The next pair of affordable OnePlus wireless earbuds may have leaked

All the indications are that OnePlus is planning to launch an affordable pair of wireless earbuds in the near future, and a new leak suggests that these buds are indeed on the way, under the Nord series branding.

As per 91mobiles, earbuds called the OnePlus Nord Buds 3r have made their way through the regulatory process in Canada – a strong hint that they’re going to be made official very soon, and not just in Canada but everywhere wireless earbuds are sold.

The filing doesn’t really tell us much about these earbuds, other than to suggest they’re nearly here. We do get battery capacities: 58mAh per bud (up from 36mAh on the Nord Buds 2r) and 440mAh for the case (down from 480mAh on the Nord Buds 2r).

We haven’t heard too much about these earbuds as far as leaks and rumors are concerned, but we have seen unofficial renders of the slightly more expensive OnePlus Nord Buds 3 – and the Nord Buds 3r are likely to adopt the same aesthetic.

Choose your buds

The OnePlus wireless earbuds series is a little difficult to wrap your head around – not least because different variations of these buds are available in different parts of the world, so the choice varies on where you live.

You can get the flagship OnePlus Buds Pro 2 pair just about anywhere, and the newest earbuds from the company are the OnePlus Buds 3: they launched in January 2024 with the OnePlus 12, and we’re still waiting for a Pro version of those to appear.

Then we have the more affordable series, currently headed by the OnePlus Nord Buds 2 and the OnePlus Nord Buds 2r. The latter are the cheapest, and lose some features like active noise cancelling – and it’s these the OnePlus Nord Buds 3r will replace.

You can get both the Nord Buds 2 and the Nord Buds 2r in many parts of the world, including Australia. In the UK, only the Nord Buds 2 are available. In the US, neither pair of Nord earbuds are available.

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Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you’ll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.