Xiaomi Redmi Buds 4 Lite

The earphones, which are available in black, white and orange, have an extremely handy charging case, which weighs just 28 grams and can be easily carried in a trouser or shirt pocket.

The Xiaomi Redmi Buds 4 Lite are comfortable to wear

Unlike ordinary in-ear models, the Redmi Buds 4 Lite do not sit in the ear canal but is worn in the ear cup, which means that no pressure is built up. The “loose” fit relieves the ear, while the low weight of four grams per side contributes to the fact that the earphones are hardly noticeable when worn. There are also differences in external perception, as in-ears provide a high degree of passive shielding from the environment, but this is not the case with the semi-in-ear design. As a result, responsiveness remains and the environment can still be perceived.

Battery life of the Xiaomi Redmi Buds 4 Lite

At higher volume levels, the Redmi Buds 4 Lite can achieve a listening time of six and a half hours. The lightweight earbuds can be fully charged twice in the case and then with a further capacity of three and a half hours, resulting in a total runtime of 23 hours. While it takes about 75 minutes to recharge the earbuds in the charging case when the batteries are empty, the case’s battery reserve is restored after one hour and 45 minutes via the USB-C connection. A USB-C to USB-A charging cable is included for this purpose.

Using the Xiaomi Redmi Buds 4 Lite

The Redmi Buds 4 Lite support Google Fast Pair for quickly connecting Android devices and can be used in single mode if required. In addition, the earpieces are equipped with touch-sensitive surfaces for controlling playback and handling phone calls. It is also possible to skip to the next track and activate or deactivate the latency-reduced gaming mode via the reliably responsive touch surfaces. However, volume control is not included in the touch controls; this has to be done on your device. There is also no provision for manually switching the earpieces on and off, which means that the case is always required.

Speech intelligibility when making calls with the Xiaomi Redmi Buds 4 Lite

The Redmi Buds 4 Lite handle the suppression of wind and ambient noise when communicating really well. Some small concessions have to be made with the voice quality of the microphones, as the user’s own voice was not transmitted as purely and naturally as with higher-priced models. However, it was amazing how effectively even strong gusts of wind or loud background noise were filtered out. Only when they were speaking could the person on the other end of the line slightly perceive ambient noise, but this was otherwise completely faded out. Only a discreet whisper could be heard. In this respect, calls could be made with an astonishingly high level of speech intelligibility, regardless of the surroundings.

Low latency mode of the Xiaomi Redmi Buds 4 Lite

Bluetooth standard SBC is used as the audio codec, as the Redmi Buds 4 Lite do not use higher-quality variants such as AAC or aptX. This can lead to an offset between the picture and sound when watching films or playing mobile phone or computer games, but this can be reduced in low-latency mode. The latency optimisation was well implemented and did not have a noticeable effect on the range of the Bluetooth connection, which overall gave an impression of stability. While a distance of up to 25 metres can be achieved in open spaces, around twelve metres could be covered inside buildings, even across several rooms.

Sound of the Xiaomi Redmi Buds 4 Lite

With earbuds, bass components are lost due to the semi-in-ear design, and this can be perceived as a disadvantage. However, with the Redmi Buds 4 Lite, this was primarily limited to the low end, which meant that while the lower ranges didn’t sound rich and particularly full-bodied, they didn’t sound powerless and thin either. Although the earpieces would not necessarily be recommended for listening to hip-hop or club music, there was otherwise sufficient substance in the bass range.

A further positive aspect was that the earbuds conveyed an open, fresh listening impression, with voices being clearly intelligible and possessing a pleasant basic warmth.

Up to room volume, the reproduction of films, audiobooks and podcasts, as well as listening to music, was coherent, as the presence in the upper registers did not seem loud or harsh. At higher volume levels, however, the upper-frequency range could develop a slight sharpness and tended to spike.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for affordable earbuds for everyday use, the Xiaomi Redmi Buds 4 Lite offer a no-brainer solution. These true-wireless earbuds have an excellent price-performance ratio, are weatherproof, comfortable to wear and have long-lasting batteries. Thanks to the effective filtering of wind and ambient noise, speech intelligibility during phone calls was also remarkably good. However, if you’re a fan of bass-strong sound, then you will probably not be entirely happy with the semi-in-ear system.