Released just last month, the Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro continues Samsung’s endeavours in producing true wireless earbuds with Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) since last year’s Galaxy Buds Pro. The second generation of the flagship earbuds are now smaller, sleeker, and lighter in design, complete with better ANC, 24-bit HiFi audio support, and dual drivers on each earbud.
The most important question here, though, is this: do the Galaxy Buds2 Pro live up to the hefty price tag of RM899? We tried them out for two weeks, and here’s what we found.
Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro Specifications
- Driver: 10mm driver + 5.3mm tweeter
- Active Noise Cancellation: ANC +3 High SNR Microphone, Ambient Sound, Voice Detect
- Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.3, Samsung Seamless Codec HiFi
- IP rating: IPX7 Water resistant
- Supported codecs: SBC, AAC, Samsung Seamless Codec
- Weight: 5.5g (earbuds), 45.4g (case)
- Dimensions: 19.9 x 21.6 x 18.7mm (earbuds), 50.1 x 50.2 x 27.7mm (case)
- Battery Capacity: 61mAh (earbuds), 515 mAh (case)
- Battery Life (Buds/With Case): 5/8 Hr (ANC On), 8/29 Hr (ANC Off)
What’s In The Box
- Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro (Charging Case with Earbuds)
- x1 USB Type-C to Type-C cable
- x1 User Manual
Design
Our review unit is in Bora Purple, which is a pleasant lavender that really stands out. Bora Purple is one of Samsung’s latest and proudest colourway in the brand’s recent launches – the new Galaxy Z Flip4 also comes in this colour, and Samsung has also released a Bora Purple version of the Galaxy S22.
We digress – the Galaxy Buds2 Pro, case and earbuds, are coated with a matte finish that feels extremely pleasant to the touch. Along with the dreamy colour, it’s a welcoming design that immediately earns it points in the “look and feel” department.
Weighing just 5.5g apiece, the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are sleek and lightweight, and so comfortable you’d forget that you’re wearing them, and the rounded design means that it’s discreet too, almost unnoticeable when worn.
That said, without an elongated stem, the earbuds are admittedly a little too small and too round to handle for certain butterfingers like me. I spent the two-week review period constantly worrying that I’d lose one of the earbuds by dropping them, but thankfully that hasn’t happened (yet).
Performance
Right off the bat, the Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro packs a really impressive audio quality. The sound is clear, robust, and filled with details, complemented by a nuanced bass and clean trebles. Music and vocals are nicely balanced and layered, providing an immersive audio experience that only gets better with the ANC.
There’s a lot of technical stuff going down in the earbuds that make all these possible, but the most important part of this is the 24-bit HiFi sound processing that allows Samsung’s new Seamless Codec to transmit more sound data from your device to the earbuds. The Galaxy Buds2 Pro is also equipped with 2-way speakers that allow for wider frequency response.
The Galaxy Buds2 Pro pairs quickly and easily, especially with a Galaxy device, through the Galaxy Wearable app. On the app, there are options to enable or disable the touch controls – no customization allowed, except for the “touch and hold” command, which is also quite limited.
Another interesting feature accessible through the Wearable app is 360 Audio. It tracks the position of your head so that the sound will always sound like it’s coming from the device you’re listening to, adding to the “immersive experience”.
To be perfectly honest, this feature annoyed me a little. The whole point of having wireless earbuds is to have a balanced audio experience even while moving around – with 360 Audio on, I have to keep my head straight and levelled in front of my phone while watching videos, or the sound will get somewhat lopsided (softer on one side and louder on the other). Thankfully, the feature can be disabled, so it doesn’t take away much from the overall performance.
The equalizers are hidden away in the earbuds settings and come with six presets: Normal, Bass Boost, Soft, Dynamic, Clear, and Treble Boost. As with all other typical presets, the difference in sound is pretty minimal, but still better than nothing.
Active Noise Cancelling
Samsung has made great improvements in the ANC features of the Galaxy Buds2 Pro. In the Wearable app, the first thing you see on the homepage once the Buds are connected is the Noise Controls: Active Noise Cancelling and Ambient Sound.
The ANC works effectively at removing almost all environmental noise. It can even drown out a good part of the sounds of my neighbour’s renovations, which is an impressive feat. In order for the ANC to work as it is supposed to, however, both earbuds have to be worn and fitted properly, which can be checked through the app.
Fun fact: ANC doesn’t actually remove ambient sound; the earbuds pick up the low-frequency noise using microphones, and then emit inverted soundwaves to cancel out the unwanted noise.
Battery
The Galaxy Buds2 Pro can be charged through a USB Type-C cable (which comes in the box), or through wireless charging.
Battery life is just fair, though forgivable considering the impressive tech they’re working with. With ANC on, the Buds2 Pro lasted a little under 5 hours with continuous use, and the charging case powered the earbuds for another workday and a half. Without ANC, the Buds lasted quite a bit longer at roughly 8 and a half hours.
Conclusion
- Our rating: 8/10
- Pros: Impressive ANC, great sound quality, lightweight
- Cons: Lacks customization, expensive
- Who is it for? The Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro will satisfy audiophiles already interned in the Galaxy ecosystem – they’ve certainly lived up to the claim of “best Samsung earbuds yet”.
To answer the question we put out at the beginning of this review, yes, the Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro are worth the price you pay for them, at least from where we are concerned. The superior ANC and amazing sound quality is enough to convince us. However, if you don’t have a relatively recent Galaxy phone, you might want to reconsider since some of the best features are limited to Galaxy devices running One UI 4.0 or higher.
Buy: Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro
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