Tag: sound

Samsung Galaxy Buds: 7 months review

I had another post on the Galaxy Buds but that was written after only a week of use. After using it for quite a while on a daily basis, I have a lot to say about these buds. This review is going to be written by listing the pros and cons I felt while using the product. The Galaxy Buds are Samsung’s most successful truly wireless buds that resemble many of the features of the Apple Airpods, more specifically the Airpods Pro (which was released after the release of the Galaxy Buds.

Pros:

1. Portability

Due to the small size of the device, it fits in every pocket and bag. The purpose of truly wireless earbuds is so that there is less discomfort. This idea of less discomfort is demonstrated by how normally wires are always getting in the way but wireless earbuds strive to remove that annoyance. Luckily, they also made the cases of the buds portable and small so that I can be easily carried around. Otherwise, it would’ve created a bigger burden.

2. Design

In my original impressions post, I mentioned how pretty the buds looked. It has an iridescent, pearly color that is hard to describe (the color that I purchased is the white). The best way is to actually see the product in real life. My thoughts about the design of the product still apply to today because I still love the design of the buds. Not only do the Galaxy Buds themselves look pretty, but the case is absolutely gorgeous too. On the inside, there is a very light pastel blue that looks stunning with the buds.

3. Sound Quality

The Galaxy Buds is an in-ear design where the buds completely secludes the outside noise. Therefore, it is much easier to focus on the music without any distractions. In addition, the base sound and the song itself sounds amazing through these buds so I constantly find myself wanting to use them to listen to my music even when I am alone at home.

4. Seamless Connection to Phone

These Galaxy Buds are so easy to use since I do not have to connect it to Bluetooth every time I use it. As soon as I open the case, the buds are automatically connected to the phone, making the process of using it much more simple and efficient. In addition, there are so many different settings I can choose from the Wearable app on my phone allowing me to change it according to my needs. I found that incredibly helpful and nice.

Cons:

1. Battery Life

I found the battery life on the buds to be below average. I have to charge it at least once every two days because the battery life on the buds is too short. It’s not something that is serious enough to tell people to not purchase the buds, but it would’ve been much better if the battery lasted longer.

2. Sound Block

Earlier, I put the sound quality and the Galaxy Bud’s ability to block out sound as a pro. However, there were cons that followed. Whereas I got a good sound of the music whenever I wanted to listen to music in a loud area, when I was at school listening to music, there is absolutely no way of hearing what the others are saying while listening to music. There are so many times when I unintentionally ignore people because I do not know that they are calling for me. Even when I am walking on the street listening to music, I have to turn it off whenever I am crossing the street so that I can hear the cars. I understand that the purpose of Ambient mode is for this reason. However, the Ambient mode makes me not want to listen to music because not only can I not hear people talking very well, I also can’t hear the music with a good sound quality, making me just want to stop listening.

3. Stuffy

The Galaxy buds are very stuffy after listening to music for a long time. Since it completely blocks my ear, I find it uncomfortable for around 1 hour of use. Therefore, whenever I listen to music at the gym with the buds, I always need to take a moment to keep it off in the middle because otherwise it feels very stuffy and uncomfortable. Yes, this does allow the buds to not fall out while doing intense workouts, but it is still uncomfortable.

4. Touch Feedback

There are different settings that come with tapping on the Galaxy Buds. This is incredibly useful whenever I want to pause the music or raise the volume. However, the tactic sensitivity is too much. Just a small swipe causes the buds to pause the music. There were so many times when I was just moving my hair and accidentally tapped on the buds a little bit; ..this paused the music.

Conclusion

There are many pros and cons, but as the Galaxy Buds was my first transition over to truly wireless earbuds, it was a overall pleasant experience. Now, if I use wired earbuds, I find the wires incredibly annoying. For example, it keeps on getting tangled and I cannot listen to music a little bit away from my phone with wires. If I was to rate these buds, I would give it a 4/5 because of the cons I listed, but generally the buds did improve my lifestyle.

Samsung Galaxy Buds Impressions

Recently, I purchased the White Samsung Galaxy Buds for $130. As a student, the price was slightly overwhelming, but after seeing a lot of reviews for this product, I knew I had to get one for myself. As I’m writing this impressions post, I used them for around 4 days so I have a general idea of what I like and what I think could be improved.

