Are the Samsung Galaxy Buds still worth buying in 2021?
The Samsung Galaxy Buds are just one of the many models that sought to topple the Apple AirPods ‘ monopoly on the true wireless earbuds market. Alongside their successors, the Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus, the Samsung Galaxy Buds Live, and the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro, they make up a wider portfolio of Samsung true wireless earbuds, including two generations of the Gear IconX. What separates the Samsung Galaxy Buds from the IconX, however, is that the latter does away with that Gear branding and makes these earbuds part of the Galaxy phone family, which offer up a neat trick with the Buds, but more on that later. That said, if you’ve held out this long to buy a pair you should probably consider the new Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus – a more premium model that doesn’t cost much more and uses a dual-driver design to offer better sound quality as well as a larger built-in battery that increases the total listening time to 11 hours per charge. If you have a bit more money to spend, the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro are better still, with noise cancellation, support for Spatial Audio, and improved audio quality. In any case, all these new generations mean you may be able to find a good discount on the original Samsung Galaxy Buds, so they’re still worth considering if you’re on a budget. [Update: Samsung might finally be gearing up to launch the Galaxy Buds 2, as evidenced by some intriguing lines of code within the Samsung Galaxy Wearable app’s APK file data originally discovered by Android Police. Judging by the name, it looks like Samsung is finally preparing to introduce the second generation of the Galaxy Buds line of products. Android Police was able to unearth a few interesting details about the Galaxy Buds 2 by delving into the code in the Galaxy Wearable’s APK data. The Galaxy Buds 2 are seemingly being developed under the codename ‘berry,’ and will likely be able to connect to multiple devices at the same time. It’s anticipated that the true wireless earbuds could launch alongside the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 3 in the latter half of the year.] The Samsung Galaxy Buds were released on March 8, 2019 for $149 / £139 / AU$249, making them slightly cheaper than Apple’s AirPods. If you had pre-ordered a Samsung Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10 Plus, or Galaxy S10e, you might have also gotten a free pair of Galaxy Buds thrown in, but unfortunately this offer ended at launch. Overall, the Samsung Galaxy Buds look very attractive, with a slick all-white design comprising two earbuds and a charging case. The earbuds themselves look sleek and compact, with subtle rubber wingtips for a secure fit. You get small, medium, and large wingtips and eartips in the box, so you should be able to find a combination that fits your ear snugly. While the buds feel rather dainty when you first put them in, and at risk of falling out, they’re surprisingly stable and comfortable to use. The lack of wires pulling them down means they stay in the ear through a surprising amount of head turning or bobbing, and we found they survived gym sessions and runs as well as a healthy amount of rocking out. One cool design feature is the use of a pearlescent material on the outer housing of the buds, which reflects the light beautifully and has an almost holographic effect. Aside from looking good, the housings act as touch controls, which can be used to play/pause your music, skip tracks, answer and end calls, and launch Samsung’s voice assistant Bixby on compatible devices. You can customize the long-press action for the Galaxy Buds via the Samsung Galaxy Wearable app (Android only), choose from volume (up on the right, down on the left) or launching Bixby (long press on either bud). Since our initial review, a Samsung Galaxy Buds update includes hands-free Bixby voice control, plus improved touch controls, and the ability to keep the ambient sound feature on at all times.
