Nothing Ear: Two-minute review

The Nothing Ear are actually the third-gen version of the company’s flagship earbuds line. If you're not up-to-date on your Nothing history, this should be enough to make you aware aware that Nothing cares, well, nothing about naming conventions.

In many ways, the shiny new Nothing Ear are really great earbuds for the price and among my favorite of all the in-ears I’ve tested for TechRadar. Having said that, I’d much rather be using whatever Nothing comes up with next than these new-for-2024 models. Might that be the Nothing Ear (4)? Who can say. For now, the Nothing Ear have a few glaring issues that – potentially ironed out in a future version – could be some of the best noise-cancelling earbuds out there.

My biggest issue with the Nothing Ear, something which plagued testing, was their surprisingly low maximum volume. When outdoors, the buds don’t reach even the quietest volume I like to listen to – even with decent noise cancellation, it was hard to enjoy music in noisy areas. 

Next up is the battery life. Earbuds makers really need to understand that five hours of listening just doesn’t cut it in this day and age, when people spend more time with headphones on than off. I had to keep pausing my testing in order to let the buds charge – that isn’t a good sign, even if the case does hold quite a bit more juice.

Talking of the case, it’s made of a really cheap-feeling plastic is a contender for the least-nice-to-hold earbuds holder I’ve ever used. It creaks and flexes in the hand, and I feel like one drop from even the lowest-slung coffee table would crack it. That’s not even to make mention of the fairly uninspired and blocky look of the thing.

That's my main Nothing Ear gripes off my chest, early doors, so I can spend the rest of this review heaping on the praise they rightly deserve. The Nothing Ear offer spectacular audio for the money. The equalizer gives you total control over the buds’ sound, more so than in most rival products, and that’s doubly the case if you like a thumping, accurate, crisp bass. 

If you felt the ground shaking in early June 2024, that wasn’t an earthquake – it was me testing these buds' bass. It’s incredible, and you can almost feel your head thumping at how vibrant the low frequencies are. For some, it might be too much, but that’s why it’s so great that the equalizer lets you bring out the sparkle in your music.

The Nothing X app also brings a fantastic sound detection technology, to try and tune music specifically for your ears. A few brands offer this but none has had such a dramatic effect on the listening experience as this one.

Sure, the Nothing Ear's charging case isn't the best, but the buds are much better: they’re lightweight and sit in your ear as reliably as an earring would – so much so, you can easily forget that you’re wearing them. 

So there’s a lot to like here, and a fair bit to love, too – it’s just a shame that the Nothing Ear have those three glaring issues. I could look past any one of them alone, but together they make it hard to give the buds a higher review score.

Nothing Ear review: Price and release date

• Announced in April 2024 alongside Ear (a)
• Costs $149 / £129 / AU$249

The Nothing Ear was announced alongside the affordable Nothing Ear (a) in April 2024, with the buds hitting store shelves a matter of days later. This was just over a year on from the release of the Nothing Ear (2) – the Ear are follow-ups to those and how I wish the makers would have just called them the Nothing Ear (3), for simplicity’s sake. Got it? Good.

You can pick up the Nothing Ear for $149 / £129 / AU$249. That's how much the Ear (2) cost last year everywhere except in Australia, where a slight price bump has come into play.

That means you can’t quite consider these ‘cheap’ earbuds, but they’re certainly not pricey ones either. There’s not much competition at this in-between price point, with many earbuds aiming at customers who want to spend less than $100 / £100 / AU$200 and most of the step-up options costing double that.

But if you do want something for this specific price, there are a few options like the Beats Studio Buds, Jabra Elite 5, Sennheiser Accentum and of course the bog-standard Apple AirPods. Or check out our best earbuds page for various budgets. 

Nothing Ear review: Specs

Nothing Ear review: Features

• 5-hour buds battery, 24-hour with case (when ANC is used)
• Decent noise cancellation, with caveats
• Nothing X app brings useful extras

Lots of the Nothing Ear's magic comes from their tie-in phone app called Nothing X. You don’t need the app, but lots of the features it brings are game-changers.

With the app you can set touch controls (discussed in detail in the Design section), fiddle with sound settings with an equalizer, bass booster and hearing test (all dealt with in the Sound quality section), toggle the noise cancellation (explored in the Features sect- oh, wait, that’s this one!) and change a few other settings like in-ear detection and which audio standard you stream from. Plus you can do an eartip fit test and find the earbuds if you lose them. That's a lot.

The noise cancellation is good – great in some circumstances and a little lacking in others. It’s not quite best-in-class for mid-range earbuds but it’s up there. There are six optional modes: off, Transparency (basically like an ambient mode) and four different intensities of standard ANC: high, mid, low and adaptive. 

The latter, which I found myself using for most of the testing period, changes the level of noise cancellation based on where you are, which means the Nothing Ear aren’t using loads of battery to block out noise if you’re home alone. 

In most cases, the noise cancellation was good at removing background sounds, but it didn’t always succeed when there was a lot going on – a busy road near my house proved a bane every time I was near it. This combines with a volume issue that we’ll explore later on, to make the buds inadequate when you’re somewhere noisy.

