If you’re looking for true wireless earbuds that aren’t made by Apple, two great options are Samsung’s Galaxy Buds+ and Amazon’s Echo Buds. We compare them.
Thinking about buying a new set of earbuds but don’t want to break the bank? Instead of dropping hundreds on a premiere pair of Apple AirPods, did you know you can nab a great-sounding pair of buds for almost half the cost? That’s where Samsung and Amazon come in. With both the Samsung Galaxy Buds+ and Amazon Echo Buds, we have two powerhouse brands here taking different approaches to an increasingly popular product category, which has, at least until now, been dominated by Apple. Let’s see which take on true wireless earbuds comes out on top. If you watched the video comparison at the top of this article, you may have noticed we said that the Echo Buds sell for $90. That was true when we made the video, but what we didn’t realize was that Amazon had simply put the Echo Buds on sale temporarily. Their regular price is $130, and that’s probably what you’ll find when you hit Amazon’s site. Currently, though, you can find them on Amazon for $79. The Samsung Galaxy Buds+ normally sell for $149, but you can currently buy them on Amazon and Samsung directly for $109. Still, the Echo Buds offer a better value overall, so we’re awarding the price laurel to Amazon’s in-ear audio. The Galaxy Buds+ biggest bragging right is battery life. Samsung claims 11 hours of playtime per charge (we’ve been getting 10.5, which is very close), with another 11 hours on tap through the included charging case. Let’s also note that the Galaxy Buds+ will run for a good hour on just three minutes of quick-charging, and they can be charged straight from a compatible Samsung Galaxy phone. By comparison, the Echo Buds last just under five hours on a full charge, it takes 15 minutes to get two hours or so of playtime, and the total playtime with the case is 20 hours. By all accounts, the Buds+ win on battery life. This is an interesting category because while the Galaxy Buds+ don’t have any kind of active noise abatement, the Echo Buds don’t have full-on active noise-canceling, either. The Galaxy Buds+ offer passive noise isolation, which means that if you get a good seal with one of the included silicone tips, you’ll seal out a fair bit of noise just by plugging up your ear canal. The Echo Buds have Active Noise Reduction (ANR), which is a Bose technology, though it’s not quite as effective as the full-blown Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) that you’ll find in Bose’s Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 or the Bose Noise Cancelling Earbuds. What you will get is some electronic noise-quieting technology that helps music and calls come through more clearly, without being able to quiet the roar of a jet engine.
