'Easily the most comfortable earbuds': We put Samsung's Galaxy Buds4 Pro to the test

If you're going to put something in your ear for more than an hour, you'd want it to be comfortable. And comfort, plus some seriously good noise cancellation and sound quality, too, is exactly what we got when we road-tested Samsung's latest Galaxy Buds4 Pro

NOTE: Prices are accurate at the time of publishing.

Samsung Galaxy Buds4 Pro at a glance...

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Pros: Extremely comfortable, great noise cancellation, good sound quality, easy customisation, extended battery life, IP57 rating for dust and water resistance

Cons: Plastic case, features mostly locked behind the Samsung ecosystem

Verdict: An excellent pair of buds for any Samsung user

First impressions

What surprised me first was how tiny the box was for the Buds4 Pro, and after unboxing it, I was then met with a fully plastic case with a transparent lid encasing the buds themselves.

On first critique, the case didn't feel as high-quality as something like the recent Nothing Earbuds 3, where they have an aluminium bottom case instead of plastic.

More importantly: how did the Galaxy Buds4 Pro sound? They sounded good. Nothing too special.

As for the noise cancellation? Good...

What about the comfort? Also good.

In fact, all my first impressions were spectacularly average reactions. But over time, I gradually began to enjoy and really appreciate the nuances of the buds.

What I liked about the Samsung Galaxy Buds4 Pro

Comfort above anything else

If you're going to be wearing earbuds every day during your commutes or for long overseas flights, then comfort needs to be a priority above all else.

To really get a good grip of the comfort of these earbuds, I wore them almost every day for the past month and a half. I also wore them for extended periods, up to two hours.

While it wasn't immediately apparent, upon comparing them to other earbuds like the Nothing Buds 3 and the AirPods 4, I was shocked at just how accustomed I had become to the comfort of the Galaxy Buds4 Pro.

It wasn't that other earbuds with or without silicone tips felt uncomfortable; rather, it was the fact that the Buds 4 Pro felt significantly more comfortable to wear – as if they fit my ears better.

This is thanks to the new design Samsung has introduced and created using "hundreds of millions of global ear data points and over 10,000 simulations". So essentially, they've redesigned the buds to have a more ergonomic and comfortable fit for anyone, which is why they worked so well for my sensitive ears.

Balanced sound quality that is enjoyable for anyone

The sound quality on these is great. They offer a very balanced and detailed sound profile, and you can easily choose between six preset equaliser settings or you can adjust the frequencies yourself in Samsung's audio settings for the .

There are a couple more sound quality features I'll speed through: 360 audio, boost dialogue, loudness normalisation, adjust sound to fit, ultra-high-quality audio (96kHz sample rate) and super-wide-band speech.

I toggled the adjust sound to fit for my testing, and experimented with 360 audio, although I quite enjoyed the default settings and balanced sound profile provided.

Superior active noise cancellation

Thanks to a few upgrades, Samsung has enhanced the Active Noise Cancellation on the Buds4 Pro, letting you focus more on your music, podcasts or calls without the outside world distracting. I tested these earbuds on my daily commute, during domestic flights, at the gym, at home, and in the office.

The buds worked like a charm on buses and trains, cancelling out most of the murmuring, screeching and traffic of the usual commute. During my flights, it reduced the plane noises to a slight hum. At the gym, the usual music blasting through was easily tuned out with high volume, which is not something I like doing often, but it worked well to focus up. Finally, at the office and at home, any chatter simply ceased to be heard.

My simple verdict is that the noise cancellation on these earbuds is easily the best that I have tested, and that's considering other earbuds and headphones I've tested.

I did find that a couple of times it took a moment for the noise cancellation to kick in when you put the earbuds in your ear, but when it worked, it blocked out a lot of the noise. So, good job, Samsung.

The noise-cancellation also works with calls using Samsung's new 'Super Clear call' technology. It provides noise reduction and voice enhancement during phone calls, letting the callers' voices remain clear. In my experience, I actually do agree that either end could be heard better than usual, and this made calling around a lot easier in busy environments.

Easy connectivity and experience

Setting up the Galaxy Buds4 Pro was no problem on a Samsung device. Using the Bluetooth button on the back of the case, the buds connected easily to the S25 Ultra I was using.

After pairing for the first time, connecting became seamless. Take an earbud out of the case, pop it in your ear and watch (or listen) as the two devices immediately connect.

You can access settings from the quick menu dropdown by holding down on the volume slider with the earbuds symbol. From here, you can easily adjust the settings you'll likely use most: noise cancellation, volume, equaliser presets and a few more features.

You can access the full range of toggles and features in the Samsung settings app, as a new tab will appear when they're connected.

So, how do you actually control the earbuds on the fly then? The earbuds have an indent on the side of them that acts as a slider; swipe up for higher volume and swipe down for lower volume.

The Buds4 Pro also feature pinch controls, which is more or less a light squeeze on the slider. Pinch to play or pause, double pinch for the next track, and triple pinch for the previous track. Of course, you can adjust the controls too, so I have it set to adjust the noise cancellation on and off when I pinch and hold the earbud sliders.

Finally, while I didn't use it all too much myself, the Buds4 Pro also introduces head gesture controls so you can manage calls hands-free.

What could be improved?

There were only a few improvements that I could think of. Namely, the biggest one was the case's build quality. I like that it's compact, although the plastic build does make it feel a bit cheap.

A few features are also locked behind the Samsung ecosystem, so to get the best experience, you'll want a Galaxy device.

Are the Galaxy Buds4 Pro worth it?

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If you own a Samsung device and are looking to purchase or upgrade to a pair of earbuds that will complement your ecosystem experience the best, the Galaxy Buds4 Pro are a no-brainer buy.

They offer great sound quality, noise cancellation and comfort that will satisfy anyone looking for the right earbuds for them.

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