OnePlus Nord Buds 4 Review: Extra-Nord-inary Value for Money

OnePlus’ phones might make headlines, but the brand makes some excellent audio equipment too. And the latest in this second category are the OnePlus Nord Buds 4. They come a few weeks after the launch of the Nord Buds 4 Pro, and bring a lot of the goodness of their Pro bros at a lower price.

OnePlus Nord Buds 4 Design: Light and comfy, look like Pros, with a Teal option

At first glance, the Nord Buds 4 look exactly like the Nord Buds 4 Pro – a similar squarish case with rounded corners and matte finish, similar bulb-like buds with stems, a similar single LED in front to show battery, and the same Type-C port and connectivity button on the base. In fact, the only major design difference between the two is that the Pro avatar had glittering letters on their case, slightly longer stems, and came in Black and Grey. The Buds 4 come in Black too but have a slightly unusual Teal shade too, which gives them a touch of flair – mind you, they can look greenish at times, blue-ish at others (check the images if you don’t believe us).

The Nord Buds 4 are very light (4.3 grams) and comfortable to wear – one can try different eartips to suit one’s ear size (there are two that come installed, and two pairs in the package) and use an eartip fit test too – very impressive at this price point. With the case, the buds weigh a little over forty grams, and while the case is not super slim, one can easily carry it around in a jacket or trouser pocket without any unseemly bulges. The buds come with IP55 dust and water resistance, which makes them gym-friendly, and they largely stayed in our ears during our runs and other exertions.

OnePlus Nord Buds 4 Interface and ease of use: Easy-peasy, tap to play

Pairing them with iPhones and Android devices was easy. The buds come with support for Google’s Fast Pair and Microsoft’s Swift Pair. Pairing them for the first time is as simple as flipping open the case, and then choosing the buds from the Bluetooth settings on the phone. Subsequent pairings require long pressing the connectivity button. Rather impressively, the buds come with multi-point connectivity and switched between devices seamlessly depending on which of the two was playing audio.

Using them is as easy as tapping a marked area near the top of each bud – two taps for the next track or accepting and ending calls, three taps to go to the previous track. The single tap option is left empty (to avoid accidental touches), but we set it to pause and resume audio. Pressing and holding the stem cycles through ANC, transparency, and no ANC. It is a pretty standard set of commands, and can be customized through the companion Hey Melody app or directly on OnePlus phones (no app needed on them – oh the joys of an ecosystem). Alas, you cannot change volume by sliding your finger up and down the stems of the buds – that remains a Pro feature. Codec support is limited to the mainstream AAC and SBC – no LHDC here (it’s a Pro thing again).

OnePlus Nord Buds 4 Performance: Bass-ic sound, brilliant calls and battery

The OnePlus Nord Buds 4 sound very good too. They come with 12 mm titanium-coated dynamic drivers, and serve up that slightly bass-driven sound that mainstream users will love. They are set to Balanced by default but can be changed to Serenade and Bass, and there’s even a BassWave option that increases bass without compromising on clarity. We kept switching between bass for workouts (the thump helps) and Balanced for other scenarios such as podcasts and films, while keeping BassWave on. For mainstream use, these are very good indeed, with very good clarity until you really max out the bass (unless you are a basshead, avoid!).

The ANC is good for the price (tip: just keep it on “high”). It won’t kill Metro engine sound, but it is enough to take the edge off some of the noise in a cafe, and transparency mode is handy too and gets one an earful of the world around. Get the earbud fit right, and these are superb for mainstream usage, with good volume levels. OnePlus users will also be able to get spatial audio in normal audio, while Game Sound Spatial Audio is available for some games (including BGMI and Call of Duty) for all users through the Hey Melody app. The bass-accented sound signature makes the Nord Buds 4 a good option for gaming as well – there is a low-latency mode onboard too, although we did not see it making a massive difference in our Asphalt sessions.

Call quality is very impressive – perhaps the best we have seen – for the price point as well. Each bud comes with three microphones, and they certainly seem to work – our friends often could not find out that we were using buds to call them. AI Translate is also available, but only for select OnePlus devices running OxygenOS 15. Battery life is super. We regularly got about six hours with ANC on, and most impressively, close to 10-12 hours without ANC. With the case, those numbers get quadrupled, so one gets close to 50 hours of battery (without ANC). A quick charging option lets one get 3-4 hours of ANC-less audio by charging the case for ten minutes, which is very good for the price point. There is no Type-C cable in the box, but that seems to be the rule now.

OnePlus Nord Buds 4 Review Verdict: Got Rs 3,000? Never Settle for Others

So should you be considering the OnePlus Nord Buds 4? Well, if you have a budget of around Rs 3,000, these are very difficult to beat. They deliver very good sound, reasonable ANC, and very good call quality and battery life. They are officially priced at Rs 3,299 but are initially available for Rs 3,099. The CMF Buds 2 Plus are the only ones that challenge the Nord Buds 4, adding LDAC support at a similar price, and come with a more funky design and cleaner app, but lose out on ANC and call quality. These get our vote for the best basic – and bass-ic – ANC buds out there on a budget. The Pros do more, sure, but they cost more money.

Buy OnePlus Nord Buds 4