Samsung takes on Apple with its new Galaxy Buds Pro

After weeks of leaks of first the buds, the case, the features, and finally the expecting pricing, Samsung finally launched the Galaxy Buds Pro on Thursday, the successor to its highly successful true wireless Buds Plus earphones.

While Samsung has certainly launched more wireless earbuds in the same period compared to its competitors, neither Buds Live nor Buds Plus have managed to beat Apple’s premium AirPods Pro in terms of pure audio quality. While it may not be fair to compare the Buds Live to the AirPods Pro because of the bean-shaped design, it's definitely exciting to see what the new Buds Pro brings to the table.

At $199, these are Samsung’s priciest true wireless earbuds so far, higher than the Galaxy Buds Live. But they’re still cheaper than the AirPods Pro. Samsung has largely stuck to the shape and style of the in-ear Galaxy Buds and its more popular successor, the Galaxy Buds Plus.

With the Buds Pro, you get two-way speakers - a 11mm woofer and a 6.5mm tweeter, with three microphones and a voice pickup unit. Samsung also says that the device comes with a Wind Shield for when you're outside in breezy locations and don't want it messing with your music. 

The Galaxy Buds Pro improves on the already great total battery life of the Galaxy Buds Plus, which is now 28 hours (with ANC off) compared to the Buds Plus’s 22-hour battery life. This drops down to 18 hours with ANC on at all times. Samsung claims a five-minute charge will get you one hour of playtime. 

The earbuds have a 61 mAh battery capacity, while the case holds 472 mAh on a charge. This is also probably why the Buds Pro’s case looks more similar to the Buds Live, although Samsung says this is because you can use the same customization accessories on both the Buds Live and the Buds Plus.

On the software front, the Galaxy Buds Pro comes with active noise cancellation which filters 99% of outside noise, which is an excellent upgrade over the Galaxy Buds Plus and should definitely be more effective than the Galaxy Buds Live’s noise-canceling because of the in-ear design.

Samsung has also added in a 3D audio mode -if this sounds familiar, it’s because Apple already launched Spatial Audio with its AirPods- to provide a surround sound effect as you move your head. The Ambient Sound mode has also received a nifty upgrade with the Voice Detect feature, which enables Ambient mode when it detects someone is speaking.

Samsung also says that the Galaxy Buds Pro has been designed to not fall out of your ears, plus the IPX7 rating means you'll be able to take it out for extended workouts or even in the rain. The Buds Pro also adds an important feature included on other competing products called Auto Switch, which allows switching between host devices with a tap. 

The company is making the earbuds out of Post Consumer Material (PCM) and contains up to 20 percent recycled plastics on the earbuds and the case. The device supports Bluetooth 5.0 and SBC and AAC.  If you own a Galaxy device you will also get access to Samsung's Scalable Codec for lower latency while gaming.  

Samsung will sell these buds in three colours, Phantom Black, Phantom Violet and Phantom Silver. At $199, they're the best Buds Samsung has ever built so far when it comes to pure specifications. We'll be reviewing them when they're up for sale so stay tuned!