Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus Review

Samsung has taken another giant leap in the true wireless stereo
technology with the release of Galaxy Buds Plus which in an upgrade to
Galaxy Buds released last year. Despite an identical Bud and Case
design as its predecessor, Buds plus comes with massive hardware
upgrade proving to be one of the best mid-range TWS option available
in 2020.

What do you get?

In the box, along with Galaxy buds, you will get 2 pairs of Wing tips and
Ear tips, a type C cable, Quick Start Guide and a Warranty Card.

Design
The Galaxy Buds Plus unlike the previous version has a glossy finish. The
case is handy and fits in the pocket comfortably.
There are two light indicators on the case, one on the front face which
indicates the battery level of the case and the other inside which
indicates the battery level of Buds.
Green – Between fully charged and 60%
Yellow – Between 60% and 30%
Red – Below 30%

Comfort
The Galaxy Buds Plus does not have a ‘q’ tip, it is very compact and fits
very well inside your ear partially sealing it which is an advantage as
these does not come with an active noise cancellation. Part of the
earbuds stick out a little so you won’t feel comfortable laying on one
side of bed and listening to music as there will be constant pressing.
It sits perfectly in the ear and you will not feel a thing even after 6
hours of Netflix binge.
These buds are great for workout purposes as they do not come out of
the ear easily like the other ‘q’ tip earbuds. The detachable wing tip on
the buds locks itself with the ear, all you have to do is plug in and twist.

Technical Specification

Battery and Charging

Samsung claims that the battery life of the Galaxy Buds Plus has a
playback time of 11 hours in a single charge then put it back in the case
and get 11 hours more (Case charges the Buds Plus). It gives one hour
of playback in just 3 minutes charge which is quite impressive.

I have been using these buds for over a month and never faced a
battery drain issue so it can be concluded the claims are very much
legit.

Galaxy Buds Plus supports wireless charging. It can be charged using a

type C cable which comes with the box as well as wireless charger or a
smartphone which supports reverse wireless charging. The charging
time is approximately 2 hours.

Touch and Gesture

The Buds Plus has touch-sensitive outer portion which can be
customised using the Galaxy Wearable App available on Play Store/ App
Store.
These gestures can be customised to play, pause, skip tracks, play
previous tracks, Answer/End or Decline a call, Spotify, Ambient Sound
and Voice Command. There is an option to disable touchpad to avoid
accidental touches as the touchpad is very sensitive.
The edge of earbuds is also touch responsive which can be used to
increase or decrease the volume level. The edge does not have a
touchpad, it identifies the vibration produced by the touches as a
gesture to control the volume.

Microphone and Ambient Sound

Samsung has increased the number of microphones to three which
results in clearer voice quality. Two microphones are on outer side and
one on the inside. The quality of the microphone has been improved,
you can make a phone call in public and the caller on the other end will
be able to hear your voice without any disturbance in sound.
Samsung for the first time has introduced Ambient Sound mode which
uses the outer microphone to replicate the sound from the surrounding
and play simultaneously with the songs or calls. It has three levels of
intensity and an extra-high ambient volume which can be enabled in
settings. The ambient sound is very artificial, Samsung has to do a lot of
improvement in this department.

IP Rating and Connectivity

Galaxy Buds has an IPX2 rating which in water resistance terms is very
flimsy. They are sweat resistant and can be used in gym and outdoor
running but they are not fully waterproof, you cannot take it to the
pool or in use it in rain, it can get damaged easily.
These Buds comes with Bluetooth 5.0 which is among the latest
firmware popular in the tech market. It provides a better connectivity
and range if the device connected to also has a Bluetooth 5.0 or higher
version.

Sound Quality
‘Sound by AKG’ as it is written on the case, the sound driver is tuned by
AKG which is also owned by the Korean giants.
Sound quality is the best part of the Galaxy Buds Plus. Samsung is using
a dual-driver system of woofer and tweeter to produce a rich and clear
sound. This is where it proves its superiority in comparison to the
cheaper TWS earbuds and justifies its worth.
The highs and mids carries lot of details which I found very impressive.
It does lack a bit in bass but again no TWS as of date has a high bass
that we get on a wired headphone.
The sound on the earbuds can be customized using the wearable app,
there is option for Normal, Bass boost, Soft, Dynamic, Clear Treble
boost. I personally didn’t feel much of a difference switching between
them.
Even at 40 percent volume level it does a fair job of noise cancellation
which I liked. If you are travelling in a metro or walking in a park these
buds will surely cut you off from the surroundings at optimum volume
levels.
One of the problems which I faced (which can be a deal-breaker) is the
lag between the video on screen and audio received. Mostly this
problem was persistent whenever I was using the Galaxy Buds Plus with
my windows laptop, the video was ahead of sound. This happens very
frequently and you have to disconnect and then reconnect the Buds to
get the audio and video in sync but it does leave the user frustrated.
It could be a connectivity issue due to older version of Bluetooth on
laptop. Samsung’s limited audio codec support pays a price here. We
expect Samsung to roll out new update and fix this issue.
Verdict
The overall experience with the Galaxy Buds Plus is appreciable. Though
placed at a higher price point and facing direct competition with
Chinese companies (Oppo, Mi, Realme, OnePlus etc.) who have
released cheaper buds with quality features, the Galaxy Buds Plus
performance is unparalleled.