OnePlus Nord Buds 4 Pro review: Budget wireless earbuds that deliver for everyday use

Say hello to the brand-new OnePlus Nord Buds 4 Pro. Inside the box, you get the Nord Buds 4 Pro earbuds in Raven Black or Radiant Gray colourways, the charging case, a user guide, safety and warranty card, USB Type-C charging case and Silicon ear tips (S and L, with M size pre-installed).

The Nord line-up, from OnePlus, has always caught my eye and it’s mainly because of its aggressive pricing. The Nord Buds 4 Pro are no different.

OnePlus has not only packed everything you can imagine into this package (including an optical sensor for wear detection), but it’s also been slimmed down. The case weighs just 43g, while each bud weighs 4.4g each. The earbuds have IP55 ratings for dust and water resistance, but the case has no IP ratings. To get started with the Nord Buds 4 Pro, you need the HeyMelody app, to get the most out of the earbuds.

A pocketable-design

The Nord Buds 4 Pro are now more squarish, compared to the pebble shape of its predecessor. Compact is the one word that instantly comes to mind, as the size has been reduced by over 10 percent. Thanks to its matte finish, the earbuds and the case largely stay fingerprint-free. There’s the OnePlus logo, and a tiny LED strip (white, green, and red colours indicate battery status) on the front. The earbuds are now, thanks to stronger magnets, more secure than ever inside the case. The rear features the USB-C port, and a pairing button. But before I get into the nitty-gritties, let me tell you about something that I was sold on immediately.

Ridiculous battery life

OnePlus has claimed that the Nord Buds 4 Pro can deliver up to 54 hours of battery life. The earphones pack a 62mAh battery and they promise 13 hours of battery with ANC (Active Noise Cancellation) off and 7 hours with ANC on.

Those claims were almost spot on, and the super long runtimes cannot be understated. The only time I got less battery life was when I was using the earbuds for long work calls (the earbuds use call noise cancellation tech that eats into the battery life).

The 54 hour claim, with the 530mAh charging case, is with ANC off. With ANC and LHDC (Low-Latency Hi-Definition Audio Codec), you can get up to 26 hours of total battery life. While I wasn’t able to squeeze 54 hours of battery life, without fending for the charger, I did manage to get around the 50 hour mark. I was largely impressed because not having to constantly charge yet another device is certainly a boon. Charging is fast, as it can fully juice up in under an hour.

Sound quality

Ultimately, this is the factor that will drive the sales of the Nord Buds 4 Pro. Everything else is just a bonus. With its 12mm titanium-coated dynamic drivers, the earbuds are bass-focused. It’s a little too bass-forward for avid music listeners, so while there’s a BassWave option to further enhance the bass, I’d just avoid that altogether.

Thankfully, you can go to the HeyMelody app, and choose from multiple EQ presets—Balanced, Serenade and Bass. You also get access to full 10-band EQ, something that most budget earbuds miss out on. Highs are the strong points, mid-range is average, and the lows are good. If you want the vocals to shine, then just set it to the Serenade preset and let the low-end be dialed back, and in turn, open up the soundstage.

From Green Day’s Holiday to U2’s Elevation, rock songs sounded more detailed, almost like you were at a live concert, and the sound has that satisfying ‘thump’ that we’ve all come to love. For the bass-heads out there, you’ll love dancing to your favourite Punjabi tunes thanks to the bass-forward tuning. The ANC does a fairly good job of drowning out the external noises, so you can go ahead and enjoy the music by itself.

What can be improved upon is the instrument separation. Jazz tracks like Take Five by The Dave Brubeck Quartet or Round Midnight by Thelonious Monk sounded kind of flat and muddled. And this is because I couldn’t really make out which instrument was playing at which point in the song.

That said, the Nord Buds 4 Pro proved very good for podcasts and calls, thanks to a triple-microphone ENC setup that suppresses background noise.

Finicky touch controls

The one thing I really didn’t like while testing these earbuds were the touch controls. Unlike other earbuds in the OnePlus lineup that use squeeze or press controls, these use touch controls. Even with the addition of ‘slide volume’ controls, the controls themselves are finicky. It was hit or miss: Sometimes it wouldn’t register a touch at all, and sometimes it would register an extra touch. Frustrating.

Verdict

For the price of ₹3,999, there is hardly much you can falter. The earbuds have a premium and compact design in a feature packed package along with great ANC, good call quality and an easy-to-use app experience. The icing on the cake? The battery life! It feels as if the Nord Buds 4 Pro have finally grown up. It’s an easy recommendation (unlike the predecessors) from me for anyone who is on a tight budget. The bass-heavy sound may not appeal to anyone, the mid-range may be average, and the finicky controls frustrating, but these aren’t dealbreakers in the context of the overall experience. The Nord Buds 4 Pro shines brighter than any other competitor in this price range.

Sahil Bhalla is a Delhi-based writer. He posts @IMSahilBhalla.