jiyeon

The Samsung Galaxy Buds+ are Samsung’s newest Galaxy Buds truly-wireless Bluetooth earphones that retail for £100 as of this review. I bought mine as a next step towards the truly-wireless earbuds vibe, coming from my former Anker Soundcore Liberty Airs, which I have reviewed here.
I have used my Galaxy Buds for approximately a week and a half, and I haven’t charged them for at least 5 days, using them on-and-off during breaks at work, out on the streets taking leisurely walks, or even just at home unwinding in my room.
 
The Buds+ were an impulse buy when I was moving from my iPhone 8 Plus to my new Samsung S20, and thought to cash out on an entirely new everyday carry setup, now consisting of my Samsung S20, Samsung Watch Active, and of course my Samsung Galaxy Buds+. The Buds+ were pretty easy to get hold of being as ubiquitous as they are, I decided to grab my pair in the same baby blue that I got my Samsung S20 in. Their case was much smaller than I expected, as well as the Buds themselves, which was a welcome choice as I wanted wireless earbuds that didn’t stick out in public, such as the AirPods.
 
I’ve been using these for a week and I’ve gotten to learn the sound signature of it, and how it performs compared to my prized FiiO FH5 in-ear monitors, as well as my open-backed Sennheiser HD 580 headphones. I did not prioritise sound as a top feature when selecting new earbuds, as I generally don’t fully appreciate sound quality in truly wireless earbuds, given how I am usually walking around and want to hear my surroundings as much as possible, whilst still having some background music. The Buds were a perfect choice for me given their small form factor and generally unity to my Samsung S20.
 

 
These are the cutest pair of earbuds I’ve ever used, they’re pretty round and fit flat into my ear, conforming similarly to that of a proper in-ear monitor such as my FH5s. I prefer these types of designs in truly-wireless earphones to the stick design as I find sticks to scream for attention.
 

 
The fitment of the earbuds is also spectacular. I have extremely small ear canals, so I only need the smallest ear tip size possible. The shape of the Buds+ fit nicely and give an impossibly-tight seal to my ears, with equally as good noise isolation. I don’t really experience the pressure that some people get from airplanes for example, so I can’t comment on that, but I find the noise isolation of these earbuds fantastic and not fatiguing. In fact, I find it scarily good that I sometimes have to enable transparency mode in the Galaxy Wearable app in order to get at least some outside world noise to come in in fear for the lack of environmental noise.
 

 
The case is super small and can fit in the small watch pocket that jeans have remarkably comfortably. The case is made of a glossy plastic that isn’t all that slippery. There is a flat side on the bottom in order to get these to comfortably sit on a table for example. Otherwise, they are a standard pill-shaped case, nice and minimal.
 

 
The case also charges using USB-C as well as wireless, however I find charging with USB-C much faster, even if you are charging them for ten minutes, tops. The case also swings open nicely, it is kind of difficult one-handed, but the lip on the front of the case makes it easy to visualise where the opening of the clamshell is.
 

 
As mentioned before, these use USB-C to charge, and also have the luxury of wireless charging with any Qi-enabled wireless charging, and even accept reverse-wireless charging from my S20 for extra quality of life, even if I still do find the reverse-wireless charging a little gimmicky.
 
Samsung claims 22 hours of battery life on their website, which I assume is both the Buds+ and the charging case as well. I have barely been able to get these below 40% on the case, and that’s with an hour or two per day with these on since I got them, so I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt and believe them. These certainly will not die quick even with heavy use, given how I wanted them to die but they just refused to. It doesn’t help that they’re so easy to charge as well.
 
It’s safe to say, you’re never going to get caught with your pants down with these if the case is still topped up.
 

 
The Galaxy Wearable app is paramount to the sound quality and usability of the Buds+, with features such as battery status, ambient sound modes, equaliser settings, as well as touch controls.
 
 
The home screen of the Galaxy Wearable app has most of the features one would need for daily usage, in particular the equaliser and ambient sound modes.
As you can see, I personally prefer ambient sound to be off as I find it recesses the lows and highs far too much to be enjoyable to hear music with, no matter what volume. This is because the ambient sound modes simply use microphones on the rears of the buds and project those back into your ear, so all that sound that would typically be reserved for giving you the best listening experience, now has to also feed back the outside world, the staging just isn’t there enough to be able to differentiate outside from the inside.
 
 

 
The equaliser might be a controversial topic, as I find all of the equaliser settings are equally garbage, and I've found software equalisers are generally subpar and detrimental to sound quality and signature. The normal equaliser (aka, stock listening experience) is overly muddy, with the lows being overbearingly stomping, the mids being recessed quite a bit, and the highs sounding quite sibilant and tinny.
 
For the reasons above, and because of my own taste in music, I prefer the ‘Treble boost’ equaliser, as this evens out the harsh lows, whilst also highlighting the mids a bit more. The highs and treble aren’t as punchy as the name of the equaliser might suggest, but due to the nature of the Buds+ being low-heavy, it’s not surprising.
 
There are other equaliser settings such as ‘Bass Boost’, which eradicate all highs from your music altogether, the soft preset which does the opposite and squishes lows like a bug, and dynamic for if you want your Buds+ to sound V-shaped. I don’t recommend any of the presets apart from ‘Treble boost’ as that is the one that I find closest to my reference IEMs, the FiiO FH5s, in sound signature. However, I do enjoy that options are there for anybody who is looking for some more punch and bounce in their music whilst listening to these buds.
 

 
A forewarning, I will be using the ‘Treble boost’ preset for my sound review, since I really am not a fan of the ‘Normal’ preset, and would in fact not use these Buds if the preset could not be changed. £100 for the sound signature that ‘Normal’ gives was unacceptable to me and I refuse to use it. Sorry.
As a general umbrella comparison for the real, stock sound signature, take my findings for the sound, and put more emphasis on the lows, and blow out the mids a lot more.
 
