After weeks and weeks of ever more detailed leaks, I wrote last week that if OnePlus's Buds Pro 3 weren't about to launch I'd eat my earbuds. But my earbuds are no longer on the menu, because the Buds Pro 3 have actually, finally launched – and I've written about them leaking so many times that I just typed that as "they've finally leaked".
But no: the OnePlus Buds Pro 3 are official as of now. And that means it's time for us all to put on our surprised faces as we pretend not to know pretty much every detail of OnePlus's new buds. As we'll discover, the leaks have been very accurate.
OnePlus Buds Pro 3: key features
The big news here is improved audio, which is delivered by dual 11mm and 6mm drivers and, in a first for OnePlus, two digital to analog converters (DACs) per earbud: one for each tweeter and one for each woofer. So far so leaked, but OnePlus goes into more detail. The woofer now features two magnets to deliver more power and has a new ceramic-metal composite diaphragm; the tweeter gets an improved diaphragm too and a "small but mighty" 35-micrometer flat voice coil to deliver better high-frequency performance.
The predicted Dynaudio equalizer presets are now official, promising "incredible sound", and the predicted improvements to the ANC system are official too: OnePlus says that with up to 50dB of active noise cancellation, the new Buds Pro 3 deliver the firm's best-ever noise cancellation. There's Apple-style environmental awareness that can adjust the ANC settings as you move in or out of a noisy environment, and OnePlus says that that smart ANC also delivers battery life benefits. The company claims up to 43 hours of play time via the charging case, although it hasn't stated the battery life with ANC on.
The charging case has been redesigned and there's a new two-tone finish on the buds themselves. They have the same touch controls as on the OnePlus Buds 3, so you can slide to adjust the volume, pinch to control your music and pinch and hold to switch between noise cancelling and transparency.
Bluetooth is 5.4 with Fast Pair, and the buds also support Google Spatial Audio.
There are two colors here with the obligatory fancy names: Midnight Opus and Lunar Radiance, aka beige and black. Both versions are available immediately for £199 (about $250 / AU$380). That's going to put them right against some fairly premium options among the best wireless earbuds – we'll let you know if they can stand up to the competition once we've tested them.
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