Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro x Apple AirPods Pro

In January, Samsung introduced the new Galaxy S21 smartphones and, along with the new phones, launched the $ 200 Galaxy Buds Pro, which cost $ 199 and offer active noise cancellation.

These new Galaxy Buds Pro are clearly designed to compete with Apple’s AirPods Pro, so we thought about comparing the two sets of headphones in our latest YouTube video.

In terms of design, the Galaxy Buds Pro looks nothing like the ‌AirPods Pro apresentando, featuring a rounded, stemless internal design. They have silicone tips like ‌AirPods Pro‌, but MacRumors cameraman Dan, who tested the Galaxy Buds Pro, found that they were much more uncomfortable than ‌AirPods Pro‌.

They need to be tightly fitted inside the ear to obtain the correct fit and proper seal, both to ensure that they stay in the ear and to allow ANC functionality to work properly. Without the right fit, the headphones will not sound good and the audio quality will suffer. Samsung offers several silicone tips for a decent fit, but these headphones may not work well for some users.

Like ‌AirPods Pro‌, Galaxy Buds Pro offers Active Noise Canceling (ANC), which is decent but not as good as the CAirPods Pro‌ ANC. It is definitely better than the ANC on last year’s Galaxy Buds Live, but it is not yet up to the ‌AirPods Pro‌. There is an ambient mode that is equivalent to the Transparency mode to allow the passage of ambient sounds, but again, everything is fine and does not work as well as the Transparency mode.

There is a prominent feature that Galaxy Buds Pro offers that is not available in ‌AirPods Pro‌ and is Voice Detect. Voice Detect lowers the volume and activates the ambient mode when you hear the sound of your voice, which is practical.

When it comes to sound quality, Galaxy Buds Pro is almost indistinguishable from ‌AirPods Pro‌. The audio on both looks great, and if you prefer one over the other, it depends on individual listening preferences. Galaxy Buds Pro is warmer and heavier on the bass, which some people prefer. You need a good fit in the ear to get the best sound quality because, if it is disabled, they will not sound as well.

Galaxy Buds Pro comes with a case that is small and pocketable, with the case adding 18 to 20 hours of battery life, depending on ANC usage. Galaxy Buds themselves have a five-hour battery with ANC on and an eight-hour battery with ANC off. In comparison, the PAirPods Pro‌ lasts 4.5 hours on a single charge with ANC on and five hours with it off, but the case provides an additional 24 hours of listening time. Apple’s PAirPods Pro‌ charge wirelessly or through a Lightning port, while Galaxy Buds Pro uses USB-C.

There are touch controls on each side of the Galaxy Pro headphones, and the touches allow you to play / pause, skip tracks, and enable and disable the surround sound feature. The PAirPods Pro‌ offers similar controls, but on the stem instead of relying on taps, which work better.

Apple designs ‌AirPods Pro‌ to be used with Apple devices, and Galaxy Buds Pro is designed to be used primarily with Samsung devices. There are several features that only work when used with a Galaxy device, which is a little new for Samsung. Earlier headset models were more resource independent and were easily paired with other Android devices or even iPhones, but with Galaxy Buds Pro, you will lose resources without a Galaxy smartphone.

There is a one-touch pairing feature to set up Galaxy Buds Pro with a Galaxy smartphone (you will need to manually connect to an iPhone) and there is a 360 audio feature that is equivalent to the spatial audio feature in ‌AirPods Pro‌. 360 Audio could not be tested because the update that enables it on Galaxy devices (other than the S21) is not yet available.

Along with one-touch pairing, Galaxy Buds Pro supports automatic detection and fast switching devices, but again, only Galaxy devices. There is an application to adjust EQ and other settings, but it is only for Android and there is no version of ‌iPhone‌ available.

In short, Galaxy Buds Pro are solid headphones if you have a Galaxy smartphone, but those are not headphones that you will want to buy if you have a ‌iPhone‌, because you will lose a lot of features. The price range is also only $ 50 cheaper than ‌AirPods Pro‌, so it is better to spend the $ 250 on ‌AirPods Pro‌ if you have an Apple device.