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| Pros | Cons |
| Outstanding sound quality, elevated even further by highly effective active noise cancelling, Samsung’s Galaxy Buds4 Pro are premium earbuds that compete sonically with audio products of much larger form factors. | Their aesthetic is unremarkable, and the battery performance won’t blow anyone away. |
Samsung’s Galaxy Buds4 Pro just launched alongside the new Galaxy S26 smartphone range, and I’ve been using them for the past week to discover if they’re worth their AUD$399 price tag.
I’m happy to report that they’re an excellent example of how focusing on fundamentals can achieve great results. Samsung’s priority here appears to have been delivering high-quality sound, excellent active noise cancellation (ANC), and a premium look and feel. They’ve largely succeeded on all fronts.
Despite their word salad of a name, the Galaxy Buds4 Pro offer the kind of upmarket experience you’d rightly expect for that asking price within a crowded in-ear market. Let’s dive into what’s right and what’s wrong with these new contenders for the earbud crown.
Audio Quality
Right up front, I should say the Buds4 Pro sound great, delivering a well-balanced and rich audio experience across a wide range of genres. I have to commend Samsung on the bass, which is impressive within the limitations of the bud form factor. This is possible thanks to a woofer that’s 19.8 per cent wider than the one used in the Buds3 Pro, serving up powerful yet detailed low tones without overpowering the mids and highs.
Paired with Buds4 Pro’s tweeter (also a strong performer), you’re presented with a sophisticated setup that can simultaneously deliver soaring highs and deep bass without compromising either. It gets even better when you activate the Ultra High Quality (UHG) Audio mode to deliver 24-bit/96 audio that’s designed to keep things as close to the artist’s vision as possible.
To put all of this through its paces, I listened to a wide range of music, but the following are a few artists and tracks that really highlighted the elevated levels of performance offered by these new buds.
I’ve been listening to a good deal of Michael Jackson lately in anticipation of the new Michael biopic, and the Buds4 Pro have proved more than up to the task of delivering formidable versions of the King of Pop’s finest moments. Enhancing the sharp staccato snap of “They Don’t Care About Us” just as deftly as they do the exquisite, sinuous tones of “Rock With You”, they’re almost enough to convince you MJ is back.
For an example of something with a somewhat more crowded and chaotic mix, Oasis’ notorious ode to excess, “D’You Know What I Mean?”, with its more than 30 guitar tracks playing simultaneously, was a good test of the Buds4 Pro’s abilities. I found it to be perhaps the most coherent expression of the song I’ve ever heard, and while the overblown madness of that track is a huge part of the charm, the buds did an impressive job of wrangling it.
Finally, I’ve been listening to a lot of Jimmy Smith. The jazz legend is a regular in my listening rotation. While I obviously love his music, if listened to in the wake of more contemporary artists, it can sound a little lacklustre from a sound engineering point of view. Played through the Buds4 Pro, however, Smith’s catalogue sounds as vibrant and detailed as you could hope for. There’s a richness here that I would expect of high-quality over-ear headphones, but for buds, it surprised me.
Noise Cancelling
The ANC is another element that Samsung has nailed with the Buds4 Pro. Not only is it highly effective, but it’s also customisable, offering five levels of cancelling, although I’ve rarely reduced it from the maximum level. Given the size of the buds and the fact that they leave most of your ear exposed, it’s impressive just how much noise they manage to block out. This lets the audio quality we’ve covered above really sing.
Obviously, you don’t want to block out noise at all times, so in your phone’s settings, you can intuitively switch between Active Noise Cancelling, Adaptive, Ambient Sound, and Off modes — handy when you get to the front of the supermarket queue or quickly need to become more aware of your surroundings.
The effectiveness of the ANC is partly down to a functionality that analyses the wearing conditions and your unique ear shape. Samsung claims this applies optimal ANC algorithms in real-time for peak noise-cancelling performance. Whatever it is, I can tell you that it works.
As is standard for buds with stalks (or “blades”, as Samsung calls them — I do agree that’s a better term), controlling the Buds4 Pro without reaching for your phone is easy. You do so via a range of simple pinches and swipes on the blades. There’s a subtle groove on each one, so your fingers can easily feel the right spot to apply pressure.
A slight squeeze results in a satisfying clicking sound that tricks your brain into thinking it felt a physical button press and release. It’s quite satisfying. One press activates play/pause, holding the “button” down activates and deactivates ANC, and swiping up and down on the blade increases and decreases volume.
There are other hands-free ways to control your buds. For example, you can shake or nod your head to decline or accept calls, which is quite clever, but looks a little silly to me if I’m completely honest. I’ll stick with using my hands.
Design
When it comes to designing earbuds, I accept that there’s not much room to think outside the box. With such a small form factor, practicality has to be prioritised, and Samsung has done a perfectly respectable job with the Buds4 Pro.
They feel premium in the hand, and the case has an appealing space-pod aesthetic with a see-through lid that shows off the metal blades. There’s just something about the look of the buds themselves that I don’t quite love, but I can’t put my finger on it.
That said, when in the market for earbuds, which are pretty innocuous from a visual standpoint anyway, I’d prioritise audio and ANC performance over the visual aesthetic every day of the week. In that regard, the Buds4 Pro are a certifiable winner.
Battery Life
As for battery longevity, these are not the buds to make your over-ear headphones redundant for your next long-haul flight. Samsung claims they offer six hours of play with ANC turned on (you get an extra hour if you have it off), and the case provides an additional 26 hours of battery life (30 without ANC).
This aligns with my real-world experience. There was only one point during my week when the case started to get low, but the buds themselves were still full of juice, so at no point was I in danger of being left to contend with my own thoughts.
Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy Buds4 Pro are an excellent option for those after a premium pair of in-ear buds. They offer higher-quality sound than the bud form factor has any right to (I’d wager they compete with many of the so-called premium over-ear headphones in the market as well), and the ANC performance is outstanding, delivering an almost blank canvas for your favourite musical artist to create their masterpiece.
NOTE: The author of this article, Rob Edwards, was provided the Samsung Galaxy Buds4 Pro for the purposes of this review. All reviews remain independent and objective. Samsung was not shown this review before publishing, and we received no money for posting the review. For more information on how we test products, view our editorial guidelines here.
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