Highs:
The highs, I personally find are the weakest point of the earbuds. They’re very recessed no matter what track I listen to, and are overshadowed by the lows and mids, especially in bassier tracks. Female vocals lack power and punch that I would typically expect out of a good pair of earbuds or headphones, which is a shame as female vocals make up a good chunk of my everyday music listening. The highs however make up for this with astounding clarity, even if such clarity lacks imaging.
 
Mids:
I find mids fairly strong with these earbuds, they are clear and crisp, but like the highs, are overshadowed slightly by the lows. In tracks that have a lot of synths, drums, and overall busy instrumentals, the mids are able to separate nicely and image well. The mids tend to muddle slightly when there is a lot of bass present, but otherwise, the mids are fairly competent and I have little complaints.
 
Lows:
The lows are easily the most prominent part of the earbuds, screaming for attention and have definitely overtaken both the mids and highs in a variety of tracks I have listened to. Bass is slightly veiled, and takes a front row seat to the mids and highs, and this is even with the Treble Boost equalise preset. Because of this, I find heavy metal and rock music lends itself nicely the Buds+ sound signature, even with Treble Boost on.
I am not a fan of lows as most of my music biases towards the highs and mids, so the sound signature of the Buds+ was slightly disappointing to myself, but as a casual pair of buds to take out when I’m out on the go, it’s not entirely a dealbreaker.
 

 
These Buds are definitely my favorite pair of wireless earphones I have ever owned, with so much creature comforts, it’s hard to argue with the price of £100. USB-C charging, Qi wireless charging, the small form factor, it’s all a complete package that fits in your pocket nicely. The design is also super low-key as well, even if you opt for the other colors of the Buds+.
 
Which I guess is unfortunate given I can’t necessarily vouch for the sound signature, the sound is slightly veiled and doesn’t punch the highs enough for it to be enjoyable, at least to my taste in music. I would much prefer a drop-off in lows in exchange for some more vibrancy in the highs. I can’t dock it too much though, as these are truly-wireless earbuds and aren’t made to be listened to in an isolated studio. I do otherwise enjoy these as a simple grab-and-go option for when I want to listen to music on the go, whilst still maintaining auditory awareness of my surroundings.
 
As an entire unit, I do enjoy these earbuds, and I’m sure the average consumer would have no complaints with the sound signature, as these are an irresistibly convenient pair of earbuds for the price. As an impulse buy for my Samsung S20, these have been great, and I expect to hold onto these for a good few years, even if the sound signature and I don’t bond very well.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds+ are Samsung’s newest Galaxy Buds truly-wireless Bluetooth earphones that retail for £100 as of this review. I bought mine as a next step towards the truly-wireless earbuds vibe, coming from my former Anker Soundcore Liberty Airs, which I have reviewed here.
I have used my Galaxy Buds for approximately a week and a half, and I haven’t charged them for at least 5 days, using them on-and-off during breaks at work, out on the streets taking leisurely walks, or even just at home unwinding in my room.
 
The Buds+ were an impulse buy when I was moving from my iPhone 8 Plus to my new Samsung S20, and thought to cash out on an entirely new everyday carry setup, now consisting of my Samsung S20, Samsung Watch Active, and of course my Samsung Galaxy Buds+. The Buds+ were pretty easy to get hold of being as ubiquitous as they are, I decided to grab my pair in the same baby blue that I got my Samsung S20 in. Their case was much smaller than I expected, as well as the Buds themselves, which was a welcome choice as I wanted wireless earbuds that didn’t stick out in public, such as the AirPods.
 
I’ve been using these for a week and I’ve gotten to learn the sound signature of it, and how it performs compared to my prized FiiO FH5 in-ear monitors, as well as my open-backed Sennheiser HD 580 headphones. I did not prioritise sound as a top feature when selecting new earbuds, as I generally don’t fully appreciate sound quality in truly wireless earbuds, given how I am usually walking around and want to hear my surroundings as much as possible, whilst still having some background music. The Buds were a perfect choice for me given their small form factor and generally unity to my Samsung S20.
 

 
These are the cutest pair of earbuds I’ve ever used, they’re pretty round and fit flat into my ear, conforming similarly to that of a proper in-ear monitor such as my FH5s. I prefer these types of designs in truly-wireless earphones to the stick design as I find sticks to scream for attention.
 

 
The fitment of the earbuds is also spectacular. I have extremely small ear canals, so I only need the smallest ear tip size possible. The shape of the Buds+ fit nicely and give an impossibly-tight seal to my ears, with equally as good noise isolation. I don’t really experience the pressure that some people get from airplanes for example, so I can’t comment on that, but I find the noise isolation of these earbuds fantastic and not fatiguing. In fact, I find it scarily good that I sometimes have to enable transparency mode in the Galaxy Wearable app in order to get at least some outside world noise to come in in fear for the lack of environmental noise.
 

 
The case is super small and can fit in the small watch pocket that jeans have remarkably comfortably. The case is made of a glossy plastic that isn’t all that slippery. There is a flat side on the bottom in order to get these to comfortably sit on a table for example. Otherwise, they are a standard pill-shaped case, nice and minimal.
 

 
The case also charges using USB-C as well as wireless, however I find charging with USB-C much faster, even if you are charging them for ten minutes, tops. The case also swings open nicely, it is kind of difficult one-handed, but the lip on the front of the case makes it easy to visualise where the opening of the clamshell is.
 

 
As mentioned before, these use USB-C to charge, and also have the luxury of wireless charging with any Qi-enabled wireless charging, and even accept reverse-wireless charging from my S20 for extra quality of life, even if I still do find the reverse-wireless charging a little gimmicky.
 
Samsung claims 22 hours of battery life on their website, which I assume is both the Buds+ and the charging case as well. I have barely been able to get these below 40% on the case, and that’s with an hour or two per day with these on since I got them, so I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt and believe them. These certainly will not die quick even with heavy use, given how I wanted them to die but they just refused to. It doesn’t help that they’re so easy to charge as well.
 
