OnePlus Buds 4 Review: Incredible performance for the price

Introduction

Early last year, the OnePlus Buds 3 impressed us with their outstanding audio performance and premium featureset for under £100. Now, the Buds 4 have arrived, and at a glance, they’re looking rather similar – albeit with a curvier case and a £20 price hike.

However, when you look a little closer, you’ll find a new dual DAC configuration, an adaptive ANC mode, slightly longer battery life and faster charging, too. Not groundbreaking changes, on paper, but specs are only part of the story; the only way to truly assess them is to stick them in your earholes.

I was keen to find out how this new set stacks up. They’ve been everywhere with me for the past week or so, and after many hours of listening, here’s what I think.

Design

• Zen Green and Storm Grey options
• IP55 rated
• Up to 45 hours of battery life

As mentioned, the OnePlus Buds 4 look very similar to the OnePlus Buds 3, only slightly more angular. It’s the charging case that has changed most significantly. You now get a smooth oval case, shaped like a well-used bar of soap, rather than the rectangular clamshell case of the Buds 3.

To be honest, I’m not too fussed either way. The old design was easy to slip into your pocket, and this one is too. Maybe slightly more so, but it’s not something you’ll ever think about.

What’s more important is the battery capacity. The new case has a 530mAh cell, up from 520mAh. Meanwhile, each earbud has a 62mAh pack, up from 58mAh. OnePlus says this should get you around 11 hours of listening with the earbuds alone, or a total of 45 hours including the charging case – an extra hour compared to the previous model.

These aren’t remarkable claims, but they’re more than enough for my regular earbud use. However, it’s worth noting that the battery life decreases when you’re listening at high volumes or have ANC turned on. Of course, that’s the case with most earbuds, just expect a lot less than 11 hours when you’re blocking out the world around you.

The OnePlus Buds 4 come in two different colours, Zen Green or Stormy Grey, and I have the former in for testing. Both the case and the buds come in a matching pale green colour with a slight metallic sheen. It’s a unique look, and I’m all for it; it makes a nice change from the sea of black and white buds. 

The Buds 4 are IP55 rated, just like the older model, so they’ll withstand some dust ingress, as well as low-pressure water jets from all directions. Planning on sprinting through the desert? These buds should be up to the task; just don’t fully submerge them.

I found the OnePlus Buds 4 extremely comfortable to wear. The design hasn’t changed much since last year, but it doesn’t need to, as I found these buds stayed firmly in place at all times without creating any pressure points or discomfort.

I also appreciate that the stems don’t stick out as far as they do other brands’ earbuds. In particular, I’m thinking of the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 and the Apple AirPods Pro; the OnePlus Buds look delightfully streamlined by comparison.

Features

• LHDC 5.0 support, 24-bit/192kHz
• Tap and swipe controls
• AI translation and Voice Assistant controls

The OnePlus Buds 4 are extremely well equipped in the tech department. There are all the usual creature comforts like wear sensors, so they’ll pause your playback when you remove them, as well as Google Fast Pair, which makes getting connected a breeze.

There’s a touch-sensitive area on each earbud which can be used to control music playback, as well as select your ANC mode. Once paired with OnePlus’ HeyMelody app, you can customise what each tap/hold/sequential tap controls, and it’s more customisable than most.

Swiping on either earbud controls the volume level, and I found the gesture to be intuitive and highly responsive. I’ve been using the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 as my daily set recently, and they also support swipe gestures, but with the Buds 4, I found the process much smoother. They require fewer swipes to get to the desired volume level, and as a result, I use this feature much more frequently.

The only thing I missed compared to the FreeBuds (and AirPods Pro) was the pinch control. It’s not a big deal; most earbuds don’t offer such a feature, but once you get used to it, it’s the kind of thing you miss.

If you have a OnePlus smartphone, these buds give you the ability to start real-time AI translation with a tap, which sounds like a very handy feature. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a OnePlus device on hand to try it out with.

On the plus side, no matter which smartphone you use, you can activate your chosen voice assistant in the same way. And considering how clever Google Gemini is getting, you can probably just ask it to do the same thing (or anything else).

The HeyMelody companion app provides access to numerous features that can’t be accessed with simple tap combinations, making it well worth installing. For instance, it gives you access to Golden Sound, a custom EQ that’s tailored to your ear shape and hearing ability.

There are also multipoint connectivity options, a “find my earbuds” feature, a low-latency gaming mode and OnePlus 3D sound, which is the brand’s take on Spatial Audio. It’s a serious suite of tools.

Sound Quality

• Dual driver: 11mm woofer / 6mm tweeter
• Golden Sound customised playback
• Real-time adaptive noise cancellation

Of course, all of these features are kind of pointless if the earbuds don’t sound good, and I’m pleased to report that’s not the case. On the contrary, they actually sound fantastic.

I would describe the sound (using the default EQ) as slightly V-shaped with a boost to the lower frequencies and sparkling highs. That said, vocals and mids are well represented with great clarity; it’s just a more lively sound than you get from earbuds that aim for flat frequency response.

Just like the older model, the Buds 4 utilise a dual-driver arrangement, with an 11mm woofer and 6mm tweeter crammed into each earbud. That 11mm woofer really impresses, extending deep into sub-bass territory with exceptionally low distortion.

It’s not all about the bass, though, these buds sounded exceptional no matter what genre I threw at them. The default EQ is excellent for all occasions, but if you find it lacking, you can select “Serenade” for a brighter sound or “Bass” for even more thump. There’s also a six-band custom EQ that you can tweak to personalise it further.

For my tastes, the only thing that could be improved is the soundstage. It’s not bad at all, but it’s not as expansive as some competing buds, even with 3D sound activated. I am nitpicking here, though, for just £120, these are some of the best-sounding buds in their price bracket.

The ANC impressed me, too. I used them on a trip to London, with frequent trips on the tube, and they did a great job of neutralising the constant hum of train engines. They also deal with wind noise really well, which is something that trips up a lot of competitors.

The transparency mode is good, but it’s less natural-sounding than AirPods or my FreeBuds Pro 4. It works well enough to stay aware, and again, it deals with wind noise very well, but I found myself having to take them out if someone spoke to me, as voices sounded distant and unnatural.

A new addition this time around is Adaptive Mode, which attempts to filter out constant hums and rumbles, while letting sudden sounds pass through the filter. I was surprised by how well it works. For example, it’ll filter out the sound of a train engine, but it’ll let you hear the announcements loud and clear. In certain situations, it’s the obvious choice.

One thing I didn’t like so much was that the earbuds don’t audibly tell you which ANC mode you have selected. There’s a different chime for each one, but with four modes in total, it’s hard to remember what’s what. I found myself having to open the app quite frequently to make sure I had the correct mode selected.

Should you buy it?

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