is a senior reviewer covering TVs and audio. He has over 20 years experience in AV, and has previously been on staff at Digital Trends and Reviewed.
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The next Galaxy Buds have been announced, and Samsung again mimics Apple in design, ecosystem functionality, and pricing. The Galaxy Buds 4 and Galaxy Buds 4 Pro keep the AirPods-esque design of the Buds 3, but now have a flat metal surface along the stem’s exterior.
The regular buds use a single 11mm dynamic speaker and do not have silicone ear tips, while the Buds 4 Pro have a selection of silicone ear tips and a two-way design (meaning a woofer for lower frequencies and a tweeter for the high end), just like the Buds 3 Pro. There’s a 5.5mm planar tweeter and a new 11mm “super wide woofer” with an effective area nearly 20 percent larger than the last generation, which leads to 50 percent less distortion, according to Samsung.
Pricing will stay the same as the 3, with the Buds 4 available for $179 and the Pro version for $249. It’s right in line with the AirPods 4 with ANC and AirPods Pro 3. Preorder for both Galaxy Buds 4 starts today, February 25th, with an on-sale date of March 11th. They’re both available in black and white, with a pink gold version for the Pro only online.
Both buds include active noise canceling, ambient sound mode, adaptive EQ, and adaptive ANC — although the Pro version has better adaptive ANC. Samsung says the Buds 4 Pro have a 3dB increase in ANC performance (but to what frequencies we’re not sure). As with the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, the new Pro buds also include voice detect, which boosts conversation when the user’s voice is heard, and siren detect to keep you aware of sirens and alarms by raising the ambient volume when they’re near.
The Buds 4 keep an angular design, but add a metal surface to the outside instead of the lights from the previous generation. The Buds 4 will work with non-Galaxy devices, but for full functionality you really need a Samsung Galaxy one.
There are a bunch of features only for Galaxy device users, including fast pairing, hands-free access to Bixby or Google voice assistants, head gestures for calls or interacting with Bixby, and an Interpreter (live translation) feature with support for 22 languages. It’s all very reminiscent of the AirPods’ features, but without the heart rate monitoring and hearing assistance Apple has added to the Pro line.
The buds use Bluetooth 6.1 and support Auracast, as well as Samsung’s proprietary Samsung Seamless Codec (SSC) with 24-bit/96kHz ultra-high-quality (UHQ) audio, AAC, SBC, and LC3 codecs. UHQ requires models released during 2023 — like the S23 series, Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5, and Tab S9 series — or newer. Both buds also support Samsung’s spatial audio on phones that run on One UI 4.1.1 or later — basically everything from the S21 and up.
Samsung says both models should have marginally better battery life than the Buds 3 and Buds 3 Pro. This year’s Pro model provides up to seven hours of playtime or six hours with ANC (the case provides an additional 30 hours or 26 with ANC), while the regular Buds 4 will get up to six hours or five with ANC on (also 30 hours more with the case or 26 with ANC). The cases for both models support wireless charging. And this time around the case is a clamshell design instead of a flip-top case, although it also has a transparent lid like the Buds 3.
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