Galaxy buds are the newest competitor to Apple’s airpods. Photo by Waid Jones
Samsung recently released the Galaxy Buds alongside the new Galaxy S10. These headphones are truly wireless and feature a small, sleek, in-ear design.
The price point for Galaxy Buds is currently at $129, while its competitor, the Apple Airpods, sits at a price of $159.
The Galaxy buds provide an hour more of Bluetooth listening and three hours more of call time than the Apple Airpods. And according to the Samsung website, they provide six hours of Bluetooth streaming and up to five hours of call time.
The design of the Galaxy Buds is also much smaller than its Apple counterpart, and they fit in the ear with a really helpful notch that locks into a typical ear shape. The Apple Airpods have that iconic stem that sticks out from the ears, but they lack design features that keep the headphones firmly placed in the ears.
While I have not yet tested call quality on the Airpods, I can speak for the call quality for the Galaxy Buds. No surprise, every person I’ve called with them has said it sounds crystal clear. While I am certain this is something that could vary from phone to phone and service to service, I am impressed with the microphone capability thus far.
From an aesthetic standpoint, it’s also worth noting that Samsung offers their product in three different colors: black, white and neon yellow.
There are a few features that Samsung has offered with these new buds that really cannot be found on any other devices.
Like the Airpods, they connect automatically with Galaxy phones as soon as the lid on their case is flipped open. However, Samsung took this a bit further by adding features to their Galaxy Wearable app that allow users to customize the headphones to settings that they prefer.
One of the settings that can be adjusted provides a menu that lets the user choose whether they want their music and media to have bass boost, soft quality, dynamic quality, clear quality or treble boost.
The app provides another thoughtful feature in that it allows users to locate a lost earbud through loud chirping noises that alert the user to its location. I personally appreciate this feature, because I am notorious for misplacing things, and I can imagine it coming in handy considering how small these buds are.
Another feature that the Galaxy Buds offer and the Airpods do not is the ability to pause, skip, answer and decline calls by tapping the sides of the headphones. When working out or driving, these touchpad commands can be especially helpful for staying hands-free.
I’ve also had no difficulty connecting my Samsung Buds to any devices, even iPhones and Macs. The opposite can be said for Airpods, because it is typically harder to connect these to Android products. So, for versatility, the Buds get another gold star from me.
It would be fair to point out that although the Galaxy Buds outperform Airpods in most areas, the Airpods have been out since September 2016, and the Buds are a new product just hitting stores March 2019. This begs the question to consumers: is it of more worth to do something first or to do something best?
In case it wasn’t abundantly clear, I prefer the latter. The Samsung Buds are a way better deal, priced $30 cheaper than Airpods, which have been out for almost three years now. Also, I just really like the design of the Buds; I can tell that they really put effort into ensuring the product was functional in every aspect. All in all, in this battle of the buds, Samsung has prevailed.
