The Redmi Buds 4 Pro headphones have already happened several times on the website of the readers. Like, no worse than the “expensive” AirPods Pro, they cost only 5,500 rubles.
Here, the noise reduction is characterized by cool, and support for the Hi-Res codec LDAC (for this money – a mega rarity), and the “good sound” of dual speakers, and even a multipoint, so that devices can be connected to the presence at the same time.
Okay, I said – I fell for such an advertisement, I bought it. Worn for a week, almost not felt, comparable to AirPods Pro and appreciated the noise reduction, sound quality.
Spoiler: yes, headphones are OK. But not as much as they are made out to be.
What’s included with Redmi Buds 4 Pro
The box is terrorist super cheap. Soft cardboard, everything is simple inside.
There are 2 pairs of nozzles and a USB to USB-C cable here. Nothing special but didn’t expect anything else. Still, the model is positioned as advanced only among budget headphone models. Doesn’t pretend to be “middle class”.
The design of the headphones, the quality of the case – everything is not bad
I don’t even know what Redmi Buds 4 Pro are like. Visually, they are simply unique, not to be confused with anything, I have never seen anything like it.
The Redmi Buds 4 Pro case is slightly thicker and taller than the AirPods Pro. Slightly more rounded. But in the pocket they lie well, they do not stick out much.
At the end of the cover is the power button and the USB-C port. And inside there are two speakers fixed by magnets. Easy to take out and hold up well. Blindly imported without problems.
The case, by the way, is very light – almost two times lighter than that of the AirPods Pro. The lid closes insipidly, there is a touch of cheapness, but for its price segment this is normal.
The headphones themselves are assembled securely and decently, there are no obvious gaps. The only thing I don’t like is the silver inserts on the outer suits, they look quite simple. They note the presence of a touch panel, that is, control of observations and modes.
Battery life, connection quality
The Redmi Buds 4 Pro promise a stellar battery life for budget buds, 9 hours on a single charge. They were not there, of course. The real time is somewhere from 5 to 6 hours in the mode with the AAC codec (iPhone) or 4 and a half hours with the LDAC codec.
There are two opposite stories about the quality of connections. There are no complaints about the Redmi Buds 4 Pro on the iPhone. The signal keeps about the same distance as the AirPods: it passes through two rooms, 10-15 meters with coverage accuracy. On Android, however, there are features.
Since the LDAC codec is enabled here by default, the stable reception range drops significantly. Somewhere around 10 meters becomes the maximum, in the presence of a large amount of interference, including in the city, it generally drops to a meter or two. To fix this, you need to turn off the codec that runs on Android.
Also, on smartphones with a Bluetooth radio module reader and / or a processor, the sound is counted several times per minute when the maximum quality level is set (turned on through the developer in Android). The same story will be with famous listeners who support LDAC. but don’t mark it as impossible.
Noise cancellation, multipoint and other features of Redmi Buds 4 Pro
Noise canceling and random reception. Was pleasantly surprised.
The ANC is good on the subway, on the street with a good half of the noise. It works in terms of efficiency somewhere around 80% of what the first AirPods Pro collected. For an inexpensive model, this is a great result, a rarity.
And the temperature is also good. There is no feeling of artificiality of reproduced ambient sounds, people’s speech sounds realistic. It doesn’t quite pull up to AirPods Pro either, but at least I don’t want to turn it off. In general, I’m happy here.
Separately, it pleases that this model can remember two devices at the same time and switch between them. If you set the value of the lower key to 2 seconds, you can connect your ears to the second device.
There is also a sensor-detector of the skin, that is, when the hearing is removed, it stops, and when they return there, it continues automatically.
Sound quality and LDAC. Something went wrong
The Redmi Buds 4 Pro are one of the cheapest, if not the cheapest wireless headphones with LDAC support. To date, the fact that the lowest performance of bitrate tracks detected is higher than the maximum bandwidth of streaming services: the maximum bandwidth is 990 kbps.
Listen to lossless tracks in Apple Music on Android theoretically it makes sense to listen to lossless tracks. Let’s forget about iOS here, because in principle there is no such codec.
Why then write “theoretically”? Due to the fact that the sound, taking into account the support of the top codec, is completely mediocre, and has the exceptional quality of the headphones and speakers themselves. Redmi boasts that it has installed 2 speakers per hour “ear” here. But this is never heard.
Low frequencies are bland by the standards of even AirPods Pro. The middle ones are elongated unnaturally, somehow partially. And the high one is seriously not enough. It’s in LDAC mode, lossless audio playback in Apple Music and maximum bitrate effects in Android. In AAC and on the iPhone, the sound is absolutely no different, that is, if worse, it protects.
If you draw parallels, Redmi Buds 4 Pro will seem like they really wanted to repeat the size, calm sound profile of the first generation AirPods Pro, but could not find a similar balance between all frequency ranges.
On the other hand, you do not get tired of them, they do not strain. It’s just that LDAC was absolutely superfluous here and does not bring any real benefit to the listener. Alas.
The result is normal headphones, but these are not quite AirPods Pro
If you’re looking for an overall cheap alternative, probably the Android side of the firmware, then the Redmi Buds 4 Pro is a good choice. In terms of noise reduction and density mode, they definitely jump above their heads. The sound does not hold out and some may upset.
The fit is good, they are uncomfortable to wear, the case is made soundly, the operating time is normal. You can understand why these headphones are learning. How is that budget alternative to AirPods ProYes.
Just don’t be fooled by the Hi-Res label on the packaging. There will be no sound quality corresponding to the logo.
You can buy Redmi Buds 4 Pro in Russia for an average of 5500 rubles. There are white and black models.
📸 All photos in the article:
Source: Iphones RU
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
