Galaxy Buds 2 Pro headphones: a small step for the ears

The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro promise big and solid with 24-bit support, surround sound and other technical concepts.

But are they sustainable, and is it worth upgrading?

We checked and we have answers

Voila system!

technology

30/09/2022

Friday, September 30, 2022, 3:52 p.m. Updated: 4:18 p.m.

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Galaxy Buds 2 Pro (Photo: Walla! Technology, Niv Lilian)

In what has become a kind of tradition, at each annual phone launch, Samsung also announces a new model of accompanying headphones, which are often given out as a gift to the first customers of the new smartphones.

Also this year, with the launch of the foldable phones, the Z Flip 4 and the Z Fold 4, the Buds2 Pro headphones were announced, which promised to innovate on their predecessors, the Buds Pro from last year.

We received them for review.

Design and appearance

The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro have been redesigned, and they look a little different from their predecessors.

They are more elliptical, slightly smaller (weighing only 5.5 grams) and the bass ventilation grill and the microphone opening have changed places - now the first is on top, and the microphone is below.

Their finish is also different from last year, it is smooth and pleasant to the touch plastic, instead of the shiny and shiny metal finish of the Buds Pro.

The review headphones we received are in a spectacular lilac purple, and there are other colors such as gray-black and white (colors that match Samsung's latest phones).

The finish is very pleasant to the feeling, and they sit in the ear very comfortably.

Although there are no memory foam cushions like in more expensive headphones such as Sony's elite models.

Samsung of course also offers a test to check the sealing of the headphones in the ears, which is indeed effective, and there is also an IPX7 rated water resistance, which means that on the face of it they are resistant to a depth of one meter of water, for 30 minutes.

We wouldn't try it, but it certainly means you can go jogging in the rain with them.

The square carrying box has not changed significantly from last year, but now it is built with a small elevation inside, on which it is indicated that their sound is produced by AKG, which, as I recall, Samsung purchased a few years ago as part of the big deal of purchasing the Harman Group.

A cute part is that there are two indicator lights for charging - one inside the box that signals you that the headphones are sitting correctly on the magnetic charging contacts, and gives an indication of the charging status when the lid is opened, and one on the front of the box from the outside.

great.

The USB-C socket for charging is on the back of the box, and it also supports wireless charging in the Chi standard, as has become common in tiny headphones.

Galaxy Buds 2 Pro (Photo: Walla! Technology, Niv Lilian)

Sound quality and noise cancellation

Tiny headphones, but is their sound big?

Well, it is hard to say that there is a significant improvement from last year.

The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro have good sound, but it's not amazing, and we'll get right into the details.

At the launch in Israel, Samsung boasted that the driver system (the internal speakers in professional parlance) had been redesigned with a new woofer (speaker for medium and low tones) and tweeter (speaker for high tones), and with support for 24-bit sound.

These are all very impressive figures on paper, but how do they translate into actual sound?

We tested them with different genres, from classical to pop and rock, and the 24-bit separation does work in that the sound of the Galaxy Buds2 Pro is very detailed, clean and clear.

You can distinguish every guitar or harp part and every strumming beat without much effort, and the sound is pleasant to the ear and very flowing.

They also produce a decent sound in the mid and high ranges, like trumpets or clarinets.

Where were we a little disappointed?

in the low tones.

A cello or a bass guitar sounds good here, but for hitting drum drums or bass drums (those that drummers operate with a foot pedal), for example, we lacked a little more kick, literally, like we got in headphones from competing brands - and that's even after we turned on the boost mode Bass in the equalizer.

In the same breath, or I'm getting deaf with age - but I lacked a bit of general audio volume.

And how is the noise cancellation?

It is similar to the sound: it is good, but not excellent.

Compared to their predecessors, there has been a certain improvement in noise cancellation, also perhaps thanks to the array of 3 microphones in each ear.

When traveling by bus or walking around a noisy city, they will give you a good answer, but not perfect.

There are still ranges that manage to pass, and we didn't get to try them in flight - but we can assume that they will do a good job.

Are these the headphones with the best noise cancellation in the category?

Definitely not.

Another cute feature is that these headphones support Dolby Atmos and surround sound that works by detecting the movement of the head, so that when connected to supporting devices (currently there are quite a few laptops and tablets), you can also enjoy sophisticated surround sound.

The problem is that it is Samsung's proprietary surround sound, which only exists in their devices.

We have no complaints about call quality.

It is reasonable and our interlocutors also heard us well in relatively quiet environments.

in slightly less noisy environments.

The sound is good, but not amazing (Photo: Walla! Technology, Lilian dialect)

App and more features

The Galaxy Buds2 Pro are powered by Samsung's Wear app, which handles all of the company's wearable computing devices.

It is polished and always pleasant to use, but it is evident that on the features side, Samsung with the Galaxy

Buds2 Pro are trying to imitate Sony a bit, and we will touch on that shortly.

A very useful feature that was already introduced in the previous generation, is the Seamless Connectivity, through which, if you have several Samsung devices such as a tablet, phone and TV, the headphones know how to intelligently jump from device to device, similar to what Apple does in their environmental system.

Alia and a thorn in her side, it only works with Samsung devices.

But the noticeable imitation of Sony is the addition of the Voice Detect feature, which automatically changes the mode of noise cancellation and stops the music if it detects that you have opened your mouth and started talking to someone.

It works well, but for those who like to hum or sing along to their music, it's better to turn it off... Another nice feature here is the ability to locate the headphones if you can't find them (they'll start beeping if they're connected to the phone and also support the Samsung Finder app) And, of course, the touch interface that allows full operation of the headphones by tapping them.

What's more, the activation of a defined assistant was missing here.

Battery life and summary

Since I don't have much to say about battery life, we'll stick it to the summary paragraph.

The battery life of the Galaxy Buds2 Pro is good, but not impressive.

They meet the manufacturer's promise of about 5 hours of continuous playing (and another 18 hours when recharging from the carrier), which is reasonable, but there are already quite a few headphones on the market that offer more.

By and large, I liked the Galaxy Buds2 Pro, they are great headphones, and cover well all the needs you can ask for from headphones when it comes to sound quality, comfort in the ear, noise cancellation, etc. - but this is where they stop, they are only good, not impressive.

Another annoying part is that some of their interesting features, such as the surround sound, are limited only to the Samsung environment, similar to the same annoying part with Apple.

In conclusion, if you do not have good headphones in your possession, and you receive them as a gift or at a discount when buying a Samsung phone - go for it, you will enjoy them.

Would I purchase them at full price or upgrade from the previous generation of the Pro?

The answer is no.

Recommended price for the consumer: NIS 799

Score: 9

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