Back in June, OnePlus added a base variant to its Nord Buds 4 series. The Pro model in the lineup was launched back in March. Priced at Rs 3,299, the base variant undercuts the Pro version by Rs 1,000. It manages to retain most of the specs, with the LHDC 5.0 codec being the biggest absentee on the spec sheet. The TWS uses 12mm titanium drivers to deliver its audio output. Furthermore, it can cancel up to 52dB of surrounding noise. We’ve been using the wireless earbuds for the last week to stream music, movies, and TV shows. Here is our comprehensive review of the OnePlus Nord Buds 4.
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In This Article
OnePlus Nord Buds 4 Review: Design
Box Contents
- Charging case
- Earbuds
- Ear tips (S and L; M are pre-installed)
- Sticker
- User manual
The OnePlus Nord Buds 4 TWS follows the same design language as its Pro sibling (our review here). The charging case has a plastic build and a ‘rounded rectangle’ shape. The matte finish makes sure that it does not register fingerprints and smudges easily. The pebble-like shape, along with the smooth texture, gives the case a nice in-hand feel.
The pairing button and USB-C port are positioned at the bottom of the case. The ‘ONEPLUS’ lettering is printed just below the lid. Further down is a small LED notification light. The hinge feels strong and durable. The lid can be opened and snapped shut with just one finger. The case weighs 33.9g by itself and 42.5g with the earbuds inside.
The earbuds follow the traditional in-ear design. They are slightly smaller than their Pro counterparts. The fit is snug, comfortable, and airtight. It cancels out a significant portion of ambient sounds even without the ANC turned on. We wore these earbuds for multiple hours on end and did not experience any major ear fatigue. The stems have small indents on them to mark the touch-sensitive area. The touch controls are well tuned and optimised to limit accidental touches. Each earbud is equipped with 3 mics.
The earbuds are rated IP55 for dust and water resistance. This means they can survive exposure to sweat and light water splashes. We wore them while hiking and working out, and were pleased to see that they remained unfazed by sweat.
OnePlus Nord Buds 4 Review: Performance
Pairing the TWS to your phone or PC is a quick and seamless process, thanks to Bluetooth 6.1 and Google Fast Pair/Windows Swift Pair support. There are 2 audio codecs on offer – SBC and AAC. The earbuds use 12mm titanium-coated dynamic drivers to deliver their audio output.
The soundstage offered by the OnePlus Nord Buds 4 is wide, rich, and vibrant. Even though there’s a prominent low-end, the mid and high frequencies get ample representation. Listening to Love Deluxe by Sade, we were pleased by the lucidity of the vocals along with the prominent basslines. While playing rock artists like UFO and Led Zeppelin, the earbuds delivered crunchy guitar riffs while paying attention to small details like the hi-hat hits.
If you’re a OnePlus/Oppo user, you can access the full range of earbud functions from your phone’s interface. Other users will need to download the HeyMelody app. There are 3 pre-set sound profiles on offer – Balanced (Default), Serenade, and Bass. If none of them rocks your boat, you can customise the equaliser to your listening preferences. You also get a ‘BassWave’ slider to boost the bass in the mix.
The Nord Buds 4 can nullify up to 52dB of surrounding sounds. We found its ANC chops quite impressive for a budget TWS. In indoor usage, it was able to suppress the general humdrum coming from outside. In outdoor conditions, the earbuds are able to limit traffic noises to a considerable degree, but aren’t able to completely nullify them. The calling experience is pretty good, and you can thank the 3-mic setup for that. The earbuds are able to extract the sound of the speaker from the background noises and relay it to the listener. There is some boxiness that you have to deal with, but it isn’t a dealbreaker.
The Hey Melody app also lets you customise the touch controls. You have the option to turn them off entirely if you’re bothered by accidental triggers. The sliding touch gesture for volume control has been omitted on these earbuds to make the Pro model more distinguishable.
The good news is that the rest of the feature has been kept intact on the base model. The ‘Game Mode’ drops the latency of the earbuds to 47ms. This ensures that the gaming audio is always in sync with the on-screen visuals. You can even enhance the sound effects for footsteps and gunshots. Other features include dual connection, remote camera shutter, AI translate, Sound Space, OnePlus 3D Audio, and Spotify Tap.
Each earbud is equipped with a 62mAh battery. There’s an additional 530mAh in the case. These are the exact same numbers as the Pro version. The battery life of the two models is similar too. OnePlus claims a cumulative battery life of 54 hours (earbuds + case) with ANC turned off and volume limited to 50%. We were able to get a week’s worth of battery life with 3-4 hours of mixed usage each day. This included listening to music in the 40-70% volume range, playing games, and using ANC. It takes 1.5 hours to charge the case and earbuds using a USB-C cable. The earbuds take 55 minutes to reach a full charge when they’re placed in the case.
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Verdict
The OnePlus Nord Buds 4 are a very easily recommendable pair of wireless earbuds. They tick all the essential boxes and don’t cost a bomb. You get a vibrant soundstage, impressive ANC, a nifty Game Mode, and other secondary features like dual-connection, Spotify Tap, AI Translate, and more. The only big omission for us was the LHDC 5.0 codec. However, if you don’t use lossless streaming on your preferred audio platform, you don’t need the codec to begin with. Overall, the Nord Buds 4 are an amazing deal at Rs 3,299. You won’t find many TWS replicating its performance in this price bracket.
Pros
- Good soundstage
- ANC
- Versatile battery
Cons
- No LHDC 5.0 codec
- Doesn’t support swipe gesture for volume control
