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We've recently released our Test Bench 1.6 update for Headphones! Read the Latency R&D Article to learn more.

Bluedio T4 Turbine Wireless Headphones Review

Tested using Methodology v1.3.1
Review updated Jul 11, 2017 at 06:19 pm
Latest change: Test bench update Nov 21, 2019 at 11:21 am
Bluedio T4 Turbine Wireless Picture
6.5
Mixed Usage
6.8
Neutral Sound
6.8
Commute/Travel
6.7
Sports/Fitness
6.4
Office
5.1
Wireless Gaming
6.7
Wired Gaming
6.2
Phone Call

The Bluedio T4 have a better design and sound quality than the previous models but a drastically worse latency performance. They're sturdy and durable headphones with an awkward fit that may be better for some listeners if worn backwards. However, the biggest issue is with the incredibly high latency that makes the headphones practically unusable for watching videos except when wired.

Our Verdict

6.5 Mixed Usage

The T4 are decent headphones for most use cases except for gaming or watching videos. They have the worst latency we've measured so far so if you only listen to music with your headphones while commuting or at the office then they should be okay, but they will not be practical for anything latency sensitive. They also have an awkward fit that will feel uncomfortable for some listeners.

Pros
  • Good build quality.
  • Above-average control scheme.
  • Bass-rich sound quality.
Cons
  • Extremely high latency.
  • Awkward fit causes seal issues.
6.8 Neutral Sound

Okay for neutral listening. They have a decent audio reproduction but they're a bit bass-heavy and have slightly mismatched drivers. They also do not have the best Soundstage, due to their closed-back design but their overall sound should be good enough for casual listeners especially if you like a little bass.

6.8 Commute/Travel

Decent for commuting. If you can get the right fit then they should block enough noise for moderately loud environments. They also have an above-average if slightly confusing controls scheme.

6.7 Sports/Fitness

Average for sports. They have a good battery life a decent control scheme. They also don't get too hot during sports but they're not the most stable for running or working out.

6.4 Office

Average for office use. They provide enough isolation for a moderately busy office and do not leak much even at higher volumes. However, they will only be good enough if you used them wired or only listen to music as the latency will be a deal breaker if you have to watch a lot of videos.

6.7 Wired Gaming
  • 6.5 Mixed Usage
  • 6.8 Neutral Sound
  • 6.8 Commute/Travel
  • 6.7 Sports/Fitness
  • 6.4 Office
  • 5.1 Wireless Gaming
  • 6.7 Wired Gaming
  • 6.2 Phone Call
  1. Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.1.
  2. Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.
  3. Updated Feb 16, 2018: Converted to Test Bench 1.2.
  4. Updated Sep 28, 2017: The microphone has been tested with our new methodology, as explained here
  5. Updated Aug 10, 2017: Converted to Test Bench 1.1.
  6. Updated Jul 11, 2017: Review published.
  7. Updated Jul 11, 2017: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
  8. Updated Jul 09, 2017: Our testers have started testing this product.
  9. Updated Jul 07, 2017: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.

Compared To Other Headphones

Mpow H5 Wireless

The Mpow H5 Wireless are a better headset overall compared to the Bluedio T4 Turbine Wireless. The Bluedio have a better build quality that's surprising for their price range. They also have a deeper, more powerful bass range that some may prefer, and a stronger isolation performance for commuting. On the other hand, the Mpow have a more compact design that fits better on most people even if they are a little tight. They also have a better-balanced sound and easier-to-use controls. Their latency is also much better than the Bluedio, although they will still not be the best option for watching movies and gaming.

Test Results

Design
Design
Style
Type Over-ear
Enclosure Closed-Back
Wireless Yes
Transducer Dynamic

The Bluedio T4 have a premium look and feel but an odd form factor that might not be for everyone. They feel high-end thanks to the ample use of metal in their design and the thick well-padded headband. That and the brushed metal ear cup enclosures will stand out in a crowd, especially, if you get the white or red color variants. However, the ear cup hinges protrude outwards, which won't look as good to all listeners.

6.0
Design
Comfort
Weight 0.75 lbs
Clamping Force
0.9 lbs

The T4s are well-padded but have an uncomfortably awkward design. The ear cups rotate in only one direction and have a small opening that doesn't fit well on all ears. For some listeners, the T4s are actually more comfortable when worn backwards, due to the limited range of motion of the swivel hinges. This leaves a big gap behind the ears that feels a bit annoying and results in seal issues, which affects the noise cancellation and sound quality of the headphones.

