Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro review

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro represented something of a watershed moment. For perhaps the first time, these were Samsung buds which we could confidently recommend,and while they had their blind spots, the Buds 3 Pro were the clearest indication we’d seen, and indeed heard, that Samsung could chase down the major players in the wireless earbuds space.

The challenge now, then, is for the Korean giant to go one step further with its new Galaxy Buds 4 Pro. Their third generation predecessors earned an eminently respectable four star review when we put them through their paces in the summer of 2024, yet that won’t be enough to keep their makers happy.

Only the best of the best will cut it in this ruthless arena, especially when you’re competing against the might of Sony, Technics and Apple – can Samsung finally make that step up to the big leagues?

Price

We’re pleased to report that the Buds 4 Pro haven’t seen a price hike over their predecessors. Like the third-gen flagships, the newer model is once again priced at £219 / $249 / AU$399.

This puts them a little below the likes of the new Sony WF-1000XM6 (tested at £250 / $330 / AU$500) and the Technics EAH-AZ100 (tested at £259 / $299 / AU$499), while roughly matching the cost of the rival Apple AirPods Pro 3 (£219 / $249 / AU$429).

Build & comfort

We’d like to think that Samsung took heed of our gentle ribbing that its outgoing flagship buds reminded us, and many others, of a pair of rival AirPods, because this new iteration confidently sports an aesthetic which feels more unique and distinctive than that which came before.

No, they’re not particularly revolutionary in terms of their configuration – the classic stem and bud design with a removable silicone ear tip is well-worn territory – but it’s tougher to accuse the Buds 4 Pro of looking like Apple rip-offs this time around.

They’ve also had their IP rating boosted from IP53 to IP57, granting protection against dust ingress and immersion in water up to a metre deep for around 30 minutes – a quick dip in the sink confirms the Galaxy buds are up to code.

Buds aside, the case also looks more distinctive, sporting a clam shell design with a transparent lid so that you can admire your buds as they take a well-earned snooze, plus wireless charging if you have a compatible charger.

The vertically placed ‘blade lights’ of the outgoing model – which indicated key vitals such as battery life and connectivity status – have gone, replaced by a sleek metallic stem covering which just gives the fourth-gen buds a more premium aesthetic. Given we didn’t find much use of those blade lights when testing out the outgoing Samsung buds, it likely won’t be a huge miss.

Fit-wise, the Buds 4 Pro are generally easy to get along with. The removable eartips are angled in slightly to allow for a neat, secure seal, with the stems just helping to add a bit of counterweight to keep everything lodged in place, although we did occasionally feel that grip loosen when performing more strenuous gym workouts. Samsung has kindly offered an ear-fit test which you can access via the provided app, confirming whether you’ve obtained an adequate seal with a quick scan of your ears.

Sadly, we’re still left grumbling that you only get three sizes of tip from which to choose. The provision of small, medium and large options feels miserly for a pair of flagship wireless earbuds, especially when the likes of the Sony WF-1000XM6, Technics EAH-AZ100 and AirPods Pro 3 all furnish you with at least four, sometimes five, options to get the perfect fit.

Touch controls are employed by what is predominantly a pinch and hold system, whereby you give the stems a firm squeeze to control operations such as playing and pausing tracks or switching noise-cancelling modes, while swiping up or down on the exterior of the stem with your finger will increase or decrease your music’s volume.

It’s a reasonably intuitive system, albeit one that takes a little getting used to. We start out being far too gentle when giving the buds a feather-light pinch, realising that you need to go with a rather forceful squeeze to get them to respond to your wishes. That volume control is responsive and efficient, though, even if you might have to turn your head a little to get the buds in an adequate position for you to give them a swipe.

Features

You’ll need to download the Samsung Wearable app if you want to get the most out of your flagship Samsung buds. It’s a clean, clear and well-ordered platform that’s available on newer Samsung and Android devices. It won’t surprise you to learn, incidentally, that Apple users get no app support at all.

As you’d find with a pair of AirPods or Beats headphones hooked up to an iPhone, the Buds 4 Pro controls are integrated within your Samsung device’s native operating system, meaning you can access many of their features – including ANC adjustment and immediate pairing – without having to go fire up the app in the first place.

As before, the new buds offer support for Samsung’s take on spatial audio with head tracking, both of which require a Samsung device in order to work and can be toggled on or off via the companion app.

Spatial audio works well enough, and unquestionably provides a markedly more spacious and open experience than when listening in standard mode. Head tracking is also reasonably effective, even if it does suffer from the usual affliction of having a very slight delay whenever we move our head from one side to the other.

Do the Buds 4 Pro pack enough portable power to go the distance? Samsung’s wireless flagbearers boast seven hours from the buds and a total of 30 with the case when ANC is turned off. Switch noise cancelling on, and those numbers will drop to roughly six hours from the buds and a total of 26 hours with the case.

Those are solid numbers, and generally capable of keeping up with most of Samsung’s key rivals. The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) tend to clock in at around 6 hours from the buds and 24 hours altogether, while the Sony WF-1000XM6 will give you 8 hours from the buds and 24 hours from the case. The AirPods Pro 3 will offer more in-bud battery life (8 hours), but their total of 24 hours is just beaten by Samsung’s flagship candidates.

If you’re seeking a reason to upgrade to Samsung’s more recent raft of Galaxy mobile devices, the Buds 4 Pro could be it. One of the unique powers of the outgoing Buds 3 Pro was their compatibility with Samsung’s exclusive proprietary SSC UHQ hi-res codec, providing transmission of up to 24-bit/96kHz music files over Bluetooth via newer devices. Those hi-res capabilities return for the fourth-gen flagship iteration, so we enlist the services of a Galaxy S25 smartphone to get the most out of our test sample’s sonic capabilities.

