Today, Samsung continued its string of hardware updates with a launch event that introduced the new Galaxy Buds 2 Pro as it introduced its headphone offerings. they are smaller and more comfortable to wear than the initial Buds Pro, and the new model supports 24-bit audio playback via Bluetooth, provided you’re using a Samsung phone.
The $229.99 Buds 2 Pro can be pre-ordered from Samsung’s website starting today, and the device will be available on August 26th and will be available in black, white and purple colorways.
The Buds 2 Pro is 15 percent smaller than the original Buds Pro, and Samsung has also expanded the ventilation grille to allow more airflow to the ear canal, reducing any “clogging” sensation during extended use, which will also make the earbuds sound more convincing in clear mode.
Samsung also highlighted the use of a large amount of recycled materials in these premium earbuds, with the official description stating.
By weight, more than 90 percent of all plastic parts in the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are made from recycled materials. 29 grams of plastic were used in total in the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro, including more than 27 grams of recycled materials. Each of these parts contains at least 20% waste fishing nets (plastic from the ocean) or post-consumer materials.
Recycled fishing nets were used for three internal components of the chassis housing, namely the bracket trim surface, bracket battery holder, and bracket-PCB. post-consumer recycled materials were used for eight external components. Four components in the two Buds are in the front of their housing left/right and the rear of the housing left/right. And there are four components in 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 switch automatically between various Samsung devices, but unfortunately they lack multi-point support, so they can’t be paired with two sources at the same time. This handy feature is (eventually) becoming more common on earbuds, and Google recently added multipoint audio source switching to its Pixel Buds Pro. So it’s disappointing to see Samsung ship a new set of flagship earbuds without this feature.
But on the bright side, the Buds 2 Pro now enables 24-bit hi-fi audio playback, provided it requires a phone running One UI 4.0 or later, and Samsung also notes that support for 24-bit will vary from app to app, with Spotify still not supporting it, for example.
With the help of the Buds 2 Pro’s proprietary “Seamless Codec (SSC HiFi),” Samsung is getting true wireless headphones to start playing wirelessly in high fidelity. Apple is rumored to be exploring its own solution to bring higher quality audio to the next AirPods Pro. Sony already has a solution with the LDAC codec, available on the now available WF-1000XM5 and LinkBuds S.
The 360-degree audio feature will also reportedly be “enhanced” and multi-channel immersion will be improved. According to Samsung’s spec sheet, the Buds 2 Pro supports Bluetooth 5.3 and LE audio.
Buds 2 Pro battery life is 5 hours of playback (with ANC on), or 8 hours when turned off. Including the battery in the case, users get a total battery life of 20 hours (with ANC enabled) or 30 hours (with ANC off). the Buds 2 Pro has a water and sweat resistance rating of IPX7.
All in all, Samsung’s latest flagship earbuds are a modest improvement over the previous model, but still unquestionably the best companion to the company’s Galaxy phone lineup, including the newly announced Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4 today.