The adaptive mode also felt slow to respond to changes in environment and often played catch-up when I was moving through different locations.

A bigger issue with the buds – or a shorter issue – is the battery life. When you’re using ANC, you can only listen to the Nothing Ear for about five hours before they need to be recharged, which really isn’t going to cut it. The case will give you a fair amount of lasting power, at 24 hours, and those figures are much better at 8.5 and 40.5 hours respectively if you opt to turn noise cancellation off.

From my testing, the adaptive noise cancellation did seem to give me a little extra listening time, so I’d recommend it for anyone who thinks five hours might be enough but aren’t totally sure.

The Nothing Ear connects to your phone or tablet using Bluetooth 5.3, which I found reliable – it only dropped once and that was for a second. And for all you wondering, you don’t need to connect the earbuds to a Nothing phone in order to enjoy all of their features.

Pairing is quick and easy, whether you’re connecting the buds to your phone for the first time or every other time you’re using them. I’ve got no complaints, and everything worked as intended – as did other features like the quick wear detection, the dual connections so you can pair the buds to multiple devices and jump between them and a latency mode, so the buds are handy for gaming.

You may also have heard that Nothing is now offering pinch-to-speak to ChatGPT integration across its earbuds, provided you own a Nothing Phone. I don't – and I think only a fraction of potential buyers here will be fully immersed in Nothing's ecosystem. But nevertheless, it's a feature worth mentioning – and it's available in Nothing's older earbuds lineup too. So, if you kit yourself out with Nothing Ear, Nothing Ear (a), the inaugural July 2021 Nothing Ear (1), the October 2022 follow-up Nothing Ear (Stick), the March 2023 Nothing Ear (2) or Nothing's budget CMF by Nothing Buds (including the CMF Neckband Pro and CMF Buds Pro) plus a Nothing smartphone (Nothing Phone 1, Nothing Phone 2 or Nothing Phone 2a) running the latest version of the app and ChatGPT, you'll be able to use it. 

• Features score: 4/5

Nothing Ear review: Design

• Small and comfortable earbuds
• Buds have IP54, case has IP55 protection
• Tacky plastic case

You know what you're going to get with true wireless earbuds like the Nothing Ear: two small buds and a case.

In true Nothing fashion the case is see-through, letting you gaze adoringly upon the buds inside should the mood so take you. However, the plastic material used for the holder feels incredibly cheap – dare I say ‘tacky’? – and a little fragile, too. It creaks when you hold it too tight and it’s a shame that Nothing wouldn’t opt for a more premium design.

It’s a square case, a little bigger than some I’ve seen but it fits in pockets easily. It has a USB-C port on one side for charging and you can also charge wirelessly, although it’s pretty slow. The case measures 5.5 x 5.5 x 2.2 cm and weighs 51.9g.

The buds themselves are nice and small and at 4.62g each they’re lightweight in the ear. They’re stem-style buds which gives them a nice rigid fit, although the Nothing-style see-through look might put off fashionistas.

There’s a touch control on each stem and, while you can rely on them to pick up individual touches pretty easily, there’s a noticeable delay between a press and the action actually picking up. You can customize the actions for single, double and triple pinches as well as a single and a double pinch and hold, on both the left and right buds, giving you a whole host of customization over your gestures – if you can remember what each single action does, that is. I, frankly, could not.

The buds have an IP54 rating against dust and liquid, while the case is a slightly higher IP55. This means that both can survive all but the finest particles and also sprays of water droplets, with the case withstanding stronger showers of water.

• Design score: 3.5/5

Nothing Ear review: Sound quality

• Oodles of bass (in a largely good way)
• Responsive and handy equalizer
• Some distortion, but not much

The Nothing Ear sound pretty good for buds at this price, but they are absolutely fantastic for bass lovers. Seriously, these are second only to sitting on a bass amp blaring out Debaser by Pixies when it comes to thumping rhythms.

I spent my initial testing time with the ‘More Bass’ in the equalizer and the ‘Bass Enhance’ options turned on and the latter at its highest setting. And with these settings turned on, the bass is intense – you’ll hear it pushing past all the other parts of any song to sit forefront and I could almost feel my head vibrating with the music. 

This incredible amount of bass can likely be attributed to two features. One is Nothing’s custom-built 11mm ceramic drivers made just for these buds (you won't find them in the Nothing Ear (a), which include more traditional solo dynamic drivers in each bud), and the other is an algorithm from the company which is designed to detect and enhance bass sounds in music.

If you’re not a bass fan, you’ll be glad to know that you don’t have to turn it up to 11 like I did, and in fact the buds sound great when all these modes are turned off. The default sound is quite bass-heavy, but you can change that.

The in-app equalizer lets you tweak the buds’ output whether you know how they work or not: a simple mode lets you spread sound between treble, bass and mid, while an advanced mode gives you a lot more versatility, and a sound personalization mode tests your hearing to work out a perfect mix for you.

