I think I may have found my new favourite pair of TWS in-ear headphones and I can’t believe I’m saying this but they’re the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro. The truth is, you could probably find a pair of headphones that would be better than the Buds 2 Pro at one or two aspects, but as a whole package, I don’t think there is a pair out there that I would trade these for.
You almost forget they’re there
The journey to where I am right now did not start off on the best foot, however. When I took them out of the case and tried to swap the included eartips—because stock ones almost never fit my oddly shaped ears—I was disappointed to find that there were only a total of three sizes to choose from. After being spoiled by Sony’s new LinkBuds S, the lack of more granular eartip sizing options left a sour taste in my mouth.
But, when I slapped the largest pair on and put them in my ears, ready to go off on a rant about fit, I was left disgusted. They were perhaps the most comfortable pair of in-ear headphones I’ve put on in a long time. From my perspective, it’s a toss up between the Nothing ear (1) and these for the first position, but since the former doesn’t work half the time, I was happy to stick with the Samsungs.
They strike a great balance between fitting securely in your ear without feeling like they’re trying to tear your ear canals apart. Because of that, I could wear them for hours on end without needing to take them out and give my ears a massage. It’s definitely my favourite feature of the Buds.
If I had one complaint, it would be that the earbuds stick out just a hair too much, which means I can’t wear them under my helmet. The moment I pull my helmet over my head, the headphones loosen just enough so that you don’t get a tight seal in your ear, which is infuriating. But, I’ll admit that this is a very specific use case so I won’t give Samsung too hard of a time for this.
Case on point
I am, however, happy with the size of the case that holds the headphones. Even though it supports Qi wireless charging, USB-C wired charging and can hold up to 19 hours of extra listening time, it’s tiny. I could fit it into pretty much every pocket I wanted, though the thickness and finishing makes it a bit of a squeeze to slide into my jeans’ watch pocket.
It is also surprisingly well built. I wasn’t impressed at first because of how light it felt in the hand, but you can absolutely tell that it’s a premium product. The magnets immediately give it away because of how strong and snappy they make the lid action.
Not only does it snap shut really satisfyingly, the hinge also snaps the lid into place when it’s fully open—something you don’t usually find in these cases. Sure, it’s a small thing but I appreciate these nuances because it shows the manufacturer going out of their way to give you a good experience.
Which is why it’s a little disappointing that the battery life—one of the most important things for headphones like these—is so…mid. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t say that it’s bad. I’m clocking about five hours before needing to return them to the case for a charge, but with headphones this comfortable, I’d like the ability to wear them for longer periods at a go. That said, paired with the case I was about to get through an entire work week (3-4 hours per day) before needing to recharge the whole set. And I was using them with either ANC or Ambient on the whole time.
You heard it here first
I can do that because one of the things I was most impressed with the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro was how good the ambient pass through was. To me, the gold standard for ambient—or hear through or whatever it is you want to call the mode where the headphones allow external sound into your ears via the headphone’s mic—is the AirPods Max.
The sounds and voices that come through sound so natural that you can literally have them on the entire time and go through your day with no interruption. I mean you wouldn’t, because those are the heaviest wireless headphones I’ve ever used, but I digress.
Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 2 Pro may have one of the best ambient audio passthrough this side of an AirPods Max. I could have proper, entire conversations with people without needing to take them out of my ears. Sure, socially it may look a little douche-y (like sunglasses indoors), but functionally they’re nearly flawless.
I say nearly because the moment you realise you still have in-ear headphones on is when you start speaking and your voice sounds like it’s coming from inside your nose. But that’s kind of unavoidable with this kind of headphone style though, so again I’m willing to be merciful.
What I wish was as good as the Ambient passthrough was the active noise cancellation (ANC). Again, I wouldn’t say that the ANC here is bad, but as someone who’s so used to the complete isolation that Sony’s flagship products are able to offer, the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro was a little underwhelming.
I’m not sure if it is because of the less aggressive fit, or if it’s just that Samsung isn’t quite as good as Sony at the software bits, but external sound will get in—especially if you have a loud colleague. It’s not an issue with your music turned up, but when you want those quiet moments, with soft piano playing in the background to help you concentrate, I just get the feeling that the Buds 2 Pro are letting in a little more sound than it should.
Now, I will acknowledge that this could be a pro for some users. From what I’ve seen online, many seem to hate the “pressure” they get from super silent ANC headphones. I haven’t really had a big issue with that, but I could see a world where Samsung intentionally dialed it back because they didn’t want their buyers facing this problem. I, on the other hand, prefer the way Sony does it for sure.
If we’re on the topic of things I prefer from Sony, well, I guess it’s time to talk about sound quality. The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro, for in-ear TWS headphones, sound really good from a technical standpoint. You get plenty of detail in the instruments, vocals sound crisp and feel personal, while bass lines are tight and clinical–it’s just good.
I will admit that I’m not an audiophile. I listen to music almost exclusively on Spotify. I didn’t bother with the 24-bit audio test on these headphones because I don’t have 24-bit audio nor do I think I would be able to tell the difference.
But, when I passed them to our in-house audiophile Duke for a second opinion, he said for some songs, it was like hearing it “for the first time”. That was how much detail these headphones were able to reproduce.
While that is mighty impressive, I think something like the Sony LinkBuds S has more personality. They’re warm, and fun, and are just an absolute bop to listen to across a whole range of different song types. And I think peashooter to my head, I would go with the LinkBuds S if it was purely down to which one I liked the sound of more.
Trapped in its own shell
As a pair of headphones, I’m struggling to find fault with the Samsung Buds 2 Pro. They sound great, fit great, look great (in purple), and even feature a very stable Bluetooth connection which is refreshing to me coming from a pair of Nothing’s headphones. In fact, it even pairs very well with all the devices I tried to connect to—which is an underrated feature.
The biggest criticism I have with the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro doesn’t actually have to do with the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro. Instead, it’s related to the lack of app support Samsung has seemingly elected to give it for iOS devices. While I have a Galaxy Z Flip 3 as my secondary phone, the device I rely on the most, especially for work, is an iPhone 13 Pro. But there isn’t actually an app for the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro on iOS.
As a result, I am unable to set the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro up properly without first pairing it with my Galaxy Z Flip 3. I can’t configure the one tap, double tap and triple tap controls without the app. I can’t configure the auto voice detect—which works surprisingly well unless you’re like me and like to talk to yourself when you work. I can’t adjust my EQ. I can’t do anything.
I can only use them as they are out of the box with its base configuration, and that’s not even close to the experience you can get with a properly configured Galaxy Buds 2 Pro. Why have they done this? The controls and features on the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are great. They’re responsive and reliable. But for some reason it appears to be locked behind access to an app that’s not available on the second most used operating system.
Wouldn’t Samsung want iPhone users to buy this over something like AirPods? I’d certainly recommend it over a pair of AirPods.
I think Samsung has hit a home run with the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro. If you’re not on an iPhone, I think the only pill that’s difficult to swallow is the fact that these are retailing for RM100 more (RRP: RM899) than the previous Galaxy Buds Pro. But, compared to the competition in Malaysia, it’s not even egregiously priced. Sony’s LinkBuds S, for example, are RM929, while their WF-1000XM4 are RM1,099.
And as a complete package, I would definitely pick the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro over any of those right now.
Additional photography by Dzamira Dzafri.
