Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 4 series is here, and they’re anything but AirPods clones

Samsung launched the Galaxy Buds 3 series back in July 2024, and these earbuds stood out thanks to curious triangular stems, while the Pro buds also had embedded “blade” lights. Now, Samsung is back with the Galaxy Buds 4 and Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, and it’s bringing new designs to these earbuds.

Both pairs of earbuds now feature flat, metal stems as opposed to the previous line’s triangular designs. Much like the older earbuds, the Buds 4 Pro are equipped with silicone tips, while the standard Buds 4 feature an open-fit design. Either way, we hope these buds don’t suffer from the build quality issues that forced Samsung to initially delay Galaxy Buds 3 series deliveries.

Another notable design change this generation is that the charging case uses a horizontal, bed-style design rather than placing the buds vertically into the case. Otherwise, you’ve still got a transparent lid on the charging case. If anything, the earbuds and case bring to mind Nothing’s audio products rather than AirPods.

Samsung’s new buds still support swipe, pinch, and tap gestures. However, the firm says there’s now an “engraved” area for swipe controls so you can feel where the swipeable area actually is. The Galaxy Buds 4 series retains voice control support seen on the previous buds (e.g., “volume up” or “pause music”), but the Pro model now offers head gestures. You can nod “yes” to answer calls or shake “no” to decline them. Samsung says Bixby also supports these gestures. As of writing, there’s no word on the previously hinted ability to interact with notifications via these gestures.

Other notable features include the return of Interpreter Mode for voice translation (supporting up to 22 languages), the ability to access AI chatbots without unlocking your phone first, and seamless connectivity out of the box. These features are all exclusive to Galaxy devices, though, so you’re out of luck if you have a Pixel or another non-Samsung phone. It’s also worth noting that Samsung still doesn’t support Fast Pair connectivity.

What about sound quality, though? Well, the Galaxy Buds 4 range offers 24-bit/96KHz audio as seen on the previous buds, as well as HD Voice support for the first time. The latter provides clearer, higher-quality audio during calls, as long as both devices and carriers on the call support HD Voice too. Unfortunately, Samsung still doesn’t support the LDAC codec.

The Buds 4 Pro is clearly the top dog here, though. It packs a tweeter and a woofer, ANC 2.0 tech, and an IP57 rating. Meanwhile, the standard Galaxy Buds 4 (seen below) has a single speaker, ANC 1.0 tech, and an IP54 rating. The Pro model’s ANC 2.0 tech lets you tune the noise cancelation for specific situations (e.g., sirens, walking outside).

Samsung’s Pro buds offer seven hours of playback with ANC disabled and six hours of juice with ANC enabled. The charging case enables up to 30 hours of ANC-free playback and 26 hours of ANC-enabled playback. The standard Galaxy Buds 4 lasts for a claimed six hours with ANC disabled and five hours with ANC on. The charging case brings playtime up to 30 hours and 24 hours, respectively. Both models have wireless charging support via their cases.

We’ve seen skyrocketing tech prices in 2026, but there’s good news for Samsung’s new buds. The Galaxy Buds 4 and Galaxy Buds 4 Pro have a recommended retail price of $179 and $249, respectively. That’s in line with the Galaxy Buds 3 series. Pre-orders start from February 26, while the buds go on sale from March 11.

Both pairs of Galaxy Buds are available in Black and White color options, while the Pro model also comes in Pink Gold as an online-exclusive color scheme. These aren’t the only products Samsung launched today, though, as it also unveiled the Galaxy S26 series.