In a relatively short space of time Samsung has made a decent name for itself in the wireless earbud market and it looks like the Galaxy Buds 2 are on the way soon. Here’s what we know so far.
Samsung has already had several launch events this year with the Galaxy Buds Pro coming in January.
The current thinking from the rumour mill is that the Galaxy Buds 2 will arrive this summer with SamMobile saying July or August.
Meanwhile, Yonhap News Agency reports that Samsung will launch three phones in August: the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE, Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3.
So, this Unpacked event could well be for the Buds 2 as well – and the Galaxy Watch 4 – especially when we look at when previous models were unveiled with two out of four in August. Other sites, like The Elec, say it will be in July so it’s still somewhat up in the air.
With the Galaxy Buds 2 supposedly hitting mass production, it suggests the headphones aren’t too far away from launching – Roland Quandt says “sooner rather than later”. By the time they do, we could have others such as the AirPods 3 and Sony WF-1000XM4.
We know for sure that the Nothing Ear 1 earbuds from former OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei’s new company will arrive in June.
You might be wondering where the Galaxy Buds 2 fit into the range as the Buds+ were already a sort of second-generation model. Well, this is up for debate with different prices for the headphones rumoured.
How much will the Galaxy Buds 2 cost?
Some rumours suggests they will replace the original Galaxy Buds at the entry-level as the Buds 2 are thought to be priced at £100/US$100.
However, not everyone agrees with SamMobile saying they will come in at around $170 which would place them below the Galaxy Buds Pro. This would perhaps make them a tough sell for Samsung against rivals like the AirPods 2 but the site does say it is “just a wild guess based on the leaked model numbers.”
The rumoured model number is ‘SM-R177’.
What are the Galaxy Buds 2 specs?
There’s not a huge amount known about the Galaxy Buds 2 specs but here’s how they are shaping up so far based on rumours.
In terms of the literal shape, it’s believed that they will be a similar design to most of the existing Galaxy Buds. That is to say, not like the bean-shaped Galaxy Buds Live but more like rounded buds without stems.
A sketch of the case posted on Twitter doesn’t give much away, although it is supposedly bigger than before. More interesting is that GalaxyClub says that the Buds 2 will colour match with the Galaxy Z Fold 3 in black, white, purple and green.
New 𝙂𝙖𝙡𝙖𝙭𝙮 𝘽𝙪𝙙𝙨 coming soon! pic.twitter.com/AoSo3ykg6W
— 𓆩Yogesh𓆪 (@heyitsyogesh)
April 21, 2021
SamMobile also agrees with these colours and we know from previous devices that Samsung likes to offer a range of colourways.
Small details like the Bluetooth version will likely have to wait for Unpacked but we can expect the Buds 2 to come with features like touch controls and support for digital assistants.
A key thing you might be wondering is whether they will get active noise cancelling (ANC) and the general consensus is no, with Samsung reserving this feature for the Galaxy Buds Pro and the Buds Live (even if the open design doesn’t lend itself as well to ANC).
Something we’d like to see is longer battery life as the original Galaxy Buds could only manage six hours with a further seven from the case. Things have moved quickly and rivals like the Cambridge Melomania Touch can last for 50 so Samsung needs to up its game here.
It has done with subsequent models so we fully expect Samsung to be offering good battery life with the Galaxy Buds 2.
As more rumours and leaks arrive, we’ll update this article.
