Granted, this news is maybe a bit too late. Samsung’s already sold out
of the free Galaxy Buds it was throwing in with S10 pre-orders. That
said, the new Bluetooth earbuds are worth the $129 asking price,
especially for Galaxy device owners.
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As with many fellow S10 reviewers, I’ve been using the Buds for about a
week now. They happily hitched a ride in my ears from San Francisco to
Barcelona and then back home to New York. And I’ve been digging them the
whole time.
This certainly isn’t Samsung’s first wireless earbud rodeo, but frankly,
it took the company taking more than a few pages out of Apple’s
playbook to get things right here.
The Galaxy Buds are heavily inspired by the AirPods’ simple “just works”
approach to the category, bucking Samsung’s tendency to overstuff
products. That approach mostly works like a charm on handsets, but the
best thing a set of earbuds can do is fade into the background. On that
front, the Galaxy Buds work like a charm.
The AirPod comparisons are clear the moment you open the Galaxy Buds
case the first time, triggering a dialog box on the screen of your
Galaxy device. Like Apple’s version, the headphones will work with any
Bluetooth device, but they work best with the company’s own products.
Ecosystems, people. For other Android devices, you’ll need to download
Samsung’s SmartThings or Galaxy Wearable apps for the proper effect.
The charging case itself is a bit more bulky and bulbous than the
AirPods, but it’s certainly small enough to carry around in your jeans
pockets. I also actually kind of prefer the pill shape to Apple’s Glide
dental floss design.
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