I tried the new Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, and you won’t miss a beat with these
The Galaxy Buds 3 and Buds 3 Pro were great earbuds, so the Galaxy Buds 4 had big shoes to fill. Fortunately, thanks to a sleek redesign and some surprising new features, I think Samsung may have knocked it out of the park.
I want to preface this by saying that I’m not a huge fan of graduated earbuds. I find that they tend to look like AirPods clones, and the design often feels uninspired. However, I don’t feel that way about the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 and Buds 4 Pro. In fact, after trying them on while working on Galaxy Unpacked, I might have to pick up a pair for myself.
After using the Buds Pro 4, I was impressed with the sound quality. I played “Fatal Obsession” by The Midnight, and it sounded pure and clean. That said, I’m not an audiophile, so it doesn’t take much to impress me with that, but I thought they sounded good, nonetheless. If you want to delve deeper into the sound quality and experience, you’ll have to wait for the full review.
But where I was impressed was everything else. Samsung seems to have planned the experience well, almost as if they heard my complaints from other wireless earbuds and addressed them here. For example, as I spoke loudly, the earbuds automatically lowered the volume of the song I was playing, allowing me to hear myself and the person I was talking to clearly. It worked seamlessly, and while it’s not the first of its kind, it’s the first time I’ve felt compelled to use this feature.
A photo 1 of 6
Samsung also put the touch controls on the side, not on the metal part, so I can raise or lower the volume by sliding my finger up or down the stem. I can also do other actions by pressing the sides, like triggering Gemini. Normally, I don’t care much for capacitive touch controls on earbuds, as they always kick in when I adjust my buds. However, these are far enough away that I can still hold the metal part of the stem to adjust the buds without accidentally stopping my music.
There are also head gestures, which let you nod or shake your head to do things like answer calls. Unfortunately, I haven’t tried this, but I’m curious to see how well it works in the real world.
A photo 1 of 4
Samsung has also redesigned the charging case, making it shorter and allowing the buds to lie flat. The top is bright, nice to touch, and the case itself offers 24 or 26 hours of battery life with ANC on, up from five or six hours on the Galaxy Buds 4 or 4 Pro, respectively.
There’s a lot to like about the new Galaxy Buds, and I love that, aside from the stem design, Samsung seems to differentiate them enough to make them stand out in a sea of similar-looking earbuds. And at $179 and $249, respectively, these are significantly cheaper than competing options, such as the excellent but expensive Sony WF-1000XM6, making them an attractive buy for Galaxy S26 owners.
