Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 review: Fully featured

(Pocket-lint) - There's nary let-up successful the motorboat rhythm of Samsung's existent wireless headphones. While the original Galaxy Buds weren't the precise best, Samsung has made advancement successful its headphones, with the Buds Live offering thing different, and the Buds Pro offering premium features.

Now the Galaxy Buds determination to mentation 2, precise overmuch taking the lessons learnt elsewhere, resulting successful thing a small amended than before. Here's what we marque of the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2...

Buds 2 vs Buds Pro: What's different?

Let's commencement by pointing retired immoderate of the similarities and differences betwixt these antithetic headsets. The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 are cheaper, smaller, and don't person rather the aforesaid scope of functionality. The Pro adds dependable detection, further levels of ambient dependable passthrough, and antithetic levels of progressive noise-cancellation (ANC).

While the Buds 2 are smaller, they usage a circular earbud, portion the Galaxy Buds Pro person an oval earbud - and that mightiness govern however good they acceptable into your ears. The Pro besides offers a somewhat higher IP standing for amended water-resistance.

Design and build

• Dimensions: 20.9 x 17.0 x 21.1mm
• Weight (per earbud): 5g
• IPX2 h2o resistant

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 are designed to beryllium much discreet than different existent wireless headphones. With much compact bodywork and a airy 5g value per 'bud, they're surely compact. The bodywork is each integrative with a glossy finish, and they travel successful a scope of colours - the charcoal decorativeness is shown here.

All Buds 2 travel with a achromatic glossy case, though, the aforesaid plan arsenic the Buds Live and Buds Pro - implicit with a USB-C charging larboard connected the rear and exterior and interior LEDs to fto you cognize status. The lawsuit besides includes wireless charging, truthful you tin driblet it connected a pad to springiness them a boost, without scrabbling astir for a cable.

The earbuds transportation an IPX2 waterproofing standing which is capable to defy the unusual rainfall ablution - but not a implicit soaking, truthful don't leap successful a excavation erstwhile wearing them.

Moving to the all-important fit, determination are 3 antithetic sizes of extremity connected the Buds 2, each with a circular design. This was communal to astir headphones earlier immoderate introduced an oval signifier instead, arsenic recovered connected the Buds Pro.

From idiosyncratic acquisition we find the oval easier to spot successful our ears, getting an optimal presumption much easy than the Buds 2 with their circular tips. To get the champion from the Buds 2, you person to get that positioning and acceptable right, which tin instrumentality a small much wiggling, but erstwhile they are good seated, you get the champion results some successful presumption of noise-cancellation and audio performance.

They are comfy to deterioration acknowledgment to being bully and lightweight. Some existent wireless headphones travel with different attachments and devices to effort to prosecute with different parts of your receptor to support them successful spot - but we find with the close extremity size there's nary occupation keeping these 'buds successful place. However, the signifier of your receptor volition apt dictate the benignant of headphones champion for you.

Setup and control

• Instant connection
• Galaxy Wearable app
• Customisable pat controls

On astir Android devices you'll beryllium prompted to link to the Buds 2 erstwhile they are detected, different Samsung's Galaxy Wearable app volition negociate the transportation and power of these headphones. In astir cases, erstwhile a transportation is made, determination volition beryllium a tiny download to negociate the headphones and past you're each set.

It's besides casual to determination from 1 instrumentality to different utilizing the Galaxy Wearable app, but arsenic you tin manually trigger pairing with a agelong property connected some 'buds astatine the aforesaid clip - to link to thing that doesn't tally the app, similar your PC.

The app controls customisation, the settings, arsenic good arsenic handling firmware updates, and acquisition with different caller Galaxy Buds models suggests that updates volition beryllium reasonably regular.

The Wearable app lets you controls the sound mode - ANC, ambient sound, oregon disconnected - portion besides offering 3 levels of the ambient dependable passthrough truthful you tin take your penchant to the level of exterior dependable allowed in. Samsung users besides get the enactment of a widget to power these things connected your Galaxy's show without having to unfastened the app.

Importantly, however, there's besides interaction controls connected the 'buds themselves. The headphones are controlled by tapping either the near oregon close one, with single-, double- and triple-taps supported, on with tap-and-hold.

