Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro True Wireless Bluetooth Earbuds Noise Cancelling Hi-Fi Sound 360 Audio Secure In-Ear Fit

I upgraded to these after owning the Galaxy Buds Live, which is a very different design. I'm not an audiophile, but I am fairly experienced with mid-tier sound equipment, speakers, and headphones. I built my own 11.1 surround sound movie room using a higher end Yamaha receiver and have used Klipsch, Polk Audio, Paradigm, BIC America, Sony, Yamaha, Pioneer, Bose (don't judge me, they work well in some applications), JL Audio, JBL, Mirage, and other brands of speakers through the years in home and car audio setups. For headphones, I've mainly used wired as early wireless models sounded hollow and tinny in comparison. I've used lower end AKG and Sony buds, as well as mid-tier Sennheisers. I've also used higher end Sony over-ear headphones as well as the highly rated (but lesser known) Status Audio CB-1 studio monitor headphones. I waited a while to buy into the wireless headphone market and finally took the plunge with the Buds Live as they offered something my wired headphones didn't—ambient sound. Usually this is an unwanted distraction and noise isolation is preferred, but sometimes I want to be aware of what's going on around me and be able to engage in a conversation even if I have my buds in. Apple did this well with their pass-through technology, but I'm not about to switch over to an entirely new product line and closed ecosystem just for headphones, so I waited. The Buds Live managed this trick with a low-tech solution by not sealing in the ear canal, so I gave them a try. Sound quality was decent—on par with my lower end AKG wired buds, but not as good as my mid-tier (~$100) Sennheiser buds. They also were finnicky with their connection and cut out a lot if my phone was in my pocket, especially if I bent over or squatted. BUDS 2 PRO: I upgraded to these as they also had a pass-through feature which seemed to work fairly well and did so automatically when you started talking. I figured this would be just as good and offer better sound and isolation when desired. Overall I think this feature works pretty good and is a nice compromise for me. In terms of sound quality, the Buds 2 Pro are definitely a step up from the Buds Live and probably on par with my wired mid-tier Sennheisers. I can't complain about the sound quality at all. As with the Buds Live though, the Buds 2 Pro require a bit of fidgeting to get them seated in the ear properly. Traditional ear buds, and even Apple's Airpods require little thought or adjustment beyond getting the right sized rubber or foam tips for a good seal. Samsung seems to go for more experimental designs which require learning and getting used to. After a few days use, they still aren't "natural" to put in or locked into muscle memory—I have to fuss with them a bit to get a good seal. Once in though, I haven't had any problems. Overall, I recommend these buds. They still aren't perfect as the fit isn't intuitive, battery life a little meager, and the noise cancellation is about 85-90%, not 100, but overall, solid headphones. Could you get way better sounding wired headphones for tons less money? Yes, for about $50 you can pick up a pair of Status CB-1's and hear every fine detail in high fidelity. But in the wireless in-ear category, prioritizing convenience and mobility over everything else, these perform admirably. I've heard Sennheiser's Momentum True Wireless 3 buds *might* edge these out in terms of sound quality, but they look a lot more bulky (stick out more from the ear and therefore may be less stable) and don't have the automatic ambient sound pass-through feature. They also are a touch more money. On the upside though, they appear to be a more traditional bud design, so might be more straightforward to put in, but Airpods are probably still the easiest to put in and take out. But I plan on using the Buds 2 Pro for years before feeling the need to upgrade again. I'm satisfied with the purchase, though still wincing at the cost-to-performance ratio compared to wired options. Can't knock a product for performing in the top tier of its specific market though, so I'll give it 5 stars as a true wireless earbud, but would give it 4 in sound quality against cheaper wired in-ear and over-ear options. Read more

So here is an initial Day 1 review. I started with the Galaxy Buds+ and was "generally" happy. The sound quality was excellent, the volume decent, the phone calls were acceptable and the fit was comfortable and stayed in place (for about 30 minutes) My biggest problem was the "wings." They helped the buds stay in place but due to the design, they tended to rotate since they were only being aligned by a tiny plastic nub. And once the wings rotated the fit was horrible. So I eventually upgraded to the Galaxy Buds 2. These also sounded very good, better in fact than the Galaxy Buds+. The calls and audio volume were similar, so perfectly functional. But now I had noise cancelling and a brand new form factor! The noise cancelling worked great for my needs. I'm not flying all over the country, but they nicely limited the white noise of public spaces. Unfortunately the fit was even worse. The Galaxy Buds 2 were slightly oblong in comparison to the Buds+, which I believed would be the answer to the "wandering wings" and finally give me the stable fit I'd been looking for. Alas, this was not the case. The only way the buds would stay in my ear is from a friction fit of the cushions in my ear canal. Not comfortable! And if I spoke or chewed food, it was only a matter of seconds before they had worked themselves loose. In every way except fit, the Galaxy Buds 2 were a definite upgrade. Now we arrive at the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro. I have had them for about 5 hours and here are my initial impressions: - Getting them in the right orientation took me some time (probably because I'd been historically wearing ear buds goofy just to try to get them to stay in my ear.) - Once I had the ear buds in correctly, the fit was surprisingly comfortable and "light" feeling. At first I questioned whether they were positioned properly (the ambient noise being on also added to the idea.) When I turned off the ambient noise I realized how well the buds were fitting. - Chewing and speaking did not disrupt the fit at all! - The ANC worked as expected. - The sound was EXCELLENT in comparison to the previous Buds+ and Buds 2. I found the Buds 2 Pro to be louder, crisper and punchier than the previous earbuds. That's it for now. I'm cautiously optimistic about my purchase and I will follow up in a few weeks with more review. Moving forward I'll be focusing on how easy/hard it will be to quickly position the buds in and how much I end up "messing with them" while wearing them. Read more