Samsung’s new Galaxy Buds have a large speaker driver with a wide frequency range
Samsung has announced its new Galaxy Buds 4 range. The Galaxy Buds 4 and Buds 4 Pro offer an improved metal body design that is more important than their plasticky predecessors, improved controls, and a speaker driver that is almost 20 percent larger than that of the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro.
Samsung claims that the wide woofer and tweeter in the new generation wireless earbuds will reproduce the full range of all frequencies, from high resonances to low double bass notes.
The Buds 4 packs an 11mm dynamic driver, and in the Buds 4 Pro this is combined with a 5mm x 4mm tweeter.
The new construction may be the most eye-catching aspect of the design, but the fit of both earbuds has also been changed. This is based on millions of data points taking into account all types of ear shapes. Samsung says the new buds are more comfortable and more secure for everyday use.
The control panel on the stems has now been sculpted for easier touch-only operation and the case has been slightly redesigned to reflect the revised design of the buds.
The step-up Buds 4 Pro have the same dynamic ANC and EQ that adjusts the sound depending on your surroundings. You also get the same 16kHz noise reduction during calls.
Users of Samsung Galaxy phones and tablets will get more benefits. They will not need to install the designated application, they can simply connect the buds immediately (as iOS users do with the best AirPods). They can update settings with a shortcut menu on the quick panel, wake up the buds using their voice to control the handsfree and use head gestures to accept or reject incoming calls. There’s also an Interpreter mode for real-time translation (yes, just like you get with AirPods Pro 3).
The Buds 4 don’t have earbuds, while the Buds 4 Pro have three sizes of silicon eartips with an in-app eartip test (like the AirPods Pro 3 and Sony WF-1000XM6).
The Buds 4 Pro is more detailed than the regular model, with a waterproof and dustproof rating of IP57, compared to the IP54 of the Buds 4. Both have a battery life of six hours from the buds and another 20 from the open case ANC.
Like their predecessors, they support Samsung’s hi-res SSC UHQ codec, which allows streaming resolutions up to 24-bit/96kHz, and is compatible with the latest Galaxy smartphones. They also have Bluetooth 6.0 on board.
Both pairs have three microphones and a voice pickup unit to monitor jaw vibration, and the Pros offer 360 Spatial audio with head tracking.
It’s an impressive feature set, but a lot will depend on the sound quality. Samsung’s buds never got a full five stars from us (although the Buds 3 Pro got four stars in 2023). Can it finally secure that elusive fifth star? Our Galaxy Buds 4 Pro review reveals it all.
The Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 costs £159 / $180 / AU$TBC and the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro is £219 / $249 / AU$399. Both are available for pre-order now, with shipping starting on March 11th.
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