OnePlus Buds 4 review: Refined with meaningful upgrades

OnePlus on Tuesday (July 8) launched the new OnePlus Buds 4 earphones along with new OnePlus Nord 5 and Nord CE 5 premium mid-range phones in India.

It is available in two colours-- storm grey and zen green-- for Rs 5,999.

OnePlus Buds 4 comes with an all-new design and meaningful upgrades over the predecessor. I have been using it for a week and here are my thoughts on the latest budget Truly Wireless Stereo (TWS) earphones.

Design and build quality

The Buds 4 features minimalistic design elements, very different from the Buds 3 series. It comes in a pebble-shaped cover case with a metallic matte finish. Even the earbuds exude a premium touch and feel with a metallic texture. The company used Non-

Conductive Vacuum Metallization (NCVM) coating and high-powered CO₂ laser engraving to achieve this feat. The silicone eartips, which were pre-fitted, are of good quality and seal the ear to reduce the chance of outside noise creeping inside. They don't easily slip from the ears even while walking fast or jogging.

Further, it comes with an IP55 rating; it can withstand sweating during heavy workouts at the gym and even a moderate rain or drizzle for a short duration. If it's wet, make sure to place it in an open place for at least one or two hours so that it gets properly dried. Only then, keep it in the case for charging.

Our review unit zen green; it is visually appealing in the sunlight. The company also offers the device in a storm grey colourway. The latter looks way better than the former.

The stem of the earbuds is super sensitive. Users can just swipe up and down to control the volume. With tap gestures, users can skip/pause/resume or jump to the next track and even answer or hang up calls without any issues. With a long press, you can switch between ANC and ambient sound mode.

User-interface and performance

Setting up the OnePlus Buds 4 is simple. It hardly takes two to three minutes to pair with any mobile or tablet, or computer.

The new OnePlus Buds 4 come with an 11mm 30-layer ceramic-metal diaphragm woofer with a 6mm tweeter.

It supports advanced LHDC 5.0 Bluetooth codec, ultra-high sampling rates and delivers good sound fidelity while playing any genre of music. With 24-bit depth and 1Mbps transmission bitrate capability, OnePlus Buds 4 can deliver a wide dynamic range while retaining the richness and nuance of the original soundtrack.

In the HeyMelody app, users can go to the Sound Master Equaliser feature to tune the way earphones deliver audio as per user tastes. It has three presets-- Balanced (on by default), Serenade, Bass, and there is a customisation option to mix and match the frequency as per the requirements. There is also Deep Bass, which can boost the bass to deliver deeper bass with clarity and fidelity.

The Buds 4 also boasts 3-mic noise cancellation technology, and with real-time adaptive Active Noise Cancellation, it can support a wide 5500Hz frequency range (first in its class) and achieve a maximum noise reduction depth of 55dB. It is said to be 200 per cent better than the previous iteration.

As noted earlier, the silicone tips of the earbuds do their job to an extent to block the ambient sound, such as chatter nearby, but loud vehicle engines and annoying horns manage to seep in. That said, there is not much disruption while listening to music and also while answering calls in a busy street.

It does a fantastic job indoors with controlling the ambient noise of the people talking in the background, and the microphones pick up the voice very efficiently without any pressing issues as such. For its price, it is the best among its peers.

Another notable aspect of the device is that it supports AI Translation via the OnePlus phone. It can the user to interact with people whenever they travel to exotic places and interact with locals with different languages.

Also, it boasts of Golden Sound feature. Every human's ear canal is not the same and comes in different shapes and sizes. So, to fine-tune the audio delivery, the Golden Sound feature on the HeyMelody app makes good use of the built-in microphones to analyse the unique characteristics of the ear canal. It broadcasts an audio byte followed by beep sounds in different frequencies, and asks the user to drag the slider where the beep disappears. This way, the Golden Sound feature creates a bespoke audio profile that adjusts playback to match the individual hearing preferences, ensuring a uniquely optimised and immersive experience.

It does work and managed to deliver crisp audio as per my expectations.

It supports Bluetooth 5.4 and Google Fast Pair to offer stable wireless connectivity up to 10 metres. Also, it can connect with two devices at a time. This comes in handy while watching a movie on a tablet and receiving a phone call. The earphones can easily be switched to the phone without any hassle.

Also, it supports Game mode (via the HeyMelody app), and once this is turned on, it offers ultra-low latency of 47ms between the earphones and the gameplay on the phone's screen.

Each earbud houses a 62mAh capacity cell, and the charging case has a 530mAh battery capacity.

With a full charge, it can deliver up to 11 hours of audio playback without the ANC. And, with the charging case, it can last for up to 45 hours.

With ANC on, earbuds can last for six hours and with the charging case, it can run for 24 hours.

It supports fast charging; with just 10 minutes of charging, it can last for 11 hours.

Final thoughts

Be it listening to music or during phone calls, TWS buds deliver good, crisp audio indoors.

Even outdoors with excessive vehicle horns and engine sounds on busy roads, the microphones of the Buds 4 manage to pick up the voice to a good extent and send it across the other end of the line. But, the buzzing noise of the vehicles does creep in and we have to be louder while on a call.

That said, the OnePlus Buds 4 series is a fantastic pair of earphones and the best among its peers under Rs 8,000.

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