The latter is surprisingly effective, too, and the several-minute-long test helped me find a nice mix (while also making me realize that my hearing is quite different between my ears!). What’s doubly great is that you can use this test and the equalizer, so you can account for both your hearing and your preferences.

Nothing’s buds are strong whether you want to pull out some nice crisp treble, some sturdy mid or the aforementioned bass. And there’s enough clarity to give a decent amount of sound stage, more than you normally hear in buds at this price – you can hear different instruments spread around you.

I did notice a tiny bit of distorting on certain parts of songs, with acoustic guitars and hi-hats getting a little scratchy if I let the equalizer bring them too far forward in the mix, but you’re about to read about why peaking isn’t as much of an issue as it could be.

This has all been a lot of praise for the Nothing Ear’s audio but the buds do have one major issue – an Ear-chilles’ heel, if you will – when it comes to volume. The max volume is far, far too low.

At its highest output, the Nothing Ear are roughly as loud as my usual comfort volume when I’m indoors, and below it when I’m out and about. I’m not usually a fan of overly loud music, so these buds will really disappoint people who do.

It’s an issue most palpable when you’re out and about – the noise cancellation is good, but if you’re in a loud environment or just want to really feel the energy of the music you’re listening to, the Nothing Ear just don’t get loud enough to compete with what’s around you. And, yes, I spent ages digging around in the in-app equalizer and that’s not the issue.

• Sound quality: 4/5

Nothing Ear review: Value

• Punchy above their price class
• Will compete with predecessors

Between the feature set and sound quality, the Nothing Ear are punching well out of their price class. Nothing could have charged 25 per cent more for these buds and they'd still be competitively priced.

You're getting more than you pay for by a country mile, with the Nothing X app's features in particular feeling incredibly premium.

If anything threatens to upset the Nothing Ear's value proposition, it's price cuts to the previous two generations of Nothing Ear, as well as the more affordable Nothing Eer (a). Each bring similar feature sets but for a lower price, so if you don't need all the trimmings of the top-tier offering, you could be swayed by them.

• Value: 4/5

Should I buy the Nothing Ear?

Buy them if…

Don’t buy them if…

Nothing Ear review: Also consider

How I tested the Nothing Ear

• Tested for over two weeks
• Tested at home, in the office and on walks

I used the Nothing Ear for two weeks prior to writing this review and testing was mainly done with the buds paired to my Xiaomi phone, though I did use it on a Samsung one for a while, too. I didn't test it with a Nothing phone.

During testing I listened to various genres of music, played games and watched TV shows. I did so across various mixes, sound profiles and music features on the Nothing X app and, as mentioned, also used the hearing test halfway through the testing process. I listened at home, in my office and on many walks around my local area, as well as central London.

The Nothing Ear is just the latest of many gadgets I've tested for TechRadar over five and a half years, which includes many other earbuds, smartphones, tablets, speakers and more.

• First reviewed in June 2024

• Read TechRadar's reviews guarantee

Skullcandy Set USB-C: Two-minute review

The Skullcandy Set USB-C earbuds stand as a stylish and well-priced option for those favoring the way of the wire, and they stack up well against some of the best wired headphones value-wise. Even if you own some of the best wireless earbuds, Skullcandy’s offering can still be of great use if you forget to charge your pesky Bluetooth ones.

I’ll be upfront – the Set earbuds don’t whip up top-drawer sound, and many tracks I listened to lacked the depth I’d grown accustomed to from competitor SoundMAGIC’s E11D model. To be specific, the audio isn’t the most full-sounding, something I sensed when listening to Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes by Paul Simon. Percussion in the background, the looping guitar lick, and the smooth bass all sounded a little bit feeble on these buds compared to the E11D’s.

With that said, sound quality is still decent, especially given the Set earbuds’ list price of just $31.99 / £29.99 (about AU$50). A lot of the more budget buds out there present listeners with borderline-repulsive, tinny audio, and these never subjected me to such horrors. The Skullcandy Set earbuds offer pretty good all-round sound; it's just a bit thin on detail and dynamism. Even at louder volumes, I was satisfied with the audio output on show and didn’t feel as if it was overly distorted or constrained. 

Skullcandy says the Set earbuds have a “noise-isolating fit”, thanks to the included ear gels. These won’t totally reduce noise from your surroundings, but they definitely do a solid job of keeping you tuned in to your music. Unfortunately, one unwelcome sound you may well hear is the Set’s rustling wires, especially when touching the cables or making sudden movements during listening sessions.

In spite of this, the ear gels are actually very pleasant to wear, and I happily kept the Set wired earbuds in for two full days in the office without feeling any discomfort. Not only that, they stayed in without me needing to constantly fiddle with them to find the perfect fit. This earns Skullcandy’s wired in-ears plenty of points in my book – many similar products either cause me irritation after an hour or so, or need to be repeatedly reinserted into the ear. The Set earbuds also come with small- and large-sized gels so you can find the best feel.

