Samsung’s Galaxy Bud2 Pro is a surprisingly aggressive reimagining of the Buds line. Instead of jumping from the Buds Pro design, these Bluetooth earbuds clearly started with the look and feel of the Galaxy Buds 2, then took an Exacto blade to the body, cutting out bits to accommodate better mics and sensors to improve performance. fit, audio and noise canceling capabilities. That Samsung did this while making the headphones 15% smaller than the latest Buds is impressive.
The result is an already impressive pair of headphones that, in my brief hands-on experience, provided an excellent fit, including good active noise cancellation (ANC) and rich sound.
There’s also the promise of great battery life (29 hours with the case on and without using ANC).
I’m also glad they have IP7X to survive a drop of water or a splash, although I couldn’t test that.
These aren’t, at $229.99, the cheapest headphones out there, but they’re packed with features and seem poised to take on the best that Apple has to offer in the Bluetooth headphones space.
Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro release date and price
Samsung unveiled its new Galaxy Buds 2 Pro on August 10 at its Unpacked event, where it also announced the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4, Galaxy Watch 5, and Watch 5 Pro.
The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro cost $229.99 and come in Graphite, White, and Bora Purple. It’s up for pre-order now and will hit stores on August 26.
Design and operation of the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro
Compared to the latest Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro, the Buds 2 Pro is, at 5.5g, considerably lighter than the 6.3g Buds Pro.
Between the case and the body, the Buds 2 Pro appears to be a hybrid between the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 and the original Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro. The bean-shaped design retains a bit of the edginess of the last Pro, but with the softer hue and mostly curved design, it looks more like the Buds 2.
Even so, the cutouts for the sensors and mics are far more prominent and visible than on any previous Galaxy Bud version. It’s not about looks, however, it’s about audio performance, specifically Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), which can use all those mics to capture sound for calls and audio pass-through. , as well as to cut out all the ambient noise you don’t have. I don’t want to listen.
The Buds 2 Pro come pre-fitted with medium-sized silicone tips, which worked well for my ears, but it’s easy enough to remove them from these silicone tips and replace them with one of the other two options of size.
You can’t really talk about headphone design without talking about fit. The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro feel as good and secure as they look. I found that firmly taking the outside of a bud, inserting the silicone tip into my ear canal, then twisting the bud counterclockwise until the little lip rested on one edge of my tragus worked perfectly to create a solid fit and seal. They never felt loose, uncomfortable or like they were about to fall out of my ears.
There are, by the way, sensors on that lip so the Buds 2 Pro know when they’re in or out of your ears.
The buds have an IPX7 rating which means they can withstand being dropped from 1 meter of water for 30 minutes. And they should hold up well to sweat and splashing water.
As for the case, it’s a nice little square clamshell (think pocket) design, with magnetized charging ports for each bud. There’s a power and connectivity LED on the front, a USB-C charging port on the back, and that’s it.
Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro sound and noise removal
Let’s start with the active noise cancellation because, as Samsung promised, it’s impressive (even in my brief hands-on experience).
As soon as I put the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro headphones in my ears, I noticed that the ambient sounds were all a bit different. This may be due to Samsung over-processing the audio it picks up and passing through my ears. However, when I held my finger on a bud for a while, turning on ANC, I was honestly a bit shocked by the thumping silence.
To put that into perspective, the noise cancellation was slightly more comprehensive than what I get on the Apple AirPods Pro. It’s not a huge difference, but there is something in there. Samsung claims the earphones cut 3 dB more than the latest model.
To be clear, ANC does not deliver total silence. I still hear loud, high-pitched sounds, including my heavy typing, but pretty much everything else is gone. It’s almost too much.
Sure, ANC is great when you’re listening to something through the Buds 2 Pro love music or a movie.
The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro now supports 24-bit audio and Dolby Atmos. Both Apple and Tidal support this form of lossless audio, but not being a true audiophile, I’m not sure I can accurately describe the difference.
Here’s what I can tell you: these are great sounding headphones. I installed Apple Music on Galaxy Z Fold 4 and found its Spatial playlist (Dolby Atmos support).
This is how I described the experience in my notes:
Oh wow
The sound is good
Rich
Clear as a bell
Nice bass support
Its full of head
While the bass was lacking on A Ha’s Take On Me, the highs were quite good, the mids sounded good, and all the percussion was strong. The high note with an echo towards the end was fantastic.
I think my colleagues may have noticed that I moved my head to the sound of the music. I couldn’t help it.
Cold Heart Remix by Elton John and Dua Lipa definitely offered a stronger bass beat. The general lack of heart-pounding bass is a limitation of nearly all headphones, as opposed to over-ear cans, which can fully cover your ears and smack your head with audio. Still, I was impressed.
In all the songs I listened to, there was great clarity of voice.
After the music, I loaded up Amazon Prime and started playing James Bond No Time to Die, a movie with a Dolby Atmos soundtrack.
It sounded awesome. There was no confusion in the action and Dolby Atmos puts the sound all around my head. A car drives to the right of you, hits a hill, flies over your head and lands on the left with a crash as a helicopter flies left to right. Every sound was where it needed to be in relation to the on-screen action.
Battery Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro
Each bud is equipped with a 61mAh battery and Samsung rates the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro for 5 hours of playtime with ANC on and 8 hours with it off. The 500mA charging case can provide a total of 18 hours of playtime without ANC and 29 hours with ANC off. The case also supports wireless charging on a Qi-based charger.
My limited hands-on testing means I can’t tell you much about battery performance. Stay tuned for a full review, which should answer that question.
First verdict
Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 2 Pro seem like a good mix of smart design and winning audio tech.
The buds fit perfectly and don’t look silly. The noise cancellation is above average and the sound is, in my experience, outstanding. It’s rich, resonant sound in a small package that you could easily forget you’re wearing.
Price-wise, they’re in the mid-range: cheaper than Apple’s AirPods Pro, but more expensive than the Buds 2 or AirPods 3. The solid audio, premium ANC, appearance and potential battery life probably add up to a fair assess.
Apple may want to up its game for its expected AirPods Pro 2.
