AirPods Pro 3 or Galaxy Buds4 Pro? Let Your Phone Decide

Apple and Samsung each make excellent earbuds, and each saves its best features for its own phones. That makes this an easy decision for most people, and a tricky one for the rest.

If you use an iPhone

AirPods Pro 3 are the clear choice. You get one tap pairing, automatic switching between iPhone, iPad and Mac, spatial audio with head tracking, Find My tracking for the case, and new features such as heart rate sensing for workouts and Live Translation. Galaxy Buds work with iPhones as basic Bluetooth earbuds, but most of their smart features disappear.

If you use a Samsung Galaxy phone

Galaxy Buds4 Pro make the most sense. They connect seamlessly, switch between Galaxy devices, support Samsung’s high quality codec on Galaxy phones and integrate with Galaxy AI features. AirPods work on Android, but without the Apple specific features, and they use the more limited AAC or SBC codecs on many Android phones.

If you use another Android phone

Neither is ideal. Consider Sony’s WF-1000XM6 or Sennheiser’s Momentum True Wireless 5, which offer full features on any Android device.

Things both do well

• Strong active noise cancelling and transparency modes.
• Good call quality.
• Water and sweat resistance for the gym.
• Compact wireless charging cases.

Our verdict

Buy the earbuds made by your phone’s maker. If you switch between an iPhone and an Android, or use a Windows laptop most of the day, a cross platform option from Sony or Sennheiser may serve you better.

Sources

• Apple, AirPods Pro
• Samsung, Galaxy Buds
• SoundGuys, best true wireless earbuds