7.3
Design
Controls
OS Compatibility
Not OS specific
Ease Of Use Mediocre
Feedback Okay
Call/Music Control Yes
Volume Control Yes
Microphone Control No
Channel Mixing
N/A
Noise Cancelling Control Yes
Talk-Through
Yes
Additional Buttons Bass Effect

These headphones have a better control scheme than past iterations but feel a bit confusing. They deliver all the essential functions; call/music, track skipping, and volume controls. They even have dedicated buttons for noise canceling and a talk-through mode. The buttons provide good tactile feedback but the volume toggle, the multi-purpose and the talk-through buttons feel like they should have been switched around to be more efficient and easier to use. Also the ANC switch feels quite stiff in actual use.

7.0
Design
Breathability
Avg.Temp.Difference 4.3 °C
6.1
Design
Portability
L 7.5"
W 8"
H 1.5"
Volume 90 in³
Transmitter Required N/A

The T4 are barely portable headphones. They're pretty large do not fold like the T3 to save space. The ear cups do lay flat, however, but they still won't be the ideal headphones to carry on your person unless you have a bag.

5.5
Design
Case
Type Pouch
L N/A
W N/A
H N/A
Volume N/A

Comes with a basic pouch that will protect the headphones from scratches but not from impacts, drops or water damage.

7.5
Design
Build Quality

The Bluedio T4 are solid and durable headphones. They have a good build quality that's mostly metal and thick faux-leather padding for the ear cups that feel somewhat high-end. The ear cups are dense and the headband is reinforced with a decently flexible metal frame. The hinges are their most susceptible weak point but overall they feel like sturdy headphones that could fall a couple of times without getting damaged. Their build quality is even better than some headphones a lot more expensive like the Turtle Beach Elite 800.

6.0
Design
Stability

The T4 are not particularly stable but have a wireless design that reduces the possibility of the audio cable getting tangled and yanking the headphones of your head. They won't fall during casual listening sessions but they're not stable enough for running or working out. They won't be the ideal headphones for sports.

Design
Headshots 1
Design
Headshots 2
Design
Top
Design
In The Box

  • Bluedio T4 headphones
  • USB-C audio cable
  • Carrying pouch
  • USB-C charging cable

Sound
Sound
Sound Profile
Bass Amount
-0.95 dB
Treble Amount
-0.52 dB
8.1
Sound
Frequency Response Consistency
Avg. Std. Deviation
0.38 dB

Excellent frequency response consistency. Despite the poor ergonomics, these headphones performed relatively consistently across our human subject. Even having glasses on didn't have a dramatic effect on Bass compared to some other closed-back headphones we have measured so far. The T4 also performed quite consistently in the Treble Range, most likely due to their small ear cups.

Sound
Raw Frequency Response
7.6
Sound
Bass Accuracy
Std. Err.
3.32 dB
Low-Frequency Extension
10.15 Hz
Low-Bass
3.89 dB
Mid-Bass
-2.59 dB
High-Bass
-4.1 dB

Good bass range performance. Low-bass is extended down to 10Hz which is great, but it's over our target by about 4dB. This will add a bit of excess thump and rumble to the sound, which some people may like. Bass is relatively flat, but slightly underemphasized. High-bass is also flat, but under our target by 4dB which makes the overall sound to lack a bit of warmth. If you like the extra bass of the Bluedio T4 then check out the Skullcandy Crusher Wireless which have a haptic bass slider to add more rumble to you music although the effect might be a bit overdone for some.

6.9
Sound
Mid Accuracy
Std. Err.
4.15 dB
Low-Mid
-3.22 dB
Mid-Mid
-0.62 dB
High-Mid
5.49 dB

Average Mid Range performance. Low-mid is relatively flat, but underemphasized by about 3dB. This is the continuation of the high-bass underemphasis, making vocals/leads slightly thin. The bump from 800Hz-2KHz pushes lead instruments to the front of the mix and could also make the overall sound a bit honky.

7.0
Sound
Treble Accuracy
Std. Err.
4.31 dB
Low-Treble
4.31 dB
Mid-Treble
0.05 dB
High-Treble
-6.81 dB

Decent treble range performance. Low-treble is over our target by 4dB, which is the continuation of the high-mid overemphasis. This adds a bit of excess presence to the mix. Treble is pretty consistent and balanced, but high-treble shows a bit of underemphasis which means these headphones could lack a bit of airiness.

