Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Review – Well Priced ANC Earbuds

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 comes at a price of Rs. 11,999 in India. The buds are available in five different colour options: White, Black, Graphite, Lavender and Olive.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 packs the following items inside the box:

• Pair Earbuds
• Case
• 2 Sets of Ear Tips
• Type-C Cable
• Manual

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Before we talk more about the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2, let’s see what on-paper specs look like:

• Connectivity: Bluetooth
• Supported OS: Android & iOS
• Battery: 61 mAh (Earpieces);  472 mAh (case)
• Weight: 46.2 (with case)

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 has the identical design to the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro, with rounded earbuds and no silicone wing tips. Each earbud is only 5 grams in weight, whereas the charging case is around 41g. There are six microphones in total (three on each earbud) that allow for active noise cancellation and other voice related functions.

I noticed that the Galaxy Buds 2 offered a more snug fit than the previous model. The tips formed a tight seal, keeping the buds in place.

I really liked the clamshell design of the charging case. It makes it look more compact and easy to carry around in my pocket. The plastic frame was sturdy and didn’t feel cheap, and the magnetic lid was pretty strong to keep the buds in place.

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The first glance at the charging case tells me how similar it is to the Pro model with a glossy finish on the outer region. You will find the touch-sensitive area on the outer side of the earbuds which can be used to control different actions like Play, Pause and more. You can also customise some of these actions using the Galaxy Wearable app, which we will talk about more later in this review.

These buds also have an IPX2 rating, which is a significant drop from the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro’s IPX7 rating. To put it simply, they are not sweatproof or splashproof but can withstand small drops of water. I would not recommend you to wear these near a pool or in the rain.

There’s a Type-C port located a the backside of the case for charging with two small LED light indicators for showing the battery level. One of them is located on the outside, which indicates the battery left in the case, while the other is located on the inside to indicate the remaining battery in the earbuds.

When it comes to audio quality, Samsung never fails to deliver, and the all-new Galaxy Buds 2 is no different. What I like best about their audio is that it has a great sound curve that boosts the bass, mids, and highs.

For the most part, you get surprisingly clear audio with a good bass boost when listening to rap and EDM music and a clean mid-range while listening to R&B music.

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The noise cancellation is good but not exceptional. Since the fit was so perfect for me, I was able to block out some noise passively, even without using active noise cancellation. But when I turned on the ANC, it did a solid job of eliminating background noise in my office.

Let me tell you straight, even though it’s not the best ANC out there, it really does a great job of enhancing the overall audio experience. The ANC on Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 is almost as good as that on more costly earbuds like the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro.

The call quality was pretty decent as well, as far as the surroundings were not too noisy. You can also turn on the hear-through mode during calls which allows you to hear your own voice more clearly.

Sadly, the battery life on the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 is not as good as I expected. Samsung claims a battery life of 5 hours with ANC, which can go up to 7.5 hours if ANC is turned off. The case adds additional three charge cycles which offers another 20 hours with ANC and 29 hours without ANC.

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I got about 4-5 hours of playback time with ANC turned on. Now, of course, the battery life would depend on your usage, as it did in my case. It is somewhere similar to the battery performance of the Apple AirPods Pro (review), which offers about 4.5 hours of battery life but much less than the flagship Sony WF-1000XM4 (review) which can go for 8 hours.

You can charge the case using the bundled type-C cable. You also get support for quick charging and Qi wireless charging. A 5-minute quick charge provides an hour of playback which was really cool.

Opening the case activates Pairing mode and displays the earbuds in the list of available devices on your phone. Samsung has also given an Easy Pairing Mode for easy manual pairing.

Although multipoint technology is missing, the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 has amazing auto-connect functionality. This allows the earbuds to auto-connect to a last known device if you unpaired it from the current device.

The Galaxy Wearable app gives you access to a variety of features. When you launch the app, you’ll see a battery level for the earbuds, the Find My Earbuds option, toggle controls, and all of the additional features in the Settings menu. These include the Earbuds Fit Test, Bixby wake-up feature, Gaming Mode, Equalizer, and Accessibility.

Samsung designed a resizable widget which you can place on the home screen of your smartphone and instantly access the touch controls and audio modes.

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It features a bunch of EQ modes like normal, dynamic, clear, bass boost, soft, and treble boost that you can select from the app. Sadly there’s no option to create your custom EQ.

You can use the tap and hold gesture to activate the voice assistant or re-assign it to adjust volume levels. Galaxy Buds 2 supports Bixby, Google Assistant, and Siri. You can do a single tap to play/pause the music or a double tap to play the next song, while a triple tap plays the previous song. Note that you can only enable or disable these functions; there’s no option to customise them.

You also get to see an Ambient mode which allows you to hear what’s going on around you. It can be compared to the transparency mode seen on the Apple AirPods Pro.

Galaxy Buds 2 also features a Game Mode that reduces the latency while playing games on your phone which can be enabled from the app. However, only Samsung smartphones can use this feature.