Today, Samsung held a launch event to continue its spate of hardware updates, introducing the new Galaxy Buds 2 Pro as it introduced its headphone offering. They're smaller and more comfortable to wear than the original Bus Pro, and the new model supports 24-bit audio over Bluetooth, if you're using a Samsung phone.
The $229.99 Buds 2 Pro, available from Samsung's website starting today, will be available on August 26 and will be available in three colors: black, white and purple.
The Buds 2 Pro body is 15% smaller than the original Buds Pro, and Samsung has also expanded the pass-through grille to allow more airflow to reach the ear canal, reducing any "clogged" sensation when used for long periods of time, which will also make the transparent pattern of the earbuds sound more convincing.
Samsung also highlighted the use of a large number of recycled materials in these high-quality earbuds, with the official introduction saying:
By weight, more than 90% of all plastic parts in the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are made from recycled materials. The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro uses a total of 29 grams of plastic, including more than 27 grams of recycled material. Each of these components contains at least 20 percent of discarded fishing nets (plastic in the oceans) or post-consumer materials. The recycled fishing nets are used for the three internal components of the frame housing, namely the bracket trim, the bracket battery holder and the bracket-PCB. Post-consumer recycled materials are used for eight external components. The four parts in the two Buds are left/right at the front of their housing and left/right at the rear of their housing. There are four components at the front of the cradle housing, the upper part of the housing, the inner part of the upper part of the housing and the lower part of the housing.
The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro can still automatically switch between various Samsung devices, but unfortunately they lack multipoint support, so they can't be paired with two sources at the same time. This convenience feature is becoming more and more common on earbuds (eventually), and Google recently added a multi-point source switching feature to its Pixel Buds Pro. So it's disappointing to see a new set of flagship earbuds shipped by Samsung without this feature.
But on the bright side, buds 2 Pro can now achieve 24-bit high-fidelity audio playback, provided that a phone running One UI 4.0 or later is required, and Samsung also notes that support for 24-bit will vary from app to app, such as Spotify still doesn't support it.
With the help of the Buds 2 Pro's proprietary Seamless Codec (SSC HiFi), Samsung is getting true wireless headphones to start high-fidelity wireless playback. Apple is rumored to be exploring its own solutions to bring higher-quality audio to the next AirPods Pro. Sony already has solutions for the LDAC codec, both available on the WF-1000XM5 and LinkBuds S.
360-degree audio capabilities will also be "enhanced" and multichannel immersion will be improved. According to Samsung's spec sheet, the Buds 2 Pro supports Bluetooth 5.3 and LE audio.
The Buds 2 Pro battery life is 5 hours (ANC on) or 8 hours when off. Counting the battery in the protective case, users can get 20 hours (ANC enabled) or 30 hours of total battery life. The Buds 2 Pro is IPX7 in water and sweat resistance.
All in all, Samsung's latest flagship earbuds are not much of an improvement over the previous model, but are still undoubtedly the best companions for the company's Galaxy phone lineup, including today's newly released Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4.