7.2
Sound
Peaks/Dips
Peaks
1.72 dB
Dips
1.64 dB
8.0
Sound
Imaging
Weighted Group Delay
0.31
Weighted Amplitude Mismatch
1
Weighted Frequency Mismatch
2.54
Weighted Phase Mismatch
6.64
3.8
Sound
Soundstage
PRTF Accuracy (Std. Dev.)
2.32 dB
PRTF Size (Avg.)
1.74 dB
PRTF Distance
3.29 dB
Openness
3.8
Acoustic Space Excitation
3.3
7.5
Sound
Weighted Harmonic Distortion
WHD @ 90
0.209
WHD @ 100
0.190
Isolation
6.1
Isolation
Noise Isolation
Isolation Audio
Overall Attenuation
-15.77 dB
Noise Cancelling Yes
Bass
-3.3 dB
Mid
-13.41 dB
Treble
-31.48 dB

Mediocre Isolation performance. These active noise-cancelling headphones add some ANC artifacts below 40Hz which may be audible in certain situations. The T4s ANC kick-in at around 40Hz and achieve about 3dB of isolation in the Bass Range which is sub-par. In the Mid Range, they achieve a decent reduction of about 13dB and in the Treble Range, they isolate by more than 30dB, which is good. If you care about isolation then consider the Anker SoundCore Space NC. They isolate better than the T4 but are not as pricey as the more premium tier Bose QC35 or Sony WH-1000XM3.

7.3
Isolation
Leakage
Leakage Audio
Overall Leakage @ 1ft
37.67 dB

Above-average Leakage performance. The significant portion of the leakage is spread between 600Hz and 3KHz, which is not too broad. The overall level of leakage is also with decent limit. However, the leakage performance of these headphones headphones may be negatively affected by their poor fit, since not everyone will be able to achieve a proper seal with them.

Microphone
Microphone
Microphone Style
Integrated
Yes
In-line
No
Boom
No
Detachable Boom
N/A
Mic Yes
6.5
Microphone
Recording Quality
Recorded Speech
LFE
77.72 Hz
FR Std. Dev.
5.37 dB
HFE
3,272.31 Hz
Weighted THD
9.886
Gain
23.92 dB
5.8
Microphone
Noise Handling
Speech + Pink Noise
Speech + Subway Noise
SpNR
8.87 dB
Active Features
7.4
Active Features
Battery
Battery Type
Rechargable
Continuous Battery Life
19 hrs
Additional Charges
0
Total Battery Life
19 hrs
Charge Time
1.7 hrs
Power Saving Feature
No
Audio While Charging
No
Passive Playback
Yes
Charging Port USB-C

These headphones have a decent battery life that should last all day even with heavy usage. They also charge relatively fast for their battery life, but unfortunately, they don't have many power saving features. They have a good standby time but do not automatically switch off to save power.

0
Active Features
App Support
App Name N/A
iOS N/A
Android N/A
macOS N/A
Windows N/A
Equalizer
N/A
ANC Control
N/A
Mic Control N/A
Room effects
N/A
Playback Control
N/A
Button Mapping N/A
Surround Sound N/A

No compatible app.

Connectivity
6.6
Connectivity
Bluetooth
Bluetooth Version
4.2
Multi-Device Pairing
No
NFC Pairing
No
Line of Sight Range
123 ft
Default Latency
1,100 ms
aptX Latency
N/A
aptX(LL) Latency
N/A

The Bluedio T4 have the worst wireless latency that we have measured so far. They are unusable for watching movies or gaming and are only somewhat practical if you're just listening to music. We tested these headphones with 3 different Bluetooth dongles and a couple Bluetooth-enabled mobile devices and the results were the same. The latency will be a deal breaker for most listeners except if you used them wired or don't care about latency at all.

0
Connectivity
Non-Bluetooth Wireless
Non-BT Line of Sight Range
N/A
Non-BT Latency
N/A
9.0
Connectivity
Wired
Analog Audio
Yes
USB Audio
No
Detachable
Length 4.7 ft
Connection 1/8" TRS
Wired Latency
0 ms
Connectivity
PC / PS4 Compatibility
PC / PS4 Analog
Audio Only
PC / PS4 Wired USB
No
PC / PS4 Non-BT Wireless
No
Connectivity
Xbox One Compatibility
Xbox One Analog
Audio Only
Xbox One Wired USB
No
Xbox One Wireless
No
0
Connectivity
Base/Dock
Type
N/A
USB Input
N/A
Line In
N/A
Line Out
N/A
Optical Input
N/A
RCA Input
N/A
Dock Charging
N/A
Power Supply
N/A