According to Samsung, the wearable device market has grown by 30% in 2020 – during a time of global isolation! People have begun to use headsets at home more often, so we can safely say that this is one of the most popular and irreplaceable devices. And it’s most convenient if the headphones are completely wireless, like the Galaxy Buds Pro.
Design
Like all TWS headphones, the Buds Pro comes with a charging case. It is quite compact and has a magnetic lid that is very pleasant to click on. The case also has a charge indicator and a USB-C connector.
We had a silver model on our test, although it looks more like blue. The coating is matte and practical, does not collect fingerprints and scratches. But the headphones are really silver: with a glossy insert on the outside of the case. They easily fit into the grooves of the case thanks to the magnet hidden inside – it is convenient that you do not need to “aim” in order to evenly place them on the charging contacts.
There are also black and white options.
Due to the miniature size, the earbuds are not very convenient to get out of the ears: the round case without any external elements (like the silicone rings on the Galaxy Buds +) can slip out of your hands. For the same reason, they are not suitable for active workouts: when walking and running, they sit very securely, but with bending and other acrobatic yoga studies they can fall out. But in the ears, such “kids” look very neat and almost imperceptible.
The earbuds are IPX7 water resistant and can even withstand short-term immersion. They come with 3 pairs of interchangeable ear pads of different sizes and a USB-C cable for charging.
What they can do
Modern headphones are no longer a pair of speakers in a compact body. So, inside each Buds Pro there is a bone conduction sensor, two proximity sensors and a microphone. On the outside, there are two highly sensitive microphones and a grille for narrow-beam sound reception. Such a system allows you to sensitively pick up a person’s voice during a conversation and transmit it without unnecessary noise.
Also, several microphones are needed to implement active noise cancellation. I must say that due to its design, the Glaxy Buds Pro are well protected from external sounds even without the AAC function enabled. After all, these are vacuum headphones – they fit well to the auricle and do not let noise by themselves. With an active noise control, you will find yourself in a “cocoon” cut off from the world, devoid of any extraneous sounds. This will help out great in noisy transport or office, if you want to hide from talkative colleagues.
The headphones can be controlled using the Galaxy Wearable app (available for Android and iOS). Also, to connect the headset, you will need to download the Galaxy Buds Pro plugin.
The program has its own equalizer and preset presets for different musical genres.
In the application, you can configure the functions of the touch keys to adjust the volume with their help, activate noise reduction or voice control, pause and switch tracks. By the way, the intensity of noise cancellation is also adjustable in the application. And if, on the contrary, you need to enhance the surrounding sounds (for example, during a conversation with colleagues), you can select the “Sound background” function in the program.
You can also enable voice detection in the application – then the music will be muted when the user starts talking. And finally, the program should be installed to update the firmware of the headphones and search for them (they beep to quickly find them).
Sound
The headphones use a two-way speaker system. They are equipped with two speakers: an 11 mm woofer and a 6.5 mm tweeter. This combination allows you to cover the entire frequency spectrum during playback. The sound is spacious and rich, and it feels more like the sound of full-size headphones.
The Buds Pro connect over Bluetooth 5.0 and use AAC and SBC. When working with Samsung Galaxy smartphones, the proprietary Scalable codec is also available – and in theory, all the possibilities of the headphones are revealed precisely with the gadgets of a related brand. However, let’s be honest: we tested the headset with phones from Samsung and Huawei and did not notice any difference in sound. In both cases, the sound was of sufficient quality.
Compared to the previous model Buds Live, I would like to note a noticeable increase in bass – this will be appreciated by lovers of heavy and electronic music. Also, the new model is very loud: if you turn on the headphones to the maximum, you can put them next to them and listen to them like mini-speakers (but of course, you don’t need to do that).
The manufacturer promises up to 18 hours of playback with noise cancellation on or 28 hours without noise reduction. This is a very good result – one might even say a record. Considering that you probably won’t need AAC at home, you can listen to music for 8 hours without interruption (and another 20 hours when charging from the case).
We used the Galaxy Buds Pro for about a week, listening to music while walking, talking on the phone, and watching movies from our smartphone. On average, 2-3 hours a day. At the same time, in my free time, the headset was sent to the case for charging. As a result, the case had to be charged just at the end of the week.
It took the gadget about 2 hours to charge. At the same time, 5 minutes on the wire is enough for the headphones to receive energy for an hour of work. They also support Qi wireless charging.
Conclusion
All Galaxy Buds in the past have been successful, and the Pro version is no exception. The Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro have improved autonomy, the bass has become more powerful, and noise cancellation is implemented at the level of full-size models. If you’re looking for a new compact TWS earbuds, the Buds Pro are a good choice.