Continuing on a positive note, I’m a big fan of the earbuds’ design. They sport a sleek, curved look, and come in four snazzy colorways. You can go for a more versatile True Black (the version that I tested), or select one of the three new color options in 'Triple Threat' finish, which Skullcandy tells us "mimics the scratches, gouges and dings that prove your board is getting the love it deserves". These include Sunset (orange), Snow (white), and Ocean (blue), all of which capture their respective theme with panache. 

The buds also come with a call and music controller attached, which has a nice glossy finish, although functionality-wise, it’s a bit limited. It has a play/pause button in the form of the Skullcandy logo, which can also be used to take or hang up calls and skip songs. Additionally, it has a microphone that maintained clarity at various speaking volumes and distances and, despite a bit of background static, it was certainly good enough. 

However, that’s where it ends for the controller, which is a bit of a shame. Whenever I wanted to turn a track’s volume up or down, I had to reach into my pocket and adjust this via my phone – something that frustrated me when walking home in the pouring rain one evening. Skullcandy says that the earbuds are designed for use “from work to workout”, but this issue, along with the loud rustling noises from the cable, suggests that these aren’t the ideal pick for a workout after all. 

A design feature that could be useful, if like me you’re taking walks during downpours, is the Set earbuds’ IPX4 rating, which means the buds are protected against splashing water from any angle. IPX4 certification is pretty common for a lot of models at this price point, and ensures that the Set buds resist sweat if you use them during a run or similarly intensive activity.

One small but notable thing I appreciated about the Set earbuds is that Skullcandy hasn’t made outrageous promises about game-changing sound, revolutionary design, or world-class noise isolation – we’re just told that if “simplicity is your thing” and you’re looking for an “all-day earbud”, they’re a worthy choice. This level of honesty helps to keep expectations closer to reality, something which many competitors fall flat on. So, despite the “from work to workout” tagline feeling a little questionable, these still deliver the quality that many will hope to receive from a set of cheaper wired earbuds.

Skullcandy Set USB-C review: Price and release date

• Released on June 1, 2020 in True Black
• Released on March 19, 2024 in 'Triple Threat' colorways
• $31.99 / £29.99 (about AU$50)

Skullcandy’s Set USB-C earbuds are available on its US and UK digital stores, but unfortunately don’t feature on its Australian site. The buds have been available in True Black since 2020, and Skullcandy re-released the model in three vibrant Triple Threat colorways in March 2024, at the same price point. They aren’t the absolute cheapest option in the realm of USB-C buds, but still won’t set you back much, coming in at $31.99 / £29.99 (about AU$50).

You can grab alternatives for a bit less, such as the Apple USB-C EarPods and Belkin’s SoundForm wired earbuds (both of which cost less than $25), but you may be left wanting more, sound quality-wise. Indeed, neither of these deliver particularly great sound quality, with Skullcandy’s Set USB-C buds offering solid audio output for only a few dollars more.

Skullcandy Set USB-C review: Specs

Should you buy the Skullcandy Set USB-C?

Buy them if...

Don't buy them if...

Skullcandy Set USB-C review: Also consider

Skullcandy Set USB-C review: How I tested

• Tested across a week-long period
• Used in the office, at home, and while walking
• Predominantly tested using Spotify on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4

I whisked the Skullcandy Set earbuds away for a week of travelling (between my apartment and the office), and tested them while walking and while seated. I mainly used the buds on my Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 using Spotify, but I also tried listening to music via Tidal on the FiiO M11S hi-res music player. 

When trying out the Skullcandy Set earbuds I listened to tracks from the TechRadar testing playlist and beyond, and also watched YouTube videos. To test the microphone quality, I recorded multiple voice notes, and spoke at a variety of volumes, distances, and pitches. I also made calls to ensure the controller worked as described, and to once again determine microphone quality. 

Read more about how we test

• First reviewed: June 2024

FiiO FW3: Two-minute review

The FiiO FW3 are the second true wireless earbuds proposition from FiiO, after the inaugural FW5. They are relatively entry-level earbuds (although it really depends where you live, as we’ll get onto below). The Chinese company's heritage is in IEMs, portable music players and larger audio streamers and, other than a few loop earbuds, these are its first true wireless earbuds update. Can they challenge the best earbuds in the business? Well, not quite… but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

FiiO's relative inexperience in this type of product could explain why the FW3 are pretty good if you're using them indoors – and really struggle in other real-world use cases. If, for instance, you’re listening to the FiiO FW3 in a sound-controlled room, you’ll be hearing audio that’s pretty decent for the price. It’s a little bright and pretty tight, but the FiiO Control app lets you take matters into your own hands. Here, not only is there an in-depth EQ tool, but you can add low pass filters and pan sound between your left and right earbuds. Nice!

But leave home and the FiiO struggle. When out and about, I had persistent Bluetooth issues with the FW3. The buds would lose connection and even turn off for no reason. Sometimes they’d reconnect with tweaked audio settings. Sometimes they wouldn’t turn back on at all.

