Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 4 Pro Only Have One Shot at Challenging AirPods Pro 3

Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 4 Pro wireless earbuds haven’t been announced yet, but evidence of their arrival is starting to pile up. Last week, it was an icon spotted inside a leaked build of One UI 8.5 by Android Central, which sparked speculation that Samsung could be headed toward a potential redesign, and now, there are even more drips about some potential battery life improvements.

According to a report from GalaxyClub, the Galaxy Buds 4 (and presumably the Buds 4 Pro) will get a battery bump with a case that comes with a 530mAh battery as opposed to the Galaxy Buds 3, which have a rated case battery capacity of 500mAh. That’s not a massive leak by any means, but there is one more detail that emerged via Android Central that could give a better indication of what direction the Galaxy Buds 4 and 4 Pro are headed. Codenames spotted inside One UI 8.5 show references to “Handel” and “Bach,” who are both classical composers and likely refer to the Galaxy Buds 4 and 4 Pro.

That’s notably a departure from the codenames of previous wireless earbuds, which included “Berry” and “Jelly.” Does that mean there’s going to be a heavy audio focus that leans towards hi-fi? Maybe. Are we reading too much into an unofficial codename? Also possible. In either case, when the Galaxy Buds 4 and 4 Pro do eventually arrive on the scene (potentially next year, along with the Galaxy S26), they’ll have some tough competition in Apple’s AirPods Pro 3.

AirPods are always tough competition in the wireless earbud market—for Samsung and everyone else—but it’s going to be even tougher when comparing the two head-to-head. The reason? Apple managed to push the boundaries of what we even thought wireless earbuds could do. Its main method of doing that has been health features that include a way to monitor your heart rate while you listen to music. It’s a small step towards making AirPods part health wearable, but I sincerely doubt that Apple is done adding health features, meaning its abilities as a fitness wearable could expand even further in the next generation.

What does that mean for Samsung? Depending on whether Apple’s health tracking appeals to you, it could mean that the Galaxy Buds 4 and 4 Pro are behind, and Samsung wouldn’t be alone in its lack of health sensors, either. It’ll be worth watching if Apple’s AirPods Pro 3 push the rest of the wireless earbud market toward health tracking in an effort to maintain feature parity. That’ll likely depend on whether people actually use health tracking features, but also whether makers of wireless earbuds even have the resources and infrastructure to make health tracking work. If there’s one company that could make it work, it’s Samsung, but we’ll have to wait until next year to find out, most likely.