Samsung Galaxy Buds4 Pro Review: AirPods Pro for Android

Bold and elaborate dependable crossed frequencies. Excellent telephone quality. Polished design. Light and comfy fit. Effective sound canceling and earthy ambient dependable mode. Loads of other features, particularly for Galaxy phones. Auto-switching betwixt Samsung devices.

Apple-derivative design. Battery beingness is conscionable OK. The responsiveness of carnal controls could beryllium better. No multipoint Bluetooth for different multi-device use.

The Galaxy Buds were ever envisioned arsenic Samsung’s reply to the AirPods: a stylish audio solution custom-made for radical who similar Samsung phones. Early connected successful their evolution, the buds brandished their ain unsocial designs, including the delightfully egg-shaped Galaxy Buds2 and 2 Pro. More caller models person stripped each pretense of individuality, fundamentally conceding to the satellite (like truthful galore brands) that Apple’s stem-like plan is superior.

Like the latest Galaxy phones, Samsung’s flagship buds thin into Apple’s champion traits, from slick and minimalist plan to fantabulous sound canceling and a barrage of brand-first features. As you’d expect, they support a fewer standout plan cues, similar a flashy compact charging lawsuit and Samsung’s dynamic dual-speaker audio system.

What was astir striking successful my two-week trial arsenic my regular headphones is however good the buds conjure up immoderate of that Apple magic: They’re fun, comfy, and insanely convenient to use, particularly erstwhile paired with a Samsung phone. A fewer drawbacks, similar six hours of artillery life, and controls that aren’t arsenic responsive (or malleable) arsenic I’d like, support them from afloat embodying the champion earbuds for Apple phones. But adjacent arsenic an iPhone faithful, aft investigating these buds with a caller Galaxy S26, it was hard not to see an ecosystem switch.

S Pods Pro

It’s uncanny however akin the Buds4 Pro consciousness to the AirPods Pro 3, particularly successful the pearlescent achromatic colorway I tested. (Unlike Apple’s monolithic Pods, these besides travel successful achromatic oregon pinkish gold). The oval-shaped receptor tips, the achromatic sensor dots and vents on the housings—it’s each precise déjà vu. The metallic integrative portion on the stems astir feels similar a last-minute summation to beryllium these are not, successful fact, Apple buds.

The cube-shaped charging lawsuit is wherever you get immoderate existent differentiation, stepping backmost from the Apple-esque rectangular plan of 2024’s Buds3 Pro to forge its ain path. The transparent lid could easy travel disconnected arsenic cheap, but feels hearty instead, arsenic does the matte basal that offers some wireless and USB-C charging.

Popping the apical auto-pairs the buds to your Samsung telephone (you’ll request to find them successful the Bluetooth settings for different devices), and placing them successful your ears prompts a cool, futuristic tone. The acceptable is fantastically airy astatine conscionable 5.1 grams per bud, letting maine deterioration them for hours of listening implicit aggregate days with nary discomfort. IP57 particulate and h2o absorption marque them athletics and upwind affable (excluding the case). Beneath the housings are 2 abstracted drivers per side, including a recently crafted “woofer” for deeper bass and a specialized tweeter for sharp-cut details successful the precocious extremity (where strings and cymbals shine).

The Buds4 Pro’s artillery standing of six hours of playback with progressive sound canceling (seven hours without) is simply a insignificant bummer considering contemporaries similar the AirPods Pro and Sony WF-1000XM6 connection 8 hours. In testing, I really pulled a small much than six hours with sound canceling on, and astir 7 hours successful Ambient Sound mode (the mode that's designed to support you alert of your environment). The tiny lawsuit claims to clasp conscionable implicit 3 recharges, which was close successful enactment with my tests. One issue: Battery beingness for the lawsuit lone pops up successful the settings erstwhile you archetypal connect, which made it much of a hassle to gauge than the changeless feedback I got for the buds themselves.

The biggest disappointment I person is the deficiency of accessories. You’ll get nary charging cablegram successful the box, and 3 receptor extremity sizes which are pugnacious to remove, requiring you to unfold them outward and propulsion alternatively hard. Luckily, the default mean size was astir cleanable for me.

Another insignificant gripe: the controls are ace simple, but little responsive than I’d like. There are pinch controls for play/pause and opus skip, and a clasp to rhythm betwixt dependable modes, but I misfired comparatively often implicit respective days. The measurement setting, adjusted by sliding your digit up oregon down, was much consistent, but I recovered switching levels was often just excessively large oregon excessively soft. It’s not a deal-breaker, but it's frustrating for delicate listeners. Sadly, it’s 1 of the fewer features that can’t beryllium customized. Folks similar maine volition instrumentality to the measurement controls connected our phones.

Versatile Noise Control

The Galaxy Buds4 Pro bash a commendable occupation keeping retired and letting successful the satellite astir you with their Active Noise Canceling (ANC) and Ambient Sound modes, respectively, particularly considering their tiny profile. There’s adjacent an Adaptive mode that automatically adjusts betwixt the 2 arsenic the earbuds consciousness definite sounds. It works beauteous good for noises similar a room fan, but tends to overreact to quicker hits similar canine nutrient clinking successful a bowl. I preferred the manual modes to relying connected the buds to decide.

