Considering the frequency of leaks for the Galaxy Buds 2 wireless earbuds, we can certainly count on them arriving sooner rather than later.
Earlier in the year an APK teardown by Android Police of the Galaxy Live app found references to a Galaxy Buds2, and in July there’s been a big leak of product materials along with various other leaks 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 potential upgrades in other areas.
When we reviewed the Galaxy Buds Pro, we found there were Samsung’s best true wireless yet. So here’s hoping Samsung can continue its upward trajectory with its upcoming true wireless earbuds. Here’s everything we know so far 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 and Samsung has indeed confirmed an event for August 11th. It’s likely then that we’ll find out about the new Galaxy Buds 2 true wireless.
How much will Samsung upcoming wireless earbuds cost?
Speculation has been up and down about how much the new true wireless is expected to cost. Some have specified a more premium price, other sources have suggested something far more affordable. It would seem that ahead of launch that no one really knows.
Galaxy Buds Pro are Samsung’s most expensive true wireless at £220, and it’s though that no matter what, the new Galaxy Buds will be cheaper.
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. Conversion rates would put that at £108 to £122, but we’d imagine it’s more of a straight conversion for the UK (£149 – £169).
More recently, a tipster (Ishan Agarwal) told MySmartPrice to expect the Buds 2 to be priced at €149 (about £130). What can we tell from all that? That the new earbuds could, after much speculation, hit the same price as the original.
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 appear confirm those are the colour options (more on that later).
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. This has been a cause for some disagreement with others saying that it won’t carry the feature.
Ahead of the Unpacked Event, Samsung has updated its Wearable app, and appears to have added in a listing for the new wireless earbuds. The app shows that there are five, not four, colour options, and also confirms that it will have active noise cancellation. It appears to be a more basic version of the tech in the Galaxy Buds Pro, with just low and high options included.
We’d have thought 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 it at an affordable price, it’s not far-fetched as we first thought.
Other rumours suggested 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 leak of the Galaxy Buds 2 listing in the app suggests that is the case (pun not intended). Battery life matches the Buds Pro, so we could expect 20 hours with ANC and 28 hours with it off.
The original Buds were quite basic, but the addition of ANC indicate the new model will be a fairly decent 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 might not make but that’s still not clear.
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 spill as August 11th approaches.
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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.