Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro review: great sound, strong ANC

The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are new premium earphones from Samsung. They have an improved design, an active noise canceling (ANC) function that works more accurately and 24-bit sound. Are these earphones worth their relatively high price? Find out in the review.

Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro

Samsung comes with a new version of its premium Galaxy Buds Pro earphones from last year. In addition to the new Galaxy Buds 2 Pro, Samsung also still sells its cheaper Buds 2 and the Buds Live, which is more aimed at athletes.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are by far the most expensive earphones with their suggested retail price of 229 euros, which is the same as the asking price of the previous generation. Has the company managed to address some of the key negatives that surfaced in our review last year?

Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro – the pros

So extremely comfortable

The strongest aspect of the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro is its new design and comfort. The new earphones are smaller, lighter and they are extremely comfortable, even for long listening sessions. They’re the most comfortable earphones I’ve also tested, just ahead of the Huawei FreeBuds 4, which came with a semi-in-ear design.

Samsung has succeeded with its design to produce earphones that sit rock solid in your ear without feeling annoying for a moment. Samsung also has a fit test in its Galaxy Wearable app that allows you to check that they fit really well for the best sound and comfort.

Furthermore, the earphones have a design and housing of hard plastic. The plastic has a matte finish and does not attract dust and dirt. The case feels very solid when you open it and remove the earphones. Admittedly: Samsung’s case and earphones don’t have the most exciting design with crazy shapes and a transparent design, but I can agree with the simple, unobtrusive design.

On the plus side, they’re ipx7 water resistant, and can basically survive underwater for half an hour if they’re not more than a meter deep. So you can play cheerful singing in the rain during a downpour, while jumping in the puddles of water.

Bluetooth 5.3

As soon as you open the case, you can immediately pair your earphones with your devices. That also works very quickly – I noticed that immediately on the Galaxy Z Fold 4 – because the earphones with bluetooth 5.3 appear. This new version of the wireless standard is more stable and efficient. The only downside is that your devices must also support bluetooth 5.3 to experience the benefits. It’s good that these ears are ready.

360 degree sound is awesome

And then straight to the essence and that is of course the sound that the Buds 2 Pro produce. We switched from Dr. Dre to the Foo Fighters and Lady Gaga, but usually the Buds 2 Pro managed to surprise us with the necessary depth in the sound. The bass is present without being unnecessarily overpowering and details are very audible in songs.

Exceptionally, we sometimes had to prioritize the voice in the equalizer of the Galaxy Wearable app to make it better. Still, the sound is a substantial upgrade compared to the cheaper earphones that we have tested.

In addition, there is one important tip to keep in mind, and that is the 360-degree sound setting. This is off by default, but as soon as you activate it, everything sounds much fuller. You can also hear the instruments and voices coming from different directions, and it is also a great added value in games. Furthermore, there is also the option ‘Follow head’ in which the sound direction also rotates when you move your head. That was just as nice, when I sat still and quietly looked around me. A little later, when I was actively working on the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro in my ears, Bruno Mars eventually went crazy dancing around me, apparently singing.

360 degree sound is therefore an absolute must, but according to Samsung, the Buds 2 ¨Pro also makes the switch from 12-bit to 24-bit sound. Samsung promises Hi-Fi only – and that’s important – if you’re using a Samsung phone that runs on One UI 4.0. You also need the right streaming service that supports hi-fi sound. It’s quite disappointing that Samsung only offers its more refined sound for its own phones. It’s not necessary.

ANC finally on level

A spearhead of the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro is the improved ANC that now filters out 40 percent more noise compared to the first generation of the Buds Pro. I can confirm that the ANC is finally working properly. Ambient noises around you disappear like snow in the sun, although the sound of a 10-ton truck speeding by will of course not escape your attention. Samsung can finally keep up with its competitors when it comes to the ANC.

In addition, the Ambient Sound function still works well, which is a feature that Samsung has mastered since its first Galaxy Buds. With Ambient Sound, the Buds 2 Pro’s microphones capture your ambient sound and play it in your ear. The music is then muted so that you can start a conversation without taking your earphones away.

Your Buds 2 Pro earphones can also automatically activate Ambient Sound when you start talking. Ambient Sound will be turned off again if you have not spoken for 5, 10 or 15 seconds. ‘Detecting voice’, that’s the name of the function. The concept may sound useful, but unfortunately it sometimes worked when I wasn’t talking. I eventually disabled the feature.