It’s safe to say, you’re never going to get caught with your pants down with these if the case is still topped up.
 

 
The Galaxy Wearable app is paramount to the sound quality and usability of the Buds+, with features such as battery status, ambient sound modes, equaliser settings, as well as touch controls.
 
 
The home screen of the Galaxy Wearable app has most of the features one would need for daily usage, in particular the equaliser and ambient sound modes.
As you can see, I personally prefer ambient sound to be off as I find it recesses the lows and highs far too much to be enjoyable to hear music with, no matter what volume. This is because the ambient sound modes simply use microphones on the rears of the buds and project those back into your ear, so all that sound that would typically be reserved for giving you the best listening experience, now has to also feed back the outside world, the staging just isn’t there enough to be able to differentiate outside from the inside.
 
 

 
The equaliser might be a controversial topic, as I find all of the equaliser settings are equally garbage, and I've found software equalisers are generally subpar and detrimental to sound quality and signature. The normal equaliser (aka, stock listening experience) is overly muddy, with the lows being overbearingly stomping, the mids being recessed quite a bit, and the highs sounding quite sibilant and tinny.
 
For the reasons above, and because of my own taste in music, I prefer the ‘Treble boost’ equaliser, as this evens out the harsh lows, whilst also highlighting the mids a bit more. The highs and treble aren’t as punchy as the name of the equaliser might suggest, but due to the nature of the Buds+ being low-heavy, it’s not surprising.
 
There are other equaliser settings such as ‘Bass Boost’, which eradicate all highs from your music altogether, the soft preset which does the opposite and squishes lows like a bug, and dynamic for if you want your Buds+ to sound V-shaped. I don’t recommend any of the presets apart from ‘Treble boost’ as that is the one that I find closest to my reference IEMs, the FiiO FH5s, in sound signature. However, I do enjoy that options are there for anybody who is looking for some more punch and bounce in their music whilst listening to these buds.
 

 
A forewarning, I will be using the ‘Treble boost’ preset for my sound review, since I really am not a fan of the ‘Normal’ preset, and would in fact not use these Buds if the preset could not be changed. £100 for the sound signature that ‘Normal’ gives was unacceptable to me and I refuse to use it. Sorry.
As a general umbrella comparison for the real, stock sound signature, take my findings for the sound, and put more emphasis on the lows, and blow out the mids a lot more.
 
Highs:
The highs, I personally find are the weakest point of the earbuds. They’re very recessed no matter what track I listen to, and are overshadowed by the lows and mids, especially in bassier tracks. Female vocals lack power and punch that I would typically expect out of a good pair of earbuds or headphones, which is a shame as female vocals make up a good chunk of my everyday music listening. The highs however make up for this with astounding clarity, even if such clarity lacks imaging.
 
Mids:
I find mids fairly strong with these earbuds, they are clear and crisp, but like the highs, are overshadowed slightly by the lows. In tracks that have a lot of synths, drums, and overall busy instrumentals, the mids are able to separate nicely and image well. The mids tend to muddle slightly when there is a lot of bass present, but otherwise, the mids are fairly competent and I have little complaints.
 
Lows:
The lows are easily the most prominent part of the earbuds, screaming for attention and have definitely overtaken both the mids and highs in a variety of tracks I have listened to. Bass is slightly veiled, and takes a front row seat to the mids and highs, and this is even with the Treble Boost equalise preset. Because of this, I find heavy metal and rock music lends itself nicely the Buds+ sound signature, even with Treble Boost on.
I am not a fan of lows as most of my music biases towards the highs and mids, so the sound signature of the Buds+ was slightly disappointing to myself, but as a casual pair of buds to take out when I’m out on the go, it’s not entirely a dealbreaker.
 

 
These Buds are definitely my favorite pair of wireless earphones I have ever owned, with so much creature comforts, it’s hard to argue with the price of £100. USB-C charging, Qi wireless charging, the small form factor, it’s all a complete package that fits in your pocket nicely. The design is also super low-key as well, even if you opt for the other colors of the Buds+.
 
Which I guess is unfortunate given I can’t necessarily vouch for the sound signature, the sound is slightly veiled and doesn’t punch the highs enough for it to be enjoyable, at least to my taste in music. I would much prefer a drop-off in lows in exchange for some more vibrancy in the highs. I can’t dock it too much though, as these are truly-wireless earbuds and aren’t made to be listened to in an isolated studio. I do otherwise enjoy these as a simple grab-and-go option for when I want to listen to music on the go, whilst still maintaining auditory awareness of my surroundings.
 
As an entire unit, I do enjoy these earbuds, and I’m sure the average consumer would have no complaints with the sound signature, as these are an irresistibly convenient pair of earbuds for the price. As an impulse buy for my Samsung S20, these have been great, and I expect to hold onto these for a good few years, even if the sound signature and I don’t bond very well.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds+ are Samsung’s newest Galaxy Buds truly-wireless Bluetooth earphones that retail for £100 as of this review. I bought mine as a next step towards the truly-wireless earbuds vibe, coming from my former Anker Soundcore Liberty Airs, which I have reviewed here.
I have used my Galaxy Buds for approximately a week and a half, and I haven’t charged them for at least 5 days, using them on-and-off during breaks at work, out on the streets taking leisurely walks, or even just at home unwinding in my room.
 
The Buds+ were an impulse buy when I was moving from my iPhone 8 Plus to my new Samsung S20, and thought to cash out on an entirely new everyday carry setup, now consisting of my Samsung S20, Samsung Watch Active, and of course my Samsung Galaxy Buds+. The Buds+ were pretty easy to get hold of being as ubiquitous as they are, I decided to grab my pair in the same baby blue that I got my Samsung S20 in. Their case was much smaller than I expected, as well as the Buds themselves, which was a welcome choice as I wanted wireless earbuds that didn’t stick out in public, such as the AirPods.
 
