Galaxy Buds +, a completely wireless earphone with a super long-lasting battery that you want to use once, review

　I bought the Galaxy Buds + complete wireless earphones released in early March of this year, so I will review them.

　This Galaxy Buds+ has already been announced as a successor model with a noise canceling function, "Galaxy Buds Live", and I thought about purchasing that, but my ears are not in-ear earphones. I didn't accept it, so I thought that Galaxy Buds Live wouldn't suit me, so I decided to purchase Galaxy Buds +.

Index 

• 1 Galaxy Buds+ Unboxing!
• 2 great battery life
• 3 touch operation
• 4 Ambient sound (outside sound capture)
• 5 comfort
• 6 small points
• 7This is convenient! Supports wireless power share!
• 8 You can also customize the sound quality!
• 9 sound quality
• 10The connection is bad...maybe?
• 11 Note: Not compatible with aptX
• 12 General comment: Galaxy users should use it!

Galaxy Buds+ Unboxing!

　I bought the white one this time. The box is the usual Galaxy wearable device design.　In addition to the main unit, the contents included a USB-Type-C cable for charging, ear tips and wing tips.

great battery

　Galaxy Buds+ supports 11 hours of continuous music playback with a single earphone. Compared to 5 hours for AirPods and 6 hours for WF-1000XM3, I think it's a pretty superior point.

　In fact, I started using it at 1:30 pm and played it continuously, and as a result, the battery ran out after 1:00 am.

　I think there is a difference depending on how you use it, but in this case, you can play continuously for 11 and a half hours . I used the ambient sound mode (described later) while turning it on and off, but I was pleased that it exceeded the nominal value.

　Also, according to the explanation on the official website, it can be used for 1 hour with 3 minutes of charging. The author also charged the earphones to 0%, charged them for 3 minutes, and then measured the operation time. Then, the right ear side ran out of charge in 27 minutes and 27 seconds, and the left ear side ran out of charge in 34 minutes and 1 second. It was much shorter than the nominal value, so I thought it might be because the case was about 40% charged when I did this test, so I did the same test with the case charged to 100%. Saw.

　However, even when the case was fully charged and the same test was performed, the limit was about 30 minutes, which is far from the official value. So don't get your hopes up for this fast-charging feature as much as the nominal value.

touch operation

　The main unit supports touch operation on the back, and different functions are assigned with single tap, double tap, triple tap, and long press.

　Single tap to play/pause music, double tap to play next song, answer/end phone call, triple tap to play previous song. The function of the long press can be selected by yourself from voice commands, ambient sound mode on / off, volume adjustment, Spotify launch. It is also possible to assign different functions to the left and right.

　The sensitivity of the touch operation is too good , so when I touch my elbow, touch my hair, or adjust the position of the earphone, I often touch it, music stops playing, and the ambient mode described later responds. There is a malfunction such as slipping.

　You can lock the touch operation itself from the Galaxy Wearable app or home screen widget, but when you actually want to use it (such as when someone suddenly talks to you), you can use functions such as stopping music and enabling ambient mode. I don't think it's good to be gone. I thought it would be nice to be able to turn on/off the touch operation lock by double-tapping the back.　Among the lab functions, there is a function that allows you to adjust the volume by double tapping the end of the earphone. At first, I thought it was just a double-tap on the edge of the touchpad, so I struggled, but then I realized that it was detected by the accelerometer. Did. I think this feature should be implemented as a base feature, not a lab feature, as it is convenient to be able to adjust the volume on the earphones.

Ambient sound (external sound capture)

　There is an ambient sound (external sound capture) mode. There are 4 levels of intensity, from small to extra-large. I actually tried using it in the train and indoors. The sound you hear through earphones sounds drier than it actually sounds. It doesn't bother me much, but the rustling of the vinyl is a little annoying.

　At low or medium intensity, you can hear people talking very clearly, but you can't hear people who are mumbling at all. Large or extra loud will allow most people to hear you, but will also let in a fair amount of other noise. For example, the hum of a fan or the sound of an air conditioner can be heard with a sound like the sandstorm on old TV. When the wind is strong outdoors, you can hear a lot of wind noise.

　However, it is quite convenient to turn it on temporarily when talking with a clerk at the cash register or listening to an announcement of a ride. In a good way, this ambient sound mode is a function that is convenient for small conversations . It's a wonderfully useful feature that's better than nothing (and you can turn it off if you don't like it), so it would be nice to fix the fact that it makes a lot of noise.

comfort

　The fit is great thanks to the included wingtips. Even if you run or jump, you will not show any gestures that you can get from your ears. The standard size wingtips and eartips that were originally attached to my ears were just right, but I think it is possible to replace them with the attached ones of a different size if it is difficult.

small point

　Galaxy Buds+ automatically pauses music when you remove the earphones from both ears, and automatically plays when you put the earphones back on. It is a casual part, but it is convenient.

