Samsung Galaxy Buds4 Pro review: Best for Galaxy?

When Samsung announced its new Galaxy S26 series, it also announced the new Galaxy Buds4 series earbuds to complement them. There’s the more affordable and open-style Galaxy Buds4, and the flagship-class in-ear Galaxy Buds4 Pro that we are testing here.

The Galaxy Buds4 Pro is an incremental update to the Buds3 Pro from last year. The styling has changed slightly, while the design of the buds has been refined to fit better. The dual-driver system also received an update to improve sound reproduction, and the ANC algorithm has been improved to better cocoon owners from the world around them.

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Design, fit, noise cancellation

Fans hoping for the kidney bean styling of the earlier Galaxy Buds should look away because Samsung has adopted a stem design for the Buds4 Pro. Admittedly, the overall aesthetic is very similar to a certain brand that starts with “A”, but there’s no denying the effectiveness of this design. A stem that you can grab, pinch, and slide up and down, as opposed to a bean-like design where you have to count the number of taps, is, I find, easier to use for touch inputs.

Now, Samsung said they have analysed data from hundreds of millions of “global ear data points” to derive the shape of the Buds4 Pro, which has been tweaked slightly to improve wearing comfort. Thankfully, they sit well in my ears, and I had no problems wearing them for hours.

I do, however, have an issue with the ear tips. They just don’t fit my ear that well. The default medium ones were too small, but the large ones appear to be a tad too big, and I can’t get them to fit snugly in my ears. Consequently, they feel loose, and I can’t get a good seal.

This obviously has an impact on the overall noise cancellation. Ultimately, it isn’t quite as good as the AirPods Pro 3 or the new Sony WF-1000XM6 (which I’m testing concurrently), but it isn’t far off. And I think it would definitely have fared better had I been able to get a good fit. The ambient sound mode is quite good. It sounds a bit veiled in this mode, but otherwise, it is mostly natural and realistic.

Sound & mic quality

Where the Buds4 Pro shines is in the way it sounds. It still has a dual-driver system that consists of a planar tweeter and a dynamic driver woofer, but the latter is now 20% larger for better bass performance.

Indeed, the bass is the first thing that hits you. It’s elevated for sure, and strong. And while I’m hesitant to call it boomy, it certainly does muddy things up a tad, especially since the treble is slightly subdued. The default signature is therefore dark-leaning, which is very much to my taste.

Happily, unlike a certain earbud from Cupertino, Samsung allows users to adjust the Buds4 Pro sound profile in the Settings app. The earbuds respond well to EQ too, and I found that adding some spice to the treble helps balance the sound. At any rate, the default tuning is more balanced and natural in sound compared to most of its peers. The only earbuds that come close are the Technics EAH-AZ100.

My only criticism of the way it sounds is that it isn’t more detailed. I like the default tuning, but it had more texture to the sound, then it would have been a foregone conclusion. These would have been the best-sounding earbuds I’ve ever tested. As it is, it’s still an A-plus effort.

The mics also work well. Samsung has incorporated what it calls “Super Wideband” mics into the mic array, which work with machine learning to remove unwanted background noise. Not only is it effective at removing noise, but I also thought that my voice sounded quite natural. Oftentimes, such noise-cancelling technology could result in voices sounding digitised and weird, but it wasn’t the case with these earbuds.

Connectivity & battery life

As a Galaxy earbud, it naturally features tight integration with Samsung’s own devices. Open the earbuds near a Galaxy device, and it’ll instantly prompt you to pair. And once you are paired, the earbuds will automatically be paired to all devices that are logged into the same Samsung account. Furthermore, the earbuds can automatically switch to the Samsung device you are using. Unfortunately, I didn’t have another Samsung device to test this out.

However, this auto-switching feature only works with Samsung devices, so in that sense, it doesn’t actually support true multipoint like most other earbuds in its class. If you are like me and work on a Mac or non-Samsung Windows system, you’ll have to manually pair them whenever you want to switch devices.

On the subject of connectivity, these earbuds support Bluetooth 6.1 and Auracast. Supported codecs include AAC, SBC, and Samsung’s proprietary codecs SSC HiFi and SSC UHQ. These proprietary codecs enable hi-res audio support up to 24-bit/96kHz. However, this requires a compatible Galaxy phone (Galaxy S23, Z Flip5, Z Fold5 or newer). And it’s worth noting that this codec is still based on a lossy compression, and so it isn’t true lossless audio.

Samsung claims up to 6 hours on a single charge with ANC activated, and that seems entirely reasonable. While listening on and off at home and at my work desk, I never ran into battery issues. Samsung also claims up to 26 hours with the case, and that sounds about right, too. During my time with the earbuds, I only had to charge the case after a week.

Final thoughts and buying advice

As for the cost, these earbuds are priced sensibly. S$349 isn’t cheap, but it’s less than what Sony is asking for its newest flagship, and around the same price as what Apple and Bose want for their best earbuds.

Anyone who owns a Galaxy phone and is shopping for earbuds should take a good look at the Galaxy Buds4 Pro. The tight integration with Galaxy devices aside, these earbuds also deliver good noise cancellation and, most crucially, sound quality. These are one of the best-sounding buds I’ve tested, and arguably the best earbuds Galaxy owners can buy for their phones.

Note: You can find the Samsung Galaxy Buds4 Pro at the Samsung Online Store, Samsung’s official storefronts on Lazada and Shopee, and all major retailers like Best Denki, Challenger, Courts, Gain City, and Harvey Norman.