Adam Kos Although it is very likely that Apple will present the 2nd generation AirPods Pro at its September event, it has not yet done so, as the keynote itself is not planned until Wednesday evening. Samsung didn't wait for anything and presented its Galaxy Buds2 Pro to the world at the beginning of August. In both cases, it is thus far the best in the field of TWS headphones in their portfolio. How does it stand up in direct comparison?
As we already wrote in the previous article, which focused mainly on design, the Galaxy Buds2 Pro are 15% smaller compared to their first generation, thanks to which they “fit more ears and are more comfortable to wear. But they still have the same appearance, which is not a detriment in terms of aesthetics, but practicality of control. Their touch gestures work well, and they also give you volume up or down, but in all cases you have to touch the headphones.
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Apple's pressure sensors work great when you grab the leg and squeeze. Although it is more lengthy than in the case of Samsung's solution, you will not needlessly tap your ear. You can't avoid this with the Galaxy Buds2 Pro, and if you have more sensitive ears, it will hurt. The result is that you prefer to reach for your phone and do everything on it. Of course, this is a subjective feeling, and not everyone has to share it with me. It's good that Samsung is going its own way, but a bit painful in my case.
On the other hand, the fact is that the Galaxy Buds2 Pro fit better in my ear. During phone calls, when your ears move as you open your mouth, they don't stick out. In the case of AirPods Pro, I just have to adjust them every now and then. In both cases, I use medium size attachments. In case of smaller and larger size it was even worse, even trying different sizes in the case of one pair of headphones did not help.
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Sound quality
The sound stage of the Galaxy Buds2 Pro is wide, so you will hear vocals and individual instruments with maximum precision. 360 Audio creates convincing 3D sound with accurate head tracking that creates a sense of realism when watching movies. But subjectively, I think it is more pronounced with AirPods. Of course, it is also available, for example, in Apple Music on Android. You also finally have an equalizer right in the Galaxy Wearable app for fine-tuning the sound, and you can also turn on Game Mode to reduce latency during mobile gaming “sessions”.
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One of the main innovations is support for 24-bit Hi-Fi sound directly from Samsung. The only catch is that you logically have to own a Galaxy phone. But this and lossless audio with Apple Music are areas I can't judge. I don't have an ear for music and I certainly don't hear the details there in either one. Even so, you can hear that the bass of AirPods Pro is more pronounced. However, you have to go to Settings to access the equalizer. Of course, AirPods Pro also offer 360-degree sound. A certain similarity to Samsung's solution is expected from their second generation, because listeners can simply hear the quality of the presentation.
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Active noise cancellation
The second generation Galaxy Buds Pro came with improved ANC and it really shows. These are the best noise-canceling headphones to date, using 3 highly efficient microphones to better withstand wind. But it is also known for other monotonous sounds, such as if you are traveling on a train. Thanks to this, they neutralize frequencies better than AirPods Pro, especially high-frequency sounds. They don't even lack functions for the hearing impaired, such as accessibility for sound settings or noise cancellation for the left or right ear separately.
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In addition, the distinction between normal background noise and the human voice is a novelty here. So, when you start talking, the headphones will automatically switch to Ambient (ie transmittance) mode and lower the playback volume, so you can hear what people are saying to you without having to take the headphones out of your ears. But Apple's ANC still works great, suppressing almost 85% of external sounds and drowning out most distracting elements even in public transport, although not as effectively. They are particularly bothered by the mentioned high frequencies.
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Battery life
If you keep ANC on, the Galaxy Buds2 Pro will outlast the AirPods Pro by 30 minutes of playback, which is not a staggering amount. So it is 5 hours vs. 4,5 hours. With ANC turned off, it's different, because Samsung's novelty can last 8 hours, AirPods only 5 hours. Charging cases have a capacity of 20 or 30 hours in the case of Samsung, Apple says that its case will offer AirPods an additional 24 hours of playback.
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Of course, a lot depends on how you set the volume, whether you just listen or make calls, whether you use other functions such as 360-degree sound, etc. The values are more or less standard, even if the competition can be better. At the same time, you have to take into account that the more you use your TWS headphones, the more their battery condition will decrease. Even because of this, it is clear that the longer it lasts on one charge, the better. In the case of new headphones, you will of course achieve these values.
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Clear result
It's quite interesting to see that even after three years that AirPods Pro have been on the market, they can keep up with the newly released competition. However, it is a fact that three years is a long time and it would require a revival, perhaps also in some of the health functions. For example, Samsung's headphones can remind you to stretch your neck if you've been in a stiff position for 10 minutes.
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If you own an iPhone and want TWS headphones, AirPods Pro are still the clear leader. In the case of Galaxy devices from Samsung, it goes without saying that this company offers nothing better than the Galaxy Buds2 Pro. The result is therefore quite clear if you are looking for the manufacturer of the phone you are using in the stable.
But I sincerely hope that Apple will not get rid of its iconic stopwatch. If he reduced the size of the handset itself, which would be lighter and still keep the same battery capacity, it would be great. But if he gets rid of the stopwatch and redoes the sense of control, I'm afraid I won't be able to praise him.
