Manufacturers are happy to build AI into everything, so we’re starting to see more devices offering features like automatic text and audio summaries. For example, iOS 18 will bring AI-powered transcription and call summaries to the iPhone 16 later this year, and some of the best Android phones will soon include similar summary features. And now a new leak suggests the feature could also be supported by OnePlus’s earbuds, which it’s already added as a feature to its phones in China (but not elsewhere yet).
The news comes via Android Authority, whose investigation into the OnePlus wireless earbuds app code has revealed evidence that strongly suggests AI call summaries are coming to the upcoming OnePlus Buds Pro 3 model, and possibly more OnePlus models as well. The feature would allow you to start or stop a call summary by triple-tapping the stem of your earbuds.
When will you get the new OnePlus Buds AI features?
That's a very good question, because OnePlus' existing AI call assistant feature — which is what the earbuds actually control, rather than having the technology built into the earbuds themselves — has yet to launch outside of China.
As for the OnePlus Buds Pro 3, those haven’t been released either – at the moment, the firm’s most recent earbuds are the OnePlus Buds 3. A successor to the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 is widely expected but hasn’t been confirmed yet, so we don’t yet have any indication of when the earbuds’ AI-controlled feature will be available. We also don’t know which other OnePlus Buds, if any, will be able to call the shots.
While this feature will be exclusive to OnePlus phones, it’s not the only option on Android: Google is reportedly bringing Call Notes, a very similar feature, to its Pixel 9 phones in the next two weeks, and Samsung has its own AI transcription features in Samsung Notes for Galaxy phones. The latter option isn’t quite as straightforward as Call Notes (Samsung’s transcriptions require you to provide a recording rather than creating it yourself), but bringing it to live calls is surely only a matter of time.
We don't know if Apple's version of this technology can be activated via AirPods, but with Apple Intelligence seemingly delayed until after the release of iOS 18, OnePlus could be the first to offer the convenience of headphone-activated AI note-taking on calls.
