Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro review
Our Verdict
Despite its flaws, the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro are solid wireless earbuds with dynamic sound, improved ANC, and cool exclusive features.
For
- Stylish, waterproof pattern
- Infrequent audio performance
- Better racket cancellation than its predecessor
- Lots of personalized features via companion app
- Relatively affordable
Against
- Some features are exclusive to Galaxy devices
- Like battery life to the AirPods Pro
Tom's Guide Verdict
Despite its flaws, the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro are solid wireless earbuds with dynamic audio, improved ANC, and absurd exclusive features.
Pros
- +
Stylish, waterproof design
- +
Exceptional audio performance
- +
Better noise cancellation than its predecessor
- +
Lots of personalized features via companion app
- +
Relatively affordable
Cons
- -
Some features are exclusive to Galaxy devices
- -
Similar bombardment life to the AirPods Pro
The Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro managed to steal the bear witness when it launched at the turn of 2021, despite Samsung opting to reveal its newest pair of wireless earbuds amidst the chaos of an all-digital CES 2021.
The reveal was also unusual for it coming so before long after the Samsung Galaxy Buds Alive. Sporting agile racket cancellation (ANC) but also a polarizing pattern, this model failed to deliver the premium experience that Samsung promised. Fortunately, as Galaxy Buds Pro takes performance up a notch with enhanced noise neutralization and audio, along with several new features and a more conventional design.
- AirPods Pro vs. Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro: Which should y'all purchase?
- Read our full Apple AirPods Pro review...
- ...and our Samsung Milky way Buds 2 review
Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro specs
Colors: Phantom Violet, Phantom Blackness, Phantom Silver
Battery life (rated): 5 hours with ANC on (eighteen hours with charging example), 8 hours with ANC off (28 hours with charging case)
Size: 0.eight ten 0.7 ten 0.8 inches (per bud); 1.96 x i.97 x i.09 inches (charging case)
Weight: 0.22 ounces (per bud); 1.58 ounces (charging instance)
Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0
Processor: Broadcom BCM43015
How exercise the Milky way Buds Pro stack upward against the competition? Fairly well. In fact, Samsung's newest release is worthy of inclusion with the all-time noise-cancelling earbuds and even the all-time wireless earbuds overall. At the same time, there are some drawbacks that prevent information technology from being a great multi-platform solution, such every bit Galaxy-exclusive features and limited battery life with ANC on. Let's dive into this Samsung Milky way Buds Pro review to find out the full score.
The Samsung Milky way Buds Pro has likewise claimed a couple of wins in the Tom'due south Guide Awards 2021 Audio categories, winning the Most innovative headphones award outright and taking home a Highly Recommended award for All-time sports headphones. Be certain to check out the primary Tom's Guide Awards 2021 hub for all of this year'due south all-time tech.
Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro review: Price and availability
The Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro is available for $199.99 at major online retailers, including Amazon and Best Buy or directly from Samsung. Right at present, Samsung is offering the buds for $149.99 with eligible merchandise-in.
Samsung Milky way Buds Pro review: Design and comfort
Samsung does deserve props for attempting something new with the Milky way Buds Live'due south bad-mannered design, but it wasn't as attractive or practical as the ads fabricated it out to be. Adopting a round shape was necessary to go the most performance out of the Milky way Buds Pro, as the pattern accommodates functionality and wearability, from the larger panels for authentic touch on input to the elongated audio port for seamless insertion.
These buds are more detached and elegant than Samsung'southward previous release, equally well as the AirPods Pro. They don't stick out. The shiny gloss finish, while a fingerprint magnet, produces a nice smooth that gives a premium look. Then there are the iii sleek colorways, with Phantom Violet being the about heart-communicable of the options.
