The Nord Buds 3 are the latest in-ear truly wireless earbuds from OnePlus and are an India-exclusive product. They are a successor to the Nord Buds 3 Pro that was launched a few months ago and are the new entry-level model in the lineup.
For the most part, it’s the same product, just with a few changes, most notably the active noise cancellation. That means you’re still getting the same design, the same drivers, and the same or even better battery life. All of this for 30% less money sounds like a good deal, but we’ll have to see if it’s worth it.
design
The design of the Nord Buds 3 is almost identical to the Pro model. The only difference is in the finish, with the Pro model having a dual-tone finish as well as a speckled paint pattern on the case, while the non-pro model is either all-glossy for the white model or all-matte for the black model.
Thus, all the observations on the Pro model apply to this one. It is reasonably well designed, with good fit and finish, build quality, and comfort. The standard model also retains the IP55 dust and water resistance for the Pro model’s earbuds.
software
The Nord Buds 3 can be paired with Android and iOS devices using the HeyMelody app. Those using a OnePlus smartphone or tablet don’t need the app as all the functionality is built directly into those devices’ Bluetooth settings.
The app allows you to adjust all the features available on the earbuds. You can change your ANC settings and EQ, toggle game mode, manage paired devices, and customize gestures. You can also update the firmware but the Nord earbuds rarely get updates so this isn’t of much use.
HeyMelody App
Compared to the Pro model, the Nord Buds 3 miss out on a few features, mostly related to ANC. You don’t get adjustable ANC levels and you can only turn it on or off or enable transparency mode. There’s also no personalized noise cancellation feature that adjusts it to your ears and ambient noise. You also don’t get the earbud fit test feature as there’s no third feedback mic inside your ear like the Pro model.
But by far the most annoying shortcoming in the Nord Buds 3 is the lack of in-ear detection to control playback and ANC. This means the earbuds don’t know when you wear or remove the earbuds, and thus can’t play/pause music for you, or enable or disable ANC. At this point, this feature should be table stakes, and releasing earbuds in 2024 without it doesn’t feel right.
gesture control
The lack of this feature means you have to rely on gestures to control playback. This works by tapping on the side of the earbuds, which works pretty well most of the time. However, the single tap gesture, which can be enabled only for the play/pause functionality, is very easy to trigger accidentally, which is why it is disabled by default.
Display
audio quality
The Nord Buds 3 feature 12.4mm dynamic drivers with titanized diaphragm just like the Pro model. Both models support only SBC and AAC codecs over Bluetooth 5.4 connection.
Based on this, one would assume that the two would sound similar, but the tuning is different. OnePlus leans even further on the bass-boosted aspect of the sound, even though the Nord Buds 3 Pro were already quite bass-heavy.
In terms of audio quality, there’s not much good news to report. It’s the same kind of bloated, bass-heavy sound we’ve come to expect from OnePlus at this point. While the bass itself isn’t overwhelming, it has a wooly, boomy quality without a lot of precision. It’s mostly mid-bass rather than the sub-bass you might want.
To make the bass stand out, OnePlus has also dramatically reduced the rest of the frequency spectrum. While the lower mids are good, preserving most of the timbre of the vocals, the upper mids and treble have been stripped out. This further adds to the muddyness of the sound as there is no detail or resolution and everything just sounds soft and bassy.
The three EQ presets are mostly just two presets. The Bass preset sounds like the default “Balanced” preset, except it has more mid-bass for added bloat. The Serenade preset is much more mid-forward and results in a honky sound. Fortunately, a manual EQ is available that lets you create multiple custom profiles.
Using the manual EQ, it took a few seconds to improve the earbuds’ default tuning. The 6-band EQ is limited, especially in the mid-range frequencies, but it was still possible to extract good sound from it. Improving the upper mids and highs significantly improves the perceived level of detail in the sound while also improving other aspects of the sound, such as imaging and soundstaging.
At this point, I am willing to offer my services for free to help OnePlus improve the default tuning of their earbuds. I think this has been going on for a long time and they need someone to work in the right direction as their audio product had good sound in the early days. The current tuning feels like it was made specifically for people who haven’t heard anything better, although nowadays people are more aware of what good sound should be like. I am sure that most sound appreciators would choose my preset or something similar over the default tuning if it came preinstalled as a preset in the app, and it took me less than a minute to create it.
Microphone
The microphone performance of the Nord Buds 3 is not very good. The sound is unclear and constantly changing even when recording in a quiet room. There is also an occasional crackling sound in the background.
noise cancellation
The Nord Buds 3 have active noise cancellation that promises up to 32dB of attenuation, while the Pro model promises 49dB. As mentioned earlier, the standard model has two microphones on the outside, one for ANC and another for calls, while the Pro mode has three, with the third being inside the earbud for feedback.
The ANC performance on these earbuds is mediocre. While the low-frequency attenuation is decent, they still let a fair amount of mid- and high-frequency noise in. Also, if there is a lot of high-frequency noise, such as the sound of rain or construction work, enabling ANC somehow amplifies the high-frequency noise, more than disabling ANC.
Compared to the Pro model, the difference is quite obvious. The Pro model performs really well and even though there is still some aspect of high frequency amplification, it is not as noticeable or annoying as the standard model.
Similarly, the Transparency mode on the standard model isn’t that good. The sound is a bit muffled and I had to remove the earbuds to hear people around me better.
Delay
The Nord Buds 3 have good latency performance. The default latency is quite good and gets even better when Game Mode is enabled. It is perfect for casual gaming or watching content on PC.
battery life
The Nord Buds 3 have a claimed battery life of 12 hours without ANC, the same as the Pro model, which isn’t surprising since both have the same battery sizes. However, the standard model has a claimed battery life of 8 hours while the Pro model has a claimed 5.5 hours, only due to having worse and less battery-draining ANC.
When testing with ANC on, I managed to get 9 hours and 6 minutes of playback. This is slightly higher than the claimed figure, which isn’t surprising since the ANC level is adjusted dynamically based on ambient noise, and the test environment was probably not loud enough to trigger maximum level ANC.
With ANC disabled, I got 12 hours and 26 minutes of playback, which was on par with the Pro model and close to the claimed 12-hour figure.
Overall, battery life on the Nord Buds 3 is very impressive but it comes at the cost of lower ANC performance compared to the Pro model.
conclusion
The OnePlus Nord Buds 3 are priced at Rs 2,299, which is quite affordable and much cheaper than the Rs 3,299 price of the Pro model.
For the low price you get poor noise cancellation and no in-ear detection for play/pause. Audio quality remains a sore spot on both models and the cheaper Nord Buds 3 somehow have even worse tuning out of the box. Battery life is better on the non-Pro but again, it comes at the cost of poor ANC performance.
Overall, the Nord Buds 3 are only recommended if you can’t spend extra for the Pro model, even though it’s worth it, and are willing to spend time tuning the sound, regardless of which one you choose.
Pros
- Attractive, well-built design
- Comfortable
- Excellent battery life
- Good latency performance
Shortcoming
- Poor audio tuning
- Poor microphone performance
- Average noise cancellation
- No ear recognition feature
