Galaxy Buds2 Pro | Wireless Earbuds, Price and Specs

We’re moving into uncharted terrain in the walled garden earbud battles since using Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 2 Pro with a Samsung phone will give you the finest audio quality possible.

It was inevitable that this would happen. We’ve already seen many convenience-minded features one-touch setup, automatic device switching, head-tracking spatial audio, and others that encourage consumers to match their brand of earbuds with the phone in their pocket, including Apple’s AirPods, Samsung’s Galaxy Buds, Google’s Pixel Buds, and other earbuds created by companies with a strong interest in the smartphone industry. The intention is to keep you from leaving that ecosystem even while you perpetually update one gadget at a time.

However, the $229 Buds 2 Pro are the first to highlight better sound quality as the key differentiator. You may wirelessly stream “24-bit hi-fi audio” from services like Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tidal, Qobuz, and others that offer lossless and high-resolution music collections when you connect them to any current Samsung phone. According to Samsung, this produces music that is significantly fuller and offers a better listening experience than previously.

Galaxy Buds2 Pro | Wireless Earbuds, Price and Specs

The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro, thankfully, are excellent earbuds no matter what kind of phone you have. I’ll go into more detail about all of that later. They are the best-sounding, most comfortable buds Samsung has yet produced, in my more than a week of testing.

THE SAMSUNG GALAXY BUDS 2 PRO REVIEW

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In addition to having a matte soft-touch finish, the Buds 2 Pro is 15% smaller than the original Galaxy Buds Pro. The cover doesn’t become fingerprinted as glossy plastic does, and the coated buds are more comfortable to hold. The redesigned earbuds include a wider outside vent for enhanced airflow and to reduce any uncomfortable “plugged-up” feelings. They are also lighter (down to 5.5 grams per earbud).

In the days I’ve used them so far, they’ve been nothing but comfy and have consistently stayed in my ears. The battery life is completely identical to the previous model and promises five hours of listening time with ANC enabled and eight hours without it, plus an additional 18 or 28 hours while charged in the charging case. That level of endurance is sufficient in the majority of scenarios but is unremarkable in 2022. The IPX7 water resistance rating of the Buds 2 Pro is the same as that of their predecessors.

Galaxy Buds2 Pro | Wireless Earbuds, Price and Specs

It doesn’t take long to realize that the sound quality of these earbuds is excellent. They outperform the AirPods Pro by a wide margin thanks to their twin drivers and AKG tuning, which is not surprising since Apple’s buds are getting close to three years old.

Superior to the superb Pixel Buds Pro in this regard, though, and more in line with some of my favorite earbuds, such as the Sony WF-1000XM4 and Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3. They execute at a degree of complexity and detail that their large tech counterparts can’t quite equal, making them supreme performers.

“Heavy Covenant” by The Hold Steady exemplifies their clarity and separation, giving the guitars, horns, and Craig Finn’s instantly recognizable vocals plenty of room to breathe. I listened to Counting Crows’ “Omaha” again because I’m a die-hard admirer of their music from the 1990s, and the Buds 2 Pro brought out the warmth of the accordion and mandolin while giving the drums a genuine kick. With Orville Peck’s “The Curse of the Blackened Eye,” I returned to the present and was awestruck by the expansive soundstage Samsung had provided.

The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro is 15% smaller than the previous model.

But is the sound truly “hi-fi”? I have been attempting to figure that out for more than a week. According to Samsung, the Buds 2 Pro can broadcast 24-bit, 48kHz audio wirelessly over Bluetooth thanks to the new Seamless codec. However, the corporation has been less open regarding the audio’s bitrate. For comparison, Sony’s LDAC codec only achieves a maximum bitrate of about 990kbps, which is below lossless CD quality. The Samsung Seamless Codec can produce lossless, high-resolution sound at bitrates up to 2304 kbps, according to Samsung spokesperson Jordan Guthmann, who wrote to The Verge via email.

That figure makes me dubious. There is only the 24-bit / 48kHz portion of the Android developer settings menu, which would represent a significant improvement over current earphones. Any Galaxy smartphone running Android 8.0 and One UI 4.0 or later can use the higher-quality streaming (with 1.5GB RAM or above).

