OnePlus Buds 4 review: Loads of bass, best ANC under Rs 10,000

New Delhi,UPDATED: Jul 8, 2025 17:30 IST

Some product categories can feel a little mundane. For example, the TWS aka earbuds. There is not much room to be creative with design in this space. There is also not that much room for adding features or for improving performance given the size of these things. So, most companies treat their earbuds, and particularly, the buds priced under Rs 10,000, rather indifferently. Not OnePlus. It’s admirable to see how much it has worked to polish the experience in its latest OnePlus Buds 4, which is going to sell in India at a price of Rs 5,999. And this hard work comes across, right in your ears, as soon as you put on the Buds 4.

You see there are a few key tech refinements in the Buds 4. And in terms of its feature set and performance, it also draws heavily from the OnePlus Buds 3 Pro. All of that is very much welcome, including superb active noise cancellation, in a pair of buds that are priced so affordably.

About the performance, however, in a while. Before that a quick look at the design of the Buds 4.

Cheaper copy of Buds 3 Pro. In a good way

Well, it seems that with the Buds 4, OnePlus has simply copied the design of the Buds 3 Pro. Kind of. The earpiece is more or less the same, with similar oblong shape and similar contours. The stem, however, unlike the straight and round one on the Buds 3 Pro, is flatter and rectangular on the Buds 4.

Other than that the difference is in materials. Unlike the more premium materials, such as the leathery surface of the charging case of the Buds 3 Pro, the Buds 4 is made of more regular plastic. Although, it is by no means cheap. The plastic has a good metallic finish, and it is neither glossy nor I believe will reflect scratches all that easily. OnePlus says that it has treated the Buds 4 plastic with NonConductive Vacuum Metallization (NCVM) coating and high-powered CO2 laser engraving. Fancy words, but it does reflect favourably in the actual product.

The Buds 4 is built well and comes with IP55 rating. Its charging, although feeling somewhat lighter compared to similarly-shaped and similarly-sized Buds 3 Pro case, feels durable and its hinges open and shut with a bit of force that hints at its quality construction. The Buds 4 comes in two colours — a simmering green shade and a simmering black variant.

The Buds 4 fits well in ears. I used the earbuds with the Medium rubber tips, which are default. OnePlus also bundles Small and Large tips in the box. With medium tips, I found the fit grippy and secure. Overall, these are well-built and well-fitting buds. I would have liked to see a slightly longer stem, but otherwise these are easy-to-like and easy-to-wear earbuds.

As far as design and comfort is concerned, the only thing I didn’t like is the same thing that I don’t like in any earbuds — the touch controls. They are finicky. You can swipe up and down on the stem to control volume, long press to turn on or off noise cancellation, or tap to play and pause. But as it happens with almost all earbuds that have touch controls via stem or earpiece, I often accidentally touched them and triggered something or other.

ANC is great, bass is plenty

When it comes to earbuds, nowadays there are two aspects to their performance: ANC and sound in music playback. On one of these aspects, the Buds 4 are excellent. That is ANC. On another one, at least to my ears, they are a mixed bag.

The Buds 4, despite its relatively affordable price, offers superb noise cancellation. It is extremely effective, or rather so effective that I find it the best I have seen in an audio product that costs less than Rs 10,000. Even compared to more expensive earbuds and headphones, the Buds 4 offers impressive noise cancellation. OnePlus says that the Buds 4 provides 200 per cent better noise cancellation than its previous Buds. In use, I could feel it.

For me the gold standard of noise cancellation is the Apple AirPods Pro 2. But despite such a low price compared to the Pods, the Buds 4 comes fairly close. I tried both side-by-side on the road, while the car I was in weaved through noisy traffic. And I tried it in the office as well. In both instances, I believe that the Buds 4 were somewhere around 75 to 85 per cent as effective as the Pro 2. In other words, they were effective in cutting low frequency sounds, and fairly good at dampening higher frequency noise, such as office chatter or a honking car on the road.

The performance of the Buds 4 in music playback is decidedly middling. It has a very strong emphasis on low frequencies, which means it can pump out plenty of bass. But this bass also bleeds into mids, and highs are surprisingly muted on the Buds 4. The result is that even the soundstage is shallow. Although, for most of the modern music, which relies a lot on beats and electronic instruments including bass, the Buds 4 do a decent enough job. So, songs like Bad Guy by Billie Eilish sound okay, and so does something like Lose Yourself by Eminem. Bollywood songs like Ghungroo and Tauba Tauba too sound quite good. But step into anything that demands more than good lows and decent mids, and you will find the Buds 4 too flat, too shallow.

This is not specifically a major con with the buds. Expecting a pair of Rs 5,999 buds to offer sublime sound is a little unfair. And I believe given the hardware — 11mm driver, 6mm tweeter — OnePlus has tuned the Buds 4 sound to appeal to people who listen to popular music of the day. That means strong bass, even if it muddles up other frequencies.

In videos and movies, the Buds 4 offer an enjoyable experience, thanks to their ability to boost the low-end sound, including bass. In calls, the 3-mic array of the Buds 4 works effectively to create clear sound and keeps background noise to minimal. All in all, the Buds 4 offer competent sound for the price. It is not very detailed, or wide, but the low-end grunt means it is enjoyable enough in Bollywood and pop music.

I used the Buds 4 with an iPhone. But like other OnePlus products, the Buds 4 too supports the company’s ecosystem play. If you pair it with a OnePlus phone you get something extra. Of particular note, there are two features: one is extended connectivity. With some newer OnePlus phones, the Buds 4 can stay connected to up to 250 meters using the Steady Connect feature. This is tremendous and will be useful for people who use the earbuds while in the gym or while doing sports.

And two, you get features like AI translation. When used, this feature will let the Buds 4 hear the foreign language and then translate that in real time into the user’s ears, through an app on the supported OnePlus device. For travellers this could be a very useful feature.

The battery life of the Buds 4 is quite good, although I have seen better. It lasts around 5 hours with ANC, plus minus some depending on where you keep your volume level. Talking of which, in most of the Bollywood songs I kept the audio level between 50-60 per cent and it was sufficient for me. Paired with the charging case the Buds 4 should easily last you 2 to 3 days, depending on how much you use it. Fast charging of the case, as well as Buds 4 through the case, is supported.

Buy it for its superb ANC

If you are out looking for a pair for affordable earbuds that also offer active noise cancellation, I believe the OnePlus Buds 4 is what you need to get. Its ANC performance at its stated price is truly spectacular.

Beyond the ANC too it offers plenty. The build quality is good and so is battery life. The sound quality during music playback, however, is middling. So, don’t buy these if you are hoping to enjoy Paint It Black by the Rolling Stones. If that is the objective, you would be best served by a wired pair of earbuds. But if you don’t mind this bass-heavy, low-frequencies amplified sound, you will find the Buds 4 a dependable and enjoyable daily companion.

- Ends