[OnePlus Buds 4] Allow simultaneous Hi-Res Audio and 3D Audio

A couple of people asked me last week for a comparison of the 3 sets if earbuds I'm currently using, including the QCY Melobuds N70s which I got earlier in the week. I've had a week or so with the N70s now and really like them, here's my verdict after a few days with them.  **Earfun Air Pro 4s (£60 from Amazon)** I'll be honest, I got these purely because everyone on Reddit raved about them. It seemed they are pretty much universally loved by people here, and I can see why to a certain extent. I paid about £60 from Amazon for them with a cover for the very slippy case included. Initially I was really impressed, they are popular because they are decent all-rounders that do pretty much everything well. However, I was never blown away by the sound of them - it was very good but not great, and no amount of EQing (including trying the various ones suggested here) would elevate it to that next level. The mics also aren't great, and I had a couple of complaints saying I sounded muffled or distant on calls for work. These were doing the job fine, but I wasn't as impressed with them as I hoped I might be considering all the love they get here.    **OnePlus Buds 4 (£60 from Aliexpress)** I had initially ruled these out, as they were a lot more expensive than the Earfuns and a bit above what I was looking to spend. However after reading a couple of posts on here singing their praises over the Earfuns I found that the global version can be had from Aliexpress for £60 or so, so pretty much exactly what the Air Pro 4s cost me and so was convinced to give them a go. I've had them a while now, and can tell you I absolutely love them. They beat the Earfuns in pretty much every way, apart from when it comes to battery/charging. There's not much in it but they don't last quite as long, but that's not a problem for me as it's more than long enough for me (I'm unlikely to wear them for 5 1/2 hours without a break) and a quick 10 minutes in the case gives them another couple of hours anyway. The other disadvantage is no wireless charging on the case, but I'm fine with that. Mic quality and ANC is a definite step up, transparency mode is better and they are equally as comfortable for extended periods of listening. Obviously the sound is the key thing, and I was stunned by how good they sounded with the dual drivers giving them clarity and a powerful yet clean bass that the Earfuns just can't match. It's worth mentioning that with all three sets here there's not one that's leagues apart from the others in sound quality, but there's still a definite and very noticeable improvement with these coming from the Air Pro 4s and it's hard not to be impressed. The only thing I don't like is you have to choose between Hi-Res Audio with LHDC 5 or the 3D Audio , you can't have both. Well surely that's not issue, I suspect anyone reading this will be thinking, as isn't spatial audio a pretty terrible gimmick that makes music sound worse by some cheap stereo expansion and maybe a little reverb? That's certainly the case on the Earfuns, the Melobuds and all others I've tried where it's complete pointless and sounds horrible, but for some reason I really can't explain it sounds really good to me on the Oneplus Bud 4s. My head tells me it should be rubbish based on my past experiences, but it somehow works for me for the first time ever. It does add extra volume and widens the soundstage, and is the best interpretation of spatial audio I’ve heard. I like it enough to choose it over Hi-Res audio, which is a big surprise to me.  **QYC Melobuds N70s (£31 from Aliexpress)**  After discovering the Oneplus Bud 4s I didn't need another pair of earbuds, as I was convinced these were the ones for me. However, my daughter was also after a new pair of earbuds for the gym as the trusty old Soundcore Liberty 2s I gave her are showing their age, and I was intrigued by these and the fact you get MEMS tweeters at a stupidly low price (around £30, so half the price of the other two). I’d been intrigued by other earphones using MEMS tweeters, and as the early reviews on here were very favourable so I thought they were worth a go at that price, as they are inexpensive enough that it doesn't matter too much when she inevitably loses one of them and if they are as good as some people are suggesting then I could always keep them for myself...  First impressions are good - like the other two, they certainly don’t sound their best out of the box and need some EQ to bring out the best. it's certainly even more important for these than the other two, as the MEMS drivers boost up the high frequencies and I found it quite fatiguing after a a short time. You can certainly hear the difference the MEMS drivers bring between these and the other two, with a lovely top end clarity and sparkle (once you've tamed it down a bit in the app). I listen to a lot of dance music, mostly hardcore/jungle/dnb etc., and certainly tracks from those genres just sound incredible on these. This is a very long shot but if anyone is familiar with the various recent remixes of Dave Skywalker's Pandora then I can tell you they just work so well on these, in a way I'm struggling to put into words - it's like the N70s are just a perfect frequency match for them for some reason. For other genres I listen to, mostly guitar based stuff, they also performed really well but were never nearly as exciting as the Oneplus Bud 4s sound to me, and they are still the clear winner of the three on pure sound quality alone.  The case is pretty horrible unfortunately- whilst it's much smaller than the other two (and does have wireless charging, which I didn't expect)  I do find it counterintuitive with the way you have to rotate the buds to fit them in. I know that's a really minor thing to complain about but I do a lot of listening at night when out walking with our dog, and have found it a bit of a struggle to get them back in the case in poorly lit areas. The Earfuns have a nice little interior light that not only looks nice but does help when it’s dark. However I have to remind myself that these are £30, which is a fantastic price for them, and it’s a minor niggle. I’ve not had the LDAC connectivity issues I’ve seen a couple of people mention, they’ve been flawless for me. The app QYC is fine, does just what you’d expect. The Earfun might be the slickest of the three apps but honestly all did their job for me.  **Conclusion** In conclusion then, the Oneplus Bud 4s are absolutely the undisputed champs for me at the £60ish price point. They beat the Earfuns in just about every way (with Earfun winning on the battery, wireless charging and the cool light on the inside of the case!) and sound incredible for something so relatively cheap. The N70s surprised me with how good they are for half the price of the other two - not enough to win me over but if price is a key factor they offer some seriously good sound for anyone on a budget. But if you can afford £60 then it's the Oneplus Bud4s that come out on top by a clear margin.