At its first Unpacked event of the year, Samsung refreshed its audio gear portfolio with the Galaxy Buds 4 series. Available in two variants — the baseline Galaxy Buds 4 and the flagship Galaxy Buds 4 Pro — they adopt a fresh design language and serve some neat new features, as well.
As far as the pricing goes, the badeline Galaxy Buds 4 come in at $179, while the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro will set you back by $249 a pop. You can pre-order both starting today, and if you pick one from Samsung’s store, you can get the Pro version in pink gold color, in addition to white and black shades.
On the surface
Samsung has redesigned the vanilla Galaxy Buds 4 with a smaller earbud head to go with its open-fit design, which is similar to the entry-level AirPods. To stand out, Samsung has flattened the stem and given it a metallic makeover, while the gesture controls have been moved to the sides.
On the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, you get a design inspired by the AirPods Pro, thanks to their angled in-canal architecture with rubberized eartips. But once again, you get a two-tone design on these with an exposed vent and a transparent charging case that supports wireless power transfer.
Another notable convenience is that you don’t have to install an app to access their core features, as long as you have a Galaxy smartphone in your hands. However, if you are pairing an Android phone from another brand or an iPhone, you will need to install the Galaxy Wearable app. The earbuds also support head gestures for handling calls and notifications, similar to the AirPods.
What’s in it for your ears?
Samsung says it has equipped the Buds 4 series with larger drivers, with the Pro model getting a wider woofer courtesy of slimmer edges on the periphery to enhance the sonic vibrations. These architectural changes open the doors for immersive 24-bit/96kHz audio transmission for hi-fidelity listening.
For its latest earbuds, the company is also touting the virtues of Enhanced ANC, which should offer improved noise isolation. And to go with it, there’s a new Enhanced Adaptive ANC/EQ feature that tunes the sound output to the unique ear canal shape and sonic sensitivity of each person’s ears.
Then there’s the Super Clear Call feature, which relies on the super wideband call technology to double the bandwidth of the call signals and makes sure that the audio is clear. Samsung says the audio transmission on the Buds 4 Pro will “sound as if they were speaking face-to-face.”