Theses headphones are great. The sound quality, noise cancellation, ambient sound all gives a wonderful and accomadtion audio experience. My only complaint is actual rubber ear pieces. No matter how many times I change the sizes it seems as tho they do not fit comfortably and fall out easily. Its either too small or too larget to fit snug and stay in place. But that might just be my ear size.

Easy to use and easy to pair

What an amazing set of earbuds, these are definitely an upgrade to the original Galaxy Buds (1st Gen), and those were amazing sounding headphones on their own right too. But these pro versions, wow, they blow those out of the water....

Now at first I wasn't really able to notice the quality of the audio, I felt they were about the same as my original buds, boy was I wrong, not only these provide superior audio quality, these buds can literally pickup sounds that I wasn't able to hear before in my older Galaxy Buds, instruments that I didn't know that were there....a perfect example was Dream Theater - Octavarium....try listening to that song with these buds, the first 3 minutes will leave you in a trans-like state, orchestral basically, the sound is rich and just beautiful....

ANC works pretty well imo, it blocks out sound very effectively and you have the choice of two settings, low or high. I usually keep mine at high sense I work as a crossing guard, and I have to be outside several hours at a time listening to cars roaring past me, ANC takes care of that problem it makes a world of difference, I can barely hear any cars passing by me with ANC activated, all I hear is the music....

As for voice activated, its kind of a hit and miss for me, it activates when it detects or hears your voice and lowers down the volume of your music as well as automatically activating ambient sound so you can hear the other person you are speaking with, what I find odd though is it doesn't seem to activate when that person speaks to you first or asks you a question, literally you have to be the one to speak first in order for it to activate.....it can also be very interruptible at times, don't start singing along with any of your tunes because Voice Activated will kick in. EVERY. TIME. WITHOUT FAIL....if you are going to start a conversation you are still better off just removing your left or your right ear bud just to have a normal conversation with someone and just leave voice detect off....

Ambient sound works very well and you have the choice of 4 settings from low to very high, I would suggest you leave it at high max, trust me you don't need it any higher than that ambient sounds works very well and it will pick up everything around you, if you work at an office ambient sound would be a very important feature for you imo....

Very solid build quality, not too big of a fan of the Matt finish though (can be slippery, take caution), but if you hate fingerprints no worries you wont see any of them on these puppies, for such a small case and well thick enough buds, they are surprisingly heavy, it's understandable though, there is so much tech packed in such a small form factor it's no wonder they are slightly heavy, I think it has to do with the magnets, the magnets on these are a huge step up compared to the past buds, very strong your buds will not fall off the case that easy you have to deliberately shake them VERY HARD in order to send them flying....

As for the buds themselves well, they are pretty comfortable, somewhat, idk maybe I'm just going crazy but these are not exactly perfect fit I feel like the first gen buds had the right fit for me, these overtime start to hurt my ears a little bit, never had this problem with the older buds so idk guess it has to do with my ears, I think I just need bigger rubber tips and the largest ones that it came with are just not large enough to provide a better seal, why can't I use my older tips from my first gen buds? or even other tips that are out there? I just don't understand why Samsung didn't make the tips universal on these buds, these tips have a weird proprietary, idk, is connection the right word? anyways, the tips that it came with are solely and only for these buds so do not lose em, I cant find any replacements for these, eBay has some, but they are those foam ones and I don't like the foam ones...way to pull an Apple Samsung....why on earth was that a good idea? just make them universal so I can easily replace these things whenever I want...anyways moving along (sorry that was just a gripe I had)

Controls seem pretty straight forward, if you are coming from the original buds like me you will become instantly familiar with them....tap once pause, tap twice skip track, tap three times previous track....you get the idea....

(I only had these buds for like two days so sadly I haven't been able to test call quality with these, mainly I have just been using them for music, as intended)

In conclusion, there is alot more to these buds I can go on about but in all honesty this will turn into a very long review so I'm just gonna go straight to the point...ahem....BUY THESE....even if you have to use a credit card just, just buy them they are that good and worth every penny....not even the Air-pods Pro can step up with these buds not to mention 50 dollars cheaper and much more up to date technology that's being offered to you, in other words more bang for your buck, you can't go wrong with these and if you are an audiophile trust me, you will want these.....

The case is very compact and convenient.

The battery life is less than the Buds+ but usually doesn't run out, at least for me.

The features like noise cancelling and ambient sound are nice, although I now find myself just using one earphone when I need to hear my environment. I personally avoid the EQ settings from the Wearable app, the default sound is the best IMO.

Comfort and fit is not so great - they tend to hurt my ears after an hour or two and slip out of my ears regardless of what tips I use.

I should also note that they (and the Buds+) are much more water sensitive than indicated by the IP rating - if you clean them try to use as little water as possible or else they will stop working.

