The appearance design, noise cancellation and battery life of Redmi Buds 4 are not bad among TWS earbuds at the same price. The disadvantages are also more obvious. For example, it does not support wireless charging and dual-device connection, and the low-latency function needs to be strengthened. If it is a game that requires high sound latency, wired headphones are more suitable. Or consider opting for the Redmi Buds 4 Pro.

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Accessories & Appearance Design

The accessories are relatively conventional, including earbuds, charging case, manual, Type-C cable and eartips. Redmi Buds 4 has three pairs of silicone eartips (L/M/S), and its M size eartips have been installed on the earbuds.

In terms of appearance design, the Redmi Buds 4 continue to follow the sleek design style of the Redmi Airdots 3 Pro. The lines of the charging case are smoother, and the surface is made of piano paint. Compared with the Airdots 3 Pro charging case, the size is also reduced, and the overall weight is about 49g, which is convenient to carry.

There is only one LED indicator on the front of the charging case, a function button under the logo on the back, and a Type-C charging interface at the bottom. Unfortunately, the Redmi Buds 4 do not support Qi wireless charging.

The earbuds use a bean-shaped in-ear design, which is similar to the design of most true wireless earphones on the market, and there is nothing special about it. A single earbud weighs 4.5g, which is not too heavy, but not too light (there are already 4g earbuds on the market).

Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) & Calls

Redmi Buds 4 supports a maximum of 35dB smart active noise cancellation, and provides four noise cancellation modes: mild noise cancellation, balanced noise cancellation, deep noise cancellation and adaptive noise cancellation. In the adaptive noise cancellation mode, the earbuds can intelligently adjust the noise cancellation gear according to the current environment and usage habits. However, according to daily use tests, the Redmi Buds 4 are not very good at canceling wind noise during daily riding or running. It is recommended to increase the anti-wind noise function through the OTA upgrade in the later stage, and optimize the wind noise in a targeted manner.

Redmi Buds 4 also supports transparent mode. When communicating with others, you can switch between noise cancellation mode and transparent mode by long pressing the left/right earbud without removing the earbud. In the transparent mode, you can also set the environment and vocal enhancement through the App.

In terms of call noise cancellation, Redmi Buds 4 also performed well. Two microphones are set on the earbud, coupled with dual-mic AI call noise cancellation technology, through artificial intelligence AI voice algorithm, it can accurately identify human voice and environmental noise, effectively reduce environmental noise while improving the volume and quality of human voice.

Through the actual test, it is found that during the phone call, the human voice is relatively clear, the ambient sound is small, and the call quality is high. Compared with phone calls, the voice calls noise cancellation effect of third-party social apps is slightly worse than that of phone calls, which should be related to software optimization.

Connectivity & Game Latency

Redmi Buds 4 is also adapted to the MIUI quick connect pop-up function. After opening the charging case near the phone, an interface will pop up, click to quickly pair. A variety of Xiaomi products such as mobile phones and notebooks can achieve one-click quick connection. After actual testing, third-party notebooks (Huawei MataBook 2020) with MIUI+ installed can also implement the quick-connect pop-up function.

The Redmi Buds 4 use the Bluetooth 5.2 protocol to provide lower gaming sound latency. According to the actual measurement, when playing “Honor of King”, the related sound effects are played almost synchronously when the skill is released, and the latency problem is basically not felt. However, the low-latency function still needs to be strengthened. If it is a game that requires high sound latency, wired headphones are more suitable.

Acoustic Configuration & Sound Quality

In order to obtain a better sound quality and listening experience, Redmi Buds 4 uses a 10mm dynamic driver with a high-quality diaphragm as thin as 0.006mm. It can make people’s voice more beautiful, the low frequency is fuller, the treble is clearer, and at the same time, it can restore more details in the music. In order to bring a better listening experience to users and meet the somatosensory preferences of most people, Xiaomi Acoustics Lab conducts detailed mixing and joint tuning based on earbud structure and acoustic principles. In this way, a more professional frequency response curve is created, the stress and bass are more stable, and the vocals are clearer.

Sound quality seems to be a magical thing to the average user, and it seems that everyone feels it differently. When I auditioned Vitas’ “Opera 2”, the violin and drum sounds in the accompaniment were thicker, and the analysis was not turbid. There is no harshness when singing to the treble part, and the treble is thorough and clear. When I auditioned Meav’s “One I Love”, the song was a cappella singing from the beginning to 1 minute and 15 seconds. Without the interference of the soundtrack, the ventilation sounds and tooth sounds of the singers can be clearly presented in the ears, and the vocals are cleaner and clearer.

Battery Life & Controls

The Redmi Buds 4 perform well in terms of battery life. When ANC is turned off, the earbud can last up to 6 hours a single time, and it can reach 30 hours with the charging case. When ANC is turned on, the earbud can last up to 4 hours a single time, and it can reach 20 hours with the charging case. (50% volume music playback, AAC mode).

The touch area of ​​earbuds is relatively large, which is convenient for users to perform blind operations when wearing earbuds. Supports double tap, triple tap, long press and other operations in operation gestures. Long press the left/right earbud to switch between noise cancellation mode/transparency mode. Double tap left/right earbud for music play/pause and answering calls. Triple tap left/right earbud for call rejection/hangup and next song. With the infrared intelligent in-ear monitoring function, it can automatically pause when the earbud is removed, and continue playing when the earbud is worn.

• $26 – Check latest price on: AliExpress, Banggood