Galaxy Buds 2 review. A cheap and good all rounder

Stand-alone wireless earphone Galaxy Buds 2 released by Samsung in 2021. I won and got it in the campaign in the "Galaxy Members" app , so I will review it.

 Opened

 I will open it immediately. The outer box and contents look like this. I use it with Galaxy Buds / Galaxy Buds Live, and I am using this Galaxy Buds2, but all the included items are almost the same, and a USB Type-C cable and ear tips are included.

And here is the Galaxy Buds2 itself. The main body case is glossy, and the feature is that scratches are a little noticeable.

 

In Galaxy Buds2, the color of the charging case is all white, and you can only choose the color of the inside of the case and the earphone body. I received an "olive" that was close to green.

setup

Galaxy Buds2 is compatible with Android devices, especially Galaxy devices, which can be easily set up. In addition, although it is not compatible with iOS, you can listen to music by performing Bluetooth pairing, although you can not make detailed settings.

To pair your Galaxy Buds2 with your Galaxy device, open the earphone case near your device. Then, a pop-up saying "A new device has been detected" will be displayed, and when you tap the connection, the necessary plug-ins etc. will be installed automatically.

Comparison

 From here, I will compare the fit and sound quality with the Galaxy Buds Live / Galaxy Buds (first generation) that I have been using so far.　Galaxy Buds Live is an earbud earphone. Since the Galaxy Buds Live was an open type, the shape is completely different. The fit is different, and it fits well to the shape of my ears.


Galaxy Buds Live was a memorable earphone in many ways

Sound quality

Using the ability to listen to music on two Bluetooth devices available on some Galaxy devices, I installed the Galaxy Buds Live on one and the Galaxy Buds2 on the other to test the sound quality. The equalizer setting is dynamic.


It's a feature that isn't surprisingly known, but it's useful when you want to share music.
First of all, I listened to songs with strong bass and drums. As I heard it, I felt that the Galaxy Buds Live had a slight punch in the bass. When switching from Galaxy Buds to Galaxy Buds Live, the Galaxy Buds Live is so thick that I was impressed by the bass intensity of the Galaxy Buds Live. Of course, because the prices at the time of release are different, it is not possible to simply compare the superiority and inferiority, but I felt a little unsatisfactory.The sound quality is as clear as ever for mid to high frequencies. There is no complaint about this.

ANC (Active Noise Canceling) Performance

When I switched from the Galaxy Buds Live to the Galaxy Buds 2, I was most shocked by the performance of the ANC. Since the Galaxy Buds Live was an open-ear type, I had the impression that the noise had not disappeared with ANC.
On the other hand, the Galaxy Buds2 is an inner ear type. With ANC turned on, I couldn't hear the conversation around me even if I played the music normally or a little smaller . Even if you use it on the train, you will not notice the announcement at all. It's amazing to have this ANC performance in this price range.You can also use ANC with only one ear in the advanced settings.

External sound capture

Galaxy Buds2 is equipped with an external sound capture function. This external sound capture function can be finely set from the Galaxy Wearable app. You can adjust the external sound capture level and set the sound quality for capture with the left and right earphones .

Considering that it was not possible to set the level of external sound capture in the original Galaxy Buds, we can see that it is steadily evolving.

Touch control

The one I was most dissatisfied with with the Galaxy Buds Live was the touch control. The range in which the touch reacts is unclear, and malfunctions occur frequently, such as reacting with just a slight hit. In Galaxy Buds2, that point has been greatly improved and malfunctions have been reduced.
In addition, the operation when touched can be changed in detail, and it feels like powering up in terms of operation, such as tapping the end of the earphone to change the volume.

Battery life　

According to the official specifications, the battery capacity of the earphone body is 61mAh. It's not possible to make a simple comparison because it is charged frequently, but it feels like the battery lasts longer than the previous Galaxy Buds series. Even if ANC and external sound capture are turned on, it can be used continuously for 4 hours or more , so I felt that there was no problem even if it was used for a long time.

Points of concern

I feel that the Galaxy Buds2 is an earphone that is almost perfect in terms of operation and practical use. The only thing I was most interested in was the charging case. As mentioned earlier, in the Galaxy Buds2, the case color of all colors is white and it has a glossy finish. Therefore, it is very easy to get scratches, and the difficulty is that the scratches are easily noticeable . This was a shame because the Galaxy Buds Live had a matte finish.
 

General comment

I feel that the Galaxy Buds2 is an all-round type wireless earphone that has many of the ANC, external sound capture, operability, etc. that are required by many modern users. Especially for Galaxy devices and Android users, I felt that it was easy to use, and it was perfect for those who wanted high functionality and high sound quality at a low price.
Samsung earphones such as the Galaxy Buds2 can also be experienced at Galaxy Harajuku, the world's largest Galaxy showcase. We recommend that you try it on and buy the one that suits you best.