There’s no noise cancellation here, neither active nor passive, so honking horns and angry bus drivers will ruin your lovely customized music. Think you can drown out background noises with the FW3’s admittedly high max volume? Feel free to try, but you’re about to encounter as much peaking as someone trying to climb all of the Seven Summits.

A final nail in the coffin of the FW3’s outdoorsiness is a total lack of an IP rating – better remove them when rain clouds start to gather.

The case is bigger than rival wireless bud charging cases, though it’s not overwhelmingly huge. However, it feels cheap in the hand and, most importantly, frail. I could probably crush it in one hand if I tried.

The battery life is pretty weak too, as during testing the buds lasted for noticeably less than their seven-hour stated time. I found this out the hard way when they conked out on my half way through a journey. 

So the ideal audience for the FiiO FW3 is people who’ll use them indoors, without the burden of the big case, low battery life or the need for noise cancellation. I enjoyed them a lot more during the testing period when I was sat at home, rather than commuting or in the office.

If that’s you, you’ll find these to be decent value buds with some useful features. And if you live in the US, where the buds are a lot cheaper than in the UK, you can upgrade that ‘decent’ to a ‘good’.

FiiO FW3 review: Price and release date

• Unveiled in June 2023
• Costs you $69.99 / £95 (around AU$100-$180)

It’s hard to place the FiiO FW3 in terms of market segment as it depends on price; in the US they cost a very reasonable $69.99 but in the UK their £94.99 asking price raises them a price bracket (that coverts to about $120, so nearly twice as expensive!).

Some sites report that the FW3 originally retailed for $99 in the US; at the time of writing this review, $69 is the official listed RRP on FiiO's website, so it's what I'm going with.

As with most of its true wireless earbuds, FiiO doesn’t sell the FW3 in Australia, but for some context the US price converts to $100, while the UK one converts to $180. So depending where you live, the FW3 are either competitive low-cost earbuds, or are verging on being mid-range ones.

The FW3 went on sale at the end of June 2023, several months after their pricier siblings, the FW5.

FiiO FW3 review: Specs

FiiO FW3 review: Features

• Bluetooth connectivity issues plague listening
• FiiO Control app brings loads of features
• Underwhelming battery life

Sadly I've got to mark the FiiO FW3 down for a very annoying aspect: the Bluetooth connection was unreliable.

The first blemish on the record is that they kept glitching and cutting out during multiple testing periods. This was always when I was out and about, with my phone in my pocket and the buds in my ears. Music wouldn’t stop, but it’d flicker and temporarily drop out, like a small candle flame that I’d blown on.

The second black mark was when I wasn’t outside, but at home, with buds and phone in close proximity. Several times both earbuds would turn off, unprompted, and turn back on again. I’d have to resume music myself. A few times only one earbud turned off, and would automatically reconnect. And, before you ask, it wasn’t a battery issue, as they had sufficient charges.

If you can’t rely on your earbuds to stay connected to your phone, it’s hard to enjoy using them. I’ve seen other reviewers and testers comment on this issue so it’s clearly not just an issue with the testing pair I used.

The buds have Bluetooth 5.2, which is supposed to maintain a reliable connect of 10 meters, and yet these drop-outs were happening when they were within a single meter of each other. Most annoying, though, was that the L/R balance seemed to change sometimes between these cut-outs, and I’d have to fix it in the app.

Speaking of the app, it’s called FiiO Control – and frankly it’s a game-changer for letting you tweak and fiddle audio to your taste. For audiophiles, you can fiddle with an in-depth EQ, balance sound between the left and right earbuds, change the max volume of both music, alerts and calls, add a low pass filter and even change the Bluetooth codec you’re streaming with. That’s a lovely range of features.

Non-music toggles exist too: you can turn the bud indicator lights on or off, turn on a game mode for improved latency, and also turn on a battery health mode that stops your buds overcharging, to increase their longevity in the long run.

Earbuds aficionados will find several common features missing here though. The main one is active noise cancellation – your only way of avoiding background noise is to drown it out. Another is wear detection, so when you remove the buds, they’ll continue to play music. They won’t stop until you both put them in the case and close the lid (or pause your music). You also can’t customize what the buttons on the buds do, and you’re locked to the default control scheme.

In terms of battery life, the FiiO FW3 weren’t really impressive. FiiO’s official stat is seven hours of use but in my testing I didn’t get quite that far – let’s all it an even six, although even that seems optimistic. The official stat for the case itself is 21 hours, which struggles to hold up to the competition. What’s that giant case for if not to house a chunky battery?

• Features score: 3/5

FiiO FW3 review: Design

• Distinctive earpiece top-plate pattern
• Lots of eartips included in box
• Bulky, cheap-feeling charging case

The FiiO FW3 are certainly compelling-looking earbuds. Or should I say ‘com-shell-ing’?

They’re small in-ear buds that you pop right into your ear. There's no stem to speak of, and instead the bulk of the non-tip part of the buds are a round, bottle-top-looking shape with a pattern on top. I’ve been comparing this pattern to a shell, though maybe that’s just my desire to head to the beach speaking; you can decide what you think they look like yourself.

