staff@slashgear.com (Max Miller)
2024-04-29 18:15:45
www.slashgear.com
Other headphones on this list are, well, headphones. They’re big, and you have to put them around your neck or in a bag when not in use. But if you’re looking for a great-sounding Bluetooth option in the earphones category, you don’t need to look any further than Samsung’s top-end Galaxy Buds2 Pro. Having used these since the day they first came out, I’ve never thought the grass was greener in another earbud pasture.
The sound of the Buds2 Pro is best described as clear. It almost perfectly maps to a Harmon target, with my only gripe being the dip in highs between the 8-10K range. What this means for non-nerds is that these true wireless buds have punchy bass, clear mids, and clean highs, even with the stock EQ. Instrument separation is great, and there’s a wider soundstage than you’d expect from in-ears. If you own a Samsung Galaxy device, you can also use the company’s proprietary hi-res codec, which delivers 24-bit sound through the Bluetooth pipeline. Add in some pretty great ANC that melts the world away when you have media playing, and it’s hard to find fault with the sound profile of the Buds2 Pro.
Controls are easy and intuitive, with touch-sensitive surfaces on both buds. Tap to pause, double-tap to skip, and so forth. Samsung has even engineered a volume control that uses your ears as extra control surfaces; tap the top of your right ear to increase the volume and the left to lower it. I’m less in love with 360 Audio, Samsung’s response to Apple’s Spatial Audio. It’s occasionally good for movies like “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” which have excellent Dolby mixes, but I leave it turned off elsewhere.