Not all tech gadgets need to carry the ‘pro’ moniker to be in that coveted club. That’s where OnePlus Buds 3 belongs. It has all the features that can take on competition, like Nothing Ear (2).

A few words about the looks: It’s not very different from what we have seen in the past and the metal stems gather fingerprints but I am sure nobody is going to bring a magnifying glass to someone’s ears to check for smudges.

Perhaps the biggest distinguishing feature of the Buds 3 is the usage of dual dynamic drivers — a 10.4mm woofer and a 6mm tweeter. Couple this with Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity and plenty of codec support, like LHDC, AAC and SBC. You will need an Android device in case you want to enjoy the benefits of LHDC. LHDC is supported by several Android phones but it’s not as popular as LDAC. Bluetooth connectivity is as good as you can get on an affordable set of wireless earbuds.

To get the buds working, download the HeyMelody app

The frequency supported by Buds 3 is between 15Hz and 40KHz. Since OnePlus 12 phones were in for review while trying out the Buds 3, we used both phones.

You need to download the HeyMelody app to access all the features available on Buds 3. It’s good to see a custom equaliser that allows some room for controlling sound.

Further, you get something called Basswave Enhancement and it can be controlled via the app. Does it work? Slightly but I don’t think it’s a distinguishing feature.

During the review, we went from George Harrison’s My Sweet Lord to Billy Joel’s latest, Turn the Lights Back On, from Billie Eilish’s What Was I Made For? to Brittany Howard’s What Now. If you are looking for bass, there is enough of it but it doesn’t overpower other frequencies too much. I am sure most people will use this in gyms, so it works well. The sound staging is comparable to Nothing Ear 2 and even if there are a lot of instruments in the mix, they hardly clash. If you ask me about tonality, I will give it eight out of 10 because Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 offers a more refined output.

What shines most on Buds 3 are songs where you want vocals to come through clearly, so the new Billy Joel song plays out well, allowing the listener to appreciate moments of self-doubt in Joel’s voice.

There is active noise cancellation and a claim to drown out up to 49dB of environmental sounds. You also get control over how much ANC you want. Given the price point, I enjoyed the level of ANC but for someone who is used to AirPods Pro, it can be a challenging situation. I wore it during a work trip to Delhi and the whirr of the airplane engine was more or less drowned out. Transparency mode is surprisingly good. Another area where Buds 3 shines is call quality and the microphone does a pretty good job.

The set of wireless earbuds does well in the ANC department

There are other features, like Spatial Audio but like Basswave Enhancement, I find it more of a marketing ploy. Spatial Audio on most inexpensive earbuds is underwhelming.

Should you buy it? Keeping ANC on, you will get six hours and that’s pretty good (44 hours of battery life with the case). The sound quality and tuning of the OnePlus Buds 3 stand apart and when you add the personalised EQ, brownie points are there to be won. In other words, OnePlus Buds 3 (Rs 5,499) doesn’t disappoint.