Review: Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro

Many headphone makers have adopted the “Pro” moniker, but very few are delivering the audio quality along with it. You’ll pay Apple or Google $200 or more for sleek designs, better mics, and noise canceling to beat their non-pro offerings, but both tiers of earbuds use a single dynamic driver to power your tunes. As an audio nerd, it's the equivalent of shopping for a sports car and then buying a Cadillac. The bells and whistles are nice, but sometimes you want maximum performance for the money.

That's why I’ve been a fan of Samsung's Galaxy Buds Pro (9/10, WIRED Recommends), which employed a tuned pair of drivers to provide deeper bass and clearer highs than its California-designed peers.

The listening experience continues to be above par with the newly released sequel, the Galaxy Buds2 Pro, with new digital signal processing and an even more comfortable fit. Samsung phone owners—or really, anyone with a modern Android—now have a solid reason not to be jealous of their friends’ elephant-trunked AirPods Pro (8/10, WIRED Recommends). They even give their main competitor, Google’s Pixel Buds Pro (9/10, WIRED Recommends), a run for their money.

Photograph: Samsung

The biggest difference between original Buds Pro and the new model is the ergonomics. While I found the previous buds comfortable in my painfully average ears, many felt that they were hard to get a good seal, which meant they leaked bass and other frequencies.

These new, peanut-shaped buds fit me even better than the last (they’re 15 percent smaller and weigh about a gram less per earbud) which means they likely will work better for more folks. They all but disappeared into my head after a few minutes of distracted listening.

A rubbery finish on the outside of the case and the earbuds makes it super easy to latch onto them, unlike the polished white plastic of AirPods, which tend to evade my butter fingers. Three colors offer another clear differentiation between the two major brands, with Samsung offering dark grey, off-white, and a cute Barney purple (the color of my review unit).

Touch controls felt improved between generations. My sweaty hair never accidentally triggered the play or pause button on the right bud, or disabled noise canceling on the left one. Both of the buttons are, however, super responsive to actual fingers. They'll also auto-pause if you remove one or both earbuds.

Samsung has built-in new 24-bit audio processing, 360-degree audio options, and support for its Bixby voice assistant. However, you'll only be able to use the first two with newer Samsung phones, and the last one you'll never want to use at all. 

It's nice to get some pro features like those on the AirPods Pro, which come with spatial audio support that works with iOS. But limiting those features to exclusively Samsung phones, instead of all Android devices, might bother potential buyers who own a Google Pixel. In any case, Samsung-specific features worked decently in testing, with 24-bit audio supported by Apple Music, Tidal, Amazon Music, and others. I still think spatial audio is only good for movies, so it was nice to use there, but not necessary for serious musical listening.

When compared to the most recent Google Pixel Buds Pro, which can pair to multiple devices made by different manufacturers at once, Samsung's new multipoint Bluetooth offering feels a bit less pro. Samsung achieves quick changes between devices via its Auto Switch feature, but that works only on Samsung Galaxy tablets, watches, phones, and TVs. It's nice for diehard Samsung users, but not so nice for everyone else. The same goes for the 5 hours of battery life from the Buds2 Pro, which lags a few hours behind Google's Pro model. However, it does beat Apple's by an hour. 

One place where I won't gripe is the new wireless charging case, which combines with the buds themselves to get you 23 hours of playtime between trips to the charging mat (with noise canceling enabled). Given the size of the case, which squeezes easily even into my wife's ridiculously useless pockets, that's fine. I tested them for two weeks and got about that battery life out of my review unit.

Speaking of try before you buy, it's worth noting that some consumers had issues with skin irritation and ear infection from the previous Buds Pro, likely due to nickel in the charging contacts. We've reached out to Samsung to clear up whether this issue was explicitly addressed on the Buds2 Pro, but for now we'd avoid them if you have a nickel allergy.

Photograph: Samsung

The reason why I'm willing to give the Galaxy Buds2 Pro a pass on connecting to everything at once, or having seamless Dolby Atmos support for Netflix on all Android phones, is that they sound better than their closest competitors, no matter what you're paired to.

The aforementioned AKG-tuned dual dynamic drivers—one for punchy bass, the other for midrange and high frequencies—means a more detailed overall soundstage than I hear from Google and Apple earbuds, and indeed even Samsung's own cheaper Galaxy Buds2 (which also have dual drivers). It's a difference you can hear even without 24-bit codecs or spatial audio enabled (not that Samsung tells you when these are running, anyway). The Buds2 Pro are just better-sounding earbuds from a physics standpoint.

There's a reason why higher-end earbuds typically have multiple drivers to create the audio. When you can split the frequency range between super low and super high and dedicate a driver to either low or high, instead of both at once, you get better overall performance. The clarity of listening experience is immediately evident when comparing the Galaxy Buds2 Pro to the Pixel Buds Pro and AirPods Pro. It's not that the others sound particularly bad, it's just that these buds sound better.

They seem to have the classic smiley face shape frequency response, with a bit of a boost down low and up high, but a small cut in the middle to create more room in the midrange for things like voices and guitars. This does wonders for acoustic music like jazz, where you get a lot of upright bass string note, but no boom to overwhelm the bass drum or low end of the piano. I especially like the sound of brushes on the snare drum.

For popular music and hip-hop, the bass never gets too overwhelming, instead staying crisp and clean even in super busy tracks. The headphones sound energetic but not muddy, a clear soundstage that's aided by above-average noise canceling. 

The included microphones work as well as Google or Apple equivalents on calls, silencing the sounds around me on the other side of the call, according to friends trying to talk to me when my dogs were barking in the background. I tried and disliked the Voice Detect feature, which is similar to offerings from Sony. It detects when you're talking and auto-dims music. Just pause your own music like a normal human when you need to speak. You can also turn on a feature that tells you to move your head around every 10 mins or so, for those with chronic neck pain, I guess?

In any case, I was comfortable taking the IPX7-rated buds everywhere; I've been training for the Hood to Coast relay race in Oregon, and these have seen at least a few dozen miles over the past few weeks with no wear to show for it. I love having such a high-quality listening option when I'm out on long runs, where it can often be a great time to do deep listening since I'm so damn bored out there.

As I see it, there are really two reasons why you'd want these earbuds above the many, many other options that have noise canceling, decent sweat resistance, and a design that won't make you want to yank them out of your ears every 30 mins. The first reason is that you're a Samsung phone owner, and want something that works seamlessly with your specific device. For that, the Buds2 Pro are fantastic.

The second reason to buy them is if you're a fellow audiophile who wants the best possible sound quality for the money, but whose latest cell phone lacks a headphone jack. At least right now, you'll find no better sounding pair than this.