Pros:

1. Sound Quality

Although I’m not an expert in terms of sound and its quality, I personally really enjoy listening to music, especially bands. Bands consist of many instruments that come together with a vocal, which means that the sound needs to be full in order for it to be fully appreciated. I was able to find pleasure in listening to my music of choice with these galaxy buds. Just for everyday use, the sound has decent quality.

2. Design

Out of the three choices, I purchased my buds in white. I was attracted to all of the three colors (yellow, black, and white), but I ended up settling for white due to the pearly effect it had. I find that the white color isn’t too popping but also very pretty. Other than that, I also liked the shape of the buds because it fits very well in my ears and do not fall out. I go to the gym everyday and go on the treadmill very often. There was no circumstance where my buds fell off, which is a huge plus for me because I always watch something while I work out.

3. Compact Size

It’s hard to demonstrate it through words, but the size is very compact. It’s not too small and not too large. It fits very nicely in my pockets and is very portable. This was very beneficial because with normal wired headphones, there is not additional accessory to carry around whereas the buds come with a case that I need to carry around. Therefore, the smaller and more compact the case, the better.

4. Fit

This category goes hand-in-hand with the design, but as I mentioned earlier, it fits very nicely in my ears. The box comes with three different sized plugs and the outer rings. The different sizes of the rings help with it staying in my ear, although I opted for the original ring. Although I settled for the originals for both the plugs and the outer rings, it is a great option to have extras and have different choices for different types of ears.

5. Controls

This is a feature of the galaxy buds that I found very, very useful. At the gym with my phone settled down, when I need to control the volume, pressing on my right bud raises the volume and pressing on my left bud decreases the volume. Other than this, I found tapping on my buds to start and stop my music also useful because even when I’m not in a music app, if I just tap on one of my buds, music would start playing.

Cons:

1. Microphone

When I call people using the buds, the call quality is decent indoors. I am able to hear the others clearly and they are able to hear me clearly. However, when I step outside, my voice is not able to be heard at all by the person I’m calling to. As a result of this, if I want to call when I’m outdoors, I disconnect the bluetooth and just call directly from my phone, not using the buds. This proved to be very inconvenient since my buds, which are meant to be capable for calling, isn’t able to be used to call people.

2. Ambient Mode

The Ambient Mode feature of the buds were very, very, very helpful when I put these buds on outside. I can hear my surroundings very clearly which means that I will be safe from the cars when walking outside. However, I realized that in some scenarios, the ambient mode turns off. As a result of this, I keep thinking that there is just nothing going on around me since I can’t hear anything, where in reality, it’s that the ambient mode turned off. Because of this, there were scenarios when I wasn’t able to notice cars and people.

3. Battery

The battery was somewhat disappointing for me, especially the battery case. It only provides 13 hours and so I have do charge it every two days. On the other hand, airpods provide a much greater battery capacity, which I believe will be more useful to people that love to listen to music. In addition, I wish there was a way to know the exact battery percentage of the battery case because the only way to estimate the battery is by seeing the LED light on the case, but it’s not very precise so I don’t exactly know when it needs to be charged again.

4. Ear Fatigue

When I go to the gym and use these buds to listen to music or watch the video, I keep them on for 2 hours straight without taking them off. I found that after putting it on for a while, I feel pain in my ears because of its tight fit. Although this fit is very beneficial for keeping surrounding sound out of my ears, it brings discomfort after a long period of use.

5. Distance

I was disappointed in the amount of distance I was able to stand away from my phone to still listen to the music. I was only a little bit far from my phone when I heard a lot of static noise. I was honestly expecting the connection to be a bit better with my phone. However, the static noise doesn’t only come when I’m far away. Once in a while, even when I’m near my phone, the buds create a static noise for no reason. Although that’s not a reason why these shouldn’t be purchased, I believe this problem should be fixed.

Conclusion:

The Samsung Galaxy Buds is my first truly wireless earbuds and I’m glad I purchased it. Finally, when I’m at the gym, I don’t have wires getting in my way and due to the auto connecting method these buds have, it’s so convenient to use. Although there were a few negative aspects of these buds that I noticed, these are very well incorporated into my daily life that it makes up for all of the cons. Honestly, $130 isn’t a small amount of money, but I’d say that it was well spent on this product.