OnePlus Buds 3 review: our favourite pair of TWS earbuds under Rs 6,000 right now

Up until now, OnePlus had a good distinction between its premium and affordable truly wireless earbuds. On the premium side, we had the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 (and the Buds Pro before it), while the budget segment was taken care of by the Nord and Z series, with the likes of the OnePlus Nord Buds 2 and Buds Z2. The company decided to throw this balance out of whack with the launch of the OnePlus Buds 3, a premium-looking pair of TWS earbuds at half the price of the Buds 2 Pro. But we’re not complaining! The OnePlus Buds 3 is good. Really good in fact.

Design, comfort, and connectivity

The OnePlus Buds 3 takes a few design cues from its Pro sibling, which is great because you’re getting a premium design at half the price. The case’s design is fairly similar to the Buds Pro 2, with a rectangular shape and matte finish. It’s smooth to the touch and doesn’t show a significant bulge in the pocket. There’s a wide slit, which makes it easy to open a case as slippery as this. The earbuds sit flat in the case and there’s a button in the middle for Bluetooth pairing.

While the case has a smooth matte finish, the earbuds come with a dual finish. The stem is a glossy and reflective shade of either Splendid Blue or Metallic Black, depending on which colour option you go for. The part that sits inside the ear has a matte finish as does the touch sensor on the surface of the stem.

Speaking of the touch sensor, I love the swipe up and swipe down gesture to control the volume. It’s very convenient to use and I feel more TWS earbuds should adopt this. You can single tap, double tap, and triple tap the sensor to perform various functions like play/pause, jumping to the next or previous song, activating voice assistant or game mode. All of this can be mapped to your liking through the OnePlus Buds 3’s Bluetooth settings menu.

The earbuds are quite light and the silicone ear tips are soft, making them comfortable to keep in your ears for long sessions. They are also IP55-rated for water and dust resistance, which means they’ll be able to handle sweat while working out or the occasional drops of water on a rainy day.