I’ve been using these for a week and I’ve gotten to learn the sound signature of it, and how it performs compared to my prized FiiO FH5 in-ear monitors, as well as my open-backed Sennheiser HD 580 headphones. I did not prioritise sound as a top feature when selecting new earbuds, as I generally don’t fully appreciate sound quality in truly wireless earbuds, given how I am usually walking around and want to hear my surroundings as much as possible, whilst still having some background music. The Buds were a perfect choice for me given their small form factor and generally unity to my Samsung S20.
 

 
These are the cutest pair of earbuds I’ve ever used, they’re pretty round and fit flat into my ear, conforming similarly to that of a proper in-ear monitor such as my FH5s. I prefer these types of designs in truly-wireless earphones to the stick design as I find sticks to scream for attention.
 

 
The fitment of the earbuds is also spectacular. I have extremely small ear canals, so I only need the smallest ear tip size possible. The shape of the Buds+ fit nicely and give an impossibly-tight seal to my ears, with equally as good noise isolation. I don’t really experience the pressure that some people get from airplanes for example, so I can’t comment on that, but I find the noise isolation of these earbuds fantastic and not fatiguing. In fact, I find it scarily good that I sometimes have to enable transparency mode in the Galaxy Wearable app in order to get at least some outside world noise to come in in fear for the lack of environmental noise.
 

 
The case is super small and can fit in the small watch pocket that jeans have remarkably comfortably. The case is made of a glossy plastic that isn’t all that slippery. There is a flat side on the bottom in order to get these to comfortably sit on a table for example. Otherwise, they are a standard pill-shaped case, nice and minimal.
 

 
The case also charges using USB-C as well as wireless, however I find charging with USB-C much faster, even if you are charging them for ten minutes, tops. The case also swings open nicely, it is kind of difficult one-handed, but the lip on the front of the case makes it easy to visualise where the opening of the clamshell is.
 

 
As mentioned before, these use USB-C to charge, and also have the luxury of wireless charging with any Qi-enabled wireless charging, and even accept reverse-wireless charging from my S20 for extra quality of life, even if I still do find the reverse-wireless charging a little gimmicky.
 
Samsung claims 22 hours of battery life on their website, which I assume is both the Buds+ and the charging case as well. I have barely been able to get these below 40% on the case, and that’s with an hour or two per day with these on since I got them, so I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt and believe them. These certainly will not die quick even with heavy use, given how I wanted them to die but they just refused to. It doesn’t help that they’re so easy to charge as well.
 
It’s safe to say, you’re never going to get caught with your pants down with these if the case is still topped up.
 

 
The Galaxy Wearable app is paramount to the sound quality and usability of the Buds+, with features such as battery status, ambient sound modes, equaliser settings, as well as touch controls.
 
 
The home screen of the Galaxy Wearable app has most of the features one would need for daily usage, in particular the equaliser and ambient sound modes.
As you can see, I personally prefer ambient sound to be off as I find it recesses the lows and highs far too much to be enjoyable to hear music with, no matter what volume. This is because the ambient sound modes simply use microphones on the rears of the buds and project those back into your ear, so all that sound that would typically be reserved for giving you the best listening experience, now has to also feed back the outside world, the staging just isn’t there enough to be able to differentiate outside from the inside.
 
 

 
The equaliser might be a controversial topic, as I find all of the equaliser settings are equally garbage, and I've found software equalisers are generally subpar and detrimental to sound quality and signature. The normal equaliser (aka, stock listening experience) is overly muddy, with the lows being overbearingly stomping, the mids being recessed quite a bit, and the highs sounding quite sibilant and tinny.
 
For the reasons above, and because of my own taste in music, I prefer the ‘Treble boost’ equaliser, as this evens out the harsh lows, whilst also highlighting the mids a bit more. The highs and treble aren’t as punchy as the name of the equaliser might suggest, but due to the nature of the Buds+ being low-heavy, it’s not surprising.
 
There are other equaliser settings such as ‘Bass Boost’, which eradicate all highs from your music altogether, the soft preset which does the opposite and squishes lows like a bug, and dynamic for if you want your Buds+ to sound V-shaped. I don’t recommend any of the presets apart from ‘Treble boost’ as that is the one that I find closest to my reference IEMs, the FiiO FH5s, in sound signature. However, I do enjoy that options are there for anybody who is looking for some more punch and bounce in their music whilst listening to these buds.
 

 
A forewarning, I will be using the ‘Treble boost’ preset for my sound review, since I really am not a fan of the ‘Normal’ preset, and would in fact not use these Buds if the preset could not be changed. £100 for the sound signature that ‘Normal’ gives was unacceptable to me and I refuse to use it. Sorry.
As a general umbrella comparison for the real, stock sound signature, take my findings for the sound, and put more emphasis on the lows, and blow out the mids a lot more.
 
Highs:
The highs, I personally find are the weakest point of the earbuds. They’re very recessed no matter what track I listen to, and are overshadowed by the lows and mids, especially in bassier tracks. Female vocals lack power and punch that I would typically expect out of a good pair of earbuds or headphones, which is a shame as female vocals make up a good chunk of my everyday music listening. The highs however make up for this with astounding clarity, even if such clarity lacks imaging.
 
Mids:
I find mids fairly strong with these earbuds, they are clear and crisp, but like the highs, are overshadowed slightly by the lows. In tracks that have a lot of synths, drums, and overall busy instrumentals, the mids are able to separate nicely and image well. The mids tend to muddle slightly when there is a lot of bass present, but otherwise, the mids are fairly competent and I have little complaints.
 