The Galaxy Buds Pro is composed of difficult plastic that meets IPX7 standards for resilient water resistance. Build quality is undecayed, so y'all shouldn't feel worried about breaking the buds if they take a difficult spill to the footing. You'll also capeesh some of the small-scale design changes Samsung implemented, such every bit the outer mics on the top and bottom of each bud, and the air vent on the top inner role of the buds.
More enticing than the buds themselves is the super-compact charging instance that is noticeably smaller than the Milky way Buds Alive and AirPods Pro cases. It feels firm in hand and beautifully displays the buds when docked. There's a tiny LED on the front end that indicates the charging condition. The airbrushed Samsung logo at the height is a overnice bear upon also. My merely complaint is that the hat is flimsy, due to a weak magnet.
Fit-wise, the Galaxy Buds Pro compared to the Galaxy Buds Live is night and day. The latter's ane-size-fits-all approach was poorly executed and provided very little on-ear stability. The Galaxy Buds Pro sits securely on the ears when properly adjusted and creates a decent seal to enjoy audio fully once locked in, though your concha volition experience some soreness later on near an hour of wearable. Personally, I withal find the AirPods Pro to be the more comfortable and ameliorate-fitting pair.
Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro review: Touch controls and digital assistant
The Milky way Buds Pro comes loaded with several smart controls that consist of tap and hold gestures, plus on-ear detection.
Overall, the controls are responsive, and Samsung has made them fifty-fifty better with post-release firmware updates. For case, you lot tin can now raise or lower the volume by double-tapping the earbuds' edges; previously you lot had to demark volume controls to the tap-and-hold gesture, meaning if you wanted instant volume adjustment y'all had to give up other inputs like switching between audio modes. Happily, you now have a bit more flexibility.
If you're worried most the buds existence sensitive to touch, the companion app has an option to lock the impact panels, that way yous don't end a call or plow on the wrong feature by mistake.
Removing ane bud volition automatically pause music and enable Ambient Sound mode on the contrary bud. What'due south the real reward to this? I'chiliad not entirely certain, especially when removing both buds lets you hear your surroundings more clearly. Placing them back on your ears doesn't resume playback either.
Another innovative control option is Voice Detect, a feature that decreases the sound of what you lot're listening to and increases audio passthrough volume to let you converse with others without taking off the buds. Information technology'south OK for the most part, but does suffer from lag, taking nigh 2 to 3 seconds to fully register the user's vocals and enable the manner.
Hands-free digital aid is available via Bixby, but the buds also piece of work with Google Assistant and Siri. Samsung'due south 3-mic array demonstrates great speech recognition, making it unproblematic to burn down up Bixby with its activation phrase ("Hi Bixby") and voice commands, with all three AI bots responding to inquiries rapidly.
Samsung Milky way Buds Pro review: Agile noise counterfoil
ANC on these buds is much amend than what its predecessor delivered, just does it reduce "99%" of background noise like Samsung claims? Gosh no. Not fifty-fifty the best wireless earbuds for racket cancellation, the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds, can achieve this, nor do the AirPods Pro. Not to mention those two models are much more than powerful sound silencers.
The Milky way Buds Pro has 2 ANC levels: Low and High. Each is specifically engineered for unlike environments, with Depression meant for small spaces like an office, while Loftier can supposedly handle louder ambient traffic. I found High to be the more than effective option, especially indoors. It felt great blocking out common distractions like door buzzers, loud TVs, and occasional hollering from beyond the living room. The buds weren't capable of muting my newborn'due south cries or other high-frequency sounds like whistles. Luckily, it wasn't noticeable enough to pull me away from whatever tunes I had playing in the background.
ANC wasn't very effective outside. Samsung developed what it calls Current of air Shield engineering to minimize drafty interference, but even the summery breezes in West Palm Beach had a strong presence when I listened to music on the front porch. The whisking effect of cars speeding past was noticeable too. I may non currently take the luxury of testing these buds in flight, just based on what I've experienced and so far, I don't run across the technology property upwardly well on airplanes.
