The OnePlus Nord Buds 4 are priced at Rs 3,299 in India. They are meant for buyers who care most about active noise cancellation and battery life, while being willing to do without some of the refinements offered by the Nord Buds 4 Pro. 

Features such as LHDC support and more advanced sound tuning have been left out in the interest of keeping the cost down. That, at least, is the bargain. The real question is how much difference it makes in ordinary use. I carried the earbuds with me for a little over a week and used them every day before coming to a conclusion.

What You Get in the Package?

There is little to surprise you when you open the package. The charging case sits at the top, with the earbuds already placed inside and covered by a thin protective film. Beneath it are the usual papers, including the user guide and safety information, together with extra ear tips in different sizes and OnePlus’ familiar orange sticker.

One thing is missing. Unlike the Nord Buds 4 Pro, this package does not include a USB Type-C charging cable. The reason is not difficult to guess. At this price, economies have to be made somewhere, and this is one of the places where OnePlus has chosen to make them.

Design and Build

The charging case looks much like the one that comes with the OnePlus Buds 4 Pro. It has the same rounded form and smooth curves along the sides. The matte finish feels soft under the fingers and carries a faint speckled texture that gives it a little character. It also does a good job of hiding fingerprints. 

On the front sits the OnePlus logo beside a small charging light. Turn the case over and you will find the USB Type-C port and the pairing button. OnePlus sells the Nord Buds 4 in two colours. Our review unit came in Astral Teal, while Stellar Black is the other option. The lid shuts with a firm, clean click. It feels secure, and the hinge inspires confidence. The earbuds stay in place even if you turn the case upside down. 

Weight matters with something you carry every day, and here OnePlus has trimmed a little from the last model. The case and earbuds together weigh 42.5g, down from the Nord Buds 3’s 46.2g. The case is slim as well. At 22.6mm thick, it slips into the small watch pocket of a pair of jeans without much trouble. The earbuds follow a simple stem design. Each stem has a shallow touch area that is easy enough to find by feel. 

You can tap once to play or pause music, tap twice to skip a track, or press and hold to switch ANC on or off. There are other gestures too, but these are the ones most people will use. In daily use, the controls proved dependable. They responded when asked and rarely missed an input. The IP55 rating also gives some peace of mind. Sweat and light rain should not trouble them, so they suit gym sessions and morning runs well.

Fit and Comfort

Comfort is one of the Nord Buds 4’s stronger points. I wore them for several hours at a time without feeling the need to take them out. They sat firmly in my ears and stayed there. Even during walks and short runs, they never felt as though they were about to come loose. I kept the medium ear tips that arrived fitted to the earbuds, and they matched my ears without any need for adjustment.

There is, however, one small annoyance. The finish is rather slick. It makes the earbuds awkward to lift from the case unless you grip them with care. The problem does not end there. Even after they are out, they can slip through your fingers if you hold them too lightly. It is a minor flaw, but one you notice often enough.

Software and Features

On paper, the OnePlus Nord Buds 4 cover most of the essentials. They use a 12mm titanium-coated dynamic driver and offer active noise cancellation rated at up to 52dB. Three microphones sit on each earbud to help with noise reduction. Gamers also get a low-latency mode that cuts delay to 47ms, while OnePlus includes its own 3D Audio feature for a wider soundstage. 

Connectivity is equally modern. The earbuds support Google Fast Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair, use Bluetooth 6.1, and rely on the SBC and AAC codecs. OnePlus also claims support for an ultra-wide 5,000Hz noise cancellation range. The software side is simple enough. If you use a non-OnePlus phone, you can install the HeyMelody app from the Play Store or App Store. 

OnePlus users do not need an extra app. They can reach the same controls through the Bluetooth settings under the Earbuds section. It is a sensible arrangement. Better still, HeyMelody asks for no account or sign-in before you begin. The interface is simple, direct, and easy to understand.

OnePlus 3D Audio: This is OnePlus’ take on spatial audio. It aims to spread sound beyond the usual left and right channels and create a greater sense of space. In practice, I found the effect less convincing than the claim. It gave many tracks a hollow quality that took away some of their weight. Before long, I turned it off and left it that way.

Sound Master EQ: The earbuds come with three preset sound profiles out of the box: Balanced, Serenade, and Bass. Each changes the character of the audio in its own way. I will cover them in greater detail in the Sound section of this review.

AI Translate: Pair the Nord Buds 4 with a compatible OnePlus phone that has the AI Translate app installed, and the earbuds can act as a live translator. A double tap on the touch area starts the feature. I had no opportunity to test it myself, but it could prove useful for anyone travelling in a country where the language is unfamiliar.

