To complement the new Samsung Galaxy S21, the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro are available in three colours: Phantom Black, Phantom Silver, and Phantom Violet. The colour of the Buds will also match the colour of the charging case that comes with them. Speaking about the case, it has a concave lid with a centre unhinged hinge that folds up, giving it the appearance of a small treasure chest. It features a status LED on the inside and outside of the case that changes colours from green to yellow to red depending on how much battery is still within the case, which is nice when you want to slide it into your pocket. The Buds themselves are very different from their bean-shaped forerunners. The Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro have returned to their original state as eartip-equipped soundpipes. Given that they are pretty lengthy for earbuds, measuring in at just under an inch (20.8mm), the word funnel is perhaps the best one to use to describe them. However, the Buds require all that space for their plethora of microphones, pogo pins, and sensors. The Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro’s active noise cancelling and IPX7 waterproofing, the greatest grade ever for a Samsung earbud, are its two main selling points. Samsung’s earphones have only been IPX2 or IPX4 water-resistant up to this moment. This meant that while they were suitable for light precipitation or perspiration, they weren’t the kind of items you would want to have around while engaging in strenuous exercise. The Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro are protected against fresh water immersion for 30 minutes at a depth of up to one metre thanks to IPX7 certification, so you don’t have to worry if you drop them into the bathtub for a brief period of time or wish to clean them under some running water. It is a significant improvement for Samsung and competes with the best earphones on the market. The battery life of the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro is respectable for active noise-cancelling earphones, but it is significantly less than that of the Galaxy Buds Plus, which provided 11 hours of playback time on a single charge. ANC and Bixby are both power hogs. The charging case can provide an additional 13 hours of listening time if you have ANC turned on after Samsung guarantees five hours of audio enjoyment throughout one cycle. The buds will last seven to eight hours if you turn them off, and the case’s battery life can reach twenty hours. In actual use, we discovered that the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro lasted roughly three days.