Lows:
The lows are easily the most prominent part of the earbuds, screaming for attention and have definitely overtaken both the mids and highs in a variety of tracks I have listened to. Bass is slightly veiled, and takes a front row seat to the mids and highs, and this is even with the Treble Boost equalise preset. Because of this, I find heavy metal and rock music lends itself nicely the Buds+ sound signature, even with Treble Boost on.
I am not a fan of lows as most of my music biases towards the highs and mids, so the sound signature of the Buds+ was slightly disappointing to myself, but as a casual pair of buds to take out when I’m out on the go, it’s not entirely a dealbreaker.
 

 
These Buds are definitely my favorite pair of wireless earphones I have ever owned, with so much creature comforts, it’s hard to argue with the price of £100. USB-C charging, Qi wireless charging, the small form factor, it’s all a complete package that fits in your pocket nicely. The design is also super low-key as well, even if you opt for the other colors of the Buds+.
 
Which I guess is unfortunate given I can’t necessarily vouch for the sound signature, the sound is slightly veiled and doesn’t punch the highs enough for it to be enjoyable, at least to my taste in music. I would much prefer a drop-off in lows in exchange for some more vibrancy in the highs. I can’t dock it too much though, as these are truly-wireless earbuds and aren’t made to be listened to in an isolated studio. I do otherwise enjoy these as a simple grab-and-go option for when I want to listen to music on the go, whilst still maintaining auditory awareness of my surroundings.
 
As an entire unit, I do enjoy these earbuds, and I’m sure the average consumer would have no complaints with the sound signature, as these are an irresistibly convenient pair of earbuds for the price. As an impulse buy for my Samsung S20, these have been great, and I expect to hold onto these for a good few years, even if the sound signature and I don’t bond very well.

While impressive that it does pick up outside noise with decent clarity, I find it muddles with the music/audio you're listening to, not sure if I'm overly sensitive though.
 
Never tried any form of AirPods, so I'm unable to comment on how these sound in comparison to Apple's offerings, but I would give these a shot for $100 as long as you already have a capable Android device already, ideally Samsung, as the Samsung Wearable app is crucial to the operation of the Buds+.
 
Admittedly that was the first time I had seen a frequency graph for the Buds+, definitely not surprising, the highs are so recessed. Treble boost doesn't completely solve it, but definitely lend it a hand from the stock experience, which sucks ass.

I've found auto-generated is completely useless with Cantonese Chinese and Korean videos. I don't have the greatest Korean proficiency but even I know some of the stuff auto-generated spits out in Korean variety shows is off target by a good margin.

I've found auto-generated is completely useless with Cantonese Chinese and Korean videos. I don't have the greatest Korean proficiency but even I know some of the stuff auto-generated spits out in Korean variety shows is off target by a good margin.

I'm not actually surprised, the mid and especially the high treble for these earbuds are quite low at some points, which could explain you preffer the Treble boost profile. At least the rest of the frequency response is pretty decent. The graph below is with the buds runnig out of the box, on the normal setting.

I've used these for about 4 months now regularly on planes. I fly at least twice a month for work. I'm not sure what pressure on planes you're talking about besides the normal pressure differential. I've got smallish ear canals, use the middle size rubber. I've not had issues with pressure not wanting to release or excess pressure on airplanes. 
I also end up with transparency mode on. I've been impressed with what it does pick up and how it mixes it in with the audio. It almost seems like after a little while of white noise(jet engines) they kind of get "ignored" by the ear bud, but voices stay at the volume they were. 

The Samsung Galaxy Buds+ are Samsung’s newest Galaxy Buds truly-wireless Bluetooth earphones that retail for £100 as of this review. I bought mine as a next step towards the truly-wireless earbuds vibe, coming from my former Anker Soundcore Liberty Airs, which I have reviewed here.
I have used my Galaxy Buds for approximately a week and a half, and I haven’t charged them for at least 5 days, using them on-and-off during breaks at work, out on the streets taking leisurely walks, or even just at home unwinding in my room.
 
The Buds+ were an impulse buy when I was moving from my iPhone 8 Plus to my new Samsung S20, and thought to cash out on an entirely new everyday carry setup, now consisting of my Samsung S20, Samsung Watch Active, and of course my Samsung Galaxy Buds+. The Buds+ were pretty easy to get hold of being as ubiquitous as they are, I decided to grab my pair in the same baby blue that I got my Samsung S20 in. Their case was much smaller than I expected, as well as the Buds themselves, which was a welcome choice as I wanted wireless earbuds that didn’t stick out in public, such as the AirPods.
 
I’ve been using these for a week and I’ve gotten to learn the sound signature of it, and how it performs compared to my prized FiiO FH5 in-ear monitors, as well as my open-backed Sennheiser HD 580 headphones. I did not prioritise sound as a top feature when selecting new earbuds, as I generally don’t fully appreciate sound quality in truly wireless earbuds, given how I am usually walking around and want to hear my surroundings as much as possible, whilst still having some background music. The Buds were a perfect choice for me given their small form factor and generally unity to my Samsung S20.
 

 
These are the cutest pair of earbuds I’ve ever used, they’re pretty round and fit flat into my ear, conforming similarly to that of a proper in-ear monitor such as my FH5s. I prefer these types of designs in truly-wireless earphones to the stick design as I find sticks to scream for attention.
 

 
The fitment of the earbuds is also spectacular. I have extremely small ear canals, so I only need the smallest ear tip size possible. The shape of the Buds+ fit nicely and give an impossibly-tight seal to my ears, with equally as good noise isolation. I don’t really experience the pressure that some people get from airplanes for example, so I can’t comment on that, but I find the noise isolation of these earbuds fantastic and not fatiguing. In fact, I find it scarily good that I sometimes have to enable transparency mode in the Galaxy Wearable app in order to get at least some outside world noise to come in in fear for the lack of environmental noise.
 

 
The case is super small and can fit in the small watch pocket that jeans have remarkably comfortably. The case is made of a glossy plastic that isn’t all that slippery. There is a flat side on the bottom in order to get these to comfortably sit on a table for example. Otherwise, they are a standard pill-shaped case, nice and minimal.
 

