Review – Samsung Galaxy Buds2

The Samsung Galaxy Buds2 is the latest true wireless earbuds from Samsung and it was launched alongside the Galaxy Z Fold3 and Z Flip3.

Samsung has positioned Buds2 as the successor of Buds+. In other words, the Buds Pro will still be the higher-end offering while the Buds2 gets the ANC update to stay competitive in the market.

The new Buds2 comes in the exact same square case as the Buds Live and Buds Pro.

However, the Buds2 will only come in a glossy external white case no matter which colour you pick.

The only difference is the internal case colour matches with the earbuds themselves.

One thing to keep in mind is that the Galaxy Buds2 only feature IPX2 water-resistant. In reference to real-life usage, that means it is good for light workouts as long as it is not drenched in sweat. Swimming pools or bathtubs are a bit NO-NO.

While the Galaxy Buds2 also have a dual-driver design (woofer + tweeter), comparing the Buds2 directly with the Buds Pro I must say the Pro is still a champ. We suspect the Pro has a set of bigger speakers judging from the earbuds’ size. Then again, unless you’re OCD or having a pair of audiophile-level eardrums, I doubt you will miss the minor audio difference when you look at the price – RM499 (Buds2) vs RM799 (Buds Pro). on the other hand, the sound quality is a huge improvement when compared with Buds+ and Buds Live.

The Active Noice Cancelling (ANC) is performing extremely well since the technology itself is pretty much matured at this point. It is capable of muting most of the surrounding white noises while keeping the content it is playing as neutral as possible.

Holding the touch area on the buds will switch between ANC and ambient mode but I would prefer Samsung to give us the third option which is turning both ANC and ambient mode off.

The rest of the multimedia controls are shared on both sides:

• 1 tap – Play/Pause
• 2 taps – Next song
• 3 taps – Previous song
• Press and hold – Programmable in Galaxy Wear app

On a single full charge, the earbuds alone can last for about 5 hours with ANC turned on, otherwise, expect somewhere around 7 hours of battery life by turning off ANC and ambient mode.

The case can hold at least another three charges for a total of 28 hours (7+21 hours) of listening time.

Who is this for?

The Samsung Galaxy Buds2 is an excellent choice if you own a Samsung Galaxy smartphone. The experience is seamless when it comes to pairing. The use of Samsung’s proprietary Scalable Audio Codec allows a cleaner and higher quality audio. In terms of features, Samsung has made it more accessible on other Android smartphones through the Samsung Wearable app. Unfortunately, iOS users are still left out from most of them at the moment.

Unless you already own the Galaxy Buds Pro, the Galaxy Buds2 is not for you. Keep in mind that the Buds2 is the successor for the Buds+. In other words, if you’re looking for a pair of TWS earbuds that are under RM500 with ANC, the Samsung Galaxy Buds2 is a great option to look into.