In conjunction with the launch of the new Oneplus 12 and 12R, the company also took the opportunity to showcase new earbuds. Oneplus Buds 3 offer longer battery life, the ability to quickly switch between two audio sources and minimise audio delay.
The buds have two elements, a 10.4 mm bass element and a 6 mm midrange/treble. This provides a frequency range of 15 Hz-40 kHz. They have also utilised the LHDC 5.0 codec to achieve reduced audio delay (94 ms), as well as Hi-Res Audio Wireless certification. The earbuds are also claimed to have “3D Audio technology”, although it is not specified which standards are supported.
The Buds 3 are said to deliver a respectable 49 dB noise reduction and use Oneplus’ own algorithms to select the right setting depending on the ambient noise level. The earbuds are also said to analyse the ear canal to further improve attenuation. If you’re out and about and need to hear traffic, or are in a train station where you need to hear speaker announcements, you can activate transparency mode instead.
The earbuds have 10 hours of listening time, and you can get up to 44 hours by charging them in the case. They can be fast-charged for an additional 7 hours of listening time in just 10 minutes. They are also IP55 rated, so they can be used during exercise.
In our previous test of the Oneplus Buds Pro 2, they received praise from our reviewer, while the Oneplus Buds Z2 didn’t perform as well. Hopefully this edition is closer to the Pro model.
Price and availability
The OnePlus Buds 3 is available to pre-order now for €99 and goes on sale on 6 February.