As for sound, they are a definite improvement over the Buds+ which had a weird treble timbre and was a bit anemic due to subbass focus over midbass. The signature is something like warm Harman and is not in need of EQ for me personally. I personally find them to be one of the best tuned IEMs out of the box regardless of being wireless or wired, and they are a lot more convenient to put on than higher-end IEMs with an over-the-ear cable so despite the fit issues I find myself reaching for them quite a bit.

I had the Galaxy Buds Plus (Red) and I bought them in 2020. I was really happy with the overall use, function and feel of the Bud Plus. I ended up (by accident) washing and drying them in the laundry. After that I lost some of the functions of the earbuds. Not an issue with the replacement program that I also purchased with the buds here on Amazon through Asurion protection plan. I was able to replace the defective buds with new ones with absolutely no hassle. I ended up spending an extra $22.00 in the replacement because I re-added the protection plan which why not at this point, i'm a firm believer in service/replacement plans.

When I ordered these Buds Pro's, I had read about all the current and new earbuds on the market and as I was doing my research, comparing new with the old and feature for feature, my first notice was the battery life is less than the old Bud Plus's. Significantly less out the box but for me that was not an issue to sway me away from the new Bud's Pro. None the less I started looking at other companies and saw reviews about them (other brands) that told me not to really mess with them. Not even worth calling out other brand names as I think that is a personal preference. I have been privy to Samsung brand for years, owning all the Note phones, except the one that blew up (Current Note 20 Ultra owner) and the former Bud Plus.

When I finally made the decision to go with these Bud Pro's (Black) saw that I could (for no extra cost) get them same day delivered. That was a plus, not that I really needed them same day but thanks for the availability Amazon!! They were late with the delivery but only because we were having a snow storm this day so the 22 minutes later was nothing to trip about. I was just happy that they were safe in traveling and the product arrived undamaged.

Out the box & Pairing:
The buds needed to be charged before they could be used, the case had like 30% battery and the buds were at a low 1%. As soon as I opened the case for the buds, my phone alerted me that they were being paired with my phone so I really didn't even need to "Setup" the buds to my phone but only erase the old profile of the Red Buds. They needed to be at at least 15% for my Note 20 Plus to do the update through the Wear app and the total update time was only a few good minutes. Overall I think the first charge only took about an hour and they were ready to go.

Note of discovery - The Case DOES NOT charge with the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic Magnet Charger as well as the Apple Watch Magnet Charger.

The Case:
The case is smaller than the old Bud Plus's which is no big deal. Off top when opening the case I notice that the lid is slightly loose and "Jiggles" around (left to right) a small amount at the hinge. Not a huge deal if all the bud cases come like this, just don't be reckless when handling your product. This is something that I noticed but doesn't make me feel like I got a "cheap" product at all.

Fitting and Feel:
Pro's
I placed the buds in my ear for the first time and they stayed in place and felt fine. I believe they come with the medium rubber attachments already on them. They felt fine but not like my old ones felt. I looked at the other sizes that were provided and none of them felt "perfect" to me. I still had the old red ones from my last pair and thought I would give it a try and see if they fit on them and how they felt in my ears. Well lets just say that here is my first point of criticism; The old bud attachments work and feel better than the new ones provided and I am glad that I held onto them. If not then I would have had way more to say about the feel and comfort levels of these new ones.

Con's
- Takes a bit of time to get use to the feel of the new design of these buds and when you pick them up out of the case you feel like you are going to drop them.
- Placement into your ears takes a bit more time than the Buds Plus, you feel as if you are going to drop them when you are setting them in your ears.
- The buttons on these are way more reactive and sensitive so be prepared to accidentally pause your media when you try to adjust your buds (unless you have touch block activated)

Note of discovery - I am going to re-try the provided rubber pieces. I went out to do some snow shoveling and noticed that both the buds seemed to feel loose and I had to adjust them a bunch of times to have them feel like they wouldn't fall out. When I was done with my task and walking back into the garage, one (left bud) actually fell out of my ear. I will try the stock ones again for comfort and proper securement.

Sound and Clarity:
Note - I have my EQ setting on the Dynamic setting
In quite environments - They sound great and have no issues to report with the clarity, volume, bass or overall sound they put out. The new 360 sound feature is something to get use to. It sounds cool and reacts to when you turn your head left or right. Imagine having surround sound speakers jammed into your ears or when if you have that feature (Surround Sound Mode) on a television and you turn it on and everything sounds kinda spread out...That would be the comparison I would use to describe 360 sound mode.

In a loud environment - They handle really well and you can have them maxed out on volume and you are able to hear your media very clear.

Con
- Using the 360 mode with media playing in a loud environment wasn't the best experience for me. With all the movements I was doing it made for me having to "focus" on where the sound was coming from at times and made for more of a distraction. Maybe I will get use to this but I think I will just save that function for quite environment listening.

