Samsung Galaxy Buds+  Headphones Review

These headphones look identical to the older Samsung Galaxy Buds Truly Wireless, with a far more conventional in-ear design than the newer Samsung Galaxy Buds Live Truly Wireless. They're quite small and don't protrude out of the ears. The earbuds have a glossy plastic finish and look quite premium. Some color variants, including the as-tested 'White' version, have an iridescent finish on their touch-sensitive surface.

These in-ears are quite comfortable. They shouldn't put pressure on your inner ear and don't enter your ear canal too deeply. They're also very lightweight, so you should be able to wear them for extended periods without experiencing any discomfort. If you want an even more comfortable pair of in-ears with tips that you can mold to fit the shape of your ear, check out the Ultimate Ears FITS Truly Wireless.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus have an easy-to-use control scheme that provides some audio feedback when in use. Their touch-sensitive surface means that you don't have to push the earbuds further into your ear when you use it, which is nice, but unfortunately, this design makes it easy to register a command accidentally. It's also difficult to use the controls while wearing gloves. In addition, the buds don't have volume control by default; you have to add them via the companion app. On the upside, you can customize the long press to register different controls, including triggering volume adjustment, which is great. You can also set the edge of the earbuds' touch sensor to adjust your volume up/down with a double-tap.

Like most truly wireless earbuds, the Samsung Galaxy Buds+ are very small and can easily be tossed into pockets or a bag. Even their charging case is on the smaller side and should fit into most pockets.

The charging case for these headphones is great. Its hinge stays open at any angle, which feels secure. It feels quite premium and is made from solid and high-grade plastic. It also supports Qi-enabled wireless charging, which is nice.

These in-ears feel quite well-made overall. Both the case and the earbuds themselves are made from dense plastic and feel like they should easily withstand a few accidental drops or bumps. They're rated IPX2 for basic water resistance, which is lower than the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro Truly Wireless' IPX7 rating. However, we don't currently test for this.

These headphones feel very stable in the ear. They come with three different sizes of tips and stability fins to help get a good fit, and they should stay in place, even during more strenuous workouts.

• Samsung Galaxy Buds+ headphones
• Charging case
• 3x tip options
• 3x fin sleeve options
• USB-C to USB-A charging cable
• Manuals

The Samsung Galaxy Buds+' out-of-the-box sound profile is well-balanced. Its bass response delivers adequate thump and rumble, while vocals and lead instruments are present and clear. Sibilants are also detailed without being overly piercing or harsh. If that's not to your liking, their companion app features six different EQ presets to better suit your preferences.

Like most in-ear headphones, the frequency response consistency is outstanding. Once you achieve a proper fit using the included tips, you should experience consistent bass and treble delivery every time you use them.

These headphones have incredible bass accuracy. Their bass range is very neutral, so the thump, punch, and boom of your music is present but not overwhelming. Fans of EDM and hip-hop who want a more bass-heavy, boomy sound can use the 'Bass Boost' EQ preset in the companion app, although we don't test it currently.

These headphones have fantastic mid-range accuracy. Vocals and instruments should sound present and clear. There's a small dip in the mid-mid range, which nudges vocals and instruments back slightly, but it shouldn't be noticeable for most people.

These headphones have excellent treble accuracy. Vocals and lead instruments should sound bright and detailed without being harsh. However, a small dip in the mid-treble range means sibilants, like cymbals or S and T sounds in speech, are somewhat dulled.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus have excellent peaks and dips performance. Their entire frequency response is well-balanced, and while there are a few bumps in the treble range, they're minor, so vocals and lead instruments sound detailed while sibilants are bright.

The stereo imaging performance is outstanding. Their weighted group delay falls entirely beneath the audibility threshold, resulting in a tight bass and a transparent treble reproduction. Additionally, our unit's L/R drivers are exceptionally matched in regards to amplitude, frequency, and phase response. This means that objects and instruments, like voices and footsteps, are accurately localized in the stereo image, resulting in a more immersive listening experience. However, these results are only valid for our unit, and yours may perform differently.

These headphones have a bad passive soundstage, like most in-ears. This is because in-ears bypass any sort of interaction with the outer ear, which means they can't create an out-of-head listening experience. Also, because of their closed-back enclosure, sound is perceived as coming from the inside of your head rather than all around you.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus' weighted harmonic distortion performance is decent. Some slight distortion is present throughout the treble range at both normal and high volumes, but the rest of the frequency range falls within good limits, resulting in mostly clean and pure audio reproduction.

These are the settings used to test these headphones. Our results are only valid when listening using these settings.

The noise isolation performance is acceptable. While they do a great job at blocking out background chatter and the higher-frequency sounds of an AC unit, they block out very little bass-range sounds. This means that they won't help much with reducing the low rumble of bus or plane engines. For truly wireless in-ears with better passive noise isolation, see the Sony WF-XB700 Truly Wireless.

Like most closed-back in-ears, the Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus leak very little audio. You should be able to listen to your music at pretty high volumes without worrying about disrupting people nearby, even in moderately quiet environments.

Like with most Bluetooth headphones, the microphone's recording quality is mediocre. Your voice should be decently clear and understandable but lacking in detail.

The noise handling of this microphone is alright. Even in moderately noisy environments, the person on the other end of the line should be able to hear you somewhat clearly.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds+' battery performance is very good, and a big improvement over the older Samsung Galaxy Buds Truly Wireless. They supply over 13 hours of continuous playback time, which is especially impressive for a pair of truly wireless in-ears and comfortably outlasts the advertised figure of 11 hours. Their continuous battery life also exceeds their successor, the Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Truly Wireless. Unfortunately, their case only holds one additional charge, though their overall battery life is still excellent. They also advertise an additional hour of playback from three minutes of charging, but we don't test for this. Note that battery performance can vary according to use, and your real-life experience may vary.

These headphones have decent app support, with dedicated companion apps for both Android and iOS. On Android devices, you can connect with the Galaxy Wearable app, and on iOS, there's an app called Samsung Galaxy Buds+. The apps give you access to five different EQ presets, plus a few other useful features, including control mapping for the long hold of the button on each earbud. You can also change your 'Ambient Sound' settings, which affects how much external noise from your surroundings is played into your ears. There's a program called 'Samsung Galaxy Buds Manager' for Windows or macOS devices, but it doesn't offer the same features and seems to be just for accessing updates.

Update 04/13/2022: These headphones were updated to Test Bench 1.5 and their latency values have changed. Our previous Test Bench 1.4 measurements reported 'Android Latency' at 134 ms. However, our new test bench uses an average of three measurements instead of one, resulting in 33 ms of latency on Android devices. As a result, we have updated our text to better reflect test bench 1.5 measurements.

These in-ears have fair Bluetooth connectivity. They support Bluetooth 5.0 but not multi-device or NFC pairing. However, if you use a compatible Samsung phone, you get a pop-up on your phone asking if you want to connect the headphones as soon as you open their charging case, which makes pairing seamless. Unfortunately, their latency on PCs is very high, and you may notice that your audio and visuals fall out of sync if you're streaming video. Their latency on iOS and Android devices is significantly lower, so you shouldn't encounter lip-sync issues when using these devices. It's worth noting that some apps seem to compensate for latency, though, so your real-world experience may vary.

These headphones can't be used wired. They come with a USB-C to USB-A cable to charge the case.

These truly wireless earbuds only support Bluetooth, so they're not compatible with the Xbox One.

The charging case for these headphones should give you an additional charge, but like most truly wireless headphones, it doesn't have any inputs aside from a USB-C port for charging.