OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z3 Offers Reliable Bass But Without New Excitement

Last Updated:July 08, 2025, 12:50 IST

OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z3 gets the same design, offers basic features with the addition of more bass and longer battery life.

OnePlus brings the Bullets Wireless Z3 earphones with focus on bass and more backup

OnePlus Bullets have been around for a while and with the Bullets Wireless Z3 you are getting yet another neckband earphones that run on Bluetooth. The Wireless series has seen some level upgrades, especially with the Z2 ANC version that becomes an easy choice for many for under Rs 2,000. The market is flooded with budget earphones from all kinds of brands and OnePlus is one of them adding the Z3 into the mix for the buyers to consider.

So does the OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z3 offer anything different in the sea of other earphones? We tried out the new version for a few weeks to find the answer. 

Design Stays The Same 

The neckband earphone segment has a simple template and the Bullets Z3 follows all of them to the T. You have the wired earphones lugging to the neckband unit where you have the physical controls for playback and other features. You wear these over the neck, and connect it using Bluetooth.

You can attach the buds to turn them off which is useful in some cases but accidental touches make it easy to pair it with the device which may not be ideal all the time. In fact, if you keep the Bullets Z3 in front of the Z2 or even the Z1 version, you won’t find much difference. There is very little you can change with the design of this product and the Z3 keeps it simple. 

The Bass Effect 

OnePlus does claim that the Bullets Z3 get enhanced bass support and that part is right. We tried out the same track on the Z2 and the Z3 and the audio difference was apparent, with the extra bass load available through the new Bullets Z3 version.

The general sound performance does not change much; the emphasis on louder bass feels in line with the other budget earphones and the general preference among the users. People do like bass and OnePlus is giving them ample. 

No ANC Though 

The new Bullets Z3 version misses out on ANC, something that you can get with the older Z2 version for less than the Z3 in the market these days. You might be wondering why ANC is needed in this form factor, but having the option to isolate the ambient noise while taking calls is a feature that you can only appreciate when you have it.

And sadly, the Bullets Z3 does not offer it and we could see OnePlus bringing a higher Z3 ANC version maybe in the near future. Not a deal breaker as such but would have made sense to bring ANC for this version itself. 

How It Sounds 

The addition of extra bass shows its impact and the difference is there. You get the same 12.4mm drivers across the Z2, Z2 ANC and the new Z3 Bullets version but there is a freshness to the audio performance of the latest version. The bass impact can be tweaked with the help of the Hey Melody app that offers different customisation options.

We tried out the usual test playlist to see the impact of the bass. The emphasis on bass will be appreciated by certain people but it does not sound good for calls when the voice feels muffled.

Having said that, the microphone on the Bullets Wireless Z3 offers decent clarity for the person speaking as well as listening at the other end. 

The Big Upgrade 

Besides the bass, the Bullets Z3 is claimed to run longer than the Z2 version. And during our tests, we have seen the new model offer more backup and even support fast charging to keep you back running in just minutes of charge.

The range has moved up from 30 to 30 hours with the Bullets Z3 and without the support of ANC, you will easily get these numbers or even more. Using the neckband earphones allows you to get more juice compared to the TWS earbuds (even with a charging case) and this is a big use case for people still buying the former. 

The OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z3 comes with the same design and functions as its previous versions, misses on ANC but gets extra bass and longer battery life support. The neckband earphones are not exciting but extremely reliable and long-lasting and the Bullets Wireless Z3 fits into that bracket with ease.

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