It’s been less than six months since Samsung launched its latest pair of wireless headphones. But now there is the Galaxy Buds Pro. By switching to a more traditional design, keeping the ANC integrated and priced at $ 200, Samsung has finally created a worthy and more affordable competitor for Apple’s $ 250 AirPods Pro.
In many ways, the Galaxy Buds Pro is what you would get if Galaxy Buds + i Galaxy Buds Live she had little babies with nerdy sound. Similar to the Galaxy Buds +, the Galaxy Buds Pro has soft silicone headphones that help eliminate passive noise and adjust comfortably and comfortably. And because the Galaxy Buds Pro are relatively light, their tight fit was more than enough to make sure they didn’t fall off at random, even if you’re jumping while exercising.
Meanwhile, Samsung borrowed the built-in respirators (to prevent air pressure from accumulating and becoming uncomfortable), the additional microphones, and the active noise cancellation used in the Galaxy Buds Live and put them on. to professionals. The difference here is that because the Galaxy Buds Pros have a closed design, the ANC is much more effective at drowning out environmental noise, which definitely helped reduce the annoying buzz of nearby construction that I had to deal with while wrote this review. Now, if we are demanding, compared to Sony’s excellent but super bulky WF-1000XM3 wireless headphones, Samsung’s ANC is not that powerful. But it’s almost close, and considering the Galaxy Buds Pro costs much less and is much smaller, changing a bit of ANC performance to create a pair of more compact, easy-to-carry wireless headphones is a commitment to make.
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And, like all recent Samsung headphones, the Galaxy Buds Pro still includes handy touch controls built into both headphones, so you can pause, play or skip tracks easily, control the volume more easily, or turn the monitor on or off. ANC audio and pass-through. . However, and this is a problem I’ve had with Samsung headphones for a while, you can only set the touch controls to adjust the volume or change the ANC, but not both, forcing you to make a difficult decision to get into the app settings, which is a bit annoying.
The Galaxy Buds Pro is more than just a remix of Samsung’s previous wireless headphones. Instead of having a single controller on each bud, as in Galaxy Buds Live, the Galaxy Buds Pro features an 11mm woofer and a tight 6.5mm tweeter on each side. And when its new drivers are combined with better ANC and passive noise cancellation, the Galaxy Buds Pro produces an even richer, more detailed sound. Just to appreciate the brightness of a high hat or a plate dish more than normal and, although the woofer means that the low tones are more pronounced, I appreciate that the Galaxy Buds Pro still sounds relatively neutral and not too heavy. Although if you want once again, you can always select one of Samsung’s other preset EQs (bass boost, smooth, dynamic, clear and treble boost). Don’t look for a custom equalizer setting, because it doesn’t exist.
Meanwhile, thanks to the inclusion of three different microphones on board, the voice quality is also pretty good. Now make no mistake, no one will confuse the Galaxy Buds Pro for a high-end microphone, but even for some amateur movies, the Galaxy Buds Pro can be a quick and easy replacement for desktop computers. more expensive audio.
The other big new feature of the Galaxy Buds Pro is the added voice detection, which allows the buttons to automatically turn on their ambient noise feature (which amplifies nearby sound and leads them to headphones) when you hear your voice. True, it doesn’t seem like much, but it quickly became one of my favorite features, as it allows me to hold a conversation more easily without having to take off my headphones.
Now, right now, some outside boomers might say not taking off their headphones while talking to someone is a little rude, and maybe they would be right if we were still living in 1965. But in 2021, I’ll say most people will understand if not the headphones are removed to order a coffee, as long as you can easily and politely interact with the store staff. And with voice detection that can automatically turn on the ambient noise feature, this is exactly what the Galaxy Buds Pro allows you to do.
That said, the function is not perfect. Currently, you can tell the outbreaks to automatically turn on ambient noise in 5, 10, or 15-second increments, with the last two usually long enough to hold a quick conversation. However, if the person you’re talking to is a bit of a talker or has a long history to tell you, it’s very possible that the ambient noise feature will turn off in the middle of the sentence. Samsung says the reason for this is that it’s much easier for outbreaks to know when you’re talking, rather than trying to guess which of the hundreds or thousands of sounds nearby is what you want to pay attention to. But that means if you don’t use it to keep ambient noise active, you might lose a rhythm.
In addition, for those who are unfamiliar with the audio of multiple devices, Samsung has also added a new auto-switching feature that allows you to quickly connect the Buds Pro to a Samsung phone or tablet or a Windows 10 PC whenever necessary. It’s automatic and, in my testing, it worked perfectly, although it refused to change once out of the five times I tested it.
All in all, the only real shortcoming of the Galaxy Buds Pro is a slightly short battery life. Samsung says the Galaxy Buds Pro provides five hours of music playback with the ANC turned on or about eight hours with the ANC turned off. That’s not terrible, but it’s not great either, and while I sometimes realized that the Galaxy Buds Pro lasted up to five hours and 20 minutes with the ANC turned on, that’s still not enough to last a working day or complete school without having to reload any strategy during breaks. Fortunately, the buds can absorb enough juice for an additional 30 minutes of playback with just a five-minute nap in the charging box. And on the other hand, it’s important to remember that Apple’s AirPods Pro only have a 4.5-hour music playback score with ANC enabled.
Compared to rivals like the Sony WF-1000XM3 and the Apple AirPods Pro, that’s when the Galaxy Buds Pro really starts to show its value. They have excellent audio quality, a comfortable, lightweight fit, and slightly better battery life than Apple’s highly praised alternatives. And while their ANC may be a less competent touch than Sony or Apple, I’m willing to bet that most people would find it hard to differentiate if they took the Pepsi Challenge. And as a new feature that makes the life of the headphones easier, the Galaxy Buds Pro’s voice detection feature has been a really welcome addition.
Especially for Samsung phone owners, where the Galaxy Wearable app comes pre-installed, the initial combination couldn’t be simpler. For other Android phone owners, it’s not like having to download a couple of free apps before syncing. But most importantly, it all comes from a pair of genuine wireless headphones that cost $ 30 to $ 50 less than their larger competitors. So while I’d like a little more battery life overall and more control over your touch commands, the Galaxy Buds Pro is a small pair of wireless headphones.
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- The Galaxy Buds Pro lasts about five hours with a charge with ANC turned on (or about 8 with ANC turned off), which isn’t great, but it’s actually slightly better than the 4.5 hours AirPods Pro gets.
- Thanks to its lightweight design and its three included headphone sizes, the Galaxy Buds Pro is quite comfortable and easy to carry for long periods of time.
- The Samsung charging case stores 13 hours of extra juice and can be recharged by cable or wireless.
- The new automatic sound of the Galaxy Buds Pro is activated when you hear your voice, which will allow you to talk more easily without having to remove the buds themselves.
- Samsung created a new 360-degree spatial sound mode, but it is currently only available on new Galaxy S21 phones while Samsung is working on bringing the feature to older devices.
- Samsung’s free Galaxy Wearable app is available on both iOS and Android, though you need a Samsung phone if you want to take advantage of some more experimental features like low-latency game mode.