 
The case also charges using USB-C as well as wireless, however I find charging with USB-C much faster, even if you are charging them for ten minutes, tops. The case also swings open nicely, it is kind of difficult one-handed, but the lip on the front of the case makes it easy to visualise where the opening of the clamshell is.
 

 
As mentioned before, these use USB-C to charge, and also have the luxury of wireless charging with any Qi-enabled wireless charging, and even accept reverse-wireless charging from my S20 for extra quality of life, even if I still do find the reverse-wireless charging a little gimmicky.
 
Samsung claims 22 hours of battery life on their website, which I assume is both the Buds+ and the charging case as well. I have barely been able to get these below 40% on the case, and that’s with an hour or two per day with these on since I got them, so I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt and believe them. These certainly will not die quick even with heavy use, given how I wanted them to die but they just refused to. It doesn’t help that they’re so easy to charge as well.
 
It’s safe to say, you’re never going to get caught with your pants down with these if the case is still topped up.
 

 
The Galaxy Wearable app is paramount to the sound quality and usability of the Buds+, with features such as battery status, ambient sound modes, equaliser settings, as well as touch controls.
 
 
The home screen of the Galaxy Wearable app has most of the features one would need for daily usage, in particular the equaliser and ambient sound modes.
As you can see, I personally prefer ambient sound to be off as I find it recesses the lows and highs far too much to be enjoyable to hear music with, no matter what volume. This is because the ambient sound modes simply use microphones on the rears of the buds and project those back into your ear, so all that sound that would typically be reserved for giving you the best listening experience, now has to also feed back the outside world, the staging just isn’t there enough to be able to differentiate outside from the inside.
 
 

 
The equaliser might be a controversial topic, as I find all of the equaliser settings are equally garbage, and I've found software equalisers are generally subpar and detrimental to sound quality and signature. The normal equaliser (aka, stock listening experience) is overly muddy, with the lows being overbearingly stomping, the mids being recessed quite a bit, and the highs sounding quite sibilant and tinny.
 
For the reasons above, and because of my own taste in music, I prefer the ‘Treble boost’ equaliser, as this evens out the harsh lows, whilst also highlighting the mids a bit more. The highs and treble aren’t as punchy as the name of the equaliser might suggest, but due to the nature of the Buds+ being low-heavy, it’s not surprising.
 
There are other equaliser settings such as ‘Bass Boost’, which eradicate all highs from your music altogether, the soft preset which does the opposite and squishes lows like a bug, and dynamic for if you want your Buds+ to sound V-shaped. I don’t recommend any of the presets apart from ‘Treble boost’ as that is the one that I find closest to my reference IEMs, the FiiO FH5s, in sound signature. However, I do enjoy that options are there for anybody who is looking for some more punch and bounce in their music whilst listening to these buds.
 

 
A forewarning, I will be using the ‘Treble boost’ preset for my sound review, since I really am not a fan of the ‘Normal’ preset, and would in fact not use these Buds if the preset could not be changed. £100 for the sound signature that ‘Normal’ gives was unacceptable to me and I refuse to use it. Sorry.
As a general umbrella comparison for the real, stock sound signature, take my findings for the sound, and put more emphasis on the lows, and blow out the mids a lot more.
 
Highs:
The highs, I personally find are the weakest point of the earbuds. They’re very recessed no matter what track I listen to, and are overshadowed by the lows and mids, especially in bassier tracks. Female vocals lack power and punch that I would typically expect out of a good pair of earbuds or headphones, which is a shame as female vocals make up a good chunk of my everyday music listening. The highs however make up for this with astounding clarity, even if such clarity lacks imaging.
 
Mids:
I find mids fairly strong with these earbuds, they are clear and crisp, but like the highs, are overshadowed slightly by the lows. In tracks that have a lot of synths, drums, and overall busy instrumentals, the mids are able to separate nicely and image well. The mids tend to muddle slightly when there is a lot of bass present, but otherwise, the mids are fairly competent and I have little complaints.
 
Lows:
The lows are easily the most prominent part of the earbuds, screaming for attention and have definitely overtaken both the mids and highs in a variety of tracks I have listened to. Bass is slightly veiled, and takes a front row seat to the mids and highs, and this is even with the Treble Boost equalise preset. Because of this, I find heavy metal and rock music lends itself nicely the Buds+ sound signature, even with Treble Boost on.
I am not a fan of lows as most of my music biases towards the highs and mids, so the sound signature of the Buds+ was slightly disappointing to myself, but as a casual pair of buds to take out when I’m out on the go, it’s not entirely a dealbreaker.
 

 
These Buds are definitely my favorite pair of wireless earphones I have ever owned, with so much creature comforts, it’s hard to argue with the price of £100. USB-C charging, Qi wireless charging, the small form factor, it’s all a complete package that fits in your pocket nicely. The design is also super low-key as well, even if you opt for the other colors of the Buds+.
 
Which I guess is unfortunate given I can’t necessarily vouch for the sound signature, the sound is slightly veiled and doesn’t punch the highs enough for it to be enjoyable, at least to my taste in music. I would much prefer a drop-off in lows in exchange for some more vibrancy in the highs. I can’t dock it too much though, as these are truly-wireless earbuds and aren’t made to be listened to in an isolated studio. I do otherwise enjoy these as a simple grab-and-go option for when I want to listen to music on the go, whilst still maintaining auditory awareness of my surroundings.
 
As an entire unit, I do enjoy these earbuds, and I’m sure the average consumer would have no complaints with the sound signature, as these are an irresistibly convenient pair of earbuds for the price. As an impulse buy for my Samsung S20, these have been great, and I expect to hold onto these for a good few years, even if the sound signature and I don’t bond very well.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds+ are Samsung’s newest Galaxy Buds truly-wireless Bluetooth earphones that retail for £100 as of this review. I bought mine as a next step towards the truly-wireless earbuds vibe, coming from my former Anker Soundcore Liberty Airs, which I have reviewed here.
I have used my Galaxy Buds for approximately a week and a half, and I haven’t charged them for at least 5 days, using them on-and-off during breaks at work, out on the streets taking leisurely walks, or even just at home unwinding in my room.
 
