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At first glance the new Galaxy Buds Plus aren’t all the different from last year’s galaxy buds… But the Galaxy Buds Plus are way more refined this time around. Making them not just the obvious choice if you’re a Samsung user… but they’re also a really good option to consider if you’ve got any other android device. So lets see whats new with the Galaxy Buds + and lets see if its worth upgrading if you already have the original Galaxy Buds.
So the first most obvious new thing about the Galaxy Buds plus is their price. The original Galaxy Buds used to retail for $130 when they first came out. A real bargain when compared to their direct competitors and if you took their feature set into consideration. But now the Galaxy Buds plus retail for $150… which is still under cutting their main competitors by like 10 or 20 bucks and personally I do think the Galaxy Buds Plus are still more than reasonable at the $150 price point. So if you want to pick these earbuds up they’ll be linked down below.
So carrying case wise the galaxy buds and galaxy buds + are basically identical. The galaxy buds + has a very small carrying case which makes taking these earbuds with you on the go hassle free and you barely notice this carrying case when its in your pocket which is a good thing. But the galaxy Buds plus now has a glossy carrying case similar to the AirPods and AirPods Pro carrying case. And personally, I actually prefer the original Galaxy Bud’s matte finish carrying case cause I feel it has done a much better job of standing up to wear and tear when compared to the glossy carrying cases of my AirPods and AirPods Pro. So I think its safe to assume that the Galaxy Buds Plus glossy carrying is going to get scratched and smudged much easier as time goes on.
But there are two other small differences that want to point out about this new carrying case. First off the lid on the Galaxy Buds Plus now has a constant tension to it when you open and close it instead of having a distinct locking point like on the original Galaxy Buds. Personally I don’t mind either one but I think this is Samsung’s way of trying to make you think that the Galaxy Buds plus feel more premium. But more importantly the case on the Galaxy Buds Plus has slightly stronger magnets this time around which makes putting your earbuds back into the case a little easier and they feel like they’re much better secured which I personally really like.
But now this leads us to the battery life of these earbuds, which I think is the most significant improvement found on these new Galaxy buds. The Galaxy Buds Plus now have a combined battery life of 22 hours. The earbuds themselves can go for 11 straight hours and the carrying case can supply and additional 11 hours of battery life. And just like before, the Galaxy Buds + still have wireless charging so if you need to you can always charge your earbuds with your galaxy device if you have power sharing.
Now the Galaxy Buds plus’s 22 hour battery life is a big improvement over the original Galaxy Bud’s 13 hours of playback time. Now the Galaxy Buds Plus 22 hour battery life isn’t industry leading or anything… but it can at least keep up with the AirPods and AirPods Pro which both have a 24 hour battery life and the Jabra Elite 75T’s which have a 28 hour battery life. But regardless I really think that for 2020 we’re going to see the industry standard for battery life on wireless earbuds go up from 15 hours of battery life to 24 hours of battery life.
Now when it comes to fit, personally I think the galaxy buds plus fit a little better than the original galaxy buds… specifically cause of their ear tips. I can’t help but notice that the new ear tips are a little gripier. Giving the Galaxy Buds Plus a slightly better lock down feel. So I find myself readjusting the Galaxy Buds Plus a little less often. But everything else is basically identical to the original galaxy buds. The Galaxy buds Plus go in a good amount into your ear canal. They don’t go in super deep like the earbuds on the Sony WF-1000XM3’s and they don’t rest just on the edge of your ear canal like the AirPods Pro. The Galaxy Buds have a very standard fit to them. Now you can also use the included ear fins to get a better lock down with these earbuds but just keep in mind these ear fins don’t work for everybody. Specifically if you have larger ear canals. But overall I do think the Galaxy Buds Plus fit better than the Galaxy Buds mainly cause of the new ear tips.
Now when it comes to bluetooth connectivity… just like before each earbuds on the Galaxy Buds Plus establishes a connection with your phone. So if you want you can use one ear bud at a time and you don’t gotta worry about selecting the correct ear bud like with some other truly wireless earbuds out there. And over all the bluetooth connectivity on these ear buds is stable… there’s no drop out issues, and they have zero latency across the board when you watch movies or videos on your phone.
Now when it comes to listening to music with these earbuds… another upgrade that Samsung claims about these earbuds is that they sound better than the originals… and I can confirm that. These ear buds have noticeably better bass response to them and they also sound a little more open. They’re not as mids dominate as the original galaxy Buds. Now yeah these earbuds do have an adjustable EQ but personally I think these earbuds sound best when they’re set to clear.
Now they don’t sound as good as the Sennheiser Momentum’s or Sony WF-1000XM3’s… But they do sound better than AirPods and I want to say that these earbuds sound similar to the AirPods Pro with one major difference. Now the Galaxy Buds plus and AirPods Pro have very similar sound stages and they have relatively the same instrument separation… but the biggest difference between these to earbuds is the bass. The bass on the AirPods Pro just doesn’t resonate like the bass on the Galaxy Buds plus. So Im willing to say that over all the Galaxy Buds Plus do sound better than the AirPods Pro. But non the less I think the Galaxy Buds Plus are better geared towards people who like neutral sound signature or if they like to prioritize mids and vocals.
