These Are the Budget Earbuds to Care About

Key Takeaways

• The OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro offers excellent sound quality for less than $100.
• Hybrid ANC of up to 49dB cancels out unwanted noise effectively.
• The touch controls can be overly sensitive, and certain songs may sound choppy (may only be limited to iPhone playback).

There is no shortage of budget-friendly wireless earbuds out there, but I’m going to be telling everyone I know to go for the OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro (including you!). These terrific in-ears come in two colors and deliver some of the best sound quality you’ll ever hear for less than $100.

Price and Availability

The OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro cost $80 and are currently available through OnePlus and Amazon. You’ll be able to buy them in Starry Black (my test model) or Soft Jade colorways.

Design, Fit, and Controls

A lot of wireless earbuds (and we have a big list of these for you to check out) look and feel like the OnePlus Nords Buds 3 Pro. So, while I can’t award points for aesthetic or mechanical ingenuity, I can tell you that I enjoyed the look of the Nord Buds 3 Pro. They just look a lot like the AirPods Pro and Samsung Galaxy Buds 3, albeit a bit more rounded at the base of each bud stem. Even the charging case was about the same size as the MagSafe one that came with my AirPods Pro.

The Nord Buds 3 Pro lacks any kind of metallic cosmetics, opting for plastics through and through. I was able to use the ear tips that were already equipped, but the earbuds come with two other sets if you don’t like how things feel. If you’re not using a OnePlus phone or tablet, pairing them to your non-OnePlus host device is as easy as popping the buds in the case, flipping the lid open, and pressing the Function button (to the right of the USB port) for two seconds. Then, just head into your phone or tablet’s Bluetooth settings, and the Nord Buds 3 Pro should be listed.

As far as controls go, all touch commands are mapped to the back of the earbud drivers, right along a small vertical indentation. Playback, phone call, and track controls are handled by single, double, and triple taps to either the left or right bud. Pressing and holding either bud for one-second switches between noise-canceling modes. I also added volume commands in the HeyMelody app and was able to press and hold the left and right buds for four seconds. The left handled volume up, while the right handled volume down.

I actually found the touch controls a little too sensitive. I can’t tell you how many times I scratched the side of my head only to accidentally pause a song or podcast.

Besides the earbuds, additional box contents should include a USB charging cable, extra ear tips, and user manuals.

Sound Quality

Note: I tested the OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro using Apple Music, Netflix, and YouTube on an iPhone 12, an M1 MacBook Pro, and a Roku Streaming Stick 4K. I also set up Bluetooth Multipoint between my iPhone and MacBook.

Overall, I found the sound quality of the Nord Buds 3 Pro to be pretty dang impressive, with just one semi-major hiccup to discuss. In fact, I’d like to get those out of the way to start.

I had a bit of a choppiness issue when listening to certain tracks using an iPhone. The best way I can describe it is that it would sound like a cruddy MP3 file was starting to cut in and out. This happened with both Apple Music and YouTube. I also had the same issue when switching over to my girlfriend’s iPhone 12. I played the same tracks using her Spotify app, and the choppiness resurfaced.

As far as troubleshooting goes, I quickly ruled out bandwidth and other signal interference and ensured the Music app was set to Lossless for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Dolby Atmos listening. I played the same songs that caused the issue on the desktop Music app on my MacBook, and I couldn’t get the choppiness to happen. Weird.

This single glitch aside, though, the Nord Buds 3 Pro has a warm and energetic sound profile. You can switch between EQ presets in the HeyMelody app (or Wireless Earphones app if you own a OnePlus host device), though I think most folks will enjoy the default Balanced preset. Songs like The Dear Hunter’s “Echo” and “Stuck on a Wire, Out on a Fence” are fun and well-mixed rock tracks that sounded great through the Nord Buds 3 Pro. The extra oomph in the low-end served as a kind of blanketing to the mids and highs.

Lorde’s “Royals” was the first song I sampled after creating my own sound profile. I modeled my custom preset on the Balanced setting, with a little extra presence in the low-end and upper mids. This gave more shine to the vocals and percussive finger snaps while adding additional sustain to the track’s rhythmic beat hits. At times, the soundstage got a little narrow, but for the most part, songs sounded huge and detailed.

The Serenade, Bass, and BassWave presets were cool but not listening profiles I’d use daily. Earbud audio can get very nuanced, and “too much” or “too little” of something is usually easy to pick up. Personally, I found Serenade to be missing too much low-end and the Bass and BassWave modes to be way too boomy for my liking.

