Galaxy Buds + review: true wireless headphones are the most expensive currently available, but need adjusting to use 'delicious'

The event that Apple removed the headphone jack on the iPhone and launched AirPods in 2016 created a new trend in the market. At first, users and other manufacturers were confused about this sudden change.

However, over the past 1 year, true wireless headphones (TWS) have gradually asserted their importance. Android manufacturers also followed Apple to eliminate the headphone jack, and the market response to true wireless headphones was great. This field attracts a growing number of participants, including consumer electronics manufacturers (Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi) and audio / accessories manufacturers (Sony, Sennheiser, Jabra, B&O).

If Apple had a resounding success with AirPods, then Samsung would have gained a foothold in the market with the Galaxy Buds launched last year. This year, instead of a new version, Samsung decided to launch Galaxy Buds + with unchanged appearance and instead focused on upgrading the internal hardware.

Galaxy Buds + review: true wireless headphones are the most expensive currently available, but need adjusting to use 'delicious' Picture 1

Galaxy Buds + has a similar design to its predecessor

Not too different from its predecessor, will Galaxy Buds + be able to compete with other competitors in the market? Let's analyze some of the pros and cons of this pair of headphones.

Great battery life

If only to point out the most valuable and attractive feature of Galaxy Buds +, then that is definitely battery life. Galaxy Buds + for up to 11 hours of continuous use, twice as long as AirPods (5 hours) and longer than another rival, Sony WF-1000XM3 (6-8 hours). This makes Galaxy Buds + a true wireless headset with today's top battery life.

The battery life of the Galaxy Buds + will make this pair of headphones extremely attractive in the eyes of some users. For example, if you are a frequent flyer, or have to wear headphones without constant charging, you'll find that the Buds +'s "great" battery life is well worth it.

Galaxy Buds + review: true wireless headphones are the most expensive currently available, but need adjusting to use 'delicious' Picture 2

Battery life is the strongest point on Buds +

But not only for users with continuous headphones, but the battery life of Buds + is also useful even for ordinary users (which only hear about 1-2 hours a day). Because after a period of use, all true wireless headsets, including Buds +, will have a battery drain. However, because Buds + has a very long battery life, so even with a battery bottle, it can still meet the needs of the majority of users for a long time.

Good sound quality even though it doesn't support ANC

The original Galaxy Buds had relatively good sound quality and an improvement was not overly necessary. Still, Samsung has decided to upgrade this aspect on Galaxy Buds +.

Buds + is one of the few TWS headsets to feature a dual driver design. Compared with single driver, the advantages of dual driver are bass (bass) and treble (treble) which are performed separately by each driver.

Galaxy Buds + review: true wireless headphones are the most expensive currently available, but need adjusting to use 'delicious' Picture 3

Samsung upgraded the sound quality on Buds + thanks to the dual driver design

The most unfortunate point when considering the sound quality of Galaxy Buds + is the absence of active noise cancellation (ANC) technology. However, it's hard to see this as a disadvantage, because the price of Buds + ($ 149) is significantly lower than that of TWS headphones that support ANC such as AirPods Pro ($ 249) and WF-1000XM3 (230). USD). In the buds + price range, "regular" AirPods do not have ANCs either.

More importantly, even though Buds + doesn't have ANCs, its in-ear design still helps with relatively good soundproofing. When wearing Buds + under normal environmental conditions, users will be hard to hear the surrounding sound. In fact, Samsung also integrated the "Ambient Mode" feature, a bit similar to the "Transparency Mode" of AirPods Pro, which allows mixing music and sounds of the surrounding environment.

Need to adjust to use delicious

Galaxy Buds + is a good sounding headset, but to achieve this, users will need to adjust a few things to achieve the desired effect. Because, if users use everything by "default" (meaning that the box is finished and use it), they will be disappointed.

The first thing a user needs to do is try two pairs of eartips. A lot of people often skip this step because of "embarrassment", but with Galaxy Buds + in particular and in-ear headphones in general, choosing an appropriate pair of eartips is very important. It not only helps the user get the most comfortable wearing feeling, but also contributes to improve the sound quality significantly.

Galaxy Buds + review: true wireless headphones are the most expensive currently available, but need adjusting to use 'delicious' Picture 4

Testing the eartips available in the box is what users should do when using Buds +

Depending on the ear structure of each person, they will choose a pair of eartips that suit them. Personally, when using the default eartips, I was not really sure, but when I switched to another pair of eartips, this was fixed. If the Galaxy Buds + has the best eartips option for users like AirPods Pro, it is good, but it is hard to ask for anything more at this price.

Second, users need to install the Galaxy Wearable app on the App Store / Play Store and adjust the EQ. The default sound mode of the Galaxy Buds + is "Normal" for a "normal" sound, if not worse. However, everything changed completely when switching to "Dynamic" mode. In addition, Buds + also has some EQ such as "Soft", "Bass boost", "Clear" and "Treble boost"; however, most users should select "Dynamic" as the dominant EQ mode.

Galaxy Buds + review: true wireless headphones are the most expensive currently available, but need adjusting to use 'delicious' Picture 5

Changing the EQ to "Dynamic" will greatly improve the sound quality

If users are Samsung phones, another feature worth considering is "Game mode". Galaxy Buds + has a delay of about 0.5s, making the gaming experience with this headset very uncomfortable. "Game Mode" helps to mitigate this situation through the use of Samsung's own codec, but also brings the limitation that it only works with Samsung smartphones.

There are still some disadvantages

Although the Galaxy Buds + is basically a very good TWS headset, it is not without drawbacks.

First, the quality of Galaxy Buds + recording / voice calls has improved significantly compared to the first generation, but it is still not really good for users to be able to confidently make calls, especially in noisy environment. If users need a TWS headset to listen / call, we think AirPods are still the top choice, because the design of the AirPods allows for better recording than ear -buds.

Galaxy Buds + review: true wireless headphones are the most expensive currently available, but need adjusting to use 'delicious' Picture 6

Despite being upgraded to the number of microphones from 2 to 3, but Buds + is still not good enough for users to confidently make calls in different environmental conditions.

Second, as mentioned above, Buds + has a high latency that makes it unsuitable for gamers. This is also an element that AirPods proved to be better. However, if you are serious about gaming, using a wired headset is still the best choice.

The best TWS headphones in the price range

Galaxy Buds + is not perfect. As mentioned above, this pair of headphones still has some limitations related to latency and mic. In addition, users also need to adjust a few things, this pair of new headphones for optimal performance.

However, these are just a few small drawbacks. Importantly, it's the Galaxy Buds + which is a pair of TWS headphones for good sound quality, great battery life, full functionality (touchpad control, USB-C port, wireless charging) paired with a reasonable price. physical.

Although the listed price of Buds + in Vietnam is about 4.5 million, but in our reference, it is not difficult for users to own it with the amount of only about 3 million. When compared to the AirPods (regular version) in the same price range, except for the mic quality and compatibility with iOS, Samsung's headphones are completely superior to the competition.

Galaxy Buds + review: true wireless headphones are the most expensive currently available, but need adjusting to use 'delicious' Picture 7

Galaxy Buds + is a great TWS headset in the price range

So, unless you're an iOS user who loves AirPods or takes microphone microphone seriously, then as a whole, there's no better choice in the price range than the Galaxy Buds +.