Foldable smartphones, new smartwatches. The introduction of the Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro falls somewhat in the shadow of other simultaneously announced innovations. Nevertheless, the wireless earphones from Samsung have interesting properties.
The Samsung Galaxy Buds series are nothing like Apple’s AirPods, with a stem that sticks out of your ear and the noise cancellation and custom fit that’s only reserved for the Pro version. Samsung’s earphones are earplugs that you place in your ear, which all have interchangeable rubber tips and noise reduction. As a result, the Pro versions seem a bit more difficult to distinguish from the regular Buds.
Version two of the Galaxy Buds appeared last year simultaneously with the latest foldable smartphones and smartwatches from Samsung. The new Pro earphones were unveiled in 2022, along with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 and Galaxy Z Fold4 foldable smartphones and the fifth generation of the Galaxy Watch.
Matte or shiny
The regular Galaxy Buds2 can be distinguished from the new Buds2 Pro because they have a matte finish on both the ears and the box. There are also somewhat larger dark mesh surfaces for the microphones on the earphones. Those microphones provide, among other things, the noise reduction and make telephone or video calls possible. The matte finish gives the Pro ears some class, compared to the glossy regular ears. While the design is also quite similar, especially with the rectangular charging box.
Of course, the finish is not the only thing with which Samsung distinguishes the Buds2 Pro. Apart from improvements in noise reduction and the playback mode that allows sound quality to pass through, Samsung earphones can now also handle 360 audio. A kind of spatial sound, which other manufacturers such as Apple and Sony are also working on in their own way. However, these manufacturers often use music in their demos to demonstrate this sound experience. Samsung seems to understand it better by correctly connecting the earphones to a (Samsung) television, so that you have a kind of surround experience with your earphones.
24bit with a catch
The most striking new feature is that the earphones can now play audio in 24bit, instead of the usual 16bit. In short, higher quality sound quality. That is interesting, because the sound quality of wireless in-ears could be improved a bit. The challenge, in addition to the small size for the speakers, also lies in the bluetooth connection. Since high data rates are not possible, it must be compressed. That compression is done with codecs.
Apple uses its own codecs so the AirPods enable the best sound quality with iPhones. But earphones from other brands have another interesting asset: LDAC. This codec ensures the highest possible sound quality and was developed by Sony, who uses it in its (immensely popular) headphones. Sony has made sure that all modern Android phones support LDAC by releasing it to Google. This allows headphones and earphones from other brands to support LDAC.
The Galaxy Buds2 Pro do not support LDAC. Samsung has developed its own codec to produce this 24bit sound quality. But Samsung (just like Apple) keeps the codec only for its own equipment. So if you want to enjoy the optimal sound quality, you have to connect the earphones to a Samsung Galaxy device, or other Samsung equipment, such as a television. Do you use an iPhone or an Android smartphone from another brand such as Google Pixel, OnePlus or Motorola. Then you cannot use 24bit sound quality.
When asked, Samsung said it had no plans yet to release the codec for Android or other manufacturers. However, Samsung did not want to rule this out either.