Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro Review
Our Verdict
The Galaxy Buds 2 by Samsung are the earbuds you should buy if you have a Samsung phone. The seamless integration with the ecosystem was a big positive for these earphones in our review. They have good noise cancelation and fantastic sound; they are all-day comfortable and, in theory, work well with any Bluetooth audio source. However, most high-end features, such as 360 audio and 24-bit sound, are reserved for Samsung owners, which may put off people who prefer Pixel devices and iPhones.
Positives
Sound is, in many ways, class-leading, especially in the punchy distortion-free low end.
Noise Cancelling is significantly better than the previous version
The sleek design is more streamlined and cohesive than ever. It now feels like a flagship product with its own stylistic identity.
Samsung users will reap the benefits of being in the ecosystem with enhanced bitrates and 360 audio.
Negatives
A positive becomes a negative if you don’t own a Samsung device; you will not be able to use all the features.
Battery life is average
Consider This Before Buying
Did we mention the features are limited depending on your phone type? Well, without the way, there isn’t much to consider. The criticism levied at Samsung in the past is that their earbuds always felt a step behind the Apple and Sony offerings, but now, with the Galaxy Buds 2 released, they have indeed leveled up. Soundwise I think they outperform Apple and are on par with Sony.
If you were worried about the lack of high-res audio on your device, you needn’t be. My testing was utterly indistinguishable, and the Galaxy buds sounded good playing regular Spotify files at standard resolution. Just as they did playing high res 24-bit files, sorry audiophiles, but that’s the reality; in everyday situations, with wireless earbuds at this level, it’s doubtful you will ever be able to tell the difference.
Build and Style
I love the new styling of the earbuds, and while they don’t look as premium as the Sony WF-1000XM4 with its gold accents, they look fun and distinct. The earbuds now have their own identity, which is something Samsung struggled to create in the past. Often they looked cheap, but now they look far more expensive.
Yet despite the aesthetic improvements, Samsung managed to make the Galaxy Buds Pro 2 even more comfortable. Only the Airpods 2 Pro is more comfortable, in my opinion, and the ergonomically friendly shape combined with the small size is really a winner. In fact, the new model is 15% smaller than the original, which is no small feat given how small those were.
The small size meant some reworking of the internals, and because everything is now so densely packed on the inside, they feel very robust and capable of taking more abuse in day-to-day life.
The carry/charging case is color-matched to the earbuds, and it’s small enough to fit in the tiny pocket of my jeans. It is also well made and features a new firmer hinge that inspires a lot of confidence.
There Are So Many Useful Features
Samsung has really thought about this earphone before releasing it to the public. As I mentioned above, they were often seen to lag behind competitors, but now they feel like they have brought in missing features but also added useful features that are more than just a gimmick.
360 Audio
360 audio is a big one, and it’s quite trippy to be able to place sound as if you were hearing it in real life. For this, I recommend an album from Dr. Chesky, which is recorded binaurally. The haircut track gave me chills and cranked my neck as I could hear the clipper closing in on specific parts of my head. The footsteps in space track was another weird one that shows just how well of a soundstage and imaging capability these earbuds have.
Auto-Pairing to Multiple Samsung Devices
I love my Airpods because they so seamlessly switch between my MacBook, iPhone, and Apple watch. As soon as I pull them out of the case, they just work, and now Samsung users get the same experience if using a Samsung tablet, phone, watch, or even TV.
IPX7 Waterproofing makes them great for the gym
Water and dust protection is now standard on the earphones, meaning they can survive a soaking or brief submersion. Obviously, do not be swimming with them, but this is welcome for heavy workouts and long runs.
It has 24-bit Audio, but I couldn’t hear the difference
24-bit audio is a bit of a gimmick in consumer products, and it’s likely you won’t hear much of a difference in sound quality other than what you may be forcing yourself to perceive. Obviously, this site deals in very high-level headphones and speakers and reference audio quality gear, and even then, it often comes down to mastering rather than bitrate. Im not saying bitrate doesn’t count, but a driver needs to be of sufficient quality to display such benefits.
Here Samsung is shoving a bunch of state-of-the-art tech into an earphone and selling it with an RRP of just over $200. How well do you think the driver is? I can tell you. It’s damn good, it sounds great, but I honestly couldn’t tell the difference when switching bitrates.
It’s a bit like megapixel ware in cameras; how much resolution do you really need, and are you really doing critical listening on a set of wireless earbuds?
Battery Life
Battery life was tested with the ANC turned on and volume around 75%.
In these conditions, the real-world battery life of the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro 2 was 4 hours and 49 mins.
This figure was achieved after creating an average based on three separate draining tests using the same conditions and playlists.
Using the included carry case to charge the IEMs gave us three total charges and one partial charge.
Battery performance can therefore be considered a weak point of the earbuds. I consider sub 5 hours poor, 5-6 hours average, and 6+good performance.
Battery life can be extended by turning off ANC.
Sound Testing and Notes
Despite all the good features and the excellent design of the Galaxy Buds Pro, the one reason to buy that stood out more than anything else was the sound. These are currently the best-sounding, truly wireless earbuds from any of the big-name companies. They thrash the latest Bose QuietComfort, marginally eke out the XM4 by Sony, and are better than the new Pixel Buds. This review was written in September 2022, and we are now just getting the new Airpods Pro 2 in for review, so we will update this article when more information is available.
Two things make the sound so good—a sense of space and control on the low end.
TWS earbuds often suffer from a phenomenon of crowding in the sound. It feels like too much is going on at one time, and imaging suffers as a result. This is often compounded when you include ANC in an IEM. The Galaxy Buds Pro 2, on the other hand, sounds spacious and accessible, resulting in an almost airy presentation of the notes.
The versatility of the earphone to work well with multiple genres of music without the need to use an EQ was noted, and they would seamlessly switch between Jazz, Rock, Pop, and EDM.
It was in those latter genres the strength really showed in the lows. Bass remained punchy and deep yet free of distortion and didn’t display bleed-over into the mids. The mids are slightly warm but surprisingly detailed and precise.
Highs will work well for the majority of listeners as they are very inoffensive and smooth, but purists and treble heads like myself won’t find them as replacements for our beloved audiophile IEMs
The overall sound is really very good, and I tentatively want to call them the best in their price range at this moment in time.
Conclusion
Should you buy the Samsun Galaxy Buds Pro? If you already own a Samsung device, I think they are a no-brainer when you consider all the “made for” features they include. If you don’t own one of these phones, then just know you have options, but the Pro is still one of the best ones. They are winners in sound quality, and we really like the style and design. Really the only negative point was the relatively short battery life.