Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro True Wireless Headphones Review

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro have a similar style to the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro Truly Wireless. They have egg-shaped buds but have a more satin finish rather than glossy. They come in three color variants: 'Bora Purple', 'White', and 'Graphite'.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are comfortable. Their fit is a mix of the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro Truly Wireless and the Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Truly Wireless. Overall, they feel lightweight in the ears and don't go very deeply into your ear. They also don't put much pressure on your ears. On the downside, they can create a plunger-like feeling in your ear.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro have good controls. They're easy to use, and the controls can be registered on either bud. The touch surface is very small, and it's easy to accidentally register a command if you're adjusting the buds in your ears. When trying to do different commands, sometimes they don't register correctly. On the upside, there are beeps to let you know when you've registered a command. There are also different chimes to let you know when you've switched between ANC on and off and transparency mode.

On either bud:

• One tap: Plays and pauses audio.
• Two taps: Skips the track forward.
• Three taps: Skips the track backward.
• Touch and hold for two seconds: Cycles through ANC on, off, and ambient sound, which allows you to hear your environment without pausing your audio.

Keep in mind that there aren't volume or voice assistant controls by default. However, you can activate these commands in the app. You can also add Spotify, which launches this app on command.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are very portable headphones. They're very small, lightweight, and can easily fit into most pockets or bags without an issue.

The charging case is great. Their case is very similar to the Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Truly Wireless but has a satin finish. Overall, the case feels lightweight yet sturdy. There's a light inside the case to indicate the buds' charge, and there's one light on the outside to indicate the case's charge. It also supports wireless charging.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro have a good build quality. They feel similarly well-built as other Samsung earbuds and are mostly made of plastic, which seems lightweight yet sturdy. However, the ear tips feel like they could rip over time. The buds are certified IPX7 for resistance against submersion in water.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro have good stability. If you want to wear them while working out, they won't move around, especially once you get a good seal. However, the seal can loosen up while you're talking.

• Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro headphones
• Charging case
• 3x tip options
• USB-C to USB-C charging cable
• Manuals

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro have a neutral sound that's well-suited for a variety of audio content. Originally, we reported a dip in the mid-range, but this was due to an improper fit. However, if you take the time to ensure a proper fit, vocals and instruments sound accurate and present in mixes. If you prefer a different sound, their companion apps offer EQ presets to help you adjust their sound to your liking.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro's frequency response consistency is outstanding. Once you get a good fit, you shouldn't experience significant deviations in bass and treble delivery.

These buds have exceptional bass accuracy. The range is exceptionally flat, resulting in adequate thump, boom, and warmth in your mixes.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro's mid accuracy is outstanding. The entire range is flat and neutral, and although there's a slight driver mismatch in the mid-mid range, it isn't very noticeable. Overall, in songs like Iron by Woodkid, vocals and instruments sound clear, accurate, and present throughout the mix.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro have great treble accuracy. They have a flat low-treble, so vocals and lead instruments are clear and detailed. However, a dip in the mid-treble dulls sibilants like hi-hats.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro's peaks and dips performance is excellent. There's a bit of mismatch present between the L/R drivers, which alternates across the range. A dip in the low-mid affects the right driver and thins out vocals and instruments, while a peak in the mid-to-high-mid nudges them forward. A peak in the low-treble also primarily affects the right driver and makes the upper harmonics of vocals and instruments sound harsh, while the uneven mid-treble affects both drivers and turns sibilants like cymbals alternatingly weak and piercing.

The imaging performance is great. Samsung's higher-end products generally tend to have well-matched drivers. Our unit's L/R drivers are matched in group delay, phase, and frequency, which is important for the accurate localization of sound objects like voices in the stereo image. While there's a bump in the phase response's mid-range, which makes audio skew slightly to the left and sound a little louder than the right driver, it's fairly minor. There's also a slight amplitude mismatch present, which can cause issues with the balance of the stereo image. However, imaging can vary between units, especially as it can be an indicator of quality control and ergonomics.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro's passive soundstage is bad, but that's normal from in-ear headphones. To create an out-of-head listening experience, your outer ear has to be activated by sound resonances. However, in-ear headphones bypass the outer ear by design, so the soundstage seems closed-off, small, and as if sound is coming from inside your head.

These buds are compatible with 360 Audio, which is available via the mobile companion app. There's a head tracking feature, which allows sound to follow your head as you move it. The volume of audio sounds louder than when this feature is off. There doesn't seem to be a difference in sound quality whether this feature is on or off.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro have a great weighted harmonic distortion performance. Distortion falls within good limits, resulting in clean and pure audio reproduction.

These are the settings used to test the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro. Our results are only valid when using them in this configuration.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro have an excellent noise isolation performance. They have an ANC system that can block out more overall ambient noise than the Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Truly Wireless and Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro Truly Wireless. They can cut down the low rumble of bus engines as well as office chatter and the hum of AC units.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro's leakage performance is excellent. Leakage is mostly concentrated in the treble range, and escaping audio sounds fairly thin. If you like to listen to audio at high volumes, others around you won't hear it.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro's mic's recording quality is okay. Overall, your voice is easy to understand but sounds a little veiled. While the mic's recorded speech file sounds very similar to that of the Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Truly Wireless, the next generation Buds2's mic is a bit more pitchy.

The mic's noise handling performance is poor. The mic struggles to separate your voice from background noise. If you're taking a call from a busy street or office, your voice can be unintelligible to whoever you're talking to.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro's battery performance is sub-par. The manufacturer advertises them to last five hours continuously, and we measured just under that. Their carrying case supplies roughly 2.6 additional charges if you need it, but this is shorter than that of competitors like the Apple AirPods Pro (2nd generation) Truly Wireless, which have four extra charges. Keep in mind that battery life can vary depending on use. While they don't have a power-saving feature to help conserve battery life when not in use, you can use one bud while the other charges.

The Samsung Wearable app is good, but it isn't available on iOS devices. That said, it offers a variety of features. You can access EQ presets, an earbud fit test, and the 360 Audio feature for a more immersive sound. You can also remap controls and toggle between ANC on, off, and ambient sound. There's a 'Game Mode', which helps lower latency on mobile devices, but this feature is only available on compatible Samsung devices.

In addition to the Samsung Wearable app, you can also access the Galaxy Buds app on Windows. It offers many of the same features as the mobile app, such as EQ presets, control remapping, and noise control. However, this app doesn't have a low latency mode.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro's Bluetooth connectivity is satisfactory. The buds don't support multi-device or NFC pairing. They also have high latency on PCs, although luckily, their latency on iOS and Android devices is much lower. Keep in mind that some devices compensate for latency, though.

These headphones also support Seamless, Samsung's proprietary codec, which the manufacturer advertises to improve audio quality; this is good if you listen to hi-fi audio. However, this codec is only available on select Samsung devices, and we don't have a device that can currently test it. These headphones can also connect to compatible Samsung TVs. We measured 189ms of latency when connected to our Samsung Q80T, but we didn't notice any delays while watching TV. If you need to take a call, audio will switch from the TV to your phone and resume once the call is over.

You can't use these headphones wired. However, they come with a USB-C to USB-C cable to recharge their carrying case.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro have full audio and mic compatibility with Bluetooth-enabled PCs. However, you can't connect these buds to your PC in any other way.

These buds come with a carrying case that holds roughly 2.6 additional charges. It supports wireless charging and has a USB-C input so that you can recharge the case.