Pros & Cons
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- Excellent audio response
- Powerful features when paired with Samsung phones
- Comfortable fit
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- Noise cancellation is just average
- No Bluetooth multipoint support
Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro (2026) AI True Wireless Bluetooth Earbuds, Hi-Res Audio, 2-Way Speaker, ANC 2.0, Optimized Com Specs
| Active Noise Cancellation | |
| Connection Type | Bluetooth |
| True Wireless | |
| Type | In-Canal |
| Water/Sweat-Resistant | |
| Wireless |
Samsung's flagship wireless earbuds for 2026, the $249 Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, are designed to pair seamlessly with the company's latest Galaxy S26 phones. Replacing the Buds 3 Pro—which I found offered impressive audio quality and a comfortable fit—the Buds 4 Pro bring a fresh design, enhanced noise cancellation, and longer battery life. However, they face strong competition from Apple's AirPods Pro 3 ($249), Google's Pixel Buds Pro 2 ($229), and, if you're willing to spend more, Sony's WF-1000XM6 ($329). Still, for Galaxy phone users, the Buds 4 Pro deliver outstanding sound and a feature-rich experience, making them well worth your consideration.
Design: Sharp and High-Quality
The Galaxy Buds 4 Pro look a little different on the outside than the prior version, but not in a bad way. Samsung has traded the rectangular case shape for a clamshell design, and it’s relatively small and portable. It’s slightly thicker than the likes of the AirPods Pro 3, but it has a small enough footprint. Like last year, it has a transparent lid that lets you see the earbuds inside. I’m kind of indifferent to that design choice, but that doesn’t mean I dislike it. I liked the design of last year’s model, and I’m perfectly happy with this one.
(Credit: Christian de Looper)Like last year, the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro earbuds have a stem-based design. I’ve consistently found stem-based buds to be more comfortable, and while there are exceptions, they’re rare. Thankfully, the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro don’t have to be an exception—they’re very comfortable and easy to wear for hours at a time. I didn’t find they had the tightest seal, but they were stable enough for the buds to stay in my ears for the most part. They did move a little from time to time, but it wasn’t too bad.
That stem does have some tweaks, though. It ditches the so-called “blade” from last year and instead has a flat face. Thankfully, Samsung hasn’t ditched the controls from the blade, though, which you might have assumed it would have done with that big flat surface that’s ripe for touch controls. Instead, it takes a page out of Apple’s playbook, combining squeeze controls with swipe controls. With the blocky stem, those controls are perhaps even easier to use, too—especially when it comes to swiping up and down on the sides for volume.
By default, both earbuds have the same controls—pinch once to play or pause, twice for the next track, and three times for the previous track. Pinch-and-hold switches noise modes, while swiping up or down controls volume. Unfortunately, the only control you can customize is the pinch-and-hold—though I did find the controls to be relatively intuitive. You can set the pinch-and-hold gesture to activate your digital assistant or Bixby, and you can set this control individually for each bud.
The Buds 4 Pro have an IP57 water resistance rating, so they're dust-protected and can survive a brief dunk in water. That's more than enough for workouts, rain, or the occasional puddle mishap—just don't go swimming with them. The case does not have that rating, unfortunately—I hope more wireless earbuds gain water-resistant charging cases soon.
(Credit: Christian de Looper)The earbuds connect via Bluetooth 6.1 and support AAC, SBC, LC3, and Samsung’s own SSC codecs. It’s nice to see broad support, though the LDAC codec that's even more widely supported would have been nicer. Also missing is Bluetooth Multipoint, which is a major omission. These earbuds are apparently built for those deep in Samsung’s ecosystem, as they support Samsung's version of automatic switching. That’s nice to have, but the fact is that Samsung users are less likely to have all Samsung devices than Apple users are to have all Apple products—even though that’s due to Apple’s closed ecosystem. Regardless of all that, if you want to switch between devices a lot, you’ll need Samsung ones. Rounding out the connectivity is support for Auracast.
If you do use Samsung devices, you’ll get support for high-resolution audio up to 24-bit/96kHz, including spatial audio and head-tracking. Powering the audio response are dual drivers with an 11mm woofer and a dedicated tweeter, which is the big audio difference between these earbuds and the standard Samsung Galaxy Buds 4.
The new buds also get a better battery life than last year’s model. That’s very welcome, given that the Galaxy Buds Pro 3 didn’t have the best battery life. They offer 6 hours of continuous listening with ANC on, and the charging case adds an extra 26 hours. With ANC off, you'll get seven hours of continuous listening and 30 hours from the charging case. They charge via USB-C or wirelessly.
Apart from the earbuds and charging case, you also get three pairs of eartips, but that's it. No charging cable is included.
