Samsung Galaxy Buds review: surprisingly excellent true wireless buds Score Details DT Editors' Choice “The Galaxy Buds are a valuable pair of true wireless earbuds.” Six hours of battery life Sweatproof Light, comfortable fit Wireless charging case Only 7 hours of battery in case MSRP $130.00 This review was last updated by Digital Trends A/V staff writer Nick Woodard on 6/5/2020. It’s an exciting time for true wireless earbuds. With new chips promising more compact designs and better battery life finally making it into real-world products, there are more reasons than ever to cut the cord on your listening life. Among the first of the next-gen true wireless headphones to hit the market, Samsung’s Galaxy Buds showcased the cutting edge of technology. With six hours of battery life, a wireless charging case, and a light, nimble design, there’s a lot to love about the company’s latest set of buds. Most impressive, the Galaxy Buds’ collection of features comes at an affordable $129 price tag and the Buds were even bundled with pre-orders of the S10, S10+, or Fold phones. The combination of technology and value made the Galaxy Buds among the best wireless earbuds you can buy right now, at least until the Galaxy Buds + came along. Out of the box The Galaxy Buds come in a small box with the charging case, a long USB type-C cable, three sets of silicone eartips and sport fins, and a small user guide. Opening the case, it’s immediately evident that Samsung’s follow-up to the 2018 Gear IconX are significantly smaller and lighter than their predecessor, allowing them to sit more comfortably in your ears. An ergonomic triangular design integrates the comfortable rubber earfins and soft rubber eartips, providing a very solid fit and great seal, easily ranking among the most comfortable true wireless earbuds we’ve tested. Where Apple’s eartip-free AirPods can be a bit rough on your ears during longer listening sessions, the Galaxy Buds are nearly unnoticeable once you put them in. Features First and foremost, Samsung’s headphones offer a solid six hours of battery life per charge — an hour more than similarly priced Apple and Jabra models. It was impressive at the time of its debut, though the bar has since been raised. The Galaxy Buds + offer 11 hours of playback, while the Edifier TWS NB offer five hours of noise canceling playback and 11 hours without that feature. Unfortunately, the impressive playback time is not met with a lot of juice inside the case itself, marking our only real gripe about the Galaxy Buds. The Galaxy Buds’ case offers just seven hours of additional battery life, while competitors offer 20-30 hours or more. The most comfortable true wireless earbuds we’ve ever tested. This will be less of an issue for Galaxy phone owners, as the case includes the ability to wirelessly charge from the back of new Galaxy phones (or a standard wireless charging pad), but it does mean you won’t be able to go days at a time without finding a charging pad or outlet. That said, plugging in your headphones after 13 hours of playtime isn’t a huge deal for most of us and it’s a small price to pay for all the Buds’ other qualities. In addition to good battery life and a wireless charging case, the Galaxy buds come with a number of cool features. Changing songs or adjusting volume, for example, is accomplished via intuitive touch controls that can be customized inside the Samsung Wear app. The app also allows you to pick between five different equalization settings, letting you tailor the sound of the headphones for your ears and musical tastes. Perhaps the most useful feature of the app, however, is “Find my earbuds” which does just what you’d think, preventing you from digging through the couch cushions or jeans pockets when the Buds go missing. The Galaxy Buds are particularly impressive in the way they use the two onboard microphones built into each earphone. When making a call, the headphones can analyze how loud the sounds around you are, using the microphone on the outside of each earphone when ambient sound is quieter, and the mic near the inside of the headphones when it’s louder. The mics also allow you to pipe in the sound of the outside world while you listen using Samsung’s ambient sound mode, which even includes a feature that uses filtering to highlight the sound of human voices. Both ambient sound mode and call mode worked well in testing, allowing co-workers to be heard over music without taking out the earbuds, as well as calling in both quiet and loud rooms without skipping a beat. Call quality is not as good as Apple’s AirPods, but it gets the job done. Ambient sound mode is great for situations like runs or bike rides, where you want to jam out, but don’t want to miss a shout or a car horn when you need to hear it. And that’s not the only way Samsung has geared its latest earbuds toward those who like to break a sweat: The Galaxy Buds have an IPX2 rating, which means they are protected against dripping water (or sweat). That’s not as good as the IP56 rating boasted by Jabra models like the Elite Active 65t, but considering that Apple’s pricier AirPods offer no water resistance whatsoever, the feature is welcome. You’ll have to pay $250 for the AirPods Pro to get water resistance from Apple. I took the headphones on a 5-mile run on a treadmill and found them to be excellent for working out. Their lightweight and compact design means they stay in place, and the IPX2 rating