OnePlus Buds 3: The New TWS Earbuds from OnePlus

2023 is ticking away, and the new year will bring – among many other things – another OnePlus flagship in its first months. Namely, that’s the OnePlus 12, but that’s not at all everything we’re apparently about to see from the Carl Pei-founded company. Alongside their 2024 flagship phone, OnePlus is expected to announce the OnePlus Buds 3. Pay attention to the way this TWS is named, there’s no “Pro” mentioned. There’s no official date, but it’s only logical to anticipate them being announced at the same time, given the fact that the previous version – the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 were announced together with the OnePlus 11 earlier this year.

Enough with the release date speculations already; the more important thing is thanks to a well-known time-traveler in the tech jungle (OnLeaks over at X) we get to see some renders. The image renders you’re about to see are based on the testing stage unit phase, so keep that in mind.

At first glance, they reveal there’s a change on the outside, even though the overall design is nearly identical from their predecessors. The finish on the new TWS pair is now all metallic, instead of the two-tone design on the previous iteration.

Key Features of OnePlus Buds 3

• Reduced weight: it’s said the Buds 3 will be lighter than the Buds Pro 2 with each earpiece being 4.77 grams instead of 4.9 grams.
• Smaller woofer drivers: instead of the 11mm woofer drivers from the Buds Pro 2, the ones on the Buds 3 are allegedly going to be 10.4mm in diameter. The leaks claim that the tweeter drivers will remain at 6mm.
• Similar ANC: the Buds 3 will have a 48dB Active Noise Cancellation support, as the Buds Pro 2 did.

There’s more information on the OnePlus Buds 3: they will allegedly sport an IP55 rating for water and dust resistance (IPX4 rating for the case), they will utilize Bluetooth v5.3, and they’ll bring Google Fast pair plus dual connection support.

Battery Life and Charging Capabilities

On the topic of battery life and charging capabilities, it’s said the OnePlus Buds 3 will offer the same 9 hours of playback time as the Buds Pro 2 did (with ANC turned off). When you throw in the case’s power storage (and you should always throw your earbuds in the case) you will get yourself a battery life of 33 hours. When ANC is turned on, the earbuds will last for 6 hours and for 22 hours with the case.

Things are different when it comes to charging. Those who’ve had the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 appreciate the fact that one can get 10 hours of playback in just 10 minutes of charging. The OnePlus Buds 3 is said to provide 5 hours of listening time in 10 minutes of charging.