　One of the features in Labs is Game Mode. This is a god feature that reduces lag to a minimum when playing games. I don't play music games, so I honestly don't know the benefits of this, but I think it's a pretty nice feature.

　In addition, it supports multi-pairing function. Although this function is not a function that allows simultaneous playback on multiple terminals, there is no need to disconnect the previously connected terminal when switching earphones, and it can be used on another terminal. For me, who often uses multiple devices such as smartphones and tablets at the same time, it saves me one hassle, so I'm very happy with this specification.

　When you want to use multiple devices at the same time, you can use the standard function "Music Share" of the Galaxy terminal, and I think that the software is substantial.

　When you open the lid of the earbuds, a pop-up will appear on your Galaxy device telling you how much battery is left. This "seamless feeling" is irresistible. By the way, in Buds + BTS Edition, the animation here has been remodeled to BTS specifications. It's irresistible for fans.

This is convenient! Supports wireless power share!

　The Galaxy Buds+ case supports Qi charging. Since the Galaxy S10 and later terminals are equipped with the "Wireless Power Share" function, you can charge it simply by holding the case over your smartphone without charging at home, which is very convenient. With the Galaxy S10+ (4000mAh), it was possible to charge about 40% of the case with 10% of the smartphone's charge.

　The total continuous playback time of the earphone and case is 22 hours, which is not much compared to other wireless earphones, but the Qi charging support of the case and the wireless power share function installed in the Galaxy terminal , it can be operated with a sense of almost unlimited time.

　Even if the battery runs out, you can use it for 1 hour (nominal value) by charging it for 3 minutes in the case, so you can use it continuously with almost no cooldown.

You can also customize the sound quality!

　The Galaxy Buds+ app includes an equalizer that lets you customize the sound quality. There are 6 levels in the app, including the standard, and even the same music will give you a different impression. I personally liked the sound quality when it was set to "Dynamic", so I set it to "Dynamic".　If this simple 6-step equalizer is not enough for you, you can use the "Sound Assistant" app introduced the other day to make more detailed settings.

sound quality

　The sound quality, which is important, is tuned by AKG, a major audio equipment manufacturer under the umbrella of Samsung, and the impression is that it is quite good. However, it also sounds like the bass is a little squashed. Even if I enabled the bass booster in the equalizer mentioned above, it felt like the treble sound was just weakened.

　The Galaxy Buds+ uses a dynamic 2-way speaker, with bass and treble emitted by the Woofer and Tweeter, respectively, so I think it has evolved considerably from the original Galaxy Buds, which had only one speaker.　However, I think that the sound quality is sufficient for casual listening while traveling, such as on a train, and that it can be used for everyday use.

Poor connection...maybe?

　The point that I felt a little subtle is that the Bluetooth connection is bad. When I used it for the first time, there was a noise like "Zaza Zha Zha", and the sound was interrupted.

　This phenomenon only occurred when connected to the previously introduced " Galaxy Tab S6 Lite " and did not occur when connected to the Galaxy S10+. From this, I suspected a problem with the Tab S6 Lite, but I didn't see any difference in the specifications around Bluetooth, so I thought it wasn't a hardware difference.

　So, while trying various things, I thought that this problem is likely to occur when opening and closing the cover of the tablet. I used a TRkin cover that I could buy cheaply on Amazon instead of a genuine cover, so I thought that the magnets attached to this cover might be interfering, but I couldn't think of a good way to test it , so We have not been able to confirm the effect of the cover.

Note: not compatible with aptX

　Galaxy Buds+ does not support the aptX standard, which is generally considered to be "low latency and high sound quality". Therefore, if you try to use it on a device other than the Galaxy, you may be a little dissatisfied.

　Samsung's own Bluetooth codec "Scarable Codec" is installed on Galaxy devices, and Galaxy Buds + also supports this. This "Scarable Codec" has received favorable reviews for its low latency and high sound quality. If it is connected to a Galaxy terminal, it can be said that the ability to communicate using this "Scarable Codec" is a strength unique to Galaxy that is different from wireless earphones made by other companies.

General comment: Galaxy users should use it!

　Overall, the Galaxy Buds+ are great wireless earbuds. In particular, when using a Galaxy device, the connection is seamless, there is little delay, and the sound quality is reasonably high, so I think it's worth trying it once.

　On the other hand, it does not support aptX, and there are subtle parts for Android devices other than Galaxy, so it is not recommended to use it on Android devices other than Galaxy. If it's an iPhone, the iPhone itself doesn't support aptX in the first place, so it may be an option.

　In addition, the “Galaxy Buds + BTS Edition”, a collaboration product with the world-famous BTS, is also available at Tower Records and Galaxy Harajuku, making it an irresistible gem for BTS fans. Even iPhone users can use the Galaxy Buds+, so I think it's worth buying for those who were worried that they were using an iPhone.　Galaxy Buds+ is a great match with the Galaxy series! I thought that it was one that I would like people who use Galaxy terminals, including the successor model "Galaxy Buds Live", to use.