Samsung in January unveiled new Galaxy S21 smartphones and along with the new phones, introduced the $ 200 Galaxy Buds Pro, which is priced at $ 199 and offers Stop Active Noise.
These new Galaxy Buds Pro are clearly designed to compete with Apple’s AirPods Pro, so we thought we’d compare the two sets of earbuds in our latest YouTube video.
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Wise design, the Galaxy Buds Pro looks nothing like the AirPods Pro, featuring a rounded interior design without stopping anymore. They have silicone recommendations like the AirPods Pro, however MacRumors Physiologist Dan, who tested the Galaxy Buds Pro, found that they were much more uncomfortable than the AirPods Pro.
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They need to be fitted tightly inside the ear to get the right equipment and seal, both to make sure they stay in the ear and to allow ANC capability to function properly. Without the right approach, the earbuds will not be okay and audio quality will suffer. Samsung offers a number of silicone tips to get good fit, but these earbuds may not work well for some users.
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Like the AirPods Pro, the Galaxy Buds Pro offers Active Noise Cancel (ANC), which is reasonable, but not as good as the ANC in the AirPods Pro. It’s definitely better than the ANC in Galaxy Buds Live last year, but still not on par with the AirPods Pro. There is an environment mode similar to the Transparency mode to allow environmental noises to come through, but again, it is OK and does not work other than the Transparency mode.
There is a special feature that the Galaxy Buds Pro offer is not available in the AirPods Pro and that is Voice Detect. Voice Detect turns down the volume and turns on environment mode when it hears the sound of your voice, which is useful.
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When it comes to sound quality, the Galaxy Buds Pro is almost recognizable from the AirPods Pro. Both sound good, and whether you prefer one over the other comes down to individual listening preferences. The Galaxy Buds Pro is warmer and heavier on the bass, preferred by some people. You need a good earphone for the best sound quality because if that’s off, they don’t feel as good.
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The Galaxy Buds Pro comes with a small case and pocket, with the case adding 18 to 20 hours of additional battery life depending on ANC usage. The Galaxy Buds themselves have an five-hour battery life with ANC on and an eight-hour battery life with ANC off. In comparison, the AirPods Pro lasts for 4.5 hours on a single charge with ANC on and five hours off, but the case takes an additional 24 hours of listening time. Apple’s AirPods Pro charges wirelessly or via an electronic port, while the Galaxy Buds Pro uses USB-C.
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There are touch controls on both sides of the Galaxy Pro earbuds, and tapes enable play / stop, jump scratches, and turn the environmental sound feature on and off. AirPods Pro offers similar controls, but on the mast rather than relying on tapes, which works better.
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Apple designs AirPods Pro for use with Apple devices, while the Galaxy Buds Pro is designed for use mostly with Samsung devices. There are a number of features that only work when used with a Galaxy device, which is a bit new for Samsung. Earbud models have previously been more feature agnostic and have been easily found with other Android devices or even iPhones, but with the Galaxy Buds Pro, you miss out on features without a Galaxy smartphone.
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There is one tap pairing feature to set up the Galaxy Buds Pro with a Galaxy smartphone (you need to manually connect to an iPhone), and there is a 360 Audio feature that is similar to the spatial audio feature in the AirPods Pro. We could not confirm 360 Audio because the update that makes it possible on Galaxy devices (except the S21) is not yet available.
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Coupled with a single tap, the Galaxy Buds Pro supports automatic tracking and quick conversion devices, but again, Galaxy devices only. There is an app to change the EQ and other settings, but it is Android only and iPhone version is not available.
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All in all, the Galaxy Buds Pro is a solid-state headset if you have a Galaxy smartphone, but these are not the headphones you want to pick up if you have a iPhone because you lose it. out on so many features. The price point is also just $ 50 cheaper than AirPods Pro, so you’re better off spending the $ 250 for AirPods Pro if you have an Apple device.