I hope you haven’t forgotten that Samsung is expected to unveil more than just a new trio of ultra-high-end handsets this week, have you? Although they’ve not received a fraction of the attention of the Galaxy S26 family these last couple of months for fairly obvious reasons, the company’s next-gen earbuds aren’t exactly the tech world’s best-kept secret either, showing off their revised designs for the first time all the way back in October 2025.
$179.99 and $249.99
If those numbers happen to feel familiar, it’s probably because the Galaxy Buds 3 and Galaxy Buds 3 Pro were released at $179.99 and $249.99, respectively, in the summer of 2024. Naturally, Samsung and major US retailers like Amazon have reduced the two’s original prices many times these last 18 months or so, with the higher-end model dropping during the recently concluded holiday shopping season as low as $149.99.
Those are some very familiar and unsurprising price tags. | Image by Roland Quandt
Interestingly, the non-Pro Galaxy Buds 3 have been the protagonists of far fewer deals than their super-premium sibling, and if you’re looking to buy them right now stateside… you can’t. That’s because the product was discreetly discontinued recently, which is evidently not stopping Samsung from releasing a sequel this week.
Would it have been nice to see the Galaxy Buds 4 priced lower than the Buds 3 in these circumstances? Absolutely, but you have to remember that Samsung also sells the Galaxy Buds 3 FE at $149.99, so there clearly was no room for the Buds 4 to move under $179.99 without stepping on the territory of their Fan Edition cousin.Similarly, you might have wished for a lower Galaxy Buds 4 Pro price point, but with the Galaxy S26, S26 Plus, and S26 Ultra widely expected (but still not guaranteed) to cost more than the S25, S25 Plus, and S25 Ultra at launch, we should probably be happy the same thing is not happening with Samsung’s high-end wireless earbuds.We should probably also thank Apple for not making the AirPods Pro 3 more expensive than the AirPods Pro 2, which would have given Samsung the perfect excuse to bump up the price of the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro from $249.99 despite earbuds clearly not being impacted by rising component costs to the same degree as smartphones or tablets.
What else is going unchanged?
Unlike the Galaxy S26 trio, the Galaxy Buds 4 duo is not a totally open book as far as specs and capabilities are concerned just yet. But we do know the somewhat controversial designs of the Galaxy Buds 3 and Galaxy Buds 3 Pro are overhauled to (hopefully) improve all-day comfort with flat instead of pill-shaped stems, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to anticipate that Samsung will advertise its next-gen buds as better-sounding than all their forerunners.
This is how the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro are expected to look. | Image by Alkosto
Of course, we’ll have to wait and rigorously test the Galaxy Buds 4 and Buds 4 Pro in real-world conditions before concluding if that’s true, and the same will go for any hyperbolic battery life claims the company is likely to make.
Unfortunately, there are no words on any Samsung plans to bring back heart rate monitoring to its earbuds to fend off Apple’s latest state-of-the-art AirPods, although the Galaxy AI-powered Live Translate functionality is expected to be further improved and potentially catch up to the competition (at the very least).
How excited should you be?
For the time being, I think a moderate level of excitement for the Galaxy Buds 4 and Galaxy Buds 4 Pro is recommended. After all, 250 bucks is not a low price to pay for a pair of true wireless earbuds in this day and age, but if Sony can charge $329.99 for the new WF-1000XM6, why wouldn’t you at least consider giving Samsung $80 less for a similarly premium product?
This is most likely the refined design of the Galaxy Buds 4. | Image by Android Headlines
It remains to be seen now exactly how the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro will stand out from the non-Pro Galaxy Buds 4, and whether or not said non-Pro earbuds can make a better impression than the semi-failed “regular” Galaxy Buds 3. These are all things to keep an eye on, even though they’re clearly not the most exciting details with just two days before the highly anticipated Galaxy S26 series launch.
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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian’s passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for ‘adequate’ over ‘overpriced’.
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