The Buds+ were an impulse buy when I was moving from my iPhone 8 Plus to my new Samsung S20, and thought to cash out on an entirely new everyday carry setup, now consisting of my Samsung S20, Samsung Watch Active, and of course my Samsung Galaxy Buds+. The Buds+ were pretty easy to get hold of being as ubiquitous as they are, I decided to grab my pair in the same baby blue that I got my Samsung S20 in. Their case was much smaller than I expected, as well as the Buds themselves, which was a welcome choice as I wanted wireless earbuds that didn’t stick out in public, such as the AirPods.
 
I’ve been using these for a week and I’ve gotten to learn the sound signature of it, and how it performs compared to my prized FiiO FH5 in-ear monitors, as well as my open-backed Sennheiser HD 580 headphones. I did not prioritise sound as a top feature when selecting new earbuds, as I generally don’t fully appreciate sound quality in truly wireless earbuds, given how I am usually walking around and want to hear my surroundings as much as possible, whilst still having some background music. The Buds were a perfect choice for me given their small form factor and generally unity to my Samsung S20.
 

 
These are the cutest pair of earbuds I’ve ever used, they’re pretty round and fit flat into my ear, conforming similarly to that of a proper in-ear monitor such as my FH5s. I prefer these types of designs in truly-wireless earphones to the stick design as I find sticks to scream for attention.
 

 
The fitment of the earbuds is also spectacular. I have extremely small ear canals, so I only need the smallest ear tip size possible. The shape of the Buds+ fit nicely and give an impossibly-tight seal to my ears, with equally as good noise isolation. I don’t really experience the pressure that some people get from airplanes for example, so I can’t comment on that, but I find the noise isolation of these earbuds fantastic and not fatiguing. In fact, I find it scarily good that I sometimes have to enable transparency mode in the Galaxy Wearable app in order to get at least some outside world noise to come in in fear for the lack of environmental noise.
 

 
The case is super small and can fit in the small watch pocket that jeans have remarkably comfortably. The case is made of a glossy plastic that isn’t all that slippery. There is a flat side on the bottom in order to get these to comfortably sit on a table for example. Otherwise, they are a standard pill-shaped case, nice and minimal.
 

 
The case also charges using USB-C as well as wireless, however I find charging with USB-C much faster, even if you are charging them for ten minutes, tops. The case also swings open nicely, it is kind of difficult one-handed, but the lip on the front of the case makes it easy to visualise where the opening of the clamshell is.
 

 
As mentioned before, these use USB-C to charge, and also have the luxury of wireless charging with any Qi-enabled wireless charging, and even accept reverse-wireless charging from my S20 for extra quality of life, even if I still do find the reverse-wireless charging a little gimmicky.
 
Samsung claims 22 hours of battery life on their website, which I assume is both the Buds+ and the charging case as well. I have barely been able to get these below 40% on the case, and that’s with an hour or two per day with these on since I got them, so I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt and believe them. These certainly will not die quick even with heavy use, given how I wanted them to die but they just refused to. It doesn’t help that they’re so easy to charge as well.
 
It’s safe to say, you’re never going to get caught with your pants down with these if the case is still topped up.
 

 
The Galaxy Wearable app is paramount to the sound quality and usability of the Buds+, with features such as battery status, ambient sound modes, equaliser settings, as well as touch controls.
 
 
The home screen of the Galaxy Wearable app has most of the features one would need for daily usage, in particular the equaliser and ambient sound modes.
As you can see, I personally prefer ambient sound to be off as I find it recesses the lows and highs far too much to be enjoyable to hear music with, no matter what volume. This is because the ambient sound modes simply use microphones on the rears of the buds and project those back into your ear, so all that sound that would typically be reserved for giving you the best listening experience, now has to also feed back the outside world, the staging just isn’t there enough to be able to differentiate outside from the inside.
 
 

 
The equaliser might be a controversial topic, as I find all of the equaliser settings are equally garbage, and I've found software equalisers are generally subpar and detrimental to sound quality and signature. The normal equaliser (aka, stock listening experience) is overly muddy, with the lows being overbearingly stomping, the mids being recessed quite a bit, and the highs sounding quite sibilant and tinny.
 
For the reasons above, and because of my own taste in music, I prefer the ‘Treble boost’ equaliser, as this evens out the harsh lows, whilst also highlighting the mids a bit more. The highs and treble aren’t as punchy as the name of the equaliser might suggest, but due to the nature of the Buds+ being low-heavy, it’s not surprising.
 
There are other equaliser settings such as ‘Bass Boost’, which eradicate all highs from your music altogether, the soft preset which does the opposite and squishes lows like a bug, and dynamic for if you want your Buds+ to sound V-shaped. I don’t recommend any of the presets apart from ‘Treble boost’ as that is the one that I find closest to my reference IEMs, the FiiO FH5s, in sound signature. However, I do enjoy that options are there for anybody who is looking for some more punch and bounce in their music whilst listening to these buds.
 

 
A forewarning, I will be using the ‘Treble boost’ preset for my sound review, since I really am not a fan of the ‘Normal’ preset, and would in fact not use these Buds if the preset could not be changed. £100 for the sound signature that ‘Normal’ gives was unacceptable to me and I refuse to use it. Sorry.
As a general umbrella comparison for the real, stock sound signature, take my findings for the sound, and put more emphasis on the lows, and blow out the mids a lot more.
 
Highs:
The highs, I personally find are the weakest point of the earbuds. They’re very recessed no matter what track I listen to, and are overshadowed by the lows and mids, especially in bassier tracks. Female vocals lack power and punch that I would typically expect out of a good pair of earbuds or headphones, which is a shame as female vocals make up a good chunk of my everyday music listening. The highs however make up for this with astounding clarity, even if such clarity lacks imaging.
 
