Samsung announces Galaxy Buds 4 and Galaxy Buds 4 Pro — 5 key features you can expect

Samsung has officially unveiled the Galaxy Buds 4 and the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro at Samsung Unpacked, available to pre-order starting February 25. Their predecessors, the Galaxy Buds 3 and Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, were released in July 2024, so Samsung fans have been waiting a while for the new model.

Due out alongside the S26, S26+, and S26 Ultra, Samsung has priced the Buds 4 at $179/£159 and the Buds 4 Pro at $249/£219. This is the same starting price as the previous generation. That's impressive considering its main rival, the Sony WF-1000XM6, saw a $30 price increase from the XM5's $299 to $329.

Unfortunately, the competition is fiercer now than it was for the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro when they launched two years ago: The Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro are the same price as the award-winning AirPods Pro 3. They're cheaper than the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Gen 2 ($299), though, only time will tell if Samsung's latest earbuds deliver equally as proficient ANC.

So while Samsung's price remains the same, what new features are on the way for Samsung's flagship earbuds? We've had a chance to talk to Samsung about them to get all the details. Just note, however, that many of these features are exclusive to the Buds 4 Pro — only the new design and improved sound will be available on the lower-priced Galaxy Buds 4.

1. An updated design

Gone is the geometric, post-modern design of the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro. The Galaxy Buds 4 Pro have a completely redesigned appearance more akin to AirPods Pro 3 than older Galaxy Buds models: The stem is flat, with a silver embossed section designating the touch controls area, and the buds now sit flush in the case.

The case itself has been redesigned, too. The earbuds themselves no longer sit upright in the case — like AirPods — but flat, making the case narrower but deeper. Take a look at the side-by-side of the AirPods Pro 3 case and the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro case.

As you can see, the AirPods charging case is much wider and has no buttons. The Galaxy Buds 4 Pro is deeper, with one button beside the charging port.

2. Improved sound

I'll save my comprehensive analysis of their sound quality for the full review, but in short, the Buds 4 Pro sound seriously good. There's a richness to the bass that you might expect from Bose's QuietComfort Ultra earbuds and a depth to the sound that will make the AirPods Pro envious.

Although the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro already benefitted from a dual-driver system — a 10mm dynamic driver responsible for bass and mids and a planar tweeter for treble — the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro take it a step further. The sound is more dynamic and bassy, especially when listening with 24-bit 96kHz activated.

The Buds 4 Pro also offer seven EQ presets and a 9-band EQ customizer, which is an extra EQ preset over the Buds 3 Pro.

3. Head Gestures

The Galaxy Buds 4 Pro introduce Head Gestures, something that has been present in AirPods Pro 3 since their launch in September 2025.

Head Gestures can answer (or decline!) calls — simply nod to accept, or shake your head to decline.

Samsung is playing catch-up with Apple here, rather than innovating or creating a new feature itself, but the feature is still a boon for Galaxy owners.

4. Live Interpreter

Unlike the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, you don't have to go into the "Interpreter" app to take advantage of the live translation feature. Admittedly, this feature didn't work particularly well on the previous iteration, but Samsung has streamlined the process.

Now, you only need to pinch the earbud stem to bring up Interpreter instantly.

As with AirPods Pro 3, you need to pre-download language packs. At time of writing, Samsung offers the following languages: Arabic, Chinese (mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan), Dutch, English (Australia, India, U.S., U.K.), Filipino, French (Canada, France), Gujarati, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil, Portugal), Romanian, Russian, Spanish (Mexico, Spain, U.S.), Swedish, Thai, Turkish, and Vietnamese.

Comparatively, Apple supports: English, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese.

5. New color, "Apricot"

Although not quite as dramatic as we first hoped, Samsung's new color "Apricot" is a welcome change from the monochrome earbud landscape.

At time of release, Apricot is only available in the Buds 4 Pro and from Samsung's website direct. It's unclear whether Samsung will roll out the new colorway on third-party sellers like Amazon, Target, Best Buy, and Walmart.

Curious to learn more? Check out my full Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro review.

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