It is easy to forget how OnePlus, and many other smartphone companies, now have a strong grip on the accessory market, especially among the users of their primary devices. The OnePlus Buds 3 is the third generation of truly wireless earphones from the brand and brings in considerable improvements on earlier models.
The OnePlus Buds 3 looks a lot like the earlier models. Still, the new Splendid Blue colour aligns with the OnePlus 12’s styling, making it a good add-on for the new flagship. The charging case is compact and very light, fitting perfectly into the small pocket of your jeans.
The OnePlus Buds 3 connected easily with OnePlus 12, just like the AirPods do with an iPhone and this is the ease of use that brands are offering to make users select their accessories over others. The buds worked with my iPhone, too. But they connect only with one phone at a time, and you have to ensure they have unpaired before you connect them to another device.
The OnePlus Buds 3 connects seamlessly with the OnePlus 12. (Nandagopal Rajan / Express photo)
The fit is comfortable. So much so that after a few minutes you forget you have them on. And as you put them on you realise that noise cancellation is pretty good, as you can just see the pressure come out of the cooker, there is hardly any noise.
With the OnePlus 12, I could simply long press the Bluetooth button and enter the settings of the Buds 3. Here, I could see the noise cancelling mode and toggle it to transparency or just switch it off if needed. But the settings also let me tweak the equaliser and get some additional bass for Olivia Rodrigo playlist, along with switching to high-res mode.
That’s not all. There is also a Golden Sound setting, which lets the device tune exactly to your hearing, which is a really good feature to have at this price point. Plus, you can also find your Buds 3 from here, in case you misplace it. You can even check if your earbuds have a good fit and my test came out average for the right side, which is always case since it’s a bit larger than my left ear.
The fit is comfortable. So much so that after a few minutes you forget you have them on. (Nandagopal Rajan / Express photo)
All these settings sort of help improve your listening experience at many levels, attention to detail you rarely see for earphones that are not top-end in their pricing. As soon as you start playing music, you understand why all this matters in the end. As soon as the drums boomed in Hok-man Yim’s Poem of the Chinese Drum, I was sold. This is not what I was expecting from earphones that don’t even cost a fraction of the phone it was playing music from. The bass was perfect for such a delicate composition which switched between Chinese drums of various types.
Sophie Zalmanie’s Fade is a complete contrast in terms of composition, but the Buds 3 stayed true, and the vocals moved into centre stage with the music as a backdrop. The lows on my left and highs on the right, a perfect balance. The sound stage of the Buds 3 is among the best I have encountered in recent times.
At Rs 5,499, the OnePlus Buds 3 is among the best truly wireless earphones I have tried in recent times. And I am saying this with a lot of confidence because the OnePlus Buds 3 has broken a price barrier by offering high-res audio, user controls, and decent noise cancellation at this price point. Maybe they got the pricing wrong, this could have sold for much more.