Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro hands-on review: 5 things to know about the AirPods Pro rivals

Over ear or in ear? It’s the age-old question in the world of personal audio and your preference really depends on a number of factors but one of the biggest is comfort. From my experience — and I’ve spent some, gulp, 15 years reviewing headphones — over ears offer comfort while in ears offer ease of use. The caveat: audio quality usually diminishes the smaller the earphones get.

With the Samsung Galaxy Ear Buds 4 Pros, this changes as these are perhaps the most comfortable in-ear ’phones we have ever tested. They are like little fluffy clouds resting on our lobes. Put them on and you can almost forget you are wearing the things, if it wasn’t for the seriously good music quality that comes from them.

I’ve been using Buds 4 Pros for the best part of a week now, and here’s what you need to know…

SAMSUNG GALAXY BUDS 4 PRO: IN SHORT

• Support 24-bit audio up to 96KHz
• Enhanced Active Noise Canceling
• Adaptive EQ
• Premium Metal Design
• AI assistant compatible
• £219

1. The fit is comfortable

Little fluffy clouds. That’s the description we gave the Buds 4 in our intro — and for good reason, these ear buds are a superb fit in the ears, offering a lovely balance of being lightweight but snug.

Staying in the ears is key here, and it’s what the Buds 4 Pros do admirably. It’s worth noting that they are a canal tip design — if you want ones that sit on your ear, then go for the cheaper Buds 4 as they are more of an open type design that have been made to sit on your ear.

One reason for the fit being decent might be because Samsung has been doing a lot of homework, looking at ears of all types and figuring out a design that works whether you wear your ear bud shafts down or across. According to Sammy, it “took over 100 million different ear data points from people from all around the world, and ran over 10,000 different simulations to build these buds from the ground up”.

As with pretty much every ear bud, these come with a selection of rubber tips to choose from.

2. The look is premium

At £219, the Galaxy Buds 4 Pros are the most premium in-ear headphones that Samsung has produced and their looks showcase this. They are a moulded plastic design, with a brushed metal blade. On the side, there is a tiny oval grille and a small rectangle situated on the top. A black circle can be found on the inside frame of the buds. The design is slick but certainly not flashy.

This is complemented by a simple clamshell case with a clear lid. While the case says Samsung, this is the only bit of branding found on the ear buds which I really like. Not that it’s bad being a fan boy, but I would rather someone asks who made my ear buds, rather than showcasing their branding to the world. As for the aforementioned case. I do think more of a design flourish could have been made here — it definitely errs towards functional rather than fancy. It does allow wired or wireless charging, though, which is a bonus.

Those metal blades, though, they don’t just look decent but house some decent functionality. They are slightly wider than previous efforts and include a recessed area for all touch and swipe controls. Here I can use a finger to swipe up and down to change the volume, and pinch the blades together to control things — whether it’s skipping tracks or conjuring up an AI assistant.

3. Sound quality is, well, quality

The audio quality of the Buds 4 Pro really is superb. First, the ANC works a charm for the most part. It may not be the most instant ‘shut out the world and leave me with my own thoughts’ noise cancelling I have heard, but it reduces background noise significantly even when you aren’t listening to anything. This ANC is constantly adjusting to the environment around you, too. So if you are in a gym then it will fight against the inevitably tinny music they will be playing in the background. On a train, the constant track rattling noise is reduced.

Once you add music, though, the world does disappear and leaves you with whatever you are listening to.

For me, this was a lot of lossless stuff, thanks to these ear buds offering up to 24 bit quality. To test the bass, Fred Again and Jamie T’s ode to South London, Light Burn Dimmer was a joy to listen to. There was a real warmth in the beats, a sharpness to the synths and even though the voice was layered with distortion it still cut through with the right amount of clarity.

So Much Country ‘Till We Get There by Westside Cowboy was ghostly and beautiful through the Buds 4 Pro. The drone of the cello and the brittle vocals were crisp, the uplifting guitar notes and drum stomp surrounding me nicely.

On older soul track Wild Flower, by The New Birth, the rousing vocals and strings sounded like they were recorded yesterday, not some 50 years ago.

There is a good reason that bass sounds are more prevalent in these new Buds. Samsung has made the space for the woofer some 20% bigger, so sounds are richer and deeper as a result.

4. Battery life is impressive (when you count the case)

I got around 6 hours’ continuous play out of the Galaxy Buds 4 Pros which is less than what Apple offers with its Pro range of in-ears. This was with ANC on at all times but it is less than what the Buds 3 Pros offered. Granted, there is more powerful audio tech inside these ear buds and the redesigned (and smaller) chassis size will have something to do with this battery reduction too.

The good news is that the case holds an extra 20 hours’ battery life and given you will be slipping these things in and out of the case all day, it’s doubtful you would ever get to 0 capacity — even though they are comfy enough to have on all day.

5. The price is punchy but there is an alternative

The Galaxy Buds 4 Pro will be £219 out of the gates and they come in white, black and an online exclusive rose gold colour. This is on a par with the AirPods Pro 3 which are the same price.

If this is a little steep then there is an alternative: the Galaxy Buds 4 (no Pro) will also be available for £159 coming in white and black. These don’t have the ANC capabilities of the Pro version and sit on the ears, rather than in the ear canal.

If you are unsure whether they are for you, then there is a pre order offer. From the 25th of February to the 30th of April, buy them and if you aren’t 100% happy, you can return them to Samsung within 100 days for a full refund regardless of which retailer they bought them from — just send in your proof of purchase.

Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro: Early Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pros are what Samsung fans have been waiting for — a true alternative to what Apple has with the AirPods. And one that comes alive when you use with a Samsung phone, thanks to quick pairing and settings options at a glance through a Galaxy handset.

Sound wise, they are fantastic with ANC that aids rather than hinders, a true belter of a bass response and high ends that reach to the sky. Battery life could be better but with the blade controls as intuitive as they are and features such as live translation just a press away, these ear buds have really impressed me so far.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pros are available for pre-order now for £219.

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