Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro vs Apple AirPods Pro 3: Which flagship earbuds win?

For a long time, it’s felt like Apple, Sony, and Bose have been the ringleaders of the earbuds world. With the brand new Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, though, it appears Samsung is trying to change the narrative.

The Galaxy Buds 4 Pro certainly look a lot like AirPods Pro 3, from the silicone ear tip right down to the touch-control stems. Could Samsung finally be coming for Apple’s crown? Might the AirPods Pro 3 finally be dethroned as the best earbuds for most people?

I was as curious as you, so I put the AirPods Pro 3 and Galaxy Buds 4 Pro to the test to find out which earbuds earn their stripes.

Apple AirPods Pro 3 vs Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro: Specs

Apple AirPods Pro 3 vs Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro: Price

The Apple AirPods Pro 3 are $249 from Amazon U.S. and £219 from Amazon U.K.. Conversely, the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro are $249 from Amazon U.S. and £219 from Amazon U.K..

Winner: Draw

Apple AirPods Pro 3 vs Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro: Design

For Samsung, the AirPods Pro 3 are clearly the inspiration: the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro look less like the all-metal design of the Pro 3, and much more like the sleek plastic style of Apple’s earbuds.

Both are stem earbuds — rather than the pebble design seen on Sony’s new WF-1000XM6 and Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra Gen 2.

The AirPods Pro 3 come with five ear tips — XS, S, M, L, and XL — compared to the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro’s three ear tips — S, M, L. As someone with super tiny ears, having an XS ear tip is ideal.

In terms of controls, I don’t think either brand has particularly mastered the touch command. Apple’s volume control takes a while to get used to, and I think I used AirPods for around three months before mastering the commands. The Galaxy Buds 4 Pro use similar stem-based controls: you can play/pause with one pinch, adjust the volume with a swipe, and ANC with a long press, which means you can expect a similar learning curve to them.

The good news? Both the AirPods Pro 3 and the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro have head gestures, so you can nod to accept a call or shake your head to decline a call.

As expected, both the AirPods Pro 3 and Galaxy Buds 4 Pro have adept controls and a pretty design, enough to call this round a draw, but I’m going to give it to the AirPods purely because they come with five ear tip sizes.

Winner: AirPods Pro 3

Apple AirPods Pro 3 vs Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro: Features

The AirPods Pro 3 use the standard Bluetooth 5.3, which has a range of up to 800 feet in ideal conditions. Samsung has treated us with the new-as-new-can-be Bluetooth 6.1, offering a 984-foot range.

It’s surprising that Apple elected for Bluetooth 5.3, when smaller, budget audio brands like EarFun have already started utilizing Bluetooth 6.0. Although the tangible differences between 5.3 and 6.0 are negligible, it raises the question of futureproofing the earbuds. If you want to keep these earbuds for, say, five years, but the phone you get in 2031 is only compatible with Bluetooth 5.4 and above, this might prove an issue.

However, as of 2026, you’re fine with Bluetooth 5.3, so as of right now, this isn’t a major con. 5.3 is still the standard.

As you might expect from flagship earbuds, both the AirPods Pro 3 and the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro are stuffed with features. Both the AirPods Pro 3 and the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro have live translation. At time of writing, Apple supports: English, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese.

Samsung’s live translation supports: 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.

Also, as you might expect from flagship earbuds, live translation is locked behind certain system requirements. Apple’s live translation only works with Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhones (so 15 and newer), and Samsung’s live translation only works with AI-enabled Galaxy phones (so S24 and newer).

So, if you want to take advantage of these industry-leading features, you’d need your respective ecosystem to align with your device. Ergo, iPhone users = AirPods, Galaxy users = Galaxy Buds. This is within the realm of expectation, though. I don’t think anyone’s surprised by this.

To test out the live translation in both the AirPods Pro 3 and Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, I spoke a little Korean to my boyfriend, who was wearing the AirPods Pro 3 and Galaxy Buds 4 Pro. Now, I’m nowhere near fluent, so I only said very simple phrases, but it worked pretty well in both cases.

I wish I’d had this feature when I lived in South Korea, but if I ever go back on vacation, I know I’ll be able to understand everything rather than just 10%.

Rounding off the features are Apple’s heart rate sensor and hearing aid features. I really like Apple’s hearing test feature; it feels robust and thorough. Samsung doesn’t have a heart rate monitor or any FDA-approved hearing aid features, so if you require these, it’s gotta be AirPods Pro 3.

Even so, these are nice-to-haves rather than necessary features — I don’t reach for either on my Pro 3 because they’re simply not useful to me.

One feature the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro have that you won’t find on the AirPods Pro 3 is EQ customization. You can’t actually adjust EQ on Apple earbuds — something about the tuning already being “perfect” — so Samsung snags the victory here, even though AirPods have those health features. I just think EQ is more important on earbuds than health features.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro

Apple AirPods Pro 3 vs Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro: Sound quality

Now, here’s the real meat of the comparison — I know you’ve been waiting for this. Let’s get stuck in, shall we?

Both the AirPods Pro 3 and the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro sound great. Of course they would — they’re both flagship earbuds intended to be the only earbuds you own. They should be great for everything: commuting, home listening, office work, workouts, and everything in between.

The AirPods Pro 3 have one custom driver, whereas the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro have a separate woofer and tweeter. The AirPods are better at detail and a touch more expansive, but the Buds 4 Pro are much bassier. Which tickles your fancy more will be up to you.

For this testing, I listened on Qobuz, our best music streaming service for audiophiles. Every track I listened to was either CD-quality or 24-bit 192kHz hi-res.