The single-, double- and triple-taps can't beryllium customised - they connection play/pause, next, and backmost respectively - but you tin disable these actions if you don't privation them. You could arsenic crook disconnected the azygous pat if you usage your ticker to power your music, for example.

Touch-and-hold offers greater customisation, allowing switching done the sound mode, measurement up oregon down, and the enactment to motorboat Spotify - but lone Spotify - and you tin acceptable 1 of these options connected either side.

Hiding deeper successful the app you'll find the Labs options, which includes a double-edge tap, which tin beryllium utilized to set the measurement up and down - which we've recovered works well, meaning you tin truly get a batch of power of these headphones.

Within the app you tin besides set the dependable illustration with an equaliser (EQ), portion there's besides an audio acceptable trial you tin tally to guarantee you're wearing the 'buds decently for optimum sound.

There's besides the enactment to person ambient dependable during calls and we emotion that you tin crook this off. We've been successful situations wherever we can't perceive the caller talking, due to the fact that the ambient sound is truthful loud.

Essentially, it's worthy diving heavy into the Galaxy Wearable app, due to the fact that there's plentifulness to research to get the show you'll privation from the Galaxy Buds 2.

Performance and ANC

• Dual operator design
• Active noise-cancellation (ANC)

Like immoderate of Samsung's different Buds, there's a dual operator plan with a woofer and tweeter successful each, giving you bully affluent audio. The default settings are alternatively neutral, however, and we recovered the bass boost to springiness a much acceptable dependable to music, but this is easy adjustable to idiosyncratic penchant via the app.

The dependable is akin to the Galaxy Buds Pro and truthful is the ANC that's offered. However, the Buds 2 lone connection the 1 level of ANC, whereas the Buds Pro offers 2 levels, though it's a akin acquisition that's amended astatine reducing little outer tones. That volition trim inheritance sound to a hiss successful immoderate cases, removing the little frequencies.

That means that erstwhile you're walking on a road, you'll inactive perceive the traffic, it conscionable won't rumble past. It isn't the champion ANC that we've encountered, though, and it can't vie with the likes of Jabra's headsets, which volition chopped retired a wider set of that sound retired much efficiently.

Switching dependable modes to ambient sound and the 3 levels don't disagree hugely. The debased and mean are beauteous similar, but the precocious seems to springiness a noticeable measurement boost to exterior noise, which is somewhat hissy. Unlike the Buds Pro, you can't person this crook connected automatically erstwhile you commencement talking.

Fortunately, you tin power with a press-and-hold motion, but each mode alteration is accompanied by a code - which is simply a small primitive considering galore headphones volition speech to you and archer you which mode you’ve conscionable switched to.

Call prime is excellent, however. Making calls alongside a engaged roadworthy caused nary problems successful our investigating - which is the aforesaid arsenic our acquisition with the Buds Pro. There's 1 happening to ticker retired for though: ambient dependable connected calls is optional (in the settings successful the Wearable app) and this tin mean that portion your caller tin perceive you, you can't perceive your caller successful engaged locations - truthful worthy playing astir with.

There's the enactment to person immoderate notifications work to you, but connected regular Android devices this conscionable seems to beryllium missed calls, whereas Samsung devices tin besides get messages, appointments and alarms, but lone from Samsung's default apps - if you truly privation dependable feedback, Google's Pixel Buds A-Series are an evident alternative.

There's besides nary enactment for dependable assistants isolated from Samsung's Bixby. In that consciousness the acquisition from the Galaxy Buds 2 is the champion for Samsung users, followed by Android phones, and yet iPhone.

Battery beingness and charging

• 5 hours with ANC
• 20 hours total

Samsung cites that you'll get 5 hours of complaint from the Buds 2 - and this includes with ANC activated. You tin widen that to implicit 7 hours of beingness if you crook disconnected ANC.

Slotting the Buds 2 into the lawsuit volition complaint them, wherever you tin expect to get astir 20 hours of usage overall. Again, you mightiness compression retired a small much if you aren't utilizing ANC.

There are immoderate existent wireless headphones that volition springiness you a small longer, but considering the size of the Buds 2, we don't deliberation it's a immense disadvantage to not tally for rather arsenic long. You'll get 150 minutes of playtime from 10 minutes successful the charger anyway.

Writing by Chris Hall. Editing by Mike Lowe. Originally published connected 22 September 2021.