Over the last year or so, I have been thoroughly impressed with the audio products from OnePlus, including the Buds 3 Pro, Buds 4, and even the Nord Buds 3 Pro. Which is why I was curious to see if OnePlus could extend that streak with its latest budget TWS, the Nord Buds 3. I have been using the OnePlus entry-level TWS for three weeks, and here is how they fared in the real world.
Unboxing and Design:
Opening the blue and black colored box of the Nord Buds 3r, you’ll be greeted with the earphone case wrapped inside a plastic covering, followed by a sticker, some ear tips, and an instruction booklet.
Personally, I love that OnePlus has ditched the pebble-like design of the Nord Buds 2r in favor of a rectangular case with slanted edges, which gives the earphones their own personality. The case also has a matte finish, which protects it against smudges and fingerprints while giving them a modern yet elegant touch.
There is an LED indicator and the USB-C type port at the bottom for charging. Sadly, there is no dedicated pairing button on the earphones, despite them supporting dual-device connectivity.
The magnets on the case and the buds are strong, meaning the Buds 3r won’t easily come out even if you accidentally drop them. The same, however, can’t be said about the lid, which opens up easily.
Performance and Features:
If you own a OnePlus device, you don’t need a separate app for accessing the settings on the Nord Buds 3r. If you own a device from any other brand, you’ll need to download the Hey Melody app on the Play Store or App Store.
There is support for Google Fast Pair on the TWS, meaning the moment you take them out of the case, they’ll be connected to your phone.
The Nord Buds 3r fit comfortably in my ears, even with the standard ear tips. At around 5g a piece, the Nord Buds 3r feel lightweight and don’t come off easily, meaning they are safe to use for gym sessions or running. They also come with an IP55 rating, so a little bit of sweat and slight sprinkles shouldn’t be a problem for them.
Talking about the elephant in the room: audio quality. I feel it is decent for the price point with a slight inclination to favor the bass over vocals. I also tried watching a few movies on my tablet using these buds, and there were no strange issues to report.
The Hey Melody app lets you customize audio performance, either by choosing from two presets or tweaking the equalizer to your liking.
The earphones feature customizable controls: tap once to play/pause, twice to skip tracks, three times to go back, and hold to adjust volume.
The two settings that I really liked are AI Translate (only for OnePlus phones) and camera capture using the TWS, which makes them truly stand out in this price range.
The Nord Buds 3r come with a promised playback time of 54 hours and 12 hours on the buds. I couldn’t independently verify these claims, but I used the buds for 10–15 hours without charging the case, suggesting a battery life well over 40 hours.
One thing to note, however, is that these TWS do not come with ANC, which means listening to music can be slightly difficult if you are in a very noisy environment.
Verdict:
The Nord Buds 3r are priced at ₹1,599 but have been available for under ₹1,500 during a recent sale. At this price, the earphones offer decent sound quality, a good fit, a modern-looking case, an IP55 rating, and great battery life. The only big con in these TWS is the lack of ANC, but if you can tolerate a bit of noise, there is really no reason not to consider these earphones in their price range
