OnePlus Buds Pro 3 Review: High Fidelity Personal Audio Priced Right

	OnePlus Buds Pro 3 - Available for $149.99 The OnePlus Buds Pro 3 offer great sound and features for a reasonable price point, but they look a little like AirPods knockoffs.
	Loud, crisp sound Good ANC performance Comfortable fit Robust control options Sharp, bright display with 120Hz refresh ×Fast 80W charging and included plug ×Excellent performance with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 ×Alert slider is back	High-res audio only available via LDHC Audio passthrough sounds flat Default ANC setting is too aggressive

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Bluetooth earbuds were once a luxury, but now they're becoming a basic necessity in a wireless world with no headphone jacks. Prices have come down for basic buds, but you have to spend more if you want passable active noise cancelation, usable controls, and a comfortable fit. The best buds on the market can cost hundreds of dollars, but the new OnePlus Buds Pro 3 offer a lot for a mere $150. They look very much like Apple's AirPods, even inheriting some of their drawbacks, but the latest premium OnePlus earbuds have a lot going for them. Let's zoom in.  

OnePlus Buds Pro 3: Design And Fit

The OnePlus Buds Pro 3 don't reinvent the wheel—the buds consist of a bulbous top section with the drivers and eartips connected to a thin stalk that extends downward. The top section is matte plastic, which does a better job of hiding waxy ear debris than a glossy finish, which you'll find on the stalks. OnePlus didn't go out of its way with the accessories. As is customary for true wireless earbuds, you get several eartip sizes, a USB-C charging cable (no wall adapter), and the charging case. 

 As for the case, it's pretty typical of modern earbuds. It's pill-shaped and comes in either black or white to match the earbuds. The matte plastic surface has a faux-leather pattern that makes it extra grippy. There's a nice, springy flip top to access the buds, and it stays closed well even if it's jumped around with other objects in your pocket or bag. There's a USB-C port on the bottom for charging, along with a status LED. We appreciate the inclusion of a physical straightforward pairing button on the right side. Simply long-press the button, and select the Buds Pro 3 on your device. 


The Buds slot into the charging case easily—you don't even have to look to get the stalks lined up. These earbuds are dead ringers for AirPods, and the similarities are more than skin deep. The OnePlus Pro 2 had some AirPods vibes, but it's even stronger this year. Like Apple, OnePlus chose to put the charging contacts at the end of the stalks. That means the contacts are way at the bottom of the charging case. You'll have to be careful to keep the buds clean, otherwise debris can end up collecting at the bottom of the case where it can block charging. OnePlus claims the buds will get six hours of use per charge (with ANC), with another 19 hours in the case. That's close to what we saw in our testing, but it seems like the case ought to have more juice for how large it is. 


The OnePlus Buds Pro 3 are slim and not to heavy, so they're comfortable to wear for long periods. The tips don't have to fill your ear completely because they're not the only thing holding them in place. The buds hook into your ear with enough stability to stay put during a moderate workout. The stalks hang down outside, making the controls surfaces easy to access. Looking closely, you'll see the small touch-sensitive pads on the stalks. A single squeeze triggers the play-pause intent, two squeezes skips ahead, and three goes back. You can also long-press to toggle ANC, and sliding up and down changes the volume. 

The OnePlus Buds Pro 3 controls work well (and are configurable in the companion app). The only issue is that removing the buds can often trigger one or more presses unless you are very careful where and how tightly you grab them. 

OnePlus Buds Pro 3: Sound Quality And Software

Inside, the OnePlus Buds Pro 3 have dual 11mm and 6mm drivers. They support Bluetooth 5.4 and have Google Fast Pair, so they'll connect automatically to any phone bearing your account running Android 11 or higher. The Buds Pro 3 also have multipoint support with any compatible Bluetooth device. 

As mentioned above, the OnePlus Buds Pro 3 are a snap to pair. Just open the case and long-press the pairing button. They report battery level for both buds and the case to Android OS, so you'll see that displayed in your settings. If you want to tinker with the settings, you'll have to grab the free Hey Melody app from the Play Store. This app has a distinctively OnePlus style despite being developed by a third party. In Hey Melody, you can adjust the EQ, change ANC intensity, and alter the controls. For example, there's no default control for accessing your digital assistant, but you can swap around the controls to allow that. 


The OnePlus Buds Pro 3 have a good selection of audio codecs, particularly if you have a OnePlus phone. They've got SBC for wide compatibility, AAC to higher quality audio on most phones, and LDHC for lossless sound. However, LDHC is only supported on select phones, mostly those from Chinese OEMs that don't operate in the US like Vivo, Xiaomi, and Oppo. OnePlus is one of the few devices in the US with LDHC. The buds don't support LDAC, which is a much more common HD audio codec. 

We conducted most of our testing with AAC audio—while LHDC can support higher bandwidth, you need an uncompressed audio source and keen ears to tell the difference. For almost everyone, AAC is good enough for true wireless earbuds. The OnePlus Buds Pro 3 have good bass performance, and the mids are crisp and well-separated. The high end doesn't sound quite as clear as some other premium earbuds like the Galaxy Buds3 Pro, but that doesn't take away from the overall great sound. 


ANC is always hit and miss in this price range, but the OnePlus Buds Pro 3 are mostly a hit. They do a good job of filtering out lower, droning noises like traffic or the din of a crowd. Individual voices and sharper noises are more able to penetrate the veil of silence—Sony and Bose are the gold standard here, and OnePlus falls short of that high water mark. However, OnePlus defaults to the High ANC setting, which produces a noticeable ANC "hiss" that does affect the quality of your music. Switching to the auto option is better as it will only turn on the real-time High setting when there's a lot of ambient noise. The low and moderate ANC settings mess with audio quality in any detectible way. 

Phone calls on the OnePlus Buds Pro 3 work well, with clear audio and good microphone voice pickup, but callers did note we sounded a bit flat and unnatural. Similarly, transparency mode leaves something to be desired. The sound relayed by the buds sounds overly compressed. 

OnePlus Buds Pro 3: The Verdict

The OnePlus Buds Pro 3 are easy to pair and manage, sound great, and they're comfy to wear for long periods. The price is also competitive at $150—similarly equipped earbuds from Apple or Samsung would run you over $200. The OnePlus Buds Pro 3 do look a lot like AirPods, but OnePlus is far from the only company borrowing from Apple's iconic earbuds. 


You might want to tinker with the default settings, for example if you want easy access to your digital assistant or to rein in the aggressive ANC, but the Buds Pro 3 sound pretty good out of the box. Provided you don't demand LDAC for high-res audio, these buds have solid sound quality and phone compatibility. OnePlus phones can control more features from the Bluetooth menu, and they have LHDC support for high-res audio.

The OnePlus Buds Pro 3 are a solid value, if you need a great sounding pair of Bluetooth earbuds and can't justify shelling out 2X the dollars for top-of-the-line products like the Sony WF1000XM5 or Bose QuietComfort Ultra.