Apple AirPods Pro 3 vs Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro: Which Earbuds Should You Buy?

The Apple AirPods Pro 3 and Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro get cross-shopped constantly, and for good reason: both launched at exactly $249, both carry an IP57 dust-and-water rating, and both are their maker's current flagship true wireless earbuds. But SoundGuys ran a direct, lab-measured comparison of the two in early 2026, and the results are less about which earbud is objectively "better" and more about which ecosystem — iPhone or Galaxy — you actually live in. We did not run our own side-by-side listening test; this is a roundup of SoundGuys' and TechRadar's separately scored, hands-on reviews of both, plus what over 16,000 combined Amazon owners report.

At a glance

A note on the table: SoundGuys tested both earbuds using the same standardized ANC and battery-life rigs, which is why we lean on their numbers for the head-to-head specs above rather than each brand's own marketing claims (Apple advertises "up to 8 hours" and Samsung advertises "up to 6 hours" with ANC on — both held up closely in SoundGuys' testing). Individual review scores: SoundGuys gave the AirPods Pro 3 an 8/10 in its "close to perfect" review and the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro an 8/10 in its own separate review, calling it "a bit of a fixer-upper."

Apple AirPods Pro 3: what reviewers and owners say

TechRadar's Becky Scarrott tested the AirPods Pro 3 for three weeks and called them "an otherwise near-perfect set of noise-cancelling earbuds," awarding 5/5 for features, 4.5/5 for sound quality, design, and value. She singled out the active noise cancellation as "almost scarily good at sucking the noise out of your ears" and praised the reworked ear-tip shape and driver angle for finally delivering a genuinely secure fit — "that has never been the case with any AirPods until this iteration," she wrote. Her main complaint was stamina: Apple claims up to 8 hours of ANC listening, but she measured closer to "around 5.5 hours" in real-world use with extra features like Spatial Audio and heart-rate sensing running. She also flagged the loss of the physical reset button on the charging case and noted that Live Translation, while "excellent... once you get it up and running," requires jumping through several setup hoops (a compatible iPhone, iOS 26, Apple Intelligence enabled, and the Translate app).

SoundGuys' own testing backs up the ANC praise with hard numbers: an average of 90% noise attenuation in their lab, which they describe as the strongest they have measured to date, plus a measured 8 hours 42 minutes of battery life with ANC on — beating Apple's own claim. Amazon's 14,529 ratings average 4.4 out of 5; Amazon's AI-generated review summary highlights praise for "quality," "sound quality," and "noise cancellation," though it flags mixed feedback on fit and connectivity, with some owners reporting occasional disconnection issues.

Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro: what reviewers and owners say

SoundGuys tested the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro over several days and called it "a solid set of in-ears that offer Samsung phone owners a taste of the high-end," scoring it 8/10 overall. The review praised sound quality (a 4.8/5 MDAQS score, the highest of the two earbuds in that specific metric), the $249.99 price relative to rivals, and the addition of Auracast for public broadcast listening. ANC measured a strong 84% average attenuation in SoundGuys' lab — "very good," though it trails the AirPods Pro 3 — with a soft spot in the 500Hz–1.1kHz range where "annoying sounds can pop up" if the ear tips do not seal well. Battery life measured 6 hours 1 minute with ANC on, "dead-on" with Samsung's own estimate but short of Apple's number. The review's central caveat, repeated throughout: "features like Samsung Seamless Codec, Ultra High-Quality audio support, Adapt Sound, spatial audio, and Auracast" — the buds' real differentiators — largely require a recent Galaxy phone running One UI 6.1.1 or newer.

Amazon's 2,242 ratings average 4.4 out of 5. Amazon's review summary says customers "praise the sound quality and exceptional noise cancellation," though fit, battery life, connectivity, and durability all get more mixed feedback, with some owners reporting the case loses charge while idle and others finding the touch controls fiddly. Several detailed five-star reviews specifically called out the fit-testing setup process (which checks ear-tip seal automatically) and the ambient/voice-detection mode that lowers music when you start talking.

Head-to-head: which one should you actually buy?

If you use an iPhone, this is close to a formality: the AirPods Pro 3's automatic switching across Apple devices, deeper iOS integration, and measurably stronger ANC make it the easier recommendation, and SoundGuys' own reader poll on this exact comparison found 99% would choose the AirPods Pro 3 — though that poll skews toward SoundGuys' largely iPhone-heavy audience and should be read as a preference signal, not a lab result. If you use a recent Samsung Galaxy phone, the calculus flips: the Buds 4 Pro unlock Auracast, EQ presets, and Samsung's Seamless Codec, and SoundGuys rated their raw sound quality (MDAQS) slightly higher than the AirPods Pro 3's. If you are on Android but not a Samsung phone, SoundGuys' own advice is that the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro are "usually the more practical pick" since you at least retain EQ control, even without the Samsung-exclusive extras — while the AirPods Pro 3 lose the bulk of their advantage outside Apple's ecosystem entirely.

For pure noise cancellation and battery life on paper, the AirPods Pro 3 win on both counts in SoundGuys' identical lab tests. For raw tonal balance and future-facing features like Auracast, the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro have an edge — if you can actually access them.

Before you buy: what to check

Confirm which specific Galaxy Buds 4 Pro listing you are looking at — Samsung sells a non-Pro "Galaxy Buds4" at a lower price with a single dynamic driver instead of the Pro's two-way woofer-and-tweeter setup, and the two are easy to mix up in search results. For the AirPods Pro 3, note that Apple's own listing states the box does not include a USB-C charging cable or power adapter, so budget for one if you do not already own a compatible cable. Both companies discount these earbuds during sales events (TechRadar found the AirPods Pro 3 as low as $189.99 at Amazon), so check the current price before assuming you are paying full retail, and verify Samsung's Galaxy-phone feature requirements (a recent Galaxy device with One UI 6.1.1+) before assuming you will get the full Buds 4 Pro feature set.

Sources

• SoundGuys — Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro vs Apple AirPods Pro 3 direct comparison, Dave Carr, February 2026
• SoundGuys — Apple AirPods Pro 3 review
• SoundGuys — Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro review, Christian Thomas, March 2026
• TechRadar — Apple AirPods Pro 3 review, Becky Scarrott, October 2025
• Amazon customer reviews — Apple AirPods Pro 3, 14,529 verified ratings, 4.4/5 average
• Amazon customer reviews — Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, 2,242 verified ratings, 4.4/5 average

Keeping this comparison current

Both product lines get refreshed on their own schedules — Apple typically on a multi-year cadence, Samsung annually alongside its Galaxy S series — and pricing shifts constantly around sales events. We revisit comparisons like this rather than treating them as a one-time snapshot, and will update this page if either listing's specs, pricing, or availability materially change.