Samsung launched its Galaxy Buds Pro back in January 2021, and it looks set to release another true wireless if recent leaks hold true.
So far an APK teardown by Android Police of the Galaxy Live app found references to a Galaxy Buds2, and there’s been a big leak of product materials ahead of Samsung’s Unpacked Event.
The Galaxy Buds 2 appear be a sequel to the 2019 original, so we can anticipate a similar look and features, as well as upgrades in other areas that would bring them up to standard.
The Galaxy Buds Pro were Samsung’s best true wireless, so hopefully Samsung can continue its upward trend. Here’s everything we know about the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2.
When will the Galaxy Buds 2 be announced?
Roland Quandt found out that Samsung has ramped up production for earbuds labelled SM-R177, which the online scuttlebutt suggests are the Galaxy Buds 2. He added that they’ll be arriving “sooner rather than later.”
Samsung often holds an Unpacked event sometime around late July/early August. The Galaxy Buds Live were announced in early August 2020, and the expectation is that the Unpacked Event will happen on August 11th.
How much will Samsung upcoming wireless earbuds cost?
The Galaxy Buds Pro were Samsung’s most expensive true wireless at £220. It’s likely the new Galaxy Buds will be cheaper, but by how much is unknown.
SamMobile believes they carry a $170 price tag, their thinking down to the reported SM-R177 model number, which would put them in the Galaxy Buds series (‘SM-R17x’) rather than the Galaxy Buds Pro (SM-R190′).
According to a report by 91Mobiles, the Galaxy Buds 2 could cost between $149 and $169. Current conversion rates would put that at £108 to £122, but we’d imagine for the UK that it’s more of a straight conversion (£149 – £169).
What features will the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 have?
SamMobile reported that the Galaxy Buds sequel will arrive in four colours: black, white, purple, and green, and a leak of the earbuds spotted by 9to5Google would seem to confirm that those are the colour options that will be announced for the earbuds.
The leaks also show a pair of earbuds that look fairly similar to the original. There doesn’t appear to be a wing-tip/stabiliser fin as part of the earbud’s design, which surprises us a little. The appearance seems slightly different with a more glossy look to the earbuds.
We had expected that the earbuds wouldn’t ship with active noise cancellation, but according to Ice Universe they will. Again, we’d have though a cheaper true wireless with ANC would be a no-go, but given the Urbanista London, Amazon Echo Buds 2 and Beats Studio Buds all feature ANC at an affordable price suggest ANC isn’t as far-fetched as we first though.
Other rumours indicate it’ll have some form of active noise reduction, with two microphones integrated into the earbuds’ body.
A sketch emerged online of the reported charging case that appears to be bigger and squarer than before, opening up the possibility battery life will go beyond the original’s 20-hours (six hours in the earbuds).
The original Buds were quite basic, but the addition of ANC indicate the new model will be a fairly overhaul. The Galaxy Buds’ didn’t gain an IP resistance at all, so we expect that to be added for water and sweat resistance. Bluetooth is likely to be the 5.0 version, with support for SBC, AAC and perhaps even Samsung’s Scalable Audio codec.
We’d expect wireless charging and fast-charging will be included, especially given Samsung’s PowerShare feature on their Galaxy smartphones We’d guess features such as the 360 Audio featuring Dolby Head Tracking that the Buds Pro support won’t make it to the Buds 2.
Sound quality would need to be improved, given its predecessor lacked the clearest tonal balance with the mid-range coming across as under-cooked.
That’s everything we know about the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2. Expect more details to emerge as we get closer to August 11th.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.