App Experience: Ideal for Samsung Fans
As you would expect, the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro work best with Samsung devices, and on those devices, you can access the Buds' settings and controls directly in the Settings app. It's similar to Apple's approach, allowing users to retain full control of their devices without downloading any additional apps. Through the menu, you'll be able to tweak some of the controls, enable and disable head gestures, and change noise modes. There's also a Sound Quality and Effects menu with an EQ and the ability to turn 360-degree audio on or off.
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(Credit: Samsung)Plenty of these features do require a Samsung phone, though. Things like 360-degree audio with head-tracking and Auracast aren't available on other devices, and you won't get features like Live Translation, which has been improved a little since last year, and indeed, did a pretty good job in Listening Mode, which is designed for things like TV shows or other one-way audio that doesn't involve a conversation.
The EQ built into the app is relatively versatile. It offers six presets plus a Custom option, and you can tweak the nine bands between 63Hz and 16kHz. It's not as good as the EQ offered by the likes of JBL, for example, but it's still solid and enough to let users tune audio to their preferences.
Noise Cancellation: Capable, But Not Class-Leading
The Buds 4 Pro feature Samsung’s so-called Active Noise Cancellation 2.0, available in standard and adaptive modes. Basically, Samsung has packed an array of microphones and voice pickup units into each bud, which improves performance overall.
(Credit: Christian de Looper)The noise cancellation may be improved, but it's not incredible. It did a pretty good job at cutting out plain noise, leaving only some low-mid frequencies and some bass-level white noise, both of which were easy to ignore with music. It wasn't quite as good at cutting out inconsistent, random sounds, like the noise you'd get on a city bus from doors opening and closing. It still cut them out decently well, but left some of the higher-pitched noises cutting through the mix, which can be more distracting than a low, droning noise. Chatter in a busy cafe was somewhere in the middle, decently cut compared with natural levels, but still audible, especially when it came to closer conversations. The earbuds weren't as good at blocking noise as the AirPods Pro, the second-gen Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds, or the Sony WF-1000XM6.
They have a transparency mode called Ambient Sound, and while it's not terrible, it's certainly not as good as the other top-tier wireless earbuds. There's a background hiss when it's enabled, somewhat detracting from the natural experience. Frequency reproduction was pretty good, but it didn't quite match the higher frequencies of the likes of the AirPods Pro 3, which are the leaders in this area.
Sound Quality: Refined Low-End, Plenty of Detail
The Galaxy Buds 4 Pro sound excellent. They’re clean, crisp, and detailed, right out of the box.
On "Silent Shout" by The Knife, the earbuds easily handle both the deep bass and the crisp percussion, without muddying up the mix. The track relies on sub-bass for a rounded tone, and the earbuds don't just produce the majority of those deep frequencies; they do so with a level of smoothness that most wireless earbuds can’t match. Plenty of earbuds have bass, but for many of them, it’s kind of crudely implemented. Not so for the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro. And, again, that bass is coupled with a well-tuned, if only slightly laid-back midrange and a crisp high-end.
That continues on “Loyalty” by Kendrick Lamar. This track relies on sub-bass, too, but instead of kind of mixing into the track, the deep bassline plays through much of the verse and chorus. The bass on this track is a little more overpowering on the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, but it still doesn't make the track sound muddy or poorly tuned. It's more of an enjoyable tuning that strays a little from neutral. The buds play all of those sub-bass notes quite well, though the deepest are more of a rumble than a clean note, which is typical for the best wireless earbuds. On the track, Lamar and Rihanna’s vocals both sound great, easily cutting through the mix, while the percussion is again decently crisp. I also really appreciate the soundstage on this track—it's quite wide, which makes for an immersive experience.
“Drover” by Bill Callahan sounds great, too, but some of the tuning nuances don't serve this track as well as some of the others. The kick drum becomes slightly too pounding as the track wears on, and the acoustic guitar isn't as crisp as it is on some tracks. These issues, however, are minor—the track as a whole still sounds stunning. Callahan’s deep vocal is rich and vibrant, while the drums and electric guitar have a nice bite to them.
(Credit: Christian de Looper)In orchestral music, as in the opening scene of John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary, the wide soundstage makes a big difference. It means there is plenty of room for all the different sections, while still allowing the vocal soloist to cut through the middle. The strings have a little more weight to them than they might in a super neutral pair of headphones, but those low strings are still far from muddy. Instead, they just seem a little more dramatic.
The microphone quality is pretty good, too. It won't replace a dedicated microphone for recording podcasts, but it definitely captures my voice well enough for voice calls. In testing, my voice had some depth and clarity, and while some of the higher frequencies weren't quite as crisp as they could have been, you'll have no trouble talking on the phone.