The buds are fairly light, weighing 6.2g each, and with eight pairs of eartips included in the box, you’ll almost definitely be able to find a fit that’s suitable for you. I never had the buds fall out, though vigorous head shaking did threaten to dislodge them. My advice would be: don't do that.

FiiO’s website doesn’t state an IP rating for the buds, so it’s best to assume they don’t have one. Don’t wear these in rainy weather or while rolling around on the beach.

Each earbud has two physical buttons; it takes a little bit of getting used to in order to naturally find them in relation to each other, and early on in testing I kept pressing the wrong one. However, they’re physical clicky buttons, which makes them a lot easier to use than haptic or sensor ones, and I eventually got used to the process of pressing them. I always had to use two fingers though, one to press and the other to stabilize the earbud, otherwise I’d end up just pushing it out of my ear.

Unfortunately, the FW3’s case doesn’t seem to have had the same design consideration that the buds do. It’s pretty chunky as far as charging cases go, weighing 68.4 x 43.9 x 33.5 mm, though it weighs only 57.2g with the buds inside. It’s also made out of cheap-feeling plastic, and has the USB-C charging port as well as four LED indicators to tell you the remaining charge.

• Design score: 3.5/5

FiiO FW3 review: Sound quality

• V-shaped sound with high max volume
• Some peaking, especially in mid
• In-depth EQ options in app

The best thing to say about the FiiO FW3’s sound is that it’s very customizable, using the aforementioned app. You can eke out some extra bass or elevate the treble line to suit your taste, so they could be a good first pair for people who aren't sure what exact kind of sound they prefer.

That’s doubly the case given that these buds won’t exactly impress audiophiles if you stick to the default settings. The sound is roughly V-shaped, but in a very shallow ‘V’, with lower- and higher-frequency sounds lifted a little bit over mid, but not so much that mid is totally lost. Just mostly. 

Fortunately, that equalizer rides to the rescue: you can really pull out a lot of extra bass, focus on the mids, or throw the trebles into the stratosphere. You’ll need to spend quite a bit of the time in the EQ settings, though, with few presets and all your toggles split between a few different menus.

The FW3 has a nice high max volume, a trait you’ll find yourself utilizing in lieu of ANC in order to drown out background noise. However, doing so will (as you might imagine), reveal peaking issues that are less audible at lower volumes.

These issues mainly affect mid sounds, which can at times sound tinny, and bumping up that volume can see it affect treble to a lesser extent too. The audio isn’t terrible though: it’s largely on par with what you’d expect for headphones at this price. 

At least the buds have a nice bustling spec sheet. The FW3 are compatible with various higher-resolution Bluetooth technologies such as Snapdragon Sound and let you choose your Bluetooth codec from options including aptX Adaptive, aptX, AAC, LHDC or LDAC, though the app notes that the latter is ‘experimental’. Essentially thugh, you’ll be able to notice a difference when listening to higher-res audio on here.

• Sound quality: 3/5

FiiO FW3 review: Value

• Misses many features of similar-priced buds

As mentioned in the above price section, the value proposition of the FiiO FW3 depends on where you live, as they’re a lot cheaper in the US. So UK-based readers, do me a favor: pretend I'm saying the below paragraphs after several pints at the pub. It's not wrong, but I might be being unduly positive about some things.

The FW3 mostly match other same-price rivals in terms of several features, including their music quality, their battery life, their design and their range of non-audio features like gaming latency. The EQ and touch controls beat out many other similarly priced earbuds I've tested.

However, they miss out on a few features that rivals have, which some users might consider mandatory. The lack of an IP rating, active noise cancellation, wear detection or the ability to customize the bud button controls could rightly have you looking elsewhere.

• Value: 3.5/5

Should I buy the FiiO FW3?

Buy them if…

Don’t buy them if…

FiiO FW3 review: Also consider

How I tested the FiiO FW3

• Tested for over 2 weeks
• Tested at home, in the office, on public transport and on walks

I tested the FiiO FW3 for over two weeks to write this review.

The buds were used at my home, in my office, on walks around my neighborhood and also during a weekend getaway, which included lots of public transport use. They were paired to my Xiaomi Mi Note 10 for most of the time but I also connected them to my iPad Pro for TV streaming.

Testing included watching TV on Prime Video on the iPad, listening to music streamed from Spotify and saved on my mobile, playing games, listening to podcasts, making phone calls and doing video chats. 

I've been testing gadgets at TechRadar for over five years, which includes loads of low-cost earbuds, including some mentioned in the competition section. And the FiiO FW3 were tested back-to-back with the OnePlus Buds 3, which are priced similarly.

• First reviewed in May 2024

• Read TechRadar's reviews guarantee

OnePlus Buds 3: Two-minute review

Like many smartphone companies, OnePlus makes true wireless earbuds to go alongside its smartphones, that it will ship as a pre-order bonus or as a handy extra purchase for die-hard fans of the brand. The OnePlus Buds 3 arrive as another pair of fairly affordable buds in this spirit, but they’re among the better such options.

