Good wireless earbuds don’t have to cost you a lot. Value is what the OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro aim to deliver. These earbuds aren’t as cheap as some others on the market, but remain budget-friendly, undercutting key competitors in the earbuds space. You don’t need a OnePlus phone to use them, though a couple of features are set aside for those who have one.
Flagship earbuds get the latest and most advanced features but don’t rule out inexpensive pairs that punch above their weight. In both sound and available features, the Nord Buds 3 Pro manage to impress. You have to accept a few trade-offs along the way that will likely impact whatever decision you make.
Nord Buds 3 Pro design and setup
OnePlus sticks with the general design premise, which is to say these have AirPods-style stems, but the earbuds are decidedly less chunky than the previous Nord Buds 2. Having tested those before, I can say that both are comfortable for my ears. However, I suspect the Nord Buds 3 Pro will feel better for most.
Overall, these aren’t flashy in how they look (well, maybe the soft jade variant qualifies). But I reviewed the more subtle Starry Black. “Starry” refers to the embossed specks on the case rather than the earbuds themselves. The case is small and lightweight to carry in any pocket. And you get a decent IP55 dust and water resistance with it, plus wireless charging support.
In the box, you get three pairs of silicone ear tips. It’s best to try them out and see which ones are most comfortable and give you the best seal in your ear. Support extends to Bluetooth 5.4 and multipoint, allowing you to stay connected to two devices simultaneously. Google Fast Pair simplifies pairing with all Android phones and tablets, whereas you would have to pair them through Settings > Bluetooth on an iPhone or iPad. They work perfectly fine with Mac and Windows PCs too.
There’s some decent power coming out of the 12.4mm drivers, so the Nord Buds 3 Pro are capable of pumping out louder volumes. That matters in the greater context of battery life, which I’ll get to further down.
The HeyMelody app
It’s easy to feel confused when OnePlus doesn’t use its own name for the dedicated companion app that works with these earbuds. HeyMelody is available on both iOS and Android. You can customize and update the Nord Buds 3 Pro on the app. To get the most out of using them, you need to utilize the app, especially since there’s an equalizer in it to tweak the sound.
For starters, there’s a fit test to figure out which tips are best for active noise cancellation (ANC). It plays into the “personalized noise cancellation” feature that tries to optimize noise cancellation and audio clarity based on your ear canal shape.
In-ear detection means the wear sensors on the earbuds recognize when you’re taking either one off to pause playback and putting them back on to resume it.
The Find My Earbuds feature on the app allows the earbuds to emit a sound to make them easier to find if you misplace them. Critically, though, they’ll only do that if at least one of the earbuds is out of the case. If you’ve misplaced them, both still inside the case, then you can’t force it to make a sound. Note this is different from “Find my” functionality using Google Maps that can track current location in real time. The best you can do here is see the last known location.
Controls and customization
Look under the earbud controls section and you see the basics in how they work. However, you do need to add some of your own choices. For some odd reason, single taps do nothing out of the box. Through this section, though, you can assign the left or right (or both) earbud to play/pause when you tap once.
By default, a double-tap skips a track while a triple-tap goes back one. Touch and hold lets you cycle through noise cancellation and transparency modes. With phone calls, double tap either side to answer or end a call. A long touch and hold rejects incoming calls.
Otherwise, you can set long touch and hold to control volume, so for instance, make the left lower volume while the right raises it. Beyond that, most custom choices relate to how the Nord Buds 3 Pro sound.
Controls generally work well but it takes a little time to instinctively know where to tap. The exposed oval on the outer stem is the key spot. I would’ve liked to see OnePlus implement at least some touch-and-hold controls to the stems themselves but the existing ones aren’t too bad.
Audio quality of the Nord Buds 3 Pro
Out of the box, these earbuds give you a pretty solid balance. They lean a little toward bass but I suspect some will feel there’s not enough of it, so it’s a subjective point. You get a resonant soundstage that’s nice to hear for more budget-friendly earbuds. However, you really don’t get to enjoy what they can truly do until you tinker with them in the HeyMelody app.
One advantage here is when you create a custom Sound Master EQ you can also keep BassWave active. Raise the highs and you could put together a balanced sound that’s more dynamic. In turn, you could also do the opposite by leaving BassWave off and boosting the mids and highs for a brighter sound.
However you find what you’re looking for from an audio perspective, you can bet the Nord Buds 3 Pro will sound just right for what they cost. Certainly better than the standard AirPods and Beats Solo Pro, in my opinion. It’s just worth putting some work in to gauge what sounds good. If you have more eclectic music tastes, custom EQ presets will serve you well.
Noise cancellation and Transparency
I recommend doing the fit test because it’s half the battle in ensuring you get the most out of the ANC. They do better at muffling low-frequency sounds, like a droning plane cabin or bus engine. They struggle more with high-frequency pitches, like screeching brakes on the subway or honking horns. Voices also prove to be a mixed bag. They won’t silence someone sitting next to you—at least not entirely. If you’re using these at home, expect children’s nagging shouts to pierce through.
It may be worth going into HeyMelody and trying the personalized noise cancellation to reduce a broader range of noises for your specific ear type. On its own, ANC offers three settings, low, moderate, and high. High is where you’ll probably leave it most of the time. It’s the most efficient and pushes the onboard mics to offset more of the ambient noise around you.
In Transparency Mode, you get the reverse. When you want to be aware of your surroundings, you definitely want that on. Transparency Mode works okay, but I’ve heard better at this price. It’s good enough to help you speak with someone without taking the earbuds off. If you choose to use these while working out, they do a fine job at the gym. They can get a little slippery when you sweat a lot.
Check out our blogger review of the OnePlus Buds 3 Pro.
Nord Buds 3 Pro battery life
There’s a big disparity you have to take into account. Leave ANC off and these earbuds can go up to 12 hours (at default volume levels). Leave it on, and that plummets to 5.5 hours. Again, volume levels are a huge factor, either way, so if you tend to crank it up, you may find the Nord Buds 3 Pro only last 3-4 hours. You can extend the battery life by turning ANC off when you don’t need it.
On the bright side, you have three extra full charges from the case. Thanks to OnePlus’ excellent charging technology, recharging to full capacity takes less time than others. In a pinch, you can plug in for 10 minutes and get 11 hours of playback.
Final thoughts
The OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro are a solid pair in ways that count, like sound quality and comfort. You may want to temper that with a shorter battery life particularly when using heavier features like ANC. Sometimes controls can be finicky as you may tap to skip a song but accidentally pause playback instead.
The headphones cater to the budget conscious. And it shows when you use them. I don’t put that out as a criticism, just more of a disclaimer that you shouldn’t expect extraordinary performance with them. For the price, they’re a good alternative to more expensive pairs, though there are tough competitors in the same ballpark.
The OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro are available now in starry black and soft jade. Check out all the latest wireless earbuds at Best Buy Canada.
