Design

The design of the Nord Buds 3 is sort of similar to that of the Professional mannequin. The one distinction is within the end, with the Professional mannequin having a dual-tone end in addition to a speckled paint sample on the case whereas the non-professional mannequin is both all-glossy for the white mannequin or all-matte for the black mannequin.

As such, all observations on the Pro model apply to this one. It is moderately well-designed with good match and end, construct high quality and luxury. The usual mannequin additionally retains the IP55 mud and water resistance for the earbuds from the Professional mannequin.

Software program

The Nord Buds 3 pair with Android and iOS gadgets utilizing the HeyMelody app. These utilizing OnePlus smartphones or tablets don’t want the app as all performance is constructed instantly into the Bluetooth settings of these gadgets.

The app means that you can regulate all the options obtainable on the earbuds. You possibly can change your ANC settings and EQ, toggle sport mode, handle paired gadgets, and customise gestures. You too can replace the firmware however Nord earbuds not often ever get updates so it is not of a lot use.

HeyMelody app

In comparison with the Professional mannequin, the Nord Buds 3 lose a handful of options, largely associated to the ANC. You don’t get adjustable ANC ranges and might solely toggle it on or off or allow transparency mode. There’s additionally no customized noise cancellation characteristic that adjusts it to your ears and ambient noise. You additionally do not get the earbud match check characteristic since there is no such thing as a third suggestions mic pointed inside your ear that the Professional mannequin has.

However by far essentially the most annoying omission on the Nord Buds 3 is the shortage of in-ear detection for controlling playback and ANC. This implies the earbuds don’t know of once you put on or take away the earbuds, and thus can’t play/pause the music for you, or allow or disable ANC. At this level, this characteristic must be desk stakes, and releasing earbuds in 2024 with out it simply does not appear proper.

Gesture management

The dearth of this characteristic means you need to depend on gestures to manage playback. This works by tapping on the aspect of the earbuds, which works moderately nicely more often than not. Nevertheless, the only faucet gesture, which might solely be enabled for play/pause performance, is way too straightforward to set off by accident, which might be why it’s disabled by default.

Efficiency

Audio high quality

The Nord Buds 3 have the identical 12.4mm dynamic drivers with a titanized diaphragm because the Professional mannequin. Each fashions additionally assist solely SBC and AAC codecs over Bluetooth 5.4 connection.

Primarily based on that, one may assume the 2 would sound the identical, however the tuning is totally different. OnePlus leans even additional into the bass-boosted side of the sound, although the Nord Buds 3 Professional had been already pretty bass-heavy.

When it comes to audio high quality, there is not a lot excellent news to report. It is the identical form of bloated, bass-heavy sound that now we have come to count on from OnePlus at this level. Whereas the bass itself is not overwhelming, it has a wooly, boomy high quality to it with out a lot precision. It is also largely mid-bass somewhat than sub-bass that you just’d need to have.

In a bid to make the bass stand out, OnePlus additionally dramatically nerfs the remainder of the frequency spectrum. Whereas the decrease mids are first rate, which preserves many of the timbre of vocals, the higher mids and treble are eviscerated. This additional provides to the muddiness of the sound as there’s simply no element or decision to talk of and every little thing simply sounds smooth and bassy.

The three EQ presets are largely simply two presets. The Bass preset sounds just like the default “Balanced” preset, simply with much more mid-bass for added bloat. The Serenade preset is way too mid-forward and tends to sound honky consequently. Luckily, there’s a handbook EQ obtainable that permits you to create a number of customized profiles.

Utilizing the handbook EQ, it took seconds to vastly enhance the default tuning of the earbuds. The 6-band EQ is somewhat restricted, particularly within the mid-range frequencies, but it surely was nonetheless doable to get an honest sound out of it. Bettering the higher mids and highs vastly improves the perceived stage of element within the sound whereas additionally enhancing different features of the sound, comparable to imaging and soundstaging.

At this level, I’m prepared to supply my companies professional bono to OnePlus to assist enhance the default tuning of their earbuds. I really feel like this has gone on for lengthy sufficient and so they want somebody to course appropriate as a result of that they had good sound on their audio product of their early days. The present tuning sounds prefer it was made completely by and for individuals who have by no means heard something higher although individuals are far more conscious of what good sound must be like today. I’m assured that most individuals who recognize sound would decide my preset or one thing comparable over the default tuning if it got here pre-installed within the app as a preset, and it took me lower than a minute to make it.

Microphone

The Nord Buds 3 have subpar microphone efficiency. The voice sounds garbled and consistently fluctuates even when recording in a quiet room. There’s additionally the occasional crackling sound heard within the background.

Noise cancellation

The Nord Buds 3 have lively noise cancellation that guarantees as much as 32dB of attenuation, down from the 49dB promised by the Professional mannequin. As talked about earlier than, the usual mannequin has two microphones on the skin, one for ANC and the opposite for calls, whereas the Professional mode has three, with the third being contained in the earbud for suggestions.

The ANC efficiency on these earbuds is mediocre. Whereas low-frequency attenuation is first rate, they nonetheless let in a good quantity of mid and high-frequency noise. Additionally, if there’s loads of high-frequency noise, such because the sound of rainfall or building work, then enabling ANC one way or the other amplifies the high-frequency noise, extra so than if ANC was disabled.

In comparison with the Professional mannequin, the distinction is sort of clear. The Professional mannequin does rather well and although there’s nonetheless some side of that prime frequency amplification, it is not as noticeable or bothersome as on the usual mannequin.

Equally, the transparency mode is not nearly as good on the usual mannequin. The sound is a bit muffled and I discovered myself eradicating the earbuds to listen to folks round me higher.

Latency

The Nord Buds 3 have good latency efficiency. The default latency is fairly first rate and will get even higher with sport mode enabled. Completely enough for informal gaming or watching content material on a PC.

Battery Life

The Nord Buds 3 have a claimed battery lifetime of 12 hours with out ANC, the identical because the Professional mannequin, which is not shocking for the reason that two have similar battery sizes. Nevertheless, the usual mannequin has 8 hours of claimed battery life in comparison with 5.5 hours of the Professional mannequin, merely as a consequence of having a worse and fewer battery-draining ANC.

When testing with ANC, I managed to get 9 hours and 6 minutes of playback. That is a bit larger than the claimed determine, which is not shocking because the ANC stage is dynamically adjusted based mostly on ambient noise, and the check setting was doubtless not loud sufficient to set off the max stage ANC.

With ANC disabled, I received 12 hours and 26 minutes of playback, the identical as what I received on the Professional mannequin and nearer to the claimed 12-hour quantity.

General, the battery life on the Nord Buds 3 may be very spectacular but it surely comes at the price of diminished ANC efficiency in comparison with the Professional mannequin.

Conclusion

The OnePlus Nord Buds 3 are priced at INR 2,299, which is pretty reasonably priced and bit cheaper than the INR 3,299 worth of the Professional mannequin.

For the lower cost, you worsen noise cancellation and no in-ear detection for play/pause. Audio high quality stays a sore spot for each fashions and the cheaper Nord Buds 3 has one way or the other even worse tuning out of the field. The battery life is best on the non-Professional however once more, it comes at the price of worse ANC efficiency.

General, the Nord Buds 3 is simply really useful if you cannot spend further for the Professional mannequin, although it’s nicely price it, and are prepared to spend time tuning the sound no matter which one you decide.