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Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro Review: Superb ANC Performance

Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro Review

The Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro is the latest pair of TWS earbuds in the company’s vast lineup of audio gear. It’s not necessarily the successor of the Galaxy Buds Live, but more of the refined masterpiece of the Samsung Galaxy Buds+. Featuring an all-new classy, glossy finish design and improved ANC, let’s find out if the Galaxy Buds Pro delivers on the “Pro” moniker. But first, specs.

Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro – Specifications

Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro Review

What’s In The Box?

  • Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro
  • 3 x Sets of Silicon Eartips (S, M, L)
  • USB Type-C Charging Cable
  • Wireless Charging Case

Design

Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro Review

The Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro has a smooth matte finish wireless charging case that’s very similar in shape to the Galaxy Buds Live’s charging case. It’s got the charging indicator light on the front, USB Type-C port on the back, and another indicator light inside the case for the earbuds’ battery levels. The case does support wireless charging and the charging coils are placed on the bottom of the case.

Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro Review

As for the earbuds themselves, they now sport a more oval-shaped exterior casing with a shiny glossy finish, an in-ear earbud design, which is in my opinion better than the Galaxy Buds Live’s ergonomic design. It’s also slightly thinner than the Galaxy Buds+, so the bulge coming out of your ears look smaller too.

On the inner part of the earbuds, there is an air vent that reduces occlusion to improve soundstage and spacious audio. Internally, there are 2-way speakers for a more balanced sound – 11mm woofer for full bass, and a 6.5mm tweeter with low distortion to manage the highs and mids. There are a total of four microphones on each earbud – an inner mic within the earbuds, a dual mic array for better beamforming performance, and a High SNR mic that works with the voice pickup unit for enhanced voice pickup. On the outside, there’s also a mic mesh and chamber to minimize wind noise, giving you those clear crispy voice calls.

Comfort

Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro Review

The Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro is definitely one of the most comfortable TWS earbuds I have ever worn, even better than the Galaxy Buds+’ already comfortable fit. After putting on the right sized eartips, they stay firmly in place, and I’ve felt no discomfort or audio fatigue after prolonged hours of use.

When it comes to the fit, it’s not too tight, and it doesn’t budge even when I bring it with me for a quick workout. I can definitely see fitness junkies and even dancers wearing the Galaxy Buds Pro for their workouts and dance practices.

The Galaxy Buds Pro are also IPX7 rated, which makes them splashproof and sweatproof. Do note that they are still not to be taken for a swim under any circumstance, so please refrain from doing so if you want your earbuds to last.

User Experience

Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro Review

Since I was already using the Galaxy S21 Ultra, pairing up the Galaxy Buds Pro to the phone was as easy as counting 1, 2, 3. All I had to do was open up the charging case lid, and the phone immediately detected the earbuds, asking to connect. With a tap of the “connect” button, I was already ready to perform my first firmware update with the Galaxy Wearable app. If you’re not using a Samsung device, don’t worry, you can still pair the Galaxy Buds Pro manually to your smartphone by visiting the Bluetooth settings page.

Once you’re paired up, you’d be able to enjoy the plethora of features the earbuds have to offer. For such a small device, it’s amazing just how much Samsung can pack into them. I don’t have a Samsung tablet, but if you do, then you’d love the Auto Switch feature. The Galaxy Buds Pro is capable of connecting to multiple devices at a time, and it can automatically shift to where the earbuds are needed. For example, you’re watching a movie on your tablet, but a call comes in on your phone. The earbuds detects that, and it can automatically switch to your phone for you to take the call, no buttons to press!

You can also put Bixby Assistant to use as the earbuds do support Bixby voice wake-up. With this feature, you can ask Bixby to make a call, ask how much battery is left on the earbuds, change the music, and Bixby would do the task or answer you right within the earbuds themselves.

Touch Controls

Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro Review

The touch controls are extremely responsive, as the commands get carried out as soon as your fingers leave the touch area. The touch surface is fairly large too, so you do get some leeway as to where your fingers tap on.

To complete the entire “Pro” experience, of course you can customize these touch gestures on the Galaxy Wearable app, albeit somewhat limited. You have the usual double tap to play/pause music and answer/end phone calls, and triple tap on the left and right earbuds to go the previous/next track respectively. Unfortunately, you cannot change the double and triple tap gestures, and the app only allows you to change what the touch and hold gesture does. You can only choose from these four commands:

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Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro Review: Superb ANC Performance 17
  • Switch noise controls – ANC <> Ambient Sound
  • Voice Command (Bixby)
  • Volume Up/Down
  • Spotify

For my use, I’ve put it to volume control because ANC controls and voice command can be automated from the settings page in the app. As for Spotify, I can always launch it myself from my phone or Bixby to launch it for me with the Bixby Voice Wake-Up feature.