Calls:
In a quite environment - On the receiving end of a call, totally clear and nothing negative to report. You can hear everything that is on the other end of the call in terms of "background" noise but I would say that its nothing to detour you from having a phone conversation. On the callers end, the caller can hear you crystal clear while you are speaking in a normal talking tone without issue. Today and most days I have my ears covered with a hoodie or skull cap which completely covers the ear buds and that played no part in disturbing the functionality of the Buds Pro ðŸ‘🾠the people will still hear you. Another caller reported that until they were told that I was talking through ear buds they thought that I was on the phones regular receiver so no differentiations between the two.

In a loud environment - You can hear the person on the other end of the phone call just fine over the loud noises that are around you. No worries to not understanding the caller, the buds handle just fine.

Con's
- When you have a lot of loud background noises (a running snowblower that you are operating in this case) the caller can't make out all that you are saying (in a "normal" speaking tone) and was reported "Sounds like you are in a tunnel and much harder to hear you." This is something that was reported to me with the old earbuds as well but only after they went through the laundry. I did a "walk away" test from the loud machine and was about 30' away and the caller was able to hear me again just fine, loud and clear. As soon as I walked back up to the machine the same report of not being able to hear me was given.
- You have to YELL in order for people on the other end of the phone call to hear you. They might not make out what you are trying to say and you will have to repeat yourself.

Media (Music/Pod Cast/Videos):
In a quite environment - Sound is great and very clear. The amount of bass is rich and I feel overall a great balance for what they offer. The overall volume seems a bit lower from the previous Buds Plus but I am going off memory of the old buds compared to the new ones. The amount of volume is good enough that you do not need to have the buds all the way up to enjoy the media you are playing. With both buds in you can have the volume set to half or under and still hear very clearly the media you are playing so say if you are in a grocery store and didn't have the ambient sound on but the volume was low to those settings, you would be able to hear your media and surrounding noises just fine.

In a loud environment - Same as above; They handle very well.

Multiple Device Connection:
I was able to connect of course to my phone as a main device, I was also able to connect to my 2019 Macbook Pro without a problem and the sound quality is just a good as when on the phone device. You can control the playback functions and volume from either the laptop or the earbuds. In the future I will be pairing the Buds Pro with other useable devices (Tablets, IPhone) and whatever you can pair to them to see the overall quality.
I did try to connect them to my VIZIO V-Series - 58" Smart 4K HDR TV and was not successful due to no pairing feature on the TV's end. Also I tried to pair them up with some musical equipment that has Bluetooth capability but was not able to pair them but the equipment saw that they were available. I'm guessing that in the future that feature will be available through Akai Professional.

Con's
When playing media through my phone then switching to my laptop you have to manually switch the device in order to play the other source. In the past, being connected to multiple devices, all you would have to do is stop playing one device and start playing the other for the switch to take place. As of right now you have to stop the device that you are playing, then open the bluetooth feature (on the laptop) double click the Bud's Pro in order for the buds to be able to receive the signal for the other "paired" device. And vice versa to switch back from laptop to phone. When I pair my tablet I will try this again and see if its the required method. And after pairing the Bud Pros with my Note Tablet, I have discovered that the above issue is the same and you have to manually switch between both devices to use.

Talk to text:
In a quite environment - Just fine with my dialect. You can speak normal speed and the buds catch everything you are saying. in the past and even just on the phone, I have found myself having to speak like a feelingless robot to get the words that I am speaking to be heard correctly and written out. As I am writing this, "I am now using the talk to text function through the computer, with [the] earbuds and everything that I am in sane [saying] right now through the earbuds is being [typed] out for me and I will leave all of the imperfections in this sentence. I am speaking at a normal tone and normal speed and I would say with the couple of imperfections and misspellings that are in brackets above this thing picks up and it takes what you're saying eerily [very] accurate.

In a loud environment - I can't report anything on this as I have not been in a loud environment to do any of the talk to text yet.

Con's
- The more I use talk to text through the computer I am seeing that I have to speak a little slower and clearer in order for it to understand what I'm saying.
- This will probably be the same with been on the phone and using the talk to text function as well.

OK so overall I have to say that these are pretty dope pieces of technology and equipment to have. If you are new to the Galaxy family or familiar to Galaxy products you will not be 100% disappointed even though this product and every product has its own flaws. For the price and for what I am trying to do, they are working out just fine and met for a perfect replacement from Galaxy Buds Plus that I had.

I really didn't intend for this to be a super long review so thank you so much for reading all of this. I put in a whole lot of detail and I really wanted to make sure that I hit a lot of the key points that anybody else would be interested in when buying earbuds and what others would possibly be looking for. I am a construction worker and I work in asphalt and do a lot of driving so the reason why I wanted to get these earbuds was because the former that I had, the Galaxy Buds Plus worked really well with the environments that I have been in and will be in in the next few months. These earbuds are a perfect replacement or a perfect addition to any truck driver that is out there in your rig with your windows down or anything like that to be able to listen to a phone and talk on the phone and take calls, listen to some music or media in loud environment and still get the job done. The only reason why I would not give this product five stars is because of the list of "cons" that I wrote above in this review. Otherwise, this would be a five star product. Thank you for your time!