Excellent Galaxy Wearable App

Samsung has a handy companion app with the Galaxy Wearable app. You can see the remaining battery capacity at a glance and all menus have a design that is recognizable for Samsung users. If you also happen to have a Samsung smartwatch, you can manage it with the same app. You can find the following settings and features in Galaxy Wearable:

• The battery capacity of the earphones and charging case
• Noise Canceling Modes
• Detect Voice (for Ambient Sound)
• 360 audio
• Touch control (customize gestures)
• Find my ears
• The manual
• equalizer
• Test fit earphones
• Read notifications aloud
• Activate Bixby Voice
• Ambient noise in calls (allows you to hear your voice better during a call so you don’t scream)
• In-ear detection for calls (whether or not automatically switches the sound to the earbuds when you put them on)
• Connect the earpiece without any problems (pairing more easily via Bluetooth)
• Neck Stretch Reminders
• Labs (experimental functions)
• Reset
• Accessibility
• Software update for earphones
• About earphones

Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro – the negatives

Call quality not particularly good

When you call with the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro, you are clearly understood by the other person, unless you are in a loud environment. Background noise can be heard well, and just like with most wireless earphones, your voice also sounds very muffled. As if you are calling with speaker active. There is still much room for improvement in this area. A feature that we do appreciate is ‘Ambient sound in calls’, which allows you to hear your voice sound normally during a call.

Multipoint only works on Samsung phones

With the multipoint function of many wireless earbuds, your earbuds can connect to multiple devices at the same time. When you watch Netflix on your tablet, for example, the sound can automatically switch to your phone when you receive a call.

While Google is working on a way to implement multipoint support directly into Android, Samsung is doing the opposite. It shields the function for Samsung devices. So the sound can’t automatically switch from your tablet to a phone if it’s not made by Samsung. In addition to 24-bit sound, this is the second important feature that Samsung reserves for its own devices.

No auto-pause and resume music

When you remove the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro from your ears, the music also pauses. When you put them back on after that, they don’t start playing automatically. There is also no way to enable this feature via the Galaxy Wearable app. That feels like a loss, because the automatic pause and resume of sound does work with some cheaper competitors of the Buds 2 Pro. It is also really useful in many situations.

Equalizer presets

The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro come with an equalizer in the Galaxy Wearable app. An equalizer is a software adjustment to the sound of your ears, and you can use this to amplify the low or high tones or the voice in the music. It’s handy that you can choose from different preset settings for the equalizer, and you can clearly hear the difference when you apply them.

Only Samsung could offer even more presets, specifically aimed at different music genres. In addition, the option to manually adjust the sound of the different tones is also missing.

Mediocre service and Bixby

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro earphones are touch-sensitive, but personally I’m not a big fan of this gesture control. The earbuds are small, so you can unintentionally pause the music if, for example, you want to put an earplug in your ear while running. In addition, the setting of the gestures in the Galaxy Wearable app is very limited. You can’t associate every action with every gesture.

An option that is missing in the gestures is the possibility to activate the Google Assistant. Instead, you can call in the help of Samsung’s own digital assistant Bixby. That’s regardless of Google and not Bixby being the default voice assistant on your phone.

Battery life

One point where the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro does not score particularly well or badly is the battery. On their own, you can use the earphones for 5 hours with ANC active, or 29 hours in total with the case. That longevity will suffice for most users, but there are competitors that last longer. Charging the case works via USB-C or with a Qi charger.

Conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro have managed to surpass the less good aspects of their predecessors. The 360-degree sound sounds fantastic and the ANC does its job if you want to shut yourself off from your surroundings for a while. Samsung also deserves compliments for the very comfortable and water-resistant design of the earphones.

Where the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro disappoint is with features exclusive to Galaxy phones. This applies to the 24-bit sound that works according to its own standard, but also to the multipoint connection. In addition, you can only enable Bixby as a voice assistant, and that is incomprehensible. If you can live with those drawbacks, or if you already own a Samsung phone, you will absolutely enjoy these Buds 2 Pro earphones.

Buy Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro

The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are now available in ‘Bora Purple’, ‘Phantom Black’ and ‘Graphite White’ colours. The earphones are for sale for a suggested retail price of 229 euros.