OnePlus' next high-end earbuds leak, including an ANC upgrade and a new-look case
The OnePlus Buds Pro 3 aren’t official yet, but official images and specs just leaked
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Just yesterday we reported thatOnePlus may be bringing AI features to its OnePlus Buds 3 Pro, although those earbuds haven’t yet been announced. However the Buds 3 Pro definitely exist, because they’ve just leaked in a massive series of images alongside tons of specification details too.
There’s no news about the AI features – they appear to be in a future version of the app – but there’s plenty here to be excited about.
The big leak comes viaSmartprix.com, and the images of the case have been seconded by journalist Max Jambor on X in the post embedded below.
Here’s what’s leaked so far.
Buds Pro 3 pic.twitter.com/vr1t3mjsGZJuly 31, 2024
OnePlus Buds Pro 3: key features and specifications
The case design looks very like that of the Nord Buds 3 Pro and has a leather or faux leather finish on the front, USB-C and a pairing button. There are two bud colors, Midnight Opus (black) and a silvery-gold color called Lunar Radiance. The case weighs 61g.
Battery life is reportedly 43 hours via the case, four hours more than the current model, and they’re IP55 rated for dust, water and sweat resistance. Bluetooth is 5.4 with low latency of 94ms and dual-connection support.
These are dual-driver buds with 11mm woofers and 6mm tweeters, the same sizes as in the current Buds Pro 2, and they’ll support LHDC 5.0 audio at up to 24-bit / 192kHz; the current buds are LHDC 4.0. That codec isn’t as well known as the likes of LDAC or aptX Adaptive but of course it’s supported by OnePlus phones.
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Noise cancelling is improved to 50dB compared to the 49dB of the Buds Pro 2 and reportedly delivers better cancellation than before. And a key selling point in the marketing materials is the Dynaudio EQ with presets for different musical genres.
In ourOnePlus Buds Pro 2 reviewwe were quite impressed but felt that the sound wasn’t quite there; hopefully these new buds will perform better in that respect, because that was the only area where we felt the Buds Pro 2 were really lacking.
There’s no news of pricing as yet but we’d expect the third generation Buds Pro to be priced similarly to the current models, which launched at $179 / £179 back in 2023. That puts them firmly in the middle of the ANC earbud market, more expensive than the likes ofJBL Live Pro 2andBeats Studio Budsbut cheaper than buds such as theSony WF-1000XM5.
Writer, broadcaster, musician and kitchen gadget obsessive Carrie Marshall has been writing about tech since 1998, contributing sage advice and odd opinions to all kinds of magazines and websites as well as writing more than a dozen books. Her memoir,Carrie Kills A Man, is on sale now and her next book, about pop music, is out in 2025. She is the singer in Glaswegian rock bandUnquiet Mind.
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