“Ready to replace AirPods Pro” Samsung Galaxy Buzz Pro release and first impression

Samsung's first premium wireless earphone, the Galaxy Buds Pro, has been released. It has improved water resistance compared to its predecessor, 3D spatial audio, active noise canceling, ambient sound amplification mode adjustable in 4 steps, and the ability to dial active noise canceling or ambient sound amplification with a dial when you start talking. Equipped.

After testing, we will release a full review of the Galaxy Buzz Pro, but first, I want to open the box and share my experience of using it for a while.

Design

Inside the box, the Galaxy Buzz Pro is in a charging case (about 2.5cm thick and weighs about 57g including earphones), a USB-CA charging cable, and ear tips in three sizes of small, medium, and large. 

Buzz Pro is available in three colors: Phantom Violet, Phantom Black, and Phantom Silver. Phantom Black was used in this review. The ear pin-shaped bird in the Samsung Galaxy Buzz Live has disappeared. Instead, it revived the traditional form of a glossy finish, like the Galaxy Buzz Plus. Bud fits my ears and pops out a bit, but I didn't have to worry about getting out.

One of the Galaxy Buzz Pro's biggest design changes is indistinguishable from the naked eye. It is much more waterproof than the previous one. The Galaxy Buzz Plus and Buzz Live waterproof ratings are IPX2 ratings, and only water droplets hitting at an angle of 15 degrees or less are waterproof, but Buzz Pro can withstand up to 30 minutes in water at a depth of 1 meter with IPX7. In other words, you could wash your car by yourself while wearing the Buzz Pro at the car wash, but that's not a good idea.

Samsung Galaxy Buzz Pro supports IX7 waterproof rating. In other words, it can last for up to 30 minutes in water at a depth of 1 meter

Active noise canceling

After pairing the Galaxy Buzz Pro with the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 (the process took less than a minute and went without a problem), I ran the Samsung Wearable app to test Buzz's active noise canceling function.

According to Samsung, Buzz Pro can block up to 99% of ambient noise. In my preliminary tests, Buzz did an impressive job of blocking the low ringing of the dishwasher and the buzzing of the floor pan. However, I could still hear higher frequencies, such as the clicks of a mechanical keyboard and the voices heard in the child's remote class. It's not uncommon for noise-canceling earphones to primarily block low-frequency sound, but it still deserves attention.

Active noise canceling has 'high' and 'low' settings. 'Low' is recommended in a quiet space

In addition, Buzz Pro's noise-canceling can be set to 'high' or 'low' level. The 'low' setting is recommended for quiet environments where a complete noise canceling effect is not required. I haven't noticed the big difference between the 'high' and 'low' settings, but those who feel uncomfortable clogged with noise-canceling earphones may welcome this option.

Ambient sound and voice detection

In addition to blocking ambient noise, the Galaxy Buds Pro can allow noise when you want to listen to your surroundings, similar to the AirPods Pro's ``Transparency Mode''. You can press and hold one of the buds to switch between active noise canceling and ambient listening modes.

What differentiates Buzz Pro's Ambient Hearing setting is its 4-step adjustment, which can go up to 20 decibels. When you enable the Ambient Listening feature, Buzz Pro's audio actually feels much more open to your surroundings, which is useful when you need to wait for the doorbell to announce the arrival of a package, or when you need to take the New York City subway when a dangerous accident may occur.

Galaxy Buzz Pro's 4 levels of listening to ambient sounds are supported up to 20 decibels

Working in conjunction with Buzz Pro's Ambient Listening Mode is a clever 'voice detection' feature that automatically turns off active noise canceling, lowers music, and boosts ambient sound whenever a user's voice is heard.

It was a fresh sense of freedom to be able to engage in conversations without having to lift my finger while wearing the Buzz Pro, and when I finished speaking, the noise canceling and the sound of the music became stronger again within 10 seconds. In other words, voice detection takes about 1 second to start after the user starts talking, and operates only with the user's own voice, not the other person.

Find SmartThings

Another cool new feature of the Galaxy Buds Pro (Apple AirPods first introduced) is the 'Find My Earphones' feature.

Similar to Apple's'Find My', SmartThings Find displays supported devices on a map, including the Galaxy Buds Pro. With the tap of a button, you can make the buzz sound louder and louder. If Buzz Pro is not connected to Bluetooth, SmartThings Finder reports the last known location.

When you press the 'Ring' button of the SmartThings app, the Galaxy Buzz Pro makes a soft beep and then gradually increases

Sound and call quality

I'll leave the details of the audio quality aside for a full review of the upcoming Galaxy Buzz Pro, but in my (untrained) ear, the Buzz Pro's two-way speakers were very impressive. When I listened to Bruce Springsteen's title track 'The Ghost of Tom Joad' on music streaming service platform Tidal (with Samsung's scalable codec, there was no drop in streaming), Bruce's vocal Sounded clean and clear, and a pleasing warmth was felt in the rising synthesizer. Ciara's Level Up bounced off without focusing on the bass range, and Carlos Kleiber's legendary Beethoven No. 5 symphony conveyed many details of strings and horns.

Buzz Pro's three microphones and redesigned windshield chamber technology are designed to suppress wind noise to keep your voice clarity during calls. Unfortunately, the weather was disappointingly calm during this brief test period, but people on the phone said my voice was heard loud and clear on a non-windy day. I hope to meet a stronger wind so that a full review can be conducted.

360 audio

As a function corresponding to the Spatial Audio of the Apple AirPods Pro, the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro provides 360 audio. This feature simulates multi-channel audio in the Buzz Stereo driver, while with the help of Dolby Head Tracking technology, the audio sounds like it's coming from a phone or tablet, even when moving your head.

It's a cool feature and I want to try it out quickly, but unfortunately, it only works on Samsung's latest Galaxy S21 series right now. A firmware update to enable 360 ​​audio on the Galaxy Note 20 (Samsung provided me for testing) and S20 is coming soon, and older Galaxy phones are undecided.

Automatic switching

Another feature I couldn't test is Samsung's new Auto Switch feature. For example, you can connect the Galaxy Buds Pro to a Galaxy tablet and watch a video, and when a call comes in, you can automatically connect to the Galaxy phone and make a call. When the call ends, the connection is transferred to the original tablet. It is also useful when doing multitasking. Like the 360 ​​Audio, the auto-switch feature will be rolled out with Samsung's latest Galaxy S21 smartphone, and the upcoming 360 firmware update will also support auto-switching for the Note 20 and S20 models.