When the Galaxy Buds2 Pro arrived, I was like a kid on Christmas morning - one who’d only recently discovered Santa doesn’t exist. So while I secretly had sky-high hopes, I was cynical and suspicious. I insisted I’d left fairy tales behind.
In honesty, ever since the True Wireless form factor first hit the shelves, I’ve been hunting for my perfect fit like the Prince searching for Cinderella.
Unfortunately, my ears are more like Cinders’ stepsisters. They’re small and asymmetrical and the tiny cavities excel at expelling nearly every bud I’ve tried – and I’ve tried a lot.
I desperately wanted the Galaxy Buds2 Pro to work. For one thing, they’re just darn gorgeous. I got them in bora purple, which has the same soft matte finish as the purple Galaxy Watch5 I just took for a spin. They also come in graphite and white, but Samsung really nailed this shade of purple with this line.
The experience out of the box was smooth and seamless. The case design for Galaxy Buds has gone unchanged for a few generations, which is great, as a wide range of options for the charging case are available from Samsung and premium partners like Spigen.
They’ll work with any Bluetooth-enabled device – smart phones, tablets, laptops and PCs – and are also now more optimised to work with Samsung TVs, as well as supporting Microsoft Swift Pair for easy one-touch pairing with Windows 10 and 11.
You’ll get the best experience using these Buds within the Samsung ecosystem. I was impressed that my phone automatically detected and connected to them when I opened the case. There’s also Apple- style synchronisation across a Samsung account. When paired with your phone, the Buds2 Pro automatically work with a Samsung tablet signed into the same account, even automatically switching when it knows which device you’re using.
The Buds2 Pro themselves are a radical resign. They’re smaller, lighter, and more comfortable to wear than their predecessor – luckily you don’t have to take my word for this. Galaxy Buds are consistently rated the best-sounding true wireless by audiophiles across the web.
The shape is soft and sculptured and, unlike other True Wireless I’ve tried, the Buds2 Pro don’t feel like or look like alien hardware sprouting from my head. They just appear natural, despite being purple.
Even though I couldn’t keep them in my ears for much more than twenty minutes or so, that was enough to do a comparison with market competitors in terms of comfort level – and they nail it. That might seem contradictory, but the issue really does lay with my ears and not the product design. If the ‘smaller and lighter’ theme continues, maybe the next generation will be my perfect fit.
I didn’t feel I could quite get an adequate experience of the sound quality, but I was able to experience the noise cancellation and wind noise reduction, which are excellent. And again, I’ve read other reviews and the quality is consistently rated by people with far more experience than I.
The sound is tuned by AKG with a new dual driver design – one of the results of Samsung’s acquisition of Harman in 2017. They currently support “24-bit HiFi Audio” with select Samsung models only, using Samsung’s new exclusive in-house “SSC” “Samsung Scalable Codec”, suitable for high-resolution streaming services.
The voice features are fun and useful. Choose to have your notifications read to you, and use Voice Detect for to automatically pause music and turn on mics if you start speaking.
You can also toggle nice little add-ons, like neck-stretch reminders for those of us with terrible hunched computer posture (so, everyone).
Those features alone make them a great choice for work, and the IPX7 sweat and water resistance mean they’ve still got your back if you decide to head out.
Overall, I’m impressed, and I’m already looking forward to what the next generation might have to offer.
The technicalities:
On a level to compete with Sony WF-1000XM4, Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 3, OPPO EncoX2, AirPods Pro 2 nd Generation, Jabra Elite 7 Pro.
- New matte finish for case and buds
- 3x colours – graphite, white, bora purple
- Same case design as previous generations
- Built-in wireless charging, can reverse charge from a compatible phone
- Sound tuned by AKG with a new dual driver design
- Significantly better active noise cancellation, wind noise reduction
- Supports “24-bit HiFi Audio” with select Samsung models, using Samsung’s exclusive in-house “Samsung Scalable Codec”, suitable for high-resolution streaming services
- Large vent for improved airflow, reduces the boxed-in feeling, improves comfort
- Five hours listening time per charge with ANC on, eight with it off, plus another 18-24 in the case.
