OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Professional assessment: greatest use of your $50?

Design and Consolation

OnePlus modified the design of the Nord Buds 3 Professional, they used to have flat stems and a flat-sided case. Now, it is an oval-shaped case for simpler pocketing, and the buds themselves are extra “traditional-looking”.

The stems have a touchpad for media controls — that is normally not a favourite. Nevertheless, the touchpads on the OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Professional are very tiny and have a tiny ridge round them, so your finger can all the time really feel the place they’re. That is to say that you simply will not be doing unintentional faucets and stopping your music when merely adjusting the earbud in your ear.

Now we have three tip sizes within the field, they usually appear to cowl a variety of ear shapes, however we really feel like customers with massive ear canals could not discover a correct match. I usually use small or medium ideas, relying on mannequin, however for the Nord Buds 3 Professional, I discovered the big measurement to be one of the best match for me. There is no measurement above that, except you go third occasion.

To match to the same class of system — the recently-launched Nothing Ear (a) have barely weaker IP54 score and in addition no score on the case.

From the get-go, the OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Professional are fairly bass-heavy. If you happen to set up the HeyMelody app, you will note the default EQ mode is known as “balanced”, although we would not say it is that.

The excellent news is that there is an EQ within the HeyMelody app that permits you to dial frequencies out and in of play. It isn’t super-granular, however you may obtain one thing to style with a number of nudges right here and there.

So, the decision is — I am unable to scoff at these for $50. Not even for the $80 MSRP. In reality, I’ve advisable the Nord Buds 2 earlier than, when somebody asks me for “good, low-cost earbuds”, and can proceed to take action with the Nord Buds 3 Professional.

If you happen to love bass, these ought to sound good to you out of the field. You want the app to activate the BassWave perform — which boosts it additional, however we discovered it redundant. Plus, it does not appear to spice up the duper-deep subs, however one thing round 120-200 Hz. We received higher outcomes by boosting the 62 Hz level within the customized EQ, after which pulling BassWave into the negatives to realize a thumping, however not overbearing bass.

On the flip facet, for those who choose a extra balanced sound — once more, you could obtain the app and fiddle with the EQ a bit. If you happen to’re on a finances, we would say the train is value it.

Noise Cancelation and Transparency

OnePlus says these can decrease sounds within the frequency vary under 4 kHz at as much as -49 dB. And it does really feel that means. Now, you could set the Noise Cancelation profile to Max, and be sure you permit the earbuds to calibrate to your ear canals (once more, the HeyMelody app). We discovered they’re very efficient at muting rustling, bustling, and noise, scaling down voices, and eradicating buzzing.

Sure, there are three phases of noise cancelation to select from — low, average, and max, or you may go away it on auto so the Nord Buds 3 Professional select one of the best one based mostly on the present ambiance. That is performed as a result of an aggressive noise-canceling algorithm can cut back among the bass in your music. We won’t say we felt that occuring with these Buds, when the ANC was set to max.
Transparency mode is OK. A bit middy, a bit tinny, however voices come via, so it is possible for you to to listen to and reply simply wonderful. Directional sound appears to stay intact, you’ll nonetheless be capable to work out the place one thing is coming from.

Battery life

OnePlus’ numbers state 12 hours from the buds and 44 hours whole with the case. However that is with the ANC set to off. If you happen to select to make use of it, these numbers fall drastically — 5.5 hours and 20 hours, respectively. That is an enormous drop, however it is sensible, because the ANC is definitely so efficient on these.

There is no wi-fi charging on the case — that is one of many bells and whistles that must go after we are speaking finances earbuds (that sound good). But it surely helps quick charging by way of USB C — 60 minutes to prime up the case from 0%, 80 minutes if each the case and buds are at 0%.

If you happen to solely have 10 minutes to cost — you may nonetheless get 11 hours of music listening, OnePlus says, however that is with ANC off.

Conclusion

We have been anticipating price-to-quality ratio out of the OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Professional, and weren’t dissatisfied. We have been pleasantly shocked by the brand new design, which is extraordinarily comfy, and the very efficient ANC, which normally seems like an afterthought on cheaper buds.