means you don’t have to worry about getting them sweaty. Audio Performance The Galaxy Buds’ ergonomic design and soft silicone eartips allow them to seal very well in your ears, presenting warm bass and low-mid response, and allowing them to avoid harsh, tinny sounds up top. There aren’t a pair of true wireless earbuds we’ve tested that feel so freeing. I listened to a wide variety of music during my time with the headphones, playing everything from The Beatles to Kendrick Lamar. Overall, the headphones performed well with all music, offering a relatively flat response despite what was playing, even with a huge variation between the genres. My favorite equalizer mode turned out to be the “Dynamic” setting, which seems to adjust the sound to best suit whatever you’re listening to at the time. “Soft” mode and “Clear” mode were also interesting, with the former allowing you to listen to things with a rounder, less harsh sound signature, and the latter bringing out the shimmer of acoustic guitars and cymbals just a touch. While I preferred Dynamic most often, it was nice to actually have a choice when it came to adjusting the sound to fit the music, an option I wish came standard on all wireless headphones. The Galaxy Buds don’t offer the same vibrant clarity we’ve experienced from true wireless headphones like the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 or the Master and Dynamic MW07 and MW07 Plus, but at well under half the price, they deliver pleasurable and customizable sound that could easily be enjoyed every day. In fact, their sound is as good or better than the more expensive Apple and Jabra models. The steady Bluetooth 5.0 connection made them magnificent when cleaning my living room and kitchen, too, allowing me to just set your phone on a table or counter and forget about it. As a way to listen to your favorite music in all styles on the go, the Galaxy Buds absolutely serve their purpose, and the lightweight design really accentuates the luxury of having no strings attached. Frankly, there are still very few true wireless earbuds we’ve tested that feel so freeing. Warranty information Samsung offers a warranty that covers defects in materials and workmanship for one year. Our Take With a plethora of great features, six hours of battery life, and a fantastic $129 list price, the Galaxy Buds are currently the most compelling true wireless earbuds out there. Is there a better alternative? The Galaxy Buds + are the obvious option here, with improved battery life and other features for $20 more. The previously-mentioned Edifier TWS NB might be an even better fit, since they incorporate good active noise cancellation for $10 less. You should also consider Amazon’s Echo Buds. They’re a great alternative if you’re already deep in Amazon’s Alexa ecosystem. Other close competitors to the Galaxy Buds — Apple’s AirPods. You can take a look at the Galaxy Buds vs. Apple AirPods in a head-to-head comparison so you can decide which one is right for you. and Jabra’s Elite Active 65t and Jabra Elite 75t — come with steeper sticker prices, though you might be able to find the former Jabra model at a discount now that the 75t have arrived. How long will they last? Samsung has a history of making long-lasting products, and we don’t expect the Buds to be any different. With replaceable eartips and earfins, we expect them to last through years of solid use. Should you buy them? Yes. If you’re looking for comfortable true wireless earbuds with great battery life, good sound, and a palatable price tag, these are just the ticket. For more options plus discounts, be sure to take a look at the best headphone deals and Samsung Galaxy buds sales available online. Editors' Recommendations<doc-sep>Photo : Sam Rutherford ( Gizmodo ) At this point, it’s practically impossible to go outside without seeing white, Q-tip-looking earbuds sticking out of people’s heads, and with sales of Apple AirPods expected to rise to between 50 and 55 million this year, that phenomenon probably won’t go away anytime soon. Advertisement Meanwhile, over in Samsung’s camp, while the company is no stranger when it comes to making wireless headphones, none of the previous Gear IconX earbuds ever solicited the same kind of hype Apple’s dangly competitors receive. The Galaxy Buds also feature touch sensitive sides that can tapped to perform various functions like pausing music or skipping to the next song. Photo : Sam Rutherford ( Gizmodo ) But that could all change soon because by bringing its latest pair of Bluetooth earbuds under the Galaxy umbrella, Samsung is signalling that it thinks it finally has a worthy rival to the AirPods, and in classic Samsung fashion, the company is trying to use to superior tech to make its case. Listed at $130 (or free if your pre-order a Galaxy S10), the Galaxy Buds jump out to an early lead over the $160 AirPods thanks to their price. But more importantly, Samsung claims the Galaxy Buds offer six hours of music streaming or five hours of talk time on a single charge, slightly better than the five hours of music and two hours of Apple says its AirPods deliver. The Galaxy Buds also come with support for Bluetooth 5, something last year’s Gear IconX buds didn’t have, which often caused audio cut out a bit too frequently. Photo : Sam Rutherford ( Gizmodo ) Photo : Sam Rutherford ( Gizmodo ) Photo : Sam Rutherford ( Gizmodo ) Photo : Sam Rutherford ( Gizmodo ) Advertisement You