Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro review: Fourth time’s the charm

It’s easy to forget that Samsung beat Apple to market when it came to wireless earbuds. AirPods have become so ubiquitous that it’s hard for any set of earbuds to avoid being placed in conversation with the iconic audio product that took true wireless mainstream. 

With the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, Samsung tried to lean into that and beat Apple at its own game when it comes to design. Now, two years on, the company’s fourth-generation Galaxy Buds look to do the same when it comes to performance.

That zag pans out much better than the prior zig did. The Galaxy Buds 4 Pro is better where it counts, and the first set of Samsung earbuds to feel a real competitor to the AirPods.

In Australia, the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro are available at a recommended retail price of $399. That's pretty pricey by the standards of in-ear headphones, but slightly underneath what Apple is charging for the AirPods Pro 3. 

As always, though, you can save if you shop around. Check out the table below for a round-up of the best deals for the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro in Australia.

Where Galaxy Buds 3 Pro hewed a little too close to the competition for comfort, the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro swung back in the other direction. At least a little. Even if Samsung’s latest set of true wireless earbuds do broadly hold to the form-factor of the previous model, the addition of stainless steel accents, a less angular look, and a squared-off carry case does a lot to distinguish them. 

The final look isn’t entirely dissimilar from Apple’s earbuds, but it doesn’t feel as borderline legally-actionable in similarity – which does feel like an improvement. While the metal detailing does a lot to give the earbuds a premium aesthetic in line with the asking price, those looks don’t come at a compromise when it comes to more practical concerns. 

The Galaxy Buds 4 Pro never felt like they were going to fall out of my ears, but were impressively light all the same. Both in a pinch and over longer listening sessions, the earbuds themselves are comfortable to wear. 

As with the third-generation Galaxy Buds Pro, the control scheme is intuitive and reliable. Pausing my music or adjusting the volume was easy to pick up, but not a hassle to remap if I needed to do so.

One key area where Samsung tangibly improved the overall experience here is that you no longer need to set up the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro with a companion app to fully use them with Samsung device. In a refreshing change geared towards user friendliness, you can now use them fresh out of the box as you would a regular set of Bluetooth buds. There's even a physical pairing button to make that process a little less painful.

The Galaxy Buds 4 Pro don't exactly reinvent the wheel, but the earbuds do rack up a lot of easy wins in areas where Samsung has sometimes fallen short. While your mileage with the company’s shift in approach may vary, the usability gains are harder to argue with. These earbuds don’t try to fix what isn’t broken, but they do benefit from a list of cons that is considerably smaller than the one attached to the last incarnation.

While Samsung’s noise-cancelling tech has gotten better over the years, the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro feels like the first time the brand has managed to break through into the big leagues. While smaller sounds like the whir of a nearby fan or the clacking of my keyboard might sometimes make it through the filter, these earbuds did an incredible job of silencing the traffic and construction noises that often puncture the peace and quiet of my home office.

If you’re listening to music, audiobooks or even a podcast, it’ll soon feel like you’re doing so with a cozy sonic cocoon. The rich soundscapes of Kneecaps’ “Fenian” or Peach PRC’s “Eucalyptus” proved delightful test cases for the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, as did Andy Serkis’ reading of The Fellowship of the Ring.

Unfortunately, there is a slight catch here in that you won’t necessarily be able to enjoy this experience for as long as you might with some of the competition. Out of the box, the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro are good for around six hours with noise cancelling and a total of 26 hours of usage overall. For comparison, Apple’s AirPods Pro 3 offer as much as eight hours of noise-cancelled audio per charge. 

Subject to our usual testing playlist, the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro scored almost full marks. These higher-than-expected results saw them quickly find their way to within the top 10 overall. Samsung’s premium earbuds were as adept at handling audio across the board, delivering layered bass in “I Didn’t Just Come Here to Dance” by Carly Rae Jepsen, balanced vocals in “Feeling Good” by Nina Simone, and resonant soundscapes in “Comfortably Numb” by Pink Floyd.

Meanwhile, the microphone side of the equation was a little bit more mundane. I often had trouble being heard when I used the Galaxy Buds Pro 4 for phone calls. More than once, I had to disconnect them outright because the person on the line struggled to hear me. Given the asking price, that reality is a bit of a bummer – though it likely won’t be too much of a dealbreaker for most consumers.