Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Leak Reveals A Slick Metal Shift Away From AirPods Styling

A series of leaks from retail listings and physical dummy units suggest that the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 is taking a slightly different turn design-wise by merging industrial chic with user-friendly practicality. While last year’s transition to a stemmed design drew immediate comparisons to Apple AirPods, the new earphone could likely have an aesthetic that prioritizes sharp, flat surfaces, making the earpieces at least look like high-end audio equipment.

The first evidence of the revised look comes from an accidental Amazon listing that briefly went live, confirming the existence of both a standard and Pro model while highlighting the new physical appearance. The listing, paired with images of physical dummy units circulating in supply chain circles, reveals a canted blade design that is much more aggressive than the fluid metal look of the current gen. The stems on the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, in particular, appear the most drastically changed, even if the flipside of the buds looks relatively unremarkable. Perhaps Samsung will use the flat surfaces for squeeze and swipe gestures used to control things like volume and noise cancellation?

As you can see from the images here, the Buds 4's brushed metallic finish is quite handsome, particularly in a new Graphite Steel colorway that gives the hardware a weighted, premium appearance. The charging case follows suit, retaining the transparent lid introduced last year but returning to a flat clamshell. It would've been nice if brush metal elements made it to the case, because as it is, it looks decidedly out of sync with the premium look of the buds.

In terms of hardware, the Buds 4 lineup is reportedly housing larger capacitive touch sensors and an improved microphone mesh designed to mitigate wind noise more effectively. There is also evidence of a redesigned internal driver layout; the Pro model's slightly wider "head" suggests a dual-driver system that might offer a wider soundstage than the Buds 3.