BEST sound under $100! OnePlus Buds3 Review (vs Soundcore vs Earfun)
The OnePlus Buds3’s has covered all the basics, like multipoint, a decent battery and app support, so you’re not going to miss out on much here, except for the lack of wireless charging cause it doesn’t have that.
Strangely though, it also doesn’t have its own dedicated app on iOS or Android, instead OnePlus has decided to use the HeyMelody app (Android/iOS) which is also used by Oppo earbuds. The app is functional and does provide a good selection of customizations to its controls and sound including a Golden Sound option, which tells the buds how sensitive your ears are to various sound frequencies and gives corrects accordingly so you hear more detail.
And after applying the correction you can even customize it further with some EQ presets or manually with a graphic EQ. Or, if you simply want spatial audio, you can use the OnePlus 3D Audio setting which doesn’t give you head tracking, but does spread out your soundstage into what feels like a multichannel surround sound setup.
But that’s it for features. Today we’re going to compare the OnePlus Buds 3 to two of the most popular earbuds under $100, the Soundcore Liberty 4 NC and the Earfun Air Pro 3. As usual we’ll be comparing their performance in terms of sound quality, noise canceling and microphone pickup, and at the end, some pros and cons about the Buds3 that you should know about before you purchase.
And you want to check their latest prices, do check out the following Amazon links:
OnePlus Buds3 - https://amzn.to/3UXCF53
Soundcore Liberty 4 NC - https://amzn.to/49U0W03
Earfun Air Pro 3 - https://amzn.to/3wFQvyU
Microphone
Now we’re going to compare their call quality to the Liberty 4 NC and the Air Pro 3 in both quiet and noisy conditions using some really loud cafe style background noise, and some wind noise.
I think the Buds3 was quite good in both quiet and noisy conditions, cleaner than the Air Pro 3 and blocks more wind noise than the Liberty 4 NC, although my voice did sound crisper on the 4 NC than the OnePlus (you can check out my sound samples here).
Active Noise Cancelling
Its active noise canceling is rather effective. Even in quiet environments you can really feel the difference when you switch from ANC off to ANC. It’s not as effective overall as the Soundcores or the Earfuns at canceling mid-range noises like human voices, but it’s just as effective at cutting low frequency rumble. Have a listen to the samples comparing their noise canceling using the same background noise as before.
Its active noise canceling is rather effective. Even in quiet environments you can really feel the difference when you switch from ANC off to ANC. It’s not as effective overall as the Soundcores or the Earfuns at canceling mid-range noises like human voices, but it’s just as effective at cutting low frequency rumble. Have a listen to the samples comparing their noise canceling using the same background noise as before.
If you’d like to compare their ANC and call quality to other earbuds, then do become a member for $1 per month or more. This gives you full access to my personal comparison tool which you can use to compare earbuds A to B at your own time, and at your own pace. Many people have joined up, especially people who can’t just simply visit a store to compare earbuds. They know it’s going to save them so much time being able to just cut through all the marketing, and compare these products remotely without visiting a store.
Transparency
In terms of transparency, there’s just as much ambient passthrough as the Earfun especially in the high frequencies, so they’re both comparable, but both aren’t as transparent as the Soundcores, because they both have a bit of occlusion in the midrange so when you’re speaking, your own voice can feel a bit blocked. Whereas the Soundcores sound very natural, almost like I’m not wearing earbuds.
Sound Quality
These are not Hi-Res certified, but it could have been because these do produce the right frequency range. It just doesn’t support streaming over LDAC which is pretty much the standard wireless streaming codec. It can stream over LHDC 4.0 but the problem is that LHDC is only supported on certain smartphones from China like OnePlus, Xiaomi and Oppo. But For almost all other smartphones you’ll have to use the standard AAC.
That being said, they still do sound pretty good on default. Compared to either the Soundcore or the Earfuns, it’s quite a bit brighter in the high treble so its soundstage feels more airy. In the sub-bass frequencies the OnePlus won’t deliver as much impact, but it’s more pronounced from the lower to high-mid frequencies and what this means is you’re going to also feel more gravity and richness in vocals, and you can even hear more surface detail in bass passages.
By contrast the Soundcores and the Earfuns are both darker in the midrange with the Earfun Air Pro 3 having the darkest sounding vocals. To me, They all sound great but I think the Buds3 has the best sound even without applying the Golden Sound correction. I really liked that vibrance in the soundstage, but which one sounds better is still a matter of preference.
In Conclusion
The Buds3 is overall a great performer and there are things which I do prefer about them compared to the others in this comparison. In terms of mic pickup, and especially in terms of sound, I do like them over their Soundcore and Earfun rivals, and the Golden Sound setting does make it sound a little more vibrant and detailed, although Soundcore does have something similar called HearID. Its touch controls also include the swipe gesture. This may not seem like a big deal but for me, this does free up the tap gestures to make it possible for the controls on both sides to mirror each other.
This is harder to do on the Soundcores and Earfuns because they only do tap control, so you may have to give something up in order for volume up and down controls to exist on the same earbud. If we’re talking about a snug comfortable fit, I am getting that more on the OnePlus compared to the Soundcore and Earfuns. Perhaps it’s the way they’re shaped. It’s simply a closer, more ergonomic fit that plugs better, and which makes them less likely to fall out.
And lastly the case is just a little bit thinner, but it makes for a more discreet look when you have it in your pocket, more so than the Earfuns and the Soundcores.
So based on those factors, I do prefer the OnePlus, but there are some things that could be better versus the Soundcore and Earfun which have better active noise canceling, wireless charging, and their apps have a wider range of EQ presets to play with, as well as settings. So if it’s features you’re looking at, the Soundcore and Earfun are definitely more complete. But otherwise the OnePlus Buds3 is looking like a very compelling alternative.
If you’d like to check the latest prices of these earbuds, click on the links below.
OnePlus Buds3 - https://amzn.to/3UXCF53
Soundcore Liberty 4 NC - https://amzn.to/49U0W03
Earfun Air Pro 3 - https://amzn.to/3wFQvyU
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