So are they some of the best budget earbuds around? They're not far off. You’re probably considering the OnePlus Buds 3 if you own one of the best OnePlus phones already, but you’ll be able to enjoy them if you own any other brand of mobile smartphone too; unlike Apple, OnePlus doesn’t lock its tech to pre-existing customers.

At a glance, the OnePlus Buds 3 bear more than a passing resemblance to their predecessors, the OnePlus Buds 2 Pro. And while it’s true, these aren’t exactly wild revisions on the 2023 models, they’re more affordable and have some improvements across the board. 

In some areas, OnePlus may have gone too far, and the sound quality is something of a sore spot. In our Buds 2 Pro review we said bass was “not especially heavy” and the Buds 3 have overcorrected, taking inspiration from the RWE Bagger 288 (which Google tells me is the heaviest vehicle in the world) because it’s heavy.

The bass on the Buds 3 is just too much, no matter how much playing around you do in the equalizer, blowing the treble into the distant corners of the sound mix. You shouldn’t buy these if you like a balanced or neutral sound.

Did I say equalizer? Yes I did, because that’s one of the many cool features packed into the smartphone tie-in app. Other features include spatial audio, ear canal scanning to get a tailor-made sound, the ability to change to different active noise cancellation (ANC) modes and more. For not-really-that-expensive earbuds, the feature range on display is really something.

You’ll have to enjoy these features in small bursts, though, because the OnePlus Buds 3 will only last for 6.5 hours of listening in one go when ANC is turned on. Turning it off boosts that to 10 hours, but that’s still nothing to write home about – thankfully the case is generous with extra charges.

That ANC is pretty good, too, and it’s got to be one of the best I’ve tested in the sub-$100 / £100 / AU$200 price range. There are a range of strength levels and a transparency mode, to let you fully customize how much sound comes through, but at any level the buds are a dab hand at getting rid of annoying unwanted noises.

While they’re not quite fantastic enough to make it into our ranking of the best wireless earbuds, the OnePlus Buds 3 do have a lot going for them. If you receive them as a gift alongside a OnePlus phone, you should count yourself lucky, and they’re well worth considering even if you have to buy them on their own. 

OnePlus Buds 3 review: Price and release date

• Unveiled in January 2024
• Costs you $99 / £89 / AU$179

The OnePlus Buds 3 were officially unveiled at the end of January 2024, in lieu of the new smartphone the company sometimes unveils at the beginning of the year.

You’ll pay $99 / £89  AU$179 to pick up the buds – in theory, though these are the kind of earbuds that you’re more likely to acquire through pre-order bonuses or as a free gift with a OnePlus phone, rather than as a chosen purchase.

That price shows these as being more affordable (read: lower-end) than 2023’s OnePlus Buds 2 Pro, despite being similar in terms of design and the feature set. Unless you find those dramatically marked down, the OnePlus Buds 3 will be a much more tempting purchase.

OnePlus Buds 3 review: Specs

OnePlus Buds 3 review: Features

• 10-hour buds battery, 44-hour with case
• Absolutely loads of features thanks to app
• Buds are slow to pair 

The OnePlus Buds 3 earbuds have a middling battery life: 10 hours with ANC turned off, which drops to 6.5 hours when it’s on. That’s not amazing, though some rivals last an even shorter amount of time. The charging case rockets that figure up to 44 hours (with ANC off, 28 with it on) which is a much bigger jump-up than cases often provide, so people on long journeys can rely on this case. 

When setting up the OnePlus Buds 3, I was perturbed to find no tie-in app available on the Google Play Store. Instead, I was prompted (both by the recommended suggestions, and OnePlus’ own website), to install a third-party app called HeyMelody which has a pretty low rating on the Play Store. It seems this is how people without a OnePlus phone control the buds – handsets from the company seemingly have a first-party control app.

It’s worth bearing in mind that the buds worked well without the app, and I only downloaded it to access extra features. You can enjoy music and noise cancellation without HeyMelody, you just can’t control your sound, or access certain extras you’re paying for.

The app lets you play with an equalizer (more on that later) and adjust noise cancellation, with an impressive range of options in terms of strength and efficacy (a Transparency mode cancels some sounds but maintains important ones). It’s actually mildly handy once you’ve set it up, though it’s definitely not required.

You can also use the app to set up the touch controls: the two buds can have individual commands mapped for one, two or three taps, as well as a long hold or a slide gesture. That’s a lot of potential, though I found that the almost-imperceptible button area meant I frequently missed the correct area when trying to use the touch controls.

The OnePlus Buds 3 are among the better earbuds at this price that I’ve tested when it comes to noise cancellation, using a deft hand to remove annoying background noises. I tested in Max mode, although there are degrees of intensity if you’d rather only strip out a middling amount of sound.

HeyMelody brings two extra features I’d like to flag: first off is Golden Sound, which lets the buds scan your ear canal in order to calibrate your music. The instructions on the test are poorly worded and it took me a few tries to figure out what it was actually asking, but it’s a cool additional feature, even if the results are barely audible.