First, I listened to ‘Billie Toppy’ by Men I Trust. This is an indie track built over a bass riff, breathy female vocals, and rolling, lush guitars and synths. This track is a challenge for earbuds because there’s so much going on here, but the AirPods Pro 3 handled it with confidence.

The instrument separation was utterly marvelous, with an expansive, wide soundscape that pummeled my ears with atmospheric, fuzzy guitars and that infectious bassline. But don’t think the soft vocal was overpowered, because you’d be wrong. The vocals were layered perfectly at the top of the track like a soft morning cloud settling over a forest.

The Galaxy Buds 4 Pro also handled this track fantastically. The fuzzy guitar scratched my brain in the most satisfying way, all while allowing the breathy vocal to take center stage. The bass was richer and warmer than through the AirPods Pro 3, although Apple’s buds offer a slightly wider soundscape.

Afterwards, I played another challenging track: ‘Take the Power Back’ by Rage Against the Machine. This track, as you might expect if you’re familiar with the band, is a loud, caustic, unapologetic song with punchy slap bass and complex, chugging guitars.

The detail in the AirPods Pro 3 is astronomical. I swear to you, I have never heard this song sound like this before. I could genuinely feel the air from Zach de la Rocha’s mouth. I felt like de la Rocha was rapping directly into my ear. I got goosebumps.

Comparatively, the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro handled this song excellently, too, but in a different way. The bass was punchy, rich, and pounded through my eardrums. Every cymbal smashed right when it was supposed to, and every guitar note pumped across the soundscape. No, the vocals didn’t sound as close, but the bass was the star of the show here.

Finally, I switched genres, but kept the challenge high. I played ‘Hoppípolla’ by Sigur Rós, which is an atmospheric, immersive track with a near-overwhelming body of reversed-piano samples, an arpeggio piano riff, a sun-drenched strings section, and a multi-layered, choral-tinged vocal.

Thanks to the AirPods Pro 3’s enviable instrument separation and warm sound signature, the crescendo of the song was delightful; the high-end performed admirably despite the complex strings and percussive instruments, all while the steady bass kept the track moving.

The Galaxy Buds 4 Pro played this song excellently, too. The vocals were presented at the forefront of the track, surrounded by the arpeggiated piano and rich percussion. No, there wasn’t as much instrument separation and expansiveness, but the Galaxy Buds excel more at bass than detail. It just depends on what kind of listener you are: do you want detail or bass?

I can’t really pick a winner here: both Apple and Samsung have made earbuds with industry-leading sound quality. If you want detail, I’d go for the AirPods, and if you want bass, then pick the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro.

Winner: Tie

Apple AirPods Pro 3 vs Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro: ANC

To test the ANC on the AirPods Pro 3 and Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, I played traffic noise on my MacBook Air M2 at full volume, which measured between 72 and 75 dB. I then played music on my phone, connected to the buds, at volume 5. I listened to the same song — ‘Artificial Angels’ by Grimes — during both tests.

When using the AirPods Pro 3, I could only hear a tiny amount of traffic noise. When the soundtrack intensified — when cars sped past, for example — this became audible over the song, but it didn’t interfere with my music.

Apple has something called ‘Adaptive Audio’, which you can adjust from low to high. This effectively cancels out environmental noise. I put this on full volume for this test, but didn’t really notice a difference.

Samsung has a similar feature: Enhanced adaptive ANC, which strengthens the ANC depending on your surroundings. Interestingly, Samsung has tuned this so that when your Galaxy Buds 4 Pro pick up “important” sounds like sirens or alarms, the buds switch off your ANC so you can hear your surroundings.

When using the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, I was shocked by how powerful the ANC was. I tested the Samsung buds in the exact same way: the same traffic noise track at the same volume, the same song playing through the ‘buds at the same volume, in the same environment.

I couldn’t hear any traffic noise at all. Surprisingly, I could hear myself typing, which suggests the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro are better at filtering out low-frequency sounds (like engines) than high-frequency sounds (like keycaps tapping).

Winner: Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro

Apple AirPods Pro 3 vs Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro: Call quality

Both the AirPods Pro 3 and the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro have excellent call quality. You wouldn’t be disappointed with either earbud. Both have admirable environmental noise cancelation and both can isolate your voice really well.

There are really very few differences between these two earbuds: I doubt anyone on the other end of your phone would notice if you were using the Apple or Samsung buds.

Winner: draw

Apple AirPods Pro 3 vs Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro: Battery

I don’t think I’m the first person to say this, but I think the battery life on the AirPods Pro 3 is pretty disappointing. For flagship buds, you’d expect a marked improvement over the predecessor, but that’s not the case here.

The AirPods Pro 3 tap out at 24 hours, which is the same as the AirPods Pro 2. However, the Pro 3 buds last for 8 hours, which is a 2-hour improvement over the Pro 2’s 6-hour buds battery. Even so, I’d expect the battery life in the case to be at least 28 hours by this point.

Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 4 Pro have 7 hours in the buds and 30 hours in the case, so would be better for those who want a longer overal battery life. However, if you want to use the buds on 7+ hour shifts, you might find yourself charging the buds halfway through.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro

Apple AirPods Pro 3 vs Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro: Verdict

I’m really impressed with the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro. The sound quality is excellent, the ANC is unbeatable, and they work perfectly with the Galaxy ecosystem. I’m also really impressed with the AirPods Pro 3. Again, the sound quality is phenomenal an the ANC is great, and they seamlessly connect with the rest of Apple’s tech.

However, the answer to “Should I buy the AirPods Pro 3 or the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro” is, unfortunately: What phone do you have? Do you have an iPhone? Then get the AirPods. Galaxy or Android more your style? Then you’d probably be better off with the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro.

Both earbuds are well-made and premium in every sense of the word — it’s more of a question of which ecosystem you want to invest in.

Ratings scorecard