Review of the new OnePlus Watch 2R and Nord Buds 3 Pro

I’ve been wearing this OnePlus Watch 2R on my wrist for four days now, and the battery indicator still shows three of the six bars. The Nord Buds 3 Pro have been in my ears exclusively for the same number of days, and they work as advertised; music sounds great and the noise cancellation works pretty well.

Even better? These two new OnePlus wearables are even cheaper than their previous versions.

OnePlus Watch 2R Battery Life

OnePlus claims its epic battery life is thanks to its self-developed dual-engine architecture that uses two powerful chipsets (Snapdragon W5 and BES 2600 MCU Efficiency) to ensure you get tons of performance and a long-lasting 500mAh battery.

The Efficiency chip handles routine tasks and simple background tasks when the more power-hungry Snapdragon W5 isn’t needed. When you launch a task that requires more immediate power, the Snapdragon takes over. The result is a watch that you can wear for days and days without even worrying about recharging. OnePlus promises 100 hours of battery life from a full charge (48 hours with heavy use), and I haven’t seen anything that challenges that.

The OnePlus Watch 2R runs on Wear OS 4, which means it gets all the features Google provides in its watch-centric operating system, plus dual-chip functionality.

If you need a charge, the Watch 2R fills up quickly, thanks to OnePlus’ Super VOC charging system, which is also included on its smartphones like the OnePlus 12. When the Watch arrived in the mail, it only had 50% charge; I set it on the charger with the included wall charger, and boom, it was ready to go in just a few minutes.

Finally, the Watch 2R is 25% lighter than the previous OnePlus Watch 2 (in terms of the watch chassis itself) thanks to the aluminum body.

Watch 2R track your fitness

The Watch 2R, like the Watch 2, relies on the OHealth app, which is exclusively available on Android. I was unable to connect the Watch to my iPhone running Wear OS for iOS.

The OHealth app offers over 100 sports tracking modes and has optimizations for badminton, running, tennis, skiing, and more, according to OnePlus. I haven’t skied with the watch, so I can’t comment on how well it works, but that’s a good number of sports you can track, for sure.

The company claims the Watch 2R was “designed specifically for badminton enthusiasts,” which sounds pretty specific. I suspect it could also work with my own racquet sport, pickleball, since it can capture metrics like swing force and speed.

For runners, the Watch 2R features dual-frequency GPS with two antennas to also track their position while running.

The OHealth app also collects all the other health and fitness data you’d expect, like steps, active calories, heart rate, stress, SpO2, and sleep. I wore this watch 24 hours a day while testing it and found that I hadn’t gotten enough sleep this week, thanks to a few late nights out on the town.

The OnePlus Watch 2R comes in Gunmetal Gray and Forest Green, and costs $229.99 USD / $299.99 CAD, which is $70 USD / $100 CAD less than its predecessor, the Watch 2. There’s also a $30 USD discount right now, making it a more affordable $199.99

OnePlus Nord Buds Pro 3

These new earbuds from OnePlus come in the same colors as the Watch 2R above and offer active noise cancellation (ANC) and pretty decent sound quality. I was able to listen to Spotify without interruption despite the lawnmower passing through my front yard, and while I could still hear voices in my immediate surroundings, I had to take them out every now and then to hear what was being said.

OnePlus promises intelligent noise reduction with three levels of ANC, mild (with a reduction of 15 dB), moderate (25 dB) and maximum (49 dB). The Nord 3 earbuds also have a Transparency mode, which you can activate by pressing and holding either earbud for 1 second.

Touch controls include a single tap on either earbud to play or pause a song, a double tap to answer or end a call, and three taps to skip back and play the previous track. The Nord Buds 3 Pro come with a nice little USB-A to USB-C cable for charging and three sets of eartips for different ear sizes.

They pair perfectly with iOS or Android, but for special features you’ll need to use an Android device. These include an ear canal test (which I never got to work), 3D audio, access to earbud controls, and a “find my earbuds” feature in case they end up in your couch cushions. I found these settings on my OnePlus 12 phone under Bluetooth. Just tap the little info button next to your Nord Buds 3 and you’ll see them all.

Nord Buds 3 Pro Sound Quality

Sound quality is good; the Nord Buds Pro 3 deliver solid bass and clear highs. Do they surpass the experience of the AirPods Pro or even the Nothing Ear? In my opinion, they come close. Listening to a special Spotify playlist “Songs to Test Headphones With,” I had a hard time finding any faults with them. These are great earbuds, hands down. I tend to prefer a balanced EQ, but the Buds 3 Pro offer three presets and BassWave, a dynamic bass boost exclusive to OnePlus. You can also add custom EQ settings to tweak everything specifically to your taste.

OnePlus promises up to 44 hours of listening time with ANC off and using the charging case, which itself offers a flash charge to give you an additional 11 hours of listening time with just 10 minutes of charging.

The Buds 3 Pro have a !P55 water and dust resistance rating, so you can feel confident if they get hit by jets of water or a blast of dust, and they have dual connection, meaning you can pair them to a phone and a PC, then easily switch between the two devices. They also offer Fast Pair for Android, although I had to go into the Bluetooth settings to connect them at first.

Overall, the OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro may be a bit of a mouthful, but they are very useful for everyday use. They have more features when connected to Android, but iOS users will also find them enjoyable to listen to. They last a long time, can go anywhere with you, and cost $79.99 / CAD $119.99, which is an easy price to swallow. OnePLus is currently offering a special deal for $20 off.

If you’re looking for a great-sounding pair of earbuds for yourself or a friend, the OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro are definitely worth your time and money.