can skip ad after 1 second You can go to the next slide after 1 second Continue Photo : Sam Rutherford ( Gizmodo ) 1 / 5 Advertisement But the real kicker is that in addition to the Galaxy Buds’ case featuring a built-in battery that holds at least two more full charges, the case can be recharged either via its USB-C port, or wirelessly using any Qi-compatible charging pad. That’s a biggie, because the latter is a feature AirPods fans have been asking about for more than a year, after Apple itself announced it was working on that tech way back in the fall of 2017. Also, with the Galaxy S10 now sporting reverse wireless charging, you’ll even be able to send excess juice from your phone to the Galaxy Buds in a pinch. And of course, unlike the AirPods, the Galaxy Buds’ design don’t feature any extraneous protrusions sticking out of your ears. Ultimately though, the success of Samsung’s Galaxy Buds will ultimately rely on their audio quality and the stability of their Bluetooth connection, both things that will require more than a controlled five-minute demo to truly evaluate. Advertisement That said, while Samsung might not be able to completely halt the rapid adoption of AirPods with the Galaxy Buds, simply becoming the default Bluetooth headphones for the Android crowd would be a massive win.<doc-sep>
Apple's biggest rival Samsung announced several new products at its latest event, including new headphones dubbed Galaxy Buds. AppleInsider compares Samsung's try at true wireless earbuds against Apple's own AirPods and rumored AirPods 2 to see how they stack up. We've already compared how the new S10 lineup fares against the six-month old iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR. This time, we compare what we know about the Galaxy Buds against Apple's highly regarded AirPods — as well as the rumors surrounding AirPods 2. Galaxy Buds It's early yet, but 2019 is shaping up to be a transformative year for the wearables category and the Samsung Galaxy Buds are just the first major player. Galaxy Buds The Galaxy Buds don't have the same look as AirPods, with the former fitting more subtly into the ears. This makes them a bit more generic looking than AirPods — with all that entails. One of the biggest differentiating factors of the Buds versus AirPods is wireless charging. Galaxy Buds wirelessly charging on S10 Galaxy Buds can charge via any Qi wireless charger or, more impressively, via the reverse wireless charging found on the rear of the S10. Set the Buds on the back of the S10 and the case will charge up. Apple promised, and so far has yet to deliver, a wireless charging case for AirPods which would add this feature to Apple's buds. Until then, third-party companies have stepped up with various wireless charging cases like the Pitaka AirPodPal or the SliQ sleeve. Another aspect would-be buyers should take into consideration is battery life. Galaxy Buds can be used for six hours on a single charge with the case adding an additional seven hours. AirPods only can rock out for five hours at a time before needing recharging. The case though has enough to extend the total use time over 24 hours. The lack of overall battery life is likely how Samsung got the charging case to be as small as Apple's. We give the edge here to Galaxy Buds because even though they have shorter overall battery life, they get longer actual listening time in between charges. That, coupled with the fact they can be charged anywhere on the back of an S10 or any wireless charger, makes them the winner in this category in our eyes. One feature that stood out to us was the ambient noise mode that allows you to control how much external audio gets to your ears. This is great for while you are outside or in a bus and listening to music but then need to talk to someone or hear the surroundings — without taking the Buds out of your ears. Galaxy Buds pairing process Other advancements within the Galaxy Buds include dual microphones, a better acoustic seal, integrated Bixby assistant, two additional colors, and Samsung has even replicated Apple's simple pairing process. AirPods Even though AirPods launched in 2016, they still hold their own. As we mentioned, they have an overall longer battery life — by quite a large margin. We also prefer the vertical case of AirPods to the horizontal of the Galaxy Buds. AirPods pairing process Audio-wise we will have to wait and see. Samsung boats superior audio designed by AKG which is a well-respected brand, but it also owns the brand so the claim can't be taken at face value. AirPods are lighter than Galaxy Buds, weighing only 4 grams to Buds 5.6 grams. For something hanging out of your ear, that near 30-percent decrease can mean a lot. Samsung also decided not to include any buttons whatsoever on the Buds, forcing users to use their voice and Bixby any time they want to control them. AirPods can be customized inside of the settings app. If you're an iOS user, there are also all of the deep integrations into iOS as well as the benefits of the custom W1 wireless chip. AirPods 2? When you compare the AirPods against the brand new Galaxy Buds on paper, the latter is certainly the winner. They've got wireless charging, longer battery (per use), an integrated assistant, and an ambient audio mode. The AirPods can really only claim victory to overall battery and weight. A comparative listening test will have to wait, and we will do one. But those Galaxy Buds are brand new.