More than positively, Samsung wasn't kidding almost its Transparency Style existence "better than it has ever been." Cycling through the four different levels (Low, Medium, High, Extra High) amplified the external sounds around me, increasing my awareness in decorated environments. It was fun to eavesdrop on my married woman's chatter with her sisters on Low, while besides keeping tabs on forepart-door visitors from several rooms down on Loftier.
Unless you lot desire to hear what's happening from a mile away, do not enable Actress Loftier because amplification is frustratingly loud. It'due south a testament to Samsung's delivery for advancing the listening mode, merely as well a pain you do not want to suffer. In that location was some echoing that occurred when trying to speak to my newborn, and keyboard clatter became unbearable when typing on my MacBook Pro.
Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro review: Audio quality
Samsung's large ii-manner speakers pump out deep bass and articulate mids. And though sound is scaled upward on Galaxy smartphones, thank you to the make's proprietary Scalable Codec, yous can even so bask lively music on non-Samsung devices despite the minimal loss in quality.
The thumping low end on A Tribe Called Quest's "Bonita Applebaum" was turned upwards to 11 when listening on my Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G, which was shocking at first, then stimulated rhythmic head-nods every bit the record played out. Information technology was impressive to hear how well balanced the bass was, along with Q-Tip'due south soft-spoken vocals sounding more pronounced. Those same sentiments were shared when vibing out to Bob Marley & The Wailer's "Could You Exist Loved"; chills went down my spine once hearing that infectious bassline at the height.
To get a feel for the Galaxy Buds Pro's frequency range, I indulged in some Jazz classics and the results were serene. From the impactful double bass to the steady how-do-you-do-hats, every instrument played on Ahmad Jamal's "The Awakening" had a distinctiveness to it and blended beautifully over the melodic composition. Clarity was slightly diminished on my Google Pixel 3 XL, only I believe that hardcore audiophiles would be the only ones to notice any differences when switching to not-Samsung devices.
Samsung did take a page out of Apple tree's playbook by developing its own spatial audio alternative called 360 Audio, using Dolby Head Tracking to create "multi-dimensional sound" and reach greater sound depth when watching video content. I would dearest to share feedback on the feature, but, unfortunately, information technology is currently exclusive to the new Galaxy S21 phones, and Samsung did non ship 1 with our Milky way Buds Pro unit. It has besides been confirmed that 360 Sound will only be available on Galaxy smartphones running OneUI three.1 (or college). The Tom'due south Guide team will be sure to update this review with a detailed assay on 360 Audio at a afterwards time.
What I tin say is that the audio quality on video and podcasts is just as amazing. Watching at present-President Joe Biden's Inauguration ceremony was fun, with every political speaker and musical performance sounding transparent.
Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro review: App and special features
The Galaxy Wareable app has a variety of features to personalize the buds. This is where yous'll customize the controls, tweak sound, cycle through the different levels of each listening mode, and admission several other goodies, depending on your device.
You lot'll likely want to experiment with the EQ first, where six unlike presets are programmed for use and complement dissimilar music genres. Normal is the default and works fine as is, but if y'all want more oomph from the low end, Bass Heave does the trick. Other presets include Soft, Dynamic, Treble Boost, and Articulate; the latter is ideal for podcasts and other dialogue-heavy content, though I didn't detect much divergence betwixt either.
Aside from the aforementioned 360 Sound, at that place are more notable features, some available across the entire Android platform and others exclusive to Galaxy devices. You get two means to locate lost earbuds in the Find My Earbuds option and SmartThings Notice, a service available through the SmartThings app that shows the GPS location of any lost or stolen earbuds. In that location is a special Gaming mode in the Labs setting that decreases audio lag when gaming on Galaxy devices. And so we have Auto Switch to instantly switch between Milky way devices (more than on that below) and PowerShare to wirelessly accuse the buds by placing the charging case on the dorsum of a compatible Galaxy smartphone.