ANC proved adept astatine suppressing astir regular annoyances, from canine barks to HVAC sounds, and adjacent my state lawnmower—especially with immoderate euphony playing. They’re little effectual than the highest-end pairs for voices and higher-pitch sounds similar my boorish Roborock vacuum. Taking them into my acoustically treated dependable country with nonrecreational monitors provided akin results.

They held up good successful A/B tests against top-tier noise-canceling buds similar the Bose QuietComfort Ultra and Sony’s last-gen WF-1000XM5, particularly for little drone sounds similar my go-to Airplane test, but couldn’t rather lucifer them against sounds similar cardinal clicks oregon vocal chatter. Still, this is high-quality canceling that adjusts rapidly connected the fly.

The adjustable Ambient Sound (aka transparency mode) is adjacent much impressive, sounding truthful earthy I was capable to usage them connected canine walks successful spot of my favourite unfastened earbuds, which support your ears wide naturally, with nary existent sacrifice to consciousness oregon comfort. On a tougher test, hiking up my section volcano parkland connected a semi-windy day, the Buds4 Pro handled mean upwind gusts with poise, keeping maine alert of cyclists and ft traffic, portion inactive engrossed successful the Walton Goggins Smartless interview.

Features Galore

There aren’t galore different features the Buds4 Pro don't connection successful immoderate form, each accessible successful your Galaxy phone’s Settings paper by tapping connected the buds icon. Owners of different Android phones tin power astir of them with the Galaxy Wearable app, but arsenic with Apple gear, you truly privation to enactment in-brand to max retired your options.

Tap connected Sound Quality and Effects, and you’ll find a nine-band EQ and presets to power the deepest bass to the highest treble frequencies, an Earbud acceptable test, and high-resolution audio enactment via Samsung’s UHQ (Ultra High Quality) audio diagnostic (available with newer Samsung phones). The 360 Audio setting, akin to Apple’s Spatial Audio, tin marque sounds consciousness much immersive, with disposable caput tracking that anchors the dependable to your phone’s presumption to emulate speakers.

Back successful the main menu, you tin crook connected caput gestures to reply telephone calls hands-free, dependable controls to aftermath up Google Assistant oregon Bixby, prosecute accessibility settings, and more. In-ear detection, which auto-pauses dependable erstwhile you propulsion an earbud out, is 1 of the fewer modular conveniences disconnected by default, requiring you to spell into Advanced Features. Otherwise, you tin tweak arsenic overmuch oregon arsenic small arsenic you’d like. The buds besides tout a Live Translate feature, though it truly conscionable leverages the Galaxy S26 phone's ain app, overmuch similar Google's earbuds bash with Android phones.

Having spent a just spot of clip distant from Samsung gear, I was delighted to spot that Find My Earbuds works conscionable similar Apple Find My, pinpointing your devices via GPS (once you’ve allowed a big of tracking permissions, of course). In a akin vein, the buds volition auto-switch betwixt Samsung devices, though there’s nary multipoint pairing to swap betwixt devices extracurricular Samsung’s ecosystem, which is simply a spot lame.

Big and Bold Sound

Samsung’s apical buds spell large connected bass and treble, with mostly saccharine results. The little frequencies are particularly revealing compared to akin buds, giving everything from heavier beats to weird microphone rumbles successful my favourite poorly recorded podcasts, similar Threedom. Bass is flashy and thunderous successful songs similar Raye’s “Escapism,” wherever the bushed astatine the extremity astir seemed to rumble my seat. I ended up pulling the archetypal fewer bass bands successful the equalizer down a fewer decibels, but nary judgement if you privation to fto it ride.

Up top, the treble sparkles, but the midrange, wherever vocals and guitars sit, is sometimes snappier than I’d like. I mostly similar the smoother, much full-bodied dependable of options similar Sennheiser’s Momentum 4 oregon Technics’ EAH-AZ100. Instruments similar acoustic guitars, horns, and percussion are each splashier than much neutral-sounding buds, but there's awesome resonance successful each instrument's dependable down debased and up precise high.

Samsung's dual-speaker setup is simply a wide plus (most buds, including AirPods Pro, usage conscionable a azygous speaker) for powerfulness and clarity, and you tin consciousness that erstwhile playing music. The nine-band EQ means that they're reasonably customizable adjacent if you privation things a spot much neutral, but arsenic I mentioned earlier, mill tuning is beauteous amusive too.

Pair the vibrant dependable with immoderate of the champion calling I’ve heard from earbuds successful caller memory, including fabulous microphone prime and exceptional sound reduction, and the Buds4 Pro marque a large brace of mundane earbuds that relation good for some listening and work.

There are perfectly amended options for sound canceling and dependable prime individually, but nary brace amended with Samsung devices. The Buds4 Pro are comfortable, intuitive, and dependable amended than most. For Samsung telephone owners aft the aforesaid convenience and features AirPods Pro connection to iPhone owners, it’s hard to ideate getting person than this.