Audio Quality

Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro Review

The Galaxy Buds Pro delivers amazing audio, with crystal clear highs, very detailed mids, and extremely punchy bass (when you want it). The treble is great because it doesn’t distort at high volumes, and the mids truly shine when you’re listening to dialogue, speech, or vocals. The lows are truly impressive, as you can really feel the bass trembling in your ears. Not like the eardrum-shattering kind, but the well-managed thumps and kicks kind. If you want to take it up a notch, you can. Just head on back to the Galaxy Wearable app, and choose from the few EQ settings that are available to you.

  • Normal
  • Bass Boost
  • Soft
  • Dynamic
  • Clear
  • Treble Boost

Unfortunately, these EQ settings aren’t customizable, and that also means you can’t custom input your own favourite EQ settings. Most of the time, I switch between Bass Boost and Dynamic, and I’ve been loving my experience so far.

The earbuds also support the 360 Audio feature. With the Dolby Head Tracking technology, the earbuds can detect how your head moves and the audio shifts along with it. If you were watching a movie on your phone/tablet, if you turned your head to the left, the audio will gradually shift to the right earbud giving it more realism.

On top of that, the Galaxy Buds Pro also support Gaming Mode. During my testing with Genshin Impact and Arena of Valor, I’ve heard no audio delays whatsoever, and the same applies to Youtube and Netflix videos.

ANC

Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro Review

The ANC (active noise cancellation) feature on the Galaxy Buds Pro are simply amazing. It works well in cancelling unwanted noise out, but it’s made even better because it is now adjustable along with the level of ambient mode. You can now fine-tune how much of your surrounding you want to hear in ambient mode with four levels to choose from, while the ANC mode allows you to choose between low for minimal noise cancelling and high for the ultimate “Do Not Disturb” me mode.

In terms of noise cancelling, with the ANC profile set to high, I couldn’t hear my finger snapping, running water, and even a turned on hair dryer about a meter away from me.

But just because you’re in your own world of euphoria, it doesn’t mean you can’t have a conversation. With the Voice Detect feature, you can start talking and the earbuds will automatically switch over to ambient mode. This way, the microphone picks up your surrounding as well as the voice of the person you’re talking to. This is an amazing feature to have to compliment the comfort of the earbuds.

Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro Review

That being said, the feature only detects the user’s voice for activation, and there’s a slight delay before it switches to ambient mode. So if someone is talking to you, it won’t work until you say “I’m sorry, could you repeat that?”. Another problem with the Voice Detection feature, you cannot sing along to your favourite songs. Once you do, ambient mode kicks in and it just ruins the moment. So unfortunately, it can’t differentiate between you talking to someone and you singing along to your favourite tunes.

There was once I was wearing the Galaxy Buds Pro in the evening for work, and I accidentally wore them to the dinner table. It was until my wife asked me if I was in a meeting that I realized I was still wearing the earbuds. That’s how good they are.

Call Quality

Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro Review

Call quality wise, the Galaxy Buds Pro offers great voice and video calls. I often use the earbuds for my nightly Genshin Impact discord calls. I can clearly hear my friends, while my voice has been described as “very clear, it’s like you’re using a professional studio microphone” Their words, not mine.

They’ve also commented that they couldn’t hear any keyboard or mouse click sounds, or even controller tapping sounds. Even standing in front of a fan, no one could hear any wind noise from my microphone, which is really impressive.

Battery Life

Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro Review

The Galaxy Buds Pro earbuds alone, on a full charge with the volume levels sitting comfortably at 60% and ANC turned on, I could get about 16 and a half hours of music playback. With the charging case, that’s an extra 6 hours and 45 minutes, which brings a total music playback of 23 hours and 15 minutes of use for my case.

It’s slightly lower than the Galaxy Buds+’ overall battery life, but if you were to tone it down on the ANC feature, turn it off entirely, and listen to music at a lower volume, your mileage would definitely be extended.

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Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro Review: Superb ANC Performance 17

Conclusion

Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro Review

The Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro are a great pair of TWS earbuds that has a tonne of features packed in. For Samsung’s asking price of RM799, I feel the Galaxy Buds Pro are a great choice of earbuds for every type of persona out there. It’s great for fitness, dancing, music lovers, or even business meetings.

Sure, it could use a little more customization, and we hope the company does include them in their next OTA update. But with the current set of features it has right now, it’s arguably one of the best premium TWS earbuds on the market. And the deal only gets sweeter if you’re already using a Samsung device.

Written By

Chief Content Developer at The AXO

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