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Here’s the uncomfortable truth: No matter how much I try to ignore AirPods Pro, I see them everywhere…airports, cafés, parks, and even corporate tech campuses. I have always wondered why other companies haven’t managed to rival them, despite premium wireless earbuds being on the market for years. However, I can now say with confidence that the new Galaxy Buds 4 Pro feel like a true competitor to the AirPods Pro, and they work like magic with my Galaxy S26 Ultra.
Better late than never, the Buds 4 Pro hit the right notes—nailing the basics, from their minimalist design and comfortable fit to their effective active noise cancellation and impressive sound quality. Honestly, I had very little expectation from the Buds 4 Pro initially, but they surprised me.
Scroll down for a deeper look at the Samsung Buds 4 Pro, including where they excel and where they fall short.
What: Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro| Price: Rs 22,999
The design levels up (and the translucent case looks “wow”)
One look at the Buds 4 Pro, and it’s evident they are designed differently from previous Samsung wireless earbuds. I am glad Samsung took the time to redesign the earbuds inside and out, rather than just making technical improvements and giving them a new name. I really liked how the Buds 4 Pro look different from the AirPods Pro visually.
The stem is much easier to pinch now. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)
The black model I tested has a premium brushed-metal strip along the stems. They don’t look cheap and have a very classy, minimalist appearance. Each earbud is fairly light at 5.1 grams, which doesn’t put a strain on your ear canals. I wore them for hours at full volume, and they didn’t cause any discomfort or strain. They have an IP57 rating, which means they are dust-resistant and can be submerged in up to 3 feet of water for 30 minutes, though it’s important to note that the earbuds are not fully waterproof.
The case, meanwhile, is square-shaped and has a translucent lid that opens flat, rather than just from the top, and includes a dedicated button to trigger a “Find My Phone” chime. It’s quite small and slides easily into my jeans pocket. The case also supports wireless charging and PowerShare, so you can charge it on the back of your Galaxy smartphone.
Also Read | Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Review: A step toward ‘intelligent’ smartphones
The new wireless buds offer up to 6 hours of battery life with noise cancellation on at moderate volume levels, plus an extra 20 hours with the charging case. In comparison, the AirPods Pro 3 provide 8 hours of battery life on a single charge.
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The Buds 4 Pro have pinch controls, with swipe gestures for volume, and they work well. I feel the earbuds’ built-in voice controls are something many people aren’t aware of. You have to activate them in the Samsung Wearable app, but once you do, they work with any device, including iPhones.
Head gestures let users nod to accept a call or shake to decline. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)
One thing I would like to point out is that the Buds 4 Pro do not come with a charging cable in the box. I also noticed that the ear tips are difficult to remove, requiring you to unfold them outward and then pull fairly hard. Thankfully, I didn’t need to change the medium-sized ear tips, which worked fine for me.
Impressive sound quality and noise cancellation
You buy wireless earbuds to listen to sound, so of course, you want the best audio quality and expect high-fidelity sound from premium earbuds. I have always thought the Buds 3 Pro sounded great, but the Buds 4 Pro surpassed my expectations—and for good reason.
Listening to Elvis Presley’s Burning Love seemed like the perfect test for the Buds 4 Pro. The vocals were clear, and it was nice to hear a crisp sound from each instrument. I then switched to Just Keep Watching by Tate McRae from the F1 movie. The earbuds offer extra detail, creating a wider soundstage. The bass hit deep and clear, and the music sounded sweeping and cinematic.
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The Interpreter mode covers 22 languages and even work during phone calls and triggerable via pinch-and-hold without pulling out your phone. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)
The way the Buds 4 Pro deliver more clarity, deeper bass, and a bigger, more open sound overall is thanks to their new two-way speaker system, featuring a “super wide” woofer and a 5mm planar tweeter.
I tested the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro on a Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, and the earbuds sounded even better. Samsung emphasised that the buds support its Seamless codec, which compresses and encodes up to 24-bit/96kHz audio to improve sound detail. The earbuds also support a nine-band EQ, making them highly customisable. For most of my testing, I set the EQ to balanced.
Beyond their sound, I was also impressed by how the Buds 4 Pro excel at cancelling unwanted noise. I tested the earbuds’ active noise cancellation in an office, which is usually chatty and loud, as well as on the Delhi Metro, which is always crowded and bustling with people, some of whom can be heard talking on the phone at the top of their voice.
The Buds 4 Pro offer Bluetooth 6.1, which provides up to 940 feet of range. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)
Not only do the Buds 4 Pro in-ear tips create a physical seal, but Samsung’s active noise cancellation also works well in a city like Delhi, where I live and work. It’s impressive how effectively the earbuds cancelled out the sound of horns on Delhi streets. The transparency mode, or ambient mode, as Samsung calls it, also works as advertised, and I felt it’s on par with Apple’s implementation.
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Also Read | Samsung may bring ‘vibe coding’ to Galaxy phones, let users build custom apps with AI
I also tested call quality on the Buds 4 Pro and noticed a significant improvement in noise reduction during calls. I made a couple of calls while standing in the middle of a busy market, and the callers said they couldn’t hear much background noise. Samsung has updated the microphone architecture to provide better voice isolation during calls.
Head Gestures feature worked well
I used a feature called ‘Head Gestures’, which lets you nod or shake your head to perform actions like answering phone calls. During my testing, the gestures worked surprisingly well, although they are very basic, nodding to accept a call and shaking your head to reject one.
Like the AirPods Pro, the Buds 4 Pro support in-ear detection, which automatically pauses audio when you remove an earbud. You need to enable it in the Advanced features menu.
Many new features on the Buds 4 Pro features are locked behind the Samsung Galaxy ecosystem. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)
The Buds 4 Pro also support Samsung’s 360 Audio with head-tracking for Android users, similar to Apple’s spatial audio for iOS. While they don’t offer multipoint Bluetooth, they automatically pair and switch between Galaxy devices, though non-Galaxy devices require manual switching.
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Many readers have asked whether the Buds 4 Pro support the aptX or LDAC codecs. The answer is no. However, the earbuds include several advanced features, such as ultra-wideband calling and the use of Samsung’s Seamless Codec, which are exclusive to Samsung phones.
So, should you buy the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro?
In every sense, the Buds 4 Pro feel like flagship true wireless earbuds. For sound quality and noise cancellation, they are the best I have tested in the wireless earbuds space, almost on par with the AirPods Pro. However, one thing worth pointing out is the lack of health features (for example, the latest AirPods Pro 3 offer a heart rate tracker and an FDA-approved hearing aid mode), which are missing from the Buds 4 Pro. That being said, the Buds 4 Pro are nearly flawless and sit at the top of the pyramid when it comes to premium wireless earbuds for Samsung Galaxy users, as well as anyone who uses Android smartphones.
