Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro Vs. Apple AirPods Pro

Samsung launched new flagship Galaxy S21 smartphones in January and, along with the new phones, introduced the $ 200 Galaxy Buds Pro, which is priced at $ 199 and offers Active Noise Cancellation.

These new Galaxy Buds Pro are clearly designed to compete with Apple’s AirPods Pro, so we thought we’d compare the two headsets in our latest YouTube video.

In terms of design, the Galaxy Buds Pro bears no resemblance to the “AirPods Pro”, with a rounded design in the ear, which no longer has a stem. They have silicone tips like “AirPods Pro”, but MacRumors videographer Dan, who tested the Galaxy Buds Pro, found them much more uncomfortable than “AirPods Pro.”

They must be fitted tightly inside the ear to get a proper fit and seal, both to make sure they stay in the ear and to allow the ANC functionality to work properly. Without the right fit, the headphones will not sound properly and the audio quality will suffer. Samsung offers more silicone tips to fit decently, but these headphones may not work well for some users.

Like irAirPods Pro‌, Galaxy Buds Pro offers Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), which is decent, but not as good as ANC in irAirPods Pro‌. It’s definitely better than ANC in last year’s Galaxy Buds Live, but it’s still not up to par with AirPods Pro. There is an ambient mode that is the equivalent of Transparency mode to allow ambient sounds to pass through, but again, it is fine and does not work as well as Transparency mode.

There is a special feature offered by Galaxy Buds Pro, which is not available in “AirPods Pro” and is Voice Detect. Voice Detect reduces the volume and activates the ambient mode when it hears the sound of your voice, which is handy.

When it comes to sound quality, Galaxy Buds Pro are almost indistinguishable from “AirPods Pro”. The sound on both sounds great and if you prefer one over the other, it will be reduced to individual listening preferences. Galaxy Buds Pro are warmer and heavier on the bass, which some prefer. You need a good fit in your ears for the best sound quality, because if it’s turned off, it doesn’t sound as good.

Galaxy Buds Pro comes with a small and pocket case, the case adding 18 to 20 hours of additional battery life, depending on the use of ANC. Galaxy Buds themselves have a battery life of five hours with ANC turned on and a battery life of eight hours with ANC turned off. In comparison, irAirPods Pro‌ lasts 4.5 hours with a single charge with ANC activated and five hours with it turned off, but the case offers another 24 hours of listening. Apple’s “AirPods Pro” charges wirelessly or via a Lightning port, while the Galaxy Buds Pro uses USB-C.

There are touch controls on each side of the Galaxy Pro headphones, and touch allows you to play / pause, skip tracks, and turn on and off the ambient sound function. IrAirPods Pro‌ offers similar controls, but on the rod rather than relying on taps, which works better.

Apple is designing “AirPods Pro” for use with Apple devices, and Galaxy Buds Pro is designed for use primarily with Samsung devices. There are several features that only work when used with a Galaxy device, which is a bit new to Samsung. Earlier models of headphones were more agnostic with the features and could be easily paired with other Android devices or even iPhones, but with Galaxy Buds Pro, you will lose the features without a Galaxy smartphone.

There is a one-touch pairing feature for setting up Galaxy Buds Pro with a Galaxy smartphone (you will need to connect to an iPhone manually) and there is a 360 audio feature, which is the equivalent of the spatial audio feature in irAirPods Pro‌. We were unable to test 360 Audio because the update that activates it on Galaxy devices (other than S21) is not yet available.

Along with a touch pairing, Galaxy Buds Pro supports auto-detection and fast-switching devices, but again, only Galaxy devices. There is an application for adjusting the EQ and other settings, but it is only Android and there is no ‌iPhone‌ version available.

All in all, Galaxy Buds Pro are solid headphones if you have a Galaxy smartphone, but these are not headphones that you want to pick up if you have an “iPhone”, because you will lose so many functions. The price is also only 50 USD cheaper than ‌AirPods Pro‌, so it is better to spend 250 USD for irAirPods Pro‌ if you have an Apple device.