OnePlus Buds 4 in Storm Gray. Photo: OnePlus
When we got our hands on the OnePlus Buds Pro 3 last year, it was clear that the tech company was onto a solid combination of everything a regular (but choosy) music consumer could ask for in terms of true wireless stereo earbuds.
So it’s no surprise to see that the OnePlus Buds 4, not part of the Pro range, borrows a few good features from there. Out in the market earlier this week, the OnePlus Buds 4 promises “benchmark-setting, flagship-level” sound quality at its currently discounted price of ₹5,999 (slashed from ₹6,499).
When you pop these in, the OnePlus Buds 4 do a reliable job of playing to galleries as a catchall pair of earbuds for the public. At the same time, it also draws in discerning listeners with features like the LHDC (low latency, high-definition), 5.0 high-res audio (which was also in the OnePlus Buds 3), and functional upgrades like a swipe control on each earbud to adjust volume.
Available in Zen Green and Storm Gray, the oval case design, first seen in the Buds Pro 3 and later adopted by the Nord Buds 3 last year, makes a familiar return. It also houses the same dual-driver system and Dual DACs described in a recent press briefing as “a dedicated sound engineer in your pocket.” The earbud stalks are notably staying big at a time when everyone else wants sleek and compact. OnePlus Buds 4 are striking for sure, but it’s nice having a features-packed pair of earbuds that haven’t chosen style over functionality.
It’s arguably with this kind of design that calls on the OnePlus Buds 4 are more or less hassle-free, with a three-mic system that’s also now a standard offering. The company also claims up to 250 meters of Bluetooth connectivity with the caveat that it works in that range in open areas.
There are three active noise-cancelation (ANC) modes, with the introduction of the adaptive ANC feature, which stands somewhere between transparency and full noise cancellation. Again, this is a feature increasingly added to all wireless earbuds in a certain price bracket, so it’s not so much a flex for OnePlus Buds 4 as much as it is a necessary addition. All in all, ANC goes up to 55 decibels (five more than Buds Pro 3).
Another now-standard feature that makes it to the OnePlus Buds 4 is dual connectivity to stay connected to two devices at once. What they can, however, brag about is that if you have a OnePlus phone, then you’re more in control of things like high-res audio mode and toggling on and off OnePlus 3D Audio and the Golden Sound feature, which tunes the earbuds to the shape of your ear canal.
If you don’t have a OnePlus phone, another app called HeyMelody steps in so that you’re not necessarily missing out on these features. And nor should you, because the 3D Audio and high-res audio mode are the closest OnePlus can get to pleasing any audiophiles who may be looking for a sturdy, long-lasting wireless earbud pair to add to their collection.
High-res mode makes Massive Attack sound as aptly majestic as they ought to be. Utsavi Jha’s lushly-produced, Apple Digital mastered EP Khata flows as sublime as intended in OnePlus 3 Audio, and urgent, intense songs like Gojira’s “Born For One Thing” are heard at their sonorous peak.
It’s hard to pick, and we’d advise switching between both modes to see what you like best. 3D Audio (with head tracking) seems to bring out a lot more intricacies in the sound, while high-res audio delivers cleaner highs in the sound. Safe to say, everyone loves the bass-boosted sound in earbuds these days (or maybe the mass consumer audio market has us forced to love it, given the lack of any other options?), so OnePlus Buds 4 does provide for that in its EQ settings and its trademarked BassWave 2.0 enhancement. The default settings are also mostly geared towards bass-heavy frequencies.
The OnePlus Buds 4 will last through 11 hours of playback on a single charge (with ANC off) and 45 hours with the case (also with ANC off). In high-res audio mode, that figure comes down to 22 hours with ANC on (with case). There’s 10-minute fast charging as well, and OnePlus says the buds will last at least 1,000 charge cycles.
Other nifty features like Find My Earbuds, AI translation at the tap of the earbud, and 47 ms low latency (with a gaming mode) are all good additions to make the OnePlus Buds 4 a formidable offering that can please most without being too heavy on the pocket—both in terms of physical weight and affordability.
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