Over the past few years when someone asks me to recommend affordable truly wireless earbuds, OnePlus is one brand that I ask them to consider given the quality of the audio and the general ease of use. And with every iteration, the OnePlus Buds have become better in its soundscape and features. Now it is time for the OnePlus Buds Pro 3.
The faux leather finish gives the Buds Pro 3 a premium look. (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)
The OnePlus Buds Pro 3 has a luxurious look to it given the ivory casing with a faux leather feel and the chrome-finish earbuds. The earphones are compact but big enough to house serious drivers. They offer a comfortable fit and don’t stress out your ears after a while. In the back of the case, you see the Dynaudio branding for the new partner OnePlus has got in. There is also a black version for those who prefer something more subtle.
The moment I switched on the Buds Pro 3 I was impressed with the sound profile. I was listening to Krishna Murari where the bass capabilities of these earphones headlined with the regular boom beats and crisp tabla in the background. It went a notch up when I switched on the BassWave option to fill in the HeyMelody app.
HeyMelody app offers a lot of customisation features. (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)
The app offers you many Dynaudio presets like Balanced, Bold, and Serenade for vocals and bass. I, however, settled for Dynaudio Featured which tries to replicate the effect of their signature speakers. Plus, there is the option to save a custom equaliser too if that is what you prefer.
The OnePlus Buds Pro 3 also comes with Spatial Audio with head tracking and this sense of space is one thing you will notice soon enough. Whatever you play, it is like you have a bubble around your head and the music is not playing inside your ears like you feel with other earbuds. Each instrument finds its corners, and so do the vocals. And this is thanks to the dual drivers and two DACs packed in each earbud. Echo Sax End confirmed my suspicion that this treats instruments so well, even when you are not in the bold mode that is supposed to enhance them.
Relaxing to Suprabha’s Chandrachooda Shiva, I loved how her sharp vocals were highlighted, and then with Sushin Shyam’s Lagoon Chill bass beats came up front as the vocal, here almost like a hum, moved to the backdrop. You know I am not a fan of too much bass, but the OnePlus Buds Pro 3 is different and packs its lows with a cushioning that makes it more palatable. Meanwhile, Jim Corce’s Time In A Bottle again underlined the balance these earbuds seem to do so well. The guitars and his vocals, both shine through, never trying to scramble over the other.
The noise cancellation has also improved and now you can select the exact level, which is a great feature to have given the same might not work in all environments. Transparency mode is over and above this. And that is not all, you can just switch to the smart mode and the OnePlus Buds Pro 3 will decide for itself what is the best level for the amount of noise out there. This also helps preserve the battery even more and allows you to use the earphones for up to 43 hours on a full charge.
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The app also lets you fine-tune the audio to your specific needs with the Golden Audio option and it is best you do this once before using the earphones full-time.
There is also a low-latency game mode that needs to be switched on from the app when needed.
The best TWS from OnePlus till date. (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)
At Rs 11,999, the OnePlus Buds Pro 3 is among the best earphones you can buy if you have decided to amp up your audio game. This is right up there in the space of Apple AirPods Pro (review) and Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 (review), though at a fraction of the price.
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