Galaxy Buds2 Pro | Wireless Earbuds

That many phones further my perplexity regarding the bitrate and how Samsung could possibly be reaching 2304kbps. Hopefully, further information will be provided, but in the meantime, remember that these earbuds actually sound amazing as long as you have a solid seal and twist them tightly. In the future, they’ll support Bluetooth LE Audio as well, though Samsung hasn’t said what advantages it will offer.

Even if your Android phone isn’t made by Samsung, THE BUDS 2 PRO ARE GREAT EARBUDS.
Active noise cancellation works well. You will hear what’s going on in a coffee shop when no music is being played; this is the price you pay for the larger air vents and added comfort. However, as soon as any audio starts playing, the background convincingly disappears, and you’re unlikely to be distracted – even with the level set to approximately 30%. Although the transparency mode is effective, it still doesn’t sound quite as natural as the AirPods Pro. I don’t see why it’s still so difficult for businesses besides Apple to get that properly.

As you spin from side to side, Samsung’s head-tracking spatial audio changes the soundscape, as you might anticipate. More often than not, I discover that this is a trait that people either adore or detest. I still enjoy using 360 audio when watching videos, but I’m still not persuaded that it will revolutionize music listening. Noise cancellation can only be turned on or off using Samsung’s Galaxy Wearable app (only accessible for Android), with no manual adjustments allowed.

In several areas, Samsung is still falling behind. The Pixel Buds Pro features multipoint Bluetooth connectivity, which makes it possible to pair with two devices at once. The best Samsung can do is automatically switch between its line of products, which includes TVs, tablets, phones, laptops, and other electronic devices. That might be practical if you are completely immersed in the Samsung universe, but I don’t know anyone who is, and it falls short of offering the same multitasking convenience as genuine multipoint.

Galaxy Buds 2 Pro from Samsung, perched atop a phone.

In order to keep your ears from feeling congested, they have larger air vents.
There is obvious stealing of other concepts. Similar to Sony headphones, Samsung’s Voice Detect function detects when you speak and instantly switches to transparency mode, and lowers the volume for a configurable period of time, between five and 15 seconds. Self-mumblers should stay away from this one.

Then there are the peculiar features, such as the “neck stretch reminders” that are turned off by default and use the earbuds to identify when you have had poor posture for 10 minutes. When it occurs, a voice interrupts with an audio message that says, “Time to stretch your neck.” Since I’m about to age 38 and can no longer slouch, I decided to leave this on.

SAMSUNG GALAXY BUDS 2 PRO

Today, in order to use any smart device, you must first accept a set of terms and conditions that no one actually reads. We are unable to read through and evaluate each and every one of these agreements. But because these are contracts that most people don’t read and can’t, we started keeping track of how many times you have to click “Agree” to use a device when we reviewed them.

Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 2 Pro can be used without agreeing to any software restrictions, much like the majority of Bluetooth earphones. However, by utilizing the necessary Galaxy Wearable app, you consent to Two agreements total, which are essentially required to access all of the earbud’s capabilities and alter settings.

Occasionally, Samsung’s tap controls can be a tiny bit too sensitive, causing you to accidentally pause music when adjusting one earbud. Unexpectedly, there is no auto-pause here, so if you take out one of the Buds 2 Pro from your ears, the music or podcast will continue to play. That’s an odd absence for earbuds that cost $230, but I haven’t been too annoyed by it in use.

As you can hear in our most recent Vergecast microphone test, I wouldn’t recommend the Buds 2 Pro for voice calls while riding a noisy ferry. But they work well in more common, everyday usage cases. However, when it comes to overall mic quality, Sony’s LinkBuds and Google’s Pixel Buds Pro both surpass Samsung’s most recent flagship earbuds.

The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are Samsung’s greatest wireless earbuds to date because they provide a winning combination of comfort, music quality, and noise cancellation. They work well with other Android devices but perform best when working in the Samsung ecosystem. The fact that Samsung’s phones are the only ones with hi-fi audio will irritate some people.

The next generation of Apple’s AirPods Pro is believed to offer wireless Apple Lossless playback on iPhones, which is a glimpse of where the tech sector is going to go. Even though there are still excellent, platform-neutral earbuds available from Sony, Sennheiser, Jabra, and other industry giants, the distance between them is widening. If you’re a huge fan of multipoint, Google’s Pixel Buds Pro is worth taking a close look at, but the Buds 2 Pro shows Samsung at its best. Galaxy Buds2 Pro | Wireless Earbuds, Price and Specs