Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro Review

Best over-all earbuds for Android. Even more for Samsung devices.




I have been severely hesitant to buy TWS ear buds for a long time and I bought this pair only because of a hefty discount during the recent "Shopping festival."

I'm not an audiophile, so my "review" will be from the perspective of a layman.

Fit:

Even though the 3 sizes of eartips that come with these earbuds offer a snug fit for most people, I'm constantly worried that I'll lose them when I'm distracted. This is one of the reasons I haven't bought earbuds till date. I hope I won't lose them but the feeling that my right earbud doesn't sit as well as my left earbud only increases my anxiety; which is also the reason why I don't use these earbuds as much as I'd like.
These are my first TWS earbuds so the weight feels alright to me even though I don't have a reference to compare to.

Audio:

I've been using these earbuds for a little over 2 weeks mainly for music and audiobooks. I've used them much less for calls but for all purposes, they served me well and I've come to like their performance and clarity. Noise Cancellation dampens quite a lot of noise but traffic, pneumatic drills e.t.c. are still audible. I really didn't expect such high level of suppression but I AM pleased with how much is suppressed. Ambient mode is a good sweetspot between total-isolation and general-awareness. I'm not qualified or observant enough to talk about bass, treble, lows, mids, and highs of music, but these earbuds are great for movies, podcasts and audiobooks. One thing I did notice is this: while using ANC, if you flex your jaw, there's a curious shift/transition that feels as if ANC is adjusting to the sudden displacement of the earbuds within your ear. My guess is, this happens with earbuds from all manufacturers but I obviously haven't tested any other pair and likely wouldn't for quite sometime.

Battery Life:

1 hour of audiobook listening will drain the battery by 23% with Ambient Noise or Active Noise Cancellation. With noise controls disabled, 1 hour of audiobook drains 17% battery. The accompanying case offers juice enough for 1-full charge of the earbuds. Based on what I've seen so far, you can use the case to top-up the earbuds during the day when not using them but, if you use earbuds non-stop, you need to carry a wired or wireless charger along with you. Bottom line is, don't expect a stellar battery life if you plan to use continuously throughout the day.

Durability:

Eartips are good but I'm not sure we can find replacements easily. And you definitely can't drop the earbuds repeatedly. Charging case is quite compact and I slapped-on a protective case as soon as I could. I obviously can't drop-test them.

Software:

Galaxy Wearable app is a must for a tighter integration.
The setup is a breeze and software allows for some customisation. "Touch controls" let you configure how you want to interact with earbuds via touch. Like single-tap, double-tap, triple-tap, and "call controls" like answer and hang up. "Find my earbuds" will play a sound to help you locate them in case you dropped them somewhere. This app is also how you update the firmware on the earbuds.

Overall these are a good purchase if you can grab them at a discount.