Now when it comes to controlling your music playback… the galaxy buds have touch pads on each ear. And over all these touch pads are very easy to use and they’re also very accurate. You get full control over your music playback so you can play, pause, skip through your music and adjust the volume all without having to take your phone out of your pocket.
You can even go into the lab tab and active the Double Tap Earbuds Edge option… something that isn’t available on the original Galaxy Buds. So you can press and hold on either earbud to toggle your ambient mode or activate your voice assistant which is very useful… but still be able to adjust the volume of your music directly from your earbuds with having to sacrifice the latter. And this actually works surprisingly well.
But if you’re someone that doesn’t like touch pads on your earbuds or even if you’re just a little apprehensive about dealing with touch pads… then I would recommend that you stay away from these earbuds. Even though the touch pads on these earbuds are very accurate and easy to use… they’re also very sensitive. So anytime that I go and readjust these earbuds I usually end up doing something that I didn’t mean too like either pausing my music or skipping a track. So I think Samsung still has to find that sweet spot when it comes to their touch pad detection.
Now the last major upgrade that Samsung added to their Galaxy Buds Plus is that they now have a new microphone array. Cause if you look closely you’ll see that that the Galaxy Buds Plus has microphone holes instead of one like on the original galaxy buds. And over all… yeah the galaxy buds plus are decent for phone calls.
But I wouldn’t say that they sound all that different from the original galaxy buds. But in my testing I did notice that the Microphone on the original galaxy buds changes its gain more frequently than the galaxy buds plus making it sound like you’re going in and out.
Where as with the galaxy buds plus it still happens… but not as much as the originals. So I really hope that Samsung fixes this through a software update.
But when compared to the AirPods and AirPods Pro I think apple’s earbuds sound better mainly cause there isn’t any fluctuation mid conversation at all.
Cause quite frankly the constant fluctuation on the Galaxy buds Plus can be a little distracting. But non the less, the microphone on the Galaxy Buds Plus is definitely useable.
But finally lets address the elephant in the room, a lot of people are upset that the new galaxy Buds Plus don’t have active noise cancelation. And personally I don’t really care that much for ANC on earbuds cause they don’t block out nearly as much noise as a proper pair of ANC headphones… for me what really matters on truly wireless earbuds is the quality of their ambient mode. And the ambient mode on the Galaxy Buds Plus has also been improved over the ambient mode on the original Galaxy Buds. The Galaxy Buds Plus have significantly less hissing in the background compared to the original galaxy buds. Its still there but you really gotta focus to hear it and have ambient mode set to high. Now I also want to quickly address the Extra-high Ambient mode on these earbuds tucked away in the lab tab that I mentioned earlier. In short don’t turn it on cause you’re going to end up getting a lot of feed back and personally for me I just like to keep the ambient mode on these ear buds set to medium. Now over all the ambient mode on these earbuds is decent but I do have some critiques. First off these earbuds do pick up a decent amount of wind noise when used out doors but more importantly these earbuds really like to pick up your own voice when you’re talking. Most other earbuds that have an ambient mode do a much better just of rejecting your own voice when you’re talking. So again I really hope Samsung fixes this though a software up date like apple did with their AirPods Pro. Cause for those wondering… over all the ambient mode on the AirPods Pro is better than the Galaxy Buds + cause like I mentioned earlier they do a better job of rejecting your own but also they have basically zero back ground hissing and they pick up basically zero wind noise when used out doors.
But over all, the Galaxy Buds Plus are a decent pair of truly wireless earbuds and I really like to see all of the refinement that Samsung put into them. And just like before… if you’re a Samsung user then the Galaxy Buds Plus are a no brainer. They now have a 22 hour battery life so you should be able to go about 4 days in-between charges with them but if you have power sharing you can top them off with your phone. And they do sound better, but I would recommend these earbuds to someone who prefers a neutral sound signature or if they like to put an emphasis on the mids, after all these are tuned by AKG. Now is it worth upgrading from the galaxy buds to the galaxy buds plus? Well if you’ve had your galaxy buds since they came out you’re probably starting to notice some battery degradation. And if thats the case then yeah I would upgrade. But if you’re Galaxy Buds are working just fine and if you don’t mind charging your earbuds on a more frequent basis then I wouldn’t rush out and upgrade. But even if you don’t have a galaxy what ever… I think these earbuds pair very nicely with my pixel 4. Now if you’re an iPhone user… I wouldn’t recommend that you get the Galaxy Buds Plus over AirPods or AirPods Pro. Even though the Galaxy Buds Plus now plays nice with iPhone thanks to their new app you still end up making some significant sacrifices. First off you end up losing Hey Siri Support which I think is a big deal… but also if you don’t already have a wireless charger then you’ll have to charge your phone and earbuds with two separate cables, which is just barbaric. So I still maintain that AirPods and AirPods Pro are the still the best default options for iPhone users. But like I mentioned earlier… if you’ve got a galaxy whatever these are a no brainer… and even if you have any other android device the galaxy buds plus are a good first option to consider.