Then there’s OnePlus 3D Audio, which had a much more palpable effect. This is basically spatial audio, and it really creates a sense of dynamic (though artificial) soundstage, really improving music. It’s only available on certain apps so I’m not going to take it into account for the music quality section later, but luckily the super-niche music app Spotify (you may have heard of it) is one of the compatible apps.

One thing I should note is that the OnePlus Buds 3 had a pretty slow average phone pairing time compared to most rivals I’ve tested. When I put the buds on, they’d take up to ten seconds to connect with my phone, and almost always over five, which is slower than basically every other alternative I’ve tried.

This was also the case when I first set up the earbuds, and my phone took a good while to detect them.

• Features score: 4/5

OnePlus Buds 3 review: Design

• Lightweight and barebones case
• Small buds with touch controls
• IP55 certification

I’ve got to say, I’m a big fan of the look of the OnePlus Buds 3.

The carry case is a tiny lightweight pebble, measuring just 5.9 x 5 x 2.6 cm and weighing 40.8g – that’s the kind of case you can easily lose in your bag or pocket, it’s more svelte than the majority of its competitors. It has naught but the essentials – space for the earbuds, and a USB-C charging port.

I did find that the smooth material of the buds made them a tad hard to remove from the case though – every removal required roughly three slips before a successful attempt.

The case is made from plastic, hence its lightness, though it does feel like it’d snap if you clenched it in your fist too hard. Our smartest gadget-reviewing minds have a suggestion: don’t do that.

Like their carry case, the buds themselves are incredibly lightweight, with their 4.8g barely registering on scales (or your ear). As wireless earbuds go, they’re pretty barebones: no OnePlus branding, no obvious sensor or buttons, just a tip and a stem.

There is, in fact, a sensor on each earbud, but it’s denoted just by a slightly matted area on the stem, so you’d be forgiven for missing it. It’s so subtle that it avoids detection not just by your eyes, but by your fingertips too – but I've already discussed that above.

The buds have IP55 certification, which means they’ll survive splashes or bursts of water, but shouldn’t be submerged in liquid.

• Design score: 4/5

OnePlus Buds 3 review: Sound quality

• Bass-heavy sound
• Treble is lacking
• Equalizer lets you tweak sound to an extent

You can’t exactly expect precision-tuned sound on earbuds that cost this little, and you won’t get that on the OnePlus Buds 3. That said, they’re nothing to turn your nose up at either for this money.

These earbuds will appeal to people who like their bass-heavy sound, because that’s exactly what they provide. Whatever kind of music I tested, from pop and house to acoustic singer-songwriter tracks, the lower range of instruments and notes was always a lot more prevalent.

Some people might like that, but it was a little overbearing in plenty of songs – you don’t listen to rock to only hear the guitar’s lower E string, after all. Treble is all but blown out, meaning vocal lines lose their clean sparkle and harmonies and countermelodies were often harder to hear than I’d like.

The mids within my reference music tracks often stood up to the brutal barrages from the bass, but treble was almost always less prominent than I’d like. Saying that, sometimes when it was palpable, peaking made me wish it was buried even further…

The in-app equalizer lets you tweak your sound to a certain extent, with a few presets, a customization option and also a bass boost option, but honestly I found all of my tweaking was for naught. The equalizer is very light touch, and you might not notice changes unless you’re really (really) listening for them.

• Sound quality: 3/5

OnePlus Buds 3 review: Value

• Great value if received as gift
• Decent for the price, but a shade off fantastic

As mentioned before, it’s hard to envision someone buying the OnePlus Buds 3 full-price, given that they’re likely designed to be bundled with a new OnePlus phone.

If that’s how you’re acquiring these buds, they’re a great little gift; they’re solid all-around wearables that’ll save you from having to buy a separate pair to use with your brand new shiny smartphone.

If you’re paying full-price, the value proposition is different. The OnePlus Buds 3 are fine for their price (and you’re certainly getting some flagship fit and spatial audio features), but there are other sub-$100/£100/AU$100 rivals that’ll give you more sonic bang for your buck.

• Value: 3.5/5

Should I buy the OnePlus Buds 3?

Buy it if…

Don’t buy it if…

OnePlus Buds 3 review: Also consider

How I tested the OnePlus Buds 3

• Tested for 10 days
• Tested at home, in the office and on walks

The OnePlus Buds 3 were tested over the course of the week, with the review writing period rounding the testing period out by a few extra days. The main device I paired with was a Xiaomi Mi Note 10 smartphone, but I also tested it alongside a Windows laptop and an iPad. I did not test it with a OnePlus phone.

I listened to a range of music genres in different places including my office, my home and on various walks around my neighborhood. I mostly tied with the strongest noise cancellation mode and the EQ set to the default setting.

I've been testing gadgets for TechRadar for over five years, and in that time I've reviewed many OnePlus phones and headphones like this.

• First reviewed in May 2024

• Read TechRadar's reviews guarantee