Like other Samsung earbuds, the Galaxy Buds Pro does non back up the Galaxy Buds app on iPhone. In other words, iOS users tin withal apply the earbuds, but can't change the settings or update them.
Note: The latest software update (R190XXU0AUA1) adds two operation enhancements, including improved Bixby phonation wake-upwardly response and left/right sound balance adjustment, which should be benign for listeners with hearing impairments.
Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro review: Battery life and charging instance
Samsung rates battery life at 5 hours with ANC on, which is really about four to four.v hours when taking high volume, streaming, and listening modes into account. This is basically on par with what the AirPods Pro offers (four.5 hours) and that's very disappointing. Even worse is that the Galaxy Buds Pro sucks up juice faster than its porcelain adversary. Later receiving my unit fully charged, the bombardment levels dropped much more than rapidly than I anticipated, going every bit low every bit 25 percent after 2.v hours of use. Throughout that fourth dimension, I had ANC on, listened to Spotify, and participated in a two-hour Skype telephone call. Apple's battery management is far superior, giving me zippo short of four to iv.5 hours, no matter how I used the AirPods Pro.
That'due south not to say the Galaxy Buds Pro aren't capable of offer longer playtimes – it simply comes at the toll of turning off ANC and other features like Bixby. Disabling them stretches battery life to 8 hours.
To see Samsung's charging case rated lower than Apple's case is a huge letdown likewise; the Galaxy Buds Pro holds an additional eighteen hours with ANC on, while the AirPods gets you 24 hours. Turning off the features increases this to 28 hours.
It'south non all bad news though. The Galaxy Buds Pro supports wireless charging, and so yous tin place the charging case on any Qi-enabled wireless charging pad and juice up without being tethered to any cables. And as previously mentioned, you take PowerShare at your disposal.
Samsung Milky way Buds Pro review: Call quality and connectivity
As far calling headsets, Samsung'south wireless earbuds accept been a mixed handbag. Very little has changed with the Galaxy Buds Pro. While I got some great service during Skype calls – voices sounded loud and crisp on both ends – phone calls left much to be desired. My married woman mentioned that I sounded choppy and slightly distorted, with my phonation hither and there during chats. In add-on, she noticed that background noise was completely silent, until I started to talk, which made nearby chatter and brisk winds more than audible.
The exceptional connectivity these buds provide cancels out the subpar phone call quality. Pairing to devices was a breeze, with my MacBook Pro and Android devices recognizing the earbuds instantly, while maintaining steady wireless range (35 anxiety); rarely did whatsoever stuttering occur. Motorcar Switch is as intuitive every bit Apple's car switch feature, and business users who ain at least two Milky way devices will notice information technology useful when wanting to switch between models. I only wish it worked with all Android and iOS devices. Another criticism I have is the lack of multipoint engineering, as the Milky way Buds Pro only let you pair to one audio source at a time.
Samsung Milky way Buds Pro review: Verdict
Is the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro a major upgrade over the Galaxy Buds Live? Yep. Is it as great equally the AirPods Pro? Yes, but but for Android users, and more importantly, Galaxy smartphone users. Does it stand out as a category leader? No. And that is completely fine.
Sound and wireless capabilities are the model's greatest strengths, rewarding listeners with energetic sound that complements well-nigh music genres, and over a stable connection. The Galaxy Wareable app extends functionality every bit well, granted iOS users are left hanging with zilch access to customize settings.
Galaxy S21 owners practice end up receiving the full monty, making the Milky way Buds Pro the perfect companion for Samsung'southward latest flagship smartphones. However, innovative features like 360 Sound remain exclusive to the Milky way platform. Battery life isn't anything to swoon over either, falling in the same class equally the AirPods Pro.
Still, when factoring functioning, along with their relatively affordable cost tag, Samsung'south flagship buds are a solid purchase for all Android users.
- More: These are the all-time racket-cancelling earbuds correct at present
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/samsung-galaxy-buds-pro
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