Game Mode: This is where OnePlus promises latency as low as 47ms. I assigned the left earbud’s double-tap gesture to switch the mode on and then tried it in Brawl Stars. The mode worked as intended, but I noticed little difference during play. OnePlus also says the feature works only with certain games, though it never says which ones.

Sound Space: This feature serves much the same purpose as the O-Relax app found on recent OnePlus and OPPO phones. It offers a small collection of ambient sounds and quiet music meant to help you unwind. It is not a feature you will use every day, but it is there when you want a few moments of calm.

Other features: HeyMelody also includes a handful of practical tools. You can locate misplaced earbuds, connect to two devices at once, enable automatic play and pause when an earbud leaves your ear, run a fit test to check the seal, and adjust the volume of the system prompts. None of these stands out on its own, but together they make the earbuds easier to live with.

Audio Performance 

The Nord Buds 4 offer three listening presets: Balanced, Serenade, and Bass. Beneath them sits a BassWave slider that lets you raise or reduce the low end to suit your taste. If the presets do not satisfy you, there is also a custom equaliser. It gives separate control over the bass, midrange, and treble, so you can shape the sound with a little more care.

Bass-First Tuning With Room to Customize

The default tuning leans heavily towards bass, and for the most part I found it enjoyable. Even so, some listeners may think it goes a little too far. Those who still want more can turn to the BassWave control, which adds even greater weight to the low end. At its highest setting, however, the effect becomes excessive. The bass begins to dominate the rest of the mix instead of supporting it.

This character reveals itself almost at once. The opening moments of Starboy by The Weeknd make the emphasis on the low frequencies plain enough, especially if you tend to listen for vocals or treble. Voices come through with good clarity, and they remain easy to follow. Yet they lack the last degree of sharpness and refinement that better earbuds can provide. Even the older OPPO Enco Air3 Pro sound a touch cleaner in this regard.

Switch to the Serenade preset and the balance changes. The bass steps back, while vocals move closer to the front. Instruments also lose some of their force compared with the default tuning. The difference becomes clear on Nemesis by RYLLZ, a track that depends on a strong low-end presence. The Bass preset, on the other hand, adds little of value. The earbuds already produce more than enough bass in their standard mode, so pushing it further only upsets the balance. It soon became the setting I used least.

I eventually settled on the custom 10-band equaliser. A small lift to the highest three frequency bands gave me the sound I wanted. The change brought more life to the treble and gave instruments greater presence. The result felt more balanced than any of the preset profiles.

Noise Cancellation Performance in Everyday Use

The Nord Buds 4 promise noise cancellation of up to 52dB, and they come close to meeting that claim in everyday use. They do not seal you off from the world altogether, but they reduce much of the noise that surrounds you. The six microphones handle distant traffic, the rumble of metro trains, and the usual sounds of parks or busy streets with reasonable success. 

Indoors, they also suppress most of the hum from an air conditioner and a ceiling fan while music or video is playing. The performance is all the more convincing when you consider the price. The Nord Buds 4 cost Rs 700 less than the Rs 3,999 Nord Buds 4 Pro, yet the gap in rated ANC is only 3dB. 

In practice, the difference is not one that most people will notice very often. Transparency mode also does its job well. It lets outside sounds return in a natural way and avoids the harsh, artificial quality that often spoils this feature on cheaper earbuds.

OnePlus Nord Buds 4 Battery Life and Charging

The charging case packs a 530mAh battery, while each earbud carries a 62mAh cell. OnePlus says the two together can provide up to 54 hours of playback in AAC mode with ANC switched off and the volume set to 50 percent. Figures like these always belong to ideal conditions, but they offer a useful point of reference.

In everyday use, the battery proved one of the Nord Buds 4’s stronger qualities. A single charge of the case lasted me through an entire week. During that time, I used the earbuds for music, YouTube videos, and a fair amount of streaming on Amazon Prime Video. I never felt the need to watch the battery indicator too closely.

When the case finally ran out of power, I charged it with OnePlus’ 100W adapter. It went from 1 to 100 percent in roughly 45 minutes. That is a short wait for several more days of use. If your listening habits are fairly ordinary, one full charge should carry you through most of the working week without much concern.

Final Words

The OnePlus Nord Buds 4 are no exception and are quite clear about what they are. They are not about to sacrifice features that most consumers would notice daily, like long battery life, good active noise cancellation, a comfortable fit, or reliable performance, to include LHDC support. 

There are a couple of compromises, the slippery finish and a sound profile that’s a bit too bass-heavy, but nothing that mar the overall experience. The earbuds are even more fun with a few adjustments via the equaliser. Nord Buds 4 are priced at Rs 3,299, making them a reasonable choice in terms of price and performance.