Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 4 double down on the dramatic design pivot introduced by their predecessors. We’re talking unsealed, stem-style earbuds that immediately invite comparison to Apple’s omnipresent AirPods. This time around, Samsung iterates on that formula with a redesigned, flatter stem, a welcome return to a flat clamshell charging case, and a fresh batch of smart Galaxy AI features. Landing locally at R3,000, they hold the line on pricing while going toe-to-toe with the AirPods 4.
Read: Sony LinkBuds Clip Review: Getting you hooked
In real-world testing, the Galaxy Buds 4 punch well above their weight class, particularly when stacked against the AirPods 4 ANC. Can these sleek wireless buds officially break the competition’s winning streak? Let’s dive into the full performance breakdown to find out.
Design & Hardware
There is plenty to love about the external presentation of the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4, starting with the charging case. It’s an ultra-pocketable, see-through square box that the earbuds effortlessly slot into. Weighing a mere 45.1g and measuring a compact 51 x 51 x 28.3mm, it genuinely vanishes into your pocket.
The earbuds themselves look remarkably sharp. Samsung refined the aggressive “Blade” aesthetic introduced on the Buds 3, stripping out the gimmicky lights and visual clutter. The white model features a gorgeous, polished silver metal band down the stem, though a sleek black option is also available.
Unfortunately, the praise stops abruptly at the hardware aesthetics. During a three-week testing period, the physical build of these earbuds became a daily frustration. Put simply: these things just do not stay anchored in your ears. When they aren’t completely falling out, they constantly rotate out of position. This shifting means the internal audio drivers point away from your ear canal, instantly degrading the sound quality. While this issue will likely be amplified for users with larger ears, a few critical design choices make them a tricky fit for almost anyone:
- No Silicone Tips: Without a rubberized tip, you cannot wedge the buds into your ear canal and hope for the best.
- Frictionless Materials: The plastic chassis is so smooth and friction-free that there is nothing for your ear cartilage to grip.
- Imbalanced Weighting: While the buds are incredibly light at just 4.6g, the centre of gravity feels fundamentally off. Their own physical heft causes them to slowly list, tilt, and perform eventual “ear-pirouettes” onto the floor.
The stems feature standard touch capabilities: pinching to play/pause music, and swiping up or down for volume control. The contrast between these two gestures is stark. While the pinch control is fantastic, offering a subtle, reassuring tactile click to let you know your command registered, the volume swipe is a liability. Because the buds have zero grip in the ear, the mere friction of swiping up or down acts as an ejection mechanism, routinely flinging the earbuds right out of your head.
Software and Features
While trimming away a few premium bells and whistles found on the Pro sibling, the mainstream Galaxy Buds 4 remain packed with eye-catching functionality. Audiophiles get a deep 9-band equalizer alongside six targeted audio presets, including specialized modes for speech clarity and instrumental separation.
For daily utility, the buds can read notifications aloud and even feature a quirky “neck stretch” reminder, perfect for sedentary desk workers prone to neck strain. Hands-free Bixby support handles text replies and calendar scheduling on the fly, while 360 Audio provides Samsung’s answer to Apple’s Personalized Spatial Audio. While upmixed spatial tracking can occasionally warp standard music tracks, it remains a fantastic feature for immersive movie viewing.
Where Samsung objectively outclasses Apple is connectivity. The Galaxy Buds 4 deploy Bluetooth 6.1, a massive generational leap over the legacy Bluetooth 5.4 found even on Apple’s premium AirPods Pro 3. That being said, the signal strength is plainly not good enough. I could not move more than 5 metres away from my device before signal drops happen regularly, and without line-of-sight, they simply don’t work as they should.
Unsurprisingly, seamless automatic device switching remains fiercely platform-locked. Galaxy Buds transition flawlessly between Samsung phones and tablets. However, switching smoothly on a Windows PC requires you to be logged into a native Samsung account, and iOS users are left out in the cold.
While this ecosystem lockdown is frustrating, it is standard industry practice. If Apple refuses to open its ecosystem gates for non-iOS devices, it’s hard to fault Samsung for playing by the exact same rules.
Sound Quality
The Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 rely on a single driver per ear, a major hardware downgrade from the dual-driver architecture of the Pro model. The absence of a dedicated, bass-focused woofer is immediately apparent, which is a shame, as some extra low-end oomph would have gone a long way toward masking the audio loss that occurs the moment the earbuds begin to slip.
When you are sitting perfectly still with the buds angled optimally in your ear canals, they deliver an acoustic performance that holds its own for the price. The sound signature leans toward bright and highly detailed:
- Highs and Mids: Acoustic string instruments sparkle, piano notes retain crisp definition, and vocals cut through with distinct personality.
- The High-Res Advantage: To hear the hardware at its best, you will need a Samsung device to unlock the proprietary SSC-UHQ codec. This enables high-resolution, 24-bit/96kHz audio transmission, which provides an instantly audible clarity boost over standard Bluetooth connections.
Without that dedicated woofer, however, the low-end lacks the deep, scooping punch needed for modern tracking. Instead of a tight, defined thumping, the bass frequently feels muddy and indistinct, causing lower frequencies to melt into the mid-range and lose their driving edge.
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Furthermore, because of the open-ear design, this delicate balance vanishes entirely in the real world. During a commute or a brisk walk, ambient background noise leaks in, the bass evaporates, and the mids get drowned out, leaving you with a hollowed-out mix consisting mostly of vocals and hi-hats.
Battery
If you need wireless earbuds that can comfortably survive a lengthy road trip down to the coast or a grueling, back-to-back workday, look elsewhere. The battery endurance on the Galaxy Buds 4 is a major bottleneck, offering subpar longevity the moment you throw real-world workloads at it.
Samsung’s paper specifications paint a modest picture, but everyday testing quickly strips away any optimism. While you can eke out roughly 6 hours of continuous listening with Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) disabled, engaging the feature drops performance significantly. Samsung officially claims you will get up to 5 hours of playback with ANC turned on.
However, in actual daily use, with both ANC activated and high-resolution streaming engaged via the Samsung Seamless Codec (SSC), the earbuds were barely scraping through 3 hours of life. This restrictive three-hour limit makes these buds strictly suited for short commutes or quick gym sessions rather than sustained, uninterrupted office listening.
The pocket-friendly charging case cushions the blow slightly by offering about five full recharges before the cradle itself runs dry. While that total backup capacity isn’t groundbreaking, it proves perfectly serviceable for a standard week of casual use, provided you make a habit of routinely plugging the case in to top it up.
Conclusion
At R3,000, the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 are a classic case of stellar software trapped in frustrating hardware. On paper, they challenge the competition with a beautiful, pocketable design, future-proof features, and bright, high-res audio. When you are sitting perfectly still, the crisp mids and sparkling highs truly impress.
Unfortunately, everyday physics completely derails the experience. The smooth, tip-less design means the buds constantly slip, destroying the bass response and turning simple volume swipes into literal ejection mechanisms. This physical frustration is compounded by a disappointing battery life that struggles to clear three hours with ANC active, and a weak wireless range that drops connection just five meters out.
If you are a Samsung ecosystem loyalist who only needs a stylish pair of buds for short, stationary tasks, the Galaxy Buds 4 offer decent utility. But for active users, commuters, or anyone needing a reliable daily driver, the constant slipping and rapid battery drain make them incredibly tough to recommend. They have the brains to beat Apple, but they simply can’t stay in your ears long enough to do it.
