Samsung Galaxy Buds4 and Buds4 Pro are active

Samsung has officially launched the Galaxy Buds4 and Galaxy Buds4 Pro at Galaxy Unpacked. Overall, they are still similar to the big design change we saw with the Buds3 series, but with a few improvements designed to match Apple’s AirPods – an unlocked model with ANC for $ 179, a sealed Pro for $ 249, and many special features of the ecosystem such as quick pairing.

My last favorite Galaxy Buds were the Galaxy Buds2 Pro. They and the non-Pro 2 were both small, bean-shaped earbuds, each with ear tips of multiple sizes, and they came in a compact clamshell case. With the Buds3 system, Samsung decided to copy Apple in using the design of the trunk and removing the ears from the standard model. The new Series 4 basically repeats that new formula, but with a return to the flat clamshell case, it brings us a little closer to the glory days.

The Galaxy Buds4 still have an open, open design with no ear tips. The reliability of the Buds3 fit was our biggest complaint. The earbuds would come off easily with too much skin oil and movement, the ANC would cut out, and the bass response would fall off a cliff without the right cover. None of this will change with the Buds4, and it also drops from IP57 to IP54, which means less water resistance.

Buds4 Pro, as before, is the only model in the current lineup with silicone ear tips, which is frustrating for those who want good quality without spending extra money. However, if you spend a lot of money, the earbuds here have been redesigned to be smaller, and they fit better in my ears than the Buds3 Pro do, providing a better signal and isolation.

Both models also get a redesigned trunk. It now has a flat surface instead of a triangle, with an embossed pinch area on the front side for swiping, tapping, and pinching. Samsung says they used 10,000 simulations to refine the fit, and the result is a headset that’s easier to hold and operate than the Buds3. The Blade lights are gone, so if you wanted that glowing beauty, you’re out of luck. But you do get a nice alloy wheel in its place, which looks and feels pretty premium.

The case also gets an improvement: the vertical cradle of the Buds3 is replaced by a flat clamshell, but with a transparent lid. I’ve always preferred this design because it’s easy to open, drop the buds in, and clean. However, the transparent lid is very prone to fingerprints and scratches, appearing on almost every sample unit I handled at Unpacked.

One highly requested feature that seems to have fallen on deaf ears is the Find My Help feature. This is something other companies like Google do, so you’d think Samsung would too.

The Galaxy Buds4 Pro has improved audio hardware over the Buds3 Pro, with Samsung claiming that the effective area of ​​the woofer is around 20%. Both generations use a dual driver setup – dynamic and planar -, but the Buds4 Pro breaks down the configuration to an 11mm dynamic driver and a 5.4mm planar driver. In my short listening experience, that translated into better bass accuracy and more sub-bass extension compared to the Buds3 Pro’s over-emphasized response against our house curve.

The standard Buds4, by contrast, use the same single 11mm driver as the Buds3. Both models support 24-bit/96kHz audio, but that requires the Samsung Seamless Codec (SSC) on a compatible Galaxy device — non-Samsung users are limited to SBC or AAC, as before. No LDAC or aptX support yet. When I asked Samsung why, they emphasized that SSC offers almost lossless audio with better connection stability.

The Buds3 Pro’s ANC was a step up from the Buds2 Pro, and our lab measurements confirmed weak sub-bass and reduced treble. In my use, I could still hear the ambient noise when I walked into the office. Samsung’s answer is Adaptive ANC 2.0 in the Buds4 Pro, which is defined as real-time processing for more accurate cancellation in all daily situations. The regular Buds4 get ANC 1.0, the same generation as the non-Pro Buds3.

The array of microphones in the Buds4 Pro remains the same (3 SNR mics + VPU + SWB), which means that the ANC upgrade is algorithmic rather than a hardware upgrade. Better processing would move the needle – but we won’t know if it’s enough to beat the Buds2 Pro benchmark, let alone close the gap with the new Sony WF-1000XM6, until we get them in our lab for testing.

A bump in battery life

Both models deliver approximately one additional hour of playback per charge compared to the Buds3 generation, which was the second most requested improvement from Buds4 readers (31% of votes) and the top request from Buds4 Pro readers (38%). The Buds4 Pro is rated for 6 hours with ANC on and 7 hours with ANC off; the standard Buds4 are rated for 5 hours with ANC on and 6 hours with ANC off.

Note that Samsung’s battery life has historically fallen short of their claims compared to our lab results, so treat this as a ceiling until we test. For reference, the Buds3 Pro are rated at 7 hours but clocked 4.5 hours in our standard test.

HD Voice is the most important new feature for taking calls. It supports audio up to ~16kHz compared to the standard 8kHz ceiling, which means clearer calls on both ends. There’s a catch, though: HD Voice requires both phone devices to support the feature and carriers to enable it. Apps like WhatsApp have different requirements on top of that. So it can be an improvement when all conditions coincide, but it won’t be a universal out-of-the-box experience.

Samsung also confirmed that the Buds4 Pro will use bone conduction sensors in the microphone to better pick up your voice during calls. We’ve seen this in a few recent earbuds, like the Sony WF-1000XM6 and the Bose QuietComfort Ultra 2, and our testing of those so far shows that capturing the vibrations of your voice contributes to better call quality.

Samsung has also added the ability to record 360 Audio to the earbuds themselves when capturing video with a Samsung Galaxy phone. This is a feature I’ve never seen before – the idea is that the captured audio will better reflect the POV information in the recorded video, and I’m eager to try it out in the field.

Both models extend the integration of Galaxy AI with Gemini and Perplexity hotword support alongside Bixby, enabling voice activation to unlock and control your Samsung phone completely hands-free. Head gestures are a new addition – a feature we’ve seen in other earbuds like the Sony WF-1000XM6 – that lets you nod to accept a call or shake to reject it, and go beyond basic call control to go to AI assistant responses, manage notifications, and snooze alarms and reminders.

Interpreter mode is back, now includes 22 languages, works during calls, and activates with a pinch and hold without taking out your phone.

All these features are exclusive to Galaxy phones. Non-Samsung users get standard Bluetooth audio and there aren’t many points outside of the Samsung Wear app. There is still no LDAC or aptX support for either model.

With the Buds4 series, Samsung seems to be doubling down on the design philosophy of the previous generation to match Apple’s earbud playbook – not only with the stem design, but also by offering an unsealed model with ANC for $179 and a sealed Pro for $249, both with a growing ecosystem of options.

So far, I think the Buds4 Pro is an improvement over the Buds3 Pro, with a compact case, a better fit, improved dynamic ANC, and less fatigued bass response. Whether that’s enough to warrant the upgrade depends on your needs, but if you’re deciding between the two, I’d recommend the Buds4 Pro.

That said, I’m still not sold on the non-Pro Buds4. I understand that some people find this format very comfortable, but the problem is that an open-ended design will always compromise sound quality and isolation. A smart game, too, may be to wait for the inevitable Galaxy Buds 4 FE, which, if history repeats itself, will bring closed ear tips and all the important features at the lowest price of the group.

Full reviews with lab measurements are on the way.