Samsung Galaxy Buds review: The best wireless headset for its price

Brand: Samsung
Product name: Galaxy Buds
Key specs: Wireless charging case, ambient noise support, 58mAh battery, Bluetooth 5.0, and Bixby support
Price: ₹9,990
Rating: 4/5

Ever since Apple introduced AirPods, wireless earbuds have became insanely popular. In last one year, various companies including some well known audio players, have launched their own versions of wireless earbuds. Among all the designs out there, Samsung's Galaxy Buds are considered among the finest ones.

Samsung's wireless earbuds borrow design elements from the Gear IconX but come at a cheaper price and minus some features. Other than offering the advantage of truly wireless earbuds, the Galaxy Buds also offer impressive sound quality. I've been using Galaxy Buds as my primary audio product, and here's a review on it.

Galaxy Buds look almost like the Gear IconX but without the winged tips. The wireless earbuds come in three colour options of black, white and a bright yellow, a pair you can match with the Galaxy S10e. The Galaxy Buds case also carries the same pill shaped design like the Gear IconX's.

Galaxy Buds look pretty on the outside but seem rather bulky when you plug them in. They can be mistaken for hearing aids too, except that they come with a trendier design. We had the white coloured Galaxy Buds although it also available in black and a bright yellow colour. Samsung could have maybe reduced the size of the Galaxy Buds just a tad bit.

I did find the Galaxy Buds very comfortable and easy to put them on. My experience with in-ear headphones have been bad for one, they don't fit in properly, and second they start popping out after two three songs. But the Galaxy Buds remained intact throughout my listening period.

Connecting the Galaxy Buds with the Galaxy S10+ and Galaxy S10e was also very seamless. The UI is also very intuitive with battery levels of both Buds displayed promptly. You can do more with the Galaxy Buds on the Galaxy Wearable app. Here, you can set the equalizer for more treble or bass, or for a more dynamic, soft or clear sound. Galaxy Buds is compatible with the iPhone too but some features are limited.

Coming to the most important part, how the Galaxy Buds performs. Overall, my listening experience has been great with the Galaxy Buds that it has been my go-to heaphones. I listened to a varied number of songs with the Galaxy Buds touching all the popular genres. Some of the tracks I can cite as examples are latin pop for MIA by Bad Bunny and Drake, more pop songs like NASA by Ariana Grande, Dancing with a stranger by Sam Smith and Normani.

There was a lot of K-Pop playing with the Galaxy Buds and most of them were dance numbers from EXO, Black Pink, BTS, Mamamoo, NCT and more. There's no screeching treble that you'll get from the Galaxy Buds even with the equaliser set for more trouble.

If studio versions aren't your thing, you'll also enjoy live performed songs. Some songs I tried with the Galaxy Buds were live versions of many John Mayer songs like Slow dancing in a burning room, Gravity and Heart of life. I would have loved more bass boost on the Galaxy Buds especially for hip-hop tracks. While the rap songs do sound good on the Galaxy Buds, they miss the extra bass.

Some features Samsung has added with the Galaxy Buds is ambient noise, touchpad controls and notifications. If you turn the ambient noise on you can hear voices and sounds from your surroundings. The experience for me seemed creepy especially when I was commuting in the metro. But it's very helpful can comfortably chat with someone without having to remove the earbuds. You can even increase and decrease the volume of ambient noise.

The touchpad on the Galaxy Buds lets you play or pause tracks, play the next/previous track and answer or end calls. This feature worked without any hiccups and I could easily fiddle around without having to look at my phone.

Speaking of battery life, Samsung promises six hours of playback on a single charge. During my usage, the Galaxy Buds lasted for almost six hours in total. You can charge the Galaxy Buds with a Type-C charger, and also wirelessly charge it.

Verdict

If you're looking for a truly wireless headset, you can definitely go for the Galaxy Buds.