For a movie test, I paired the Nord Buds 3 Pro to my Roku Streaming Stick 4K and streamed “Edge of Tomorrow” on Netflix, specifically, this scene. What a thrill it was to experience chaotic sci-fi action through the Nord Buds 3 Pro. The earbuds did a great job of bouncing sound around in a three-dimensional fashion, delivering solid surround sound emulation.

I was also able to set up Bluetooth Multipoint between my iPhone and MacBook. Everything worked pretty nicely, though there was about a four to five second delay when I played audio on whatever device was second in command at the time.

Noise Canceling

The OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro uses a hybrid ANC system to cancel out unwanted sounds in your environment. This technology works best with low-droning sounds, such as HVAC systems, construction, plane, train, and automobile engines, and even office chatter. Based on my experience with the Nord Buds 3 Pro, I’m giving the earbuds top marks when it comes to canceling out the sounds I didn’t want to hear.

Not only was I able to stand directly next to my apartment’s loud HVAC blower and hear zero noise from it whatsoever, but I was also able to go into the HeyMelody app to switch between different noise-canceling strength levels. Even at the lowest setting, the Nord Buds 3 Pro still did an admirable job at killing most of the HVAC rumble. But I loved increasing the ANC strength to hear some of the HVAC’s higher-frequency sounds start disappearing in real time.

Unlike other earbud brands, OnePlus even offers a personalized noise-cancellation feature in the HeyMelody app. This automatically calibrates your ANC experience to best suit the shape of your ear canals and ear tip size.

I liked how easy it was to switch between ANC and Transparency modes by simply pressing and holding either bud for one second. OnePlus’ ambient listening feature is pretty good but lacks the more advanced immersion you’ll get from earbuds like the AirPods Pro or Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4.

Call Quality

The Nord Buds 3 Pro leverage the onboard ANC system to reduce background noise during phone calls, making them ideal for outdoor environments and chatter-filled workplaces. While I can’t say the call quality blew me away, test callers sounded loud and clear on my end, albeit with that age-old layer of compression that you get with pretty much every headset known to man.

I took calls both indoors and outdoors, and I must say, I was very impressed by the ANC performance. When I went outside, cars were driving by, neighbors were walking dogs, and HVAC systems were operating. My girlfriend couldn’t hear any of those sounds while she was talking to me.

Battery Life

OnePlus’ marketing of the Nord Buds 3 Pro leans a lot on the “44-hour battery life” laurel. To get anywhere close to that, though, you’ll need to have ANC disabled and the earbuds set to a moderate volume. For those wanting to listen with ANC, OnePlus claims a more modest 5.5 hours per bud, with an extra 14.5 hours provided by a fully charged case. OnePlus also claims that 10 minutes of recharging should give you up to 11 listening hours (with ANC disabled).

As for myself, I’m all about the full ANC experience. Throughout my testing of the Nord Buds 3 Pro, I had ANC maxed out and the volume around 70%. I used the buds for about 4.5 hours during one listening session and was able to squeeze just shy of two hours out of them later that evening.

Using the HeyMelody App

If you’re not connecting the Nord Buds 3 Pro to a OnePlus gadget, you’ll need to download the HeyMelody app (available for iPhone and Android devices) to access settings and customizations. Fortunately, the app is available for both Apple and Android devices. If you do happen to own a OnePlus host device, you’ll be using the Wireless Earphones app already built into your phone or tablet.

I’m a big fan of intuitive control hubs, which is precisely what the HeyMelody app is all about. Once your buds are detected, the app’s main page shows your remaining battery level for both buds and the charging case. Noise cancelation settings and EQ adjustments are on the same page, along with other audio settings. There’s even an ear tip fit test and a Find My Earbuds feature! This handy tool emits a series of four chimes from the Nord Buds 3 Pro when activated, which is helpful for those of us who often lose our earbuds.

You can also tap Earbud Controls to create custom single, double, triple, and long-press commands for each earbud. The About tab provides legalities, the app version, and a list of supported devices.

Should You Buy the OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro?

That one iPhone playback glitch aside (and I’m willing to bet the choppiness can be fixed with a firmware update), the OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro are a pretty extraordinary pair of budget-friendly ANC earbuds. They don’t do everything perfectly, but the Nord Buds 3 Pro delivered one of the most fun and enthralling in-ear experiences I’ve had.