As an Android user, I’m always on the lookout for new true wireless earbuds that can compete with — or in some cases even surpass — Apple’s AirPods in terms of style, comfort, audio quality, and ease of use. Companies like Samsung, Sony, Sennheiser, JBL, Bose, and Jaybird have spent years iterating on their respective Bluetooth earbuds, each introducing multi-generational improvements that stack on top of one another, and ultimately culminating in product lines that can rival Apple in all metrics that count.

OnePlus, too, has been busy refining its wireless earbuds for some time now. Its mid-range $130 USD / $170 CAD Buds 4, for example, have proven to be solid all-rounder Bluetooth cans, with reviewers praising their value on the whole. Personally, I’ve been carrying around the OnePlus Buds 4 for several months now, and I maintain that they’re a delightful product from top to bottom. Here are three reasons why, nine months post-launch, I continue to carry the Buds 4 with me both at home and while out and about.

Battery Life

11 hours / up to 45 hours with case (ANC off)

Microphones

Three

Supported codecs

LHDC 5.0 / AAC / SBC

Bluetooth

Bluetooth 5.4

IP Rating

IP55

Colors

Zen Green, Storm Gray

OnePlus Buds 4 offer a lightweight fit and effective noise cancellation for daily use. With up to 11 hours of battery per charge and a compact charging case, these earbuds are great for long listening sessions.

They’re stylish and comfortable

AirPods-esque, but with distinct visual flair

I love the look of the OnePlus Buds 4. The earbuds themselves are inspired by Apple’s AirPods product line — stem and all — but with a slightly more angular look that sets them apart to an appreciable degree. The included charging case is smooth and pebble-like, being made of a fingerprint-resistant plastic that feels solid and sturdy. My storm gray unit is clean and sleek, but it’s the zen green colorway that really pops with extra personality.

The Buds 4 are also nice and light, with a comfortable in-ear feel. The earbuds weigh in at approximately 0.17 oz (4.73 g), while the charging case tips the scales at roughly 1.41 oz (39.97 g). This lightness, combined with a solidly-shaped chassis, means that I can keep the buds in my ears for several hours at a time without experiencing fatigue or having either bud fall out accidentally. Medium-sized ear tips are preinstalled out of the box, but small and large tips also come included to accommodate for variations in ear shape and size.

IP55 water and dust resistance is present and accounted for, which is enough to quell any fears of sweat-induced issues during workouts. Each bud also features a touch sensor for gesture and tap interactions — as with most earbuds, I don’t love the experience of prodding at the units when in my ears, but at least the implementation here is reasonably quick and responsive.

They’re brimming with tech

Lots of tech specs on deck

Despite what their $170 price tag and their compact physical size might suggest, the OnePlus Buds 4 are actually packed with a variety of audio technologies. Chief among these are Bluetooth 5.4 with Steady Connect (for ensuring a stable wireless connection), dual-device connectivity (for simultaneously pairing two separate devices and switching between them on demand), active noise cancellation (ANC), as well as OnePlus’ proprietary 3D Audio system, Sound Master EQ, and Golden Sound.

In terms of drivers, the 11mm woofers and 6mm tweeters here feature a frequency response of between 15Hz and 40KHz. Each individual bud features three microphones, and each is kitted with a 62mAh rechargeable battery (the case itself has a 530mAh power pack). OnePlus quotes up to 11 hours of battery life for each bud, or up to 45 hours when including the case.

In my experience, this is mostly accurate, as I’ve been able to use the Buds 4 on multiple trans-Atlantic flights while still having plenty in the tank left to go. Unfortunately, the Buds 4 don’t offer inductive wireless charging, though wired USB Type-C top-ups are speedy — 10 minutes will net you 3.5 hours of playback, and 80 minutes will have both buds and the case fully recharged.

They have a companion app

Say ‘hey’ to HeyMelody

As expected, the OnePlus Buds 4 integrate best when paired with a OnePlus smartphone. Thankfully, the company also offers a dedicated application that works across both Android and iPhone, and it’s called HeyMelody. The app is a pretty basic audio device manager, with options to control noise isolation and transparency, to check battery life, to adjust the EQ, and to configure gesture controls. You can also check for firmware updates from within the app.

HeyMelody also includes its own ‘find my earbuds’ function, which works by chiming high-pitched audio through the buds to help you locate them, but I do wish it natively integrated with Google’s growing Find Hub network instead. On the bright side, the OnePlus Buds 4 do feature Google Fast Pair connectivity for seamless Android and ChromeOS Bluetooth pairing, which is much appreciated. Unfortunately, there’s no support for Microsoft’s Swift Pair protocol, meaning that you have to manually connect the Buds 4 to Windows 11 PCs.

They’re relatively affordable

Buds that punch above their weight

By and large, the OnePlus Buds 4 punch above their weight. No, these aren’t even remotely the most feature-rich or high-fidelity pair of cans out on the market, but they also aren’t trying to be. They cover all the essentials competently, with ANC present and accounted for, some genuinely solid tech specs and audio quality for the price, and an external build that looks and feels undeniably premium.

I’m far from an audiophile, but the Buds 4 sound solid to my untrained ears. As an alternative to base-level AirPods, which cost an identical $130, the Buds 4 feature comparable build quality, audio quality that’s within the same basic ballpark, and the added additions of ANC and in-ear rubberized tips. Sure, they don’t integrate as seamlessly into the Apple ecosystem as AirPods do, but they’re a compelling choice on the whole, regardless of which mobile ecosystem you subscribe to.

This device was provided to Pocket-lint by OnePlus.