Noise cancelling & voice calls

Voice calls via the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro are ably handled. Speech comes across as reasonably clear thanks to the buds’ trio of microphones and voice pick-up unit. During calls, background noises, such as the bluster of wind and the swoosh of a nearby motorway, are impressively diminished. The costlier Sony WF-1000XM6 sound clearer and more natural, but Samsung’s flagbearers get the job done just fine.

Noise cancelling, meanwhile, comes in a healthy variety of flavours, including a more transparent passthrough setting alongside full active noise cancelling. This full ANC mode is effective enough in daily use, and while the Sony WF-1000XM6 are more effective at blocking out higher highs and deeper lows, we certainly notice an appreciable softening of road traffic noise and the general hubbub of a busy street when we take our Samsung test pair out for a stroll.

You also get access to Samsung’s Adaptive mode, which monitors your environment and automatically switches to the more transparent ambient setting when it detects sounds such as human speech or the screech of nearby sirens.

That automatic mode switching works well, and it doesn’t take long for the Buds 4 Pro to move seamlessly into ambient mode after we’ve started an impromptu conversation in the office. Clever.

Sound

While the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro will appeal predominantly to Samsung users, Samsung envisions its flagship buds as being compatible with a range of source devices. As such, we use a Samsung Galaxy S25 phone for much of our test time, as well as the five-star Sony Xperia 1 VI to assess the Buds 4 Pros’ general Android performance, and an iPhone 15 to see if they can play ball with Samsung’s arch rivals Apple.

The Buds 4 Pro feature a dual driver arrangement, with a larger 11mm woofer combined with a tweeter that aims to cover a wider range of frequencies (deeper bass, higher highs) and deliver greater dynamics than before.

However we listen, it doesn’t take long for us to develop something of a soft spot for the fourth-gen flagships. These are clear, well-organised and snappy performers, keenly and enthusiastically firing your music into your ears with the same tenacity as an eager labrador puppy desperately trying to retrieve a tennis ball from underneath the family sofa.

That crisp, nimble approach is hard to resist, and with the right genres, the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro are capable of putting on quite a show. Rock, hip-hop and dance numbers played via Tidal tend to fare particularly well, as evidenced by a powerful, crunchy rendition of Slipknot’s headbanging Before I Forget and a similarly eager, lively reproduction of Justice’s funky Phantom Pt. II.

These might well be the best-sounding buds that Samsung has yet made, and certainly a clear step up in detail and clarity over their third-generation predecessors. The Buds 4 Pros’ outstanding levels of textural insight and clarity make a recording of Mozart’s Rondo Alla Turca sound appropriately regal, before bringing out the lean, retro feeling of Elvis Costello’s Veronica with aplomb.

If you really want to hear your earbuds firing on all cylinders, it pays to have an up-to-date Samsung device to hand in order to take advantage of the brand’s hi-res SSC UHQ codec. When paired with the Samsung S25 smartphone and with that high-quality codec switched on, the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro take on their final and most fearsome form, like a chunky Charmeleon evolving into a mighty, fire-breathing Charizard.

Overall clarity and detail levels are increased considerably, giving Johnny Cash’s seminal cover of Hurt a welcome boost. Cash’s voice is rich and full of a gravelly, smoke-filled melancholy, while his guitar player sounds both meatier and more resonant yet simultaneously nimbler and more clearly defined than when using an iPhone or the standard Bluetooth codec on the Sony.

Everything, in fact, sounds tauter and more precise when playing through a compatible Samsung device. The bass is grippier and more responsive, while midrange textures, such as delicate guitar strums and human vocals, are more densely packed with detail than when playing on another Android or Apple device.

That hi-res codec doesn’t quite save the Buds 4 Pro from their relative limitations, though, especially when put up against the best in the business in the shape of the new Sony WF-1000XM6. Dig out Radiohead’s strange, entrancing Decks Dark, and you’ll notice the clear step up the five-star Sony buds provide as they tease out each instrumental strand with a near-obsessive attention to detail.

Dynamically, the XM6 are a cut above, granting a real sense of shape and expression to the track’s descending piano passages, all while giving the quiet drums beneath a more perceptible feeling of weight and intent. The Buds 4 Pro excel at making Decks Dark sound clear, spacious and nicely balanced, but the XM6s’ more musically involving rendition once again highlights why the Sony heavyweights are quite possibly the finest wireless earbuds we’ve heard at this level.

The AirPods Pro 3 are also just a shade more dynamically and rhythmically expressive than their Samsung counterparts, as evidenced by their engrossing delivery of Kate Bush’s Cloudbusting, but the Buds 4 Pro win back points by outshining the AirPods Pro 3 for clarity, spaciousness and overall levels of detail.

Verdict

Samsung is taking sound seriously, and it shows. The brand’s flagship Galaxy Buds 4 Pro are its best-sounding wireless earbuds yet, offering a clear, agile performance that’s backed by a whole host of slick features.

You’ll need a recent flagship Samsung smartphone to get them firing on all cylinders, but if you’ve got the kit to get them sounding their best, the Buds 4 Pro are a really solid pick, especially for devoted Samsung users.

Review published: 25th February 2026

SCORES

• Sound 4
• Features 5
• Comfort 4

MORE:

Read our review of the Sony WF-1000XM6

Also consider the Apple AirPods Pro 3

Read our Technics EAH-AZ100 review

Best wireless earbuds: top pairs tested by our reviewers