Mids:
I find mids fairly strong with these earbuds, they are clear and crisp, but like the highs, are overshadowed slightly by the lows. In tracks that have a lot of synths, drums, and overall busy instrumentals, the mids are able to separate nicely and image well. The mids tend to muddle slightly when there is a lot of bass present, but otherwise, the mids are fairly competent and I have little complaints.
 
Lows:
The lows are easily the most prominent part of the earbuds, screaming for attention and have definitely overtaken both the mids and highs in a variety of tracks I have listened to. Bass is slightly veiled, and takes a front row seat to the mids and highs, and this is even with the Treble Boost equalise preset. Because of this, I find heavy metal and rock music lends itself nicely the Buds+ sound signature, even with Treble Boost on.
I am not a fan of lows as most of my music biases towards the highs and mids, so the sound signature of the Buds+ was slightly disappointing to myself, but as a casual pair of buds to take out when I’m out on the go, it’s not entirely a dealbreaker.
 

 
These Buds are definitely my favorite pair of wireless earphones I have ever owned, with so much creature comforts, it’s hard to argue with the price of £100. USB-C charging, Qi wireless charging, the small form factor, it’s all a complete package that fits in your pocket nicely. The design is also super low-key as well, even if you opt for the other colors of the Buds+.
 
Which I guess is unfortunate given I can’t necessarily vouch for the sound signature, the sound is slightly veiled and doesn’t punch the highs enough for it to be enjoyable, at least to my taste in music. I would much prefer a drop-off in lows in exchange for some more vibrancy in the highs. I can’t dock it too much though, as these are truly-wireless earbuds and aren’t made to be listened to in an isolated studio. I do otherwise enjoy these as a simple grab-and-go option for when I want to listen to music on the go, whilst still maintaining auditory awareness of my surroundings.
 
As an entire unit, I do enjoy these earbuds, and I’m sure the average consumer would have no complaints with the sound signature, as these are an irresistibly convenient pair of earbuds for the price. As an impulse buy for my Samsung S20, these have been great, and I expect to hold onto these for a good few years, even if the sound signature and I don’t bond very well.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds+ are Samsung’s newest Galaxy Buds truly-wireless Bluetooth earphones that retail for £100 as of this review. I bought mine as a next step towards the truly-wireless earbuds vibe, coming from my former Anker Soundcore Liberty Airs, which I have reviewed here.
I have used my Galaxy Buds for approximately a week and a half, and I haven’t charged them for at least 5 days, using them on-and-off during breaks at work, out on the streets taking leisurely walks, or even just at home unwinding in my room.
 
The Buds+ were an impulse buy when I was moving from my iPhone 8 Plus to my new Samsung S20, and thought to cash out on an entirely new everyday carry setup, now consisting of my Samsung S20, Samsung Watch Active, and of course my Samsung Galaxy Buds+. The Buds+ were pretty easy to get hold of being as ubiquitous as they are, I decided to grab my pair in the same baby blue that I got my Samsung S20 in. Their case was much smaller than I expected, as well as the Buds themselves, which was a welcome choice as I wanted wireless earbuds that didn’t stick out in public, such as the AirPods.
 
I’ve been using these for a week and I’ve gotten to learn the sound signature of it, and how it performs compared to my prized FiiO FH5 in-ear monitors, as well as my open-backed Sennheiser HD 580 headphones. I did not prioritise sound as a top feature when selecting new earbuds, as I generally don’t fully appreciate sound quality in truly wireless earbuds, given how I am usually walking around and want to hear my surroundings as much as possible, whilst still having some background music. The Buds were a perfect choice for me given their small form factor and generally unity to my Samsung S20.
 

 
These are the cutest pair of earbuds I’ve ever used, they’re pretty round and fit flat into my ear, conforming similarly to that of a proper in-ear monitor such as my FH5s. I prefer these types of designs in truly-wireless earphones to the stick design as I find sticks to scream for attention.
 

 
The fitment of the earbuds is also spectacular. I have extremely small ear canals, so I only need the smallest ear tip size possible. The shape of the Buds+ fit nicely and give an impossibly-tight seal to my ears, with equally as good noise isolation. I don’t really experience the pressure that some people get from airplanes for example, so I can’t comment on that, but I find the noise isolation of these earbuds fantastic and not fatiguing. In fact, I find it scarily good that I sometimes have to enable transparency mode in the Galaxy Wearable app in order to get at least some outside world noise to come in in fear for the lack of environmental noise.
 

 
The case is super small and can fit in the small watch pocket that jeans have remarkably comfortably. The case is made of a glossy plastic that isn’t all that slippery. There is a flat side on the bottom in order to get these to comfortably sit on a table for example. Otherwise, they are a standard pill-shaped case, nice and minimal.
 

 
The case also charges using USB-C as well as wireless, however I find charging with USB-C much faster, even if you are charging them for ten minutes, tops. The case also swings open nicely, it is kind of difficult one-handed, but the lip on the front of the case makes it easy to visualise where the opening of the clamshell is.
 

 
As mentioned before, these use USB-C to charge, and also have the luxury of wireless charging with any Qi-enabled wireless charging, and even accept reverse-wireless charging from my S20 for extra quality of life, even if I still do find the reverse-wireless charging a little gimmicky.
 
Samsung claims 22 hours of battery life on their website, which I assume is both the Buds+ and the charging case as well. I have barely been able to get these below 40% on the case, and that’s with an hour or two per day with these on since I got them, so I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt and believe them. These certainly will not die quick even with heavy use, given how I wanted them to die but they just refused to. It doesn’t help that they’re so easy to charge as well.
 
It’s safe to say, you’re never going to get caught with your pants down with these if the case is still topped up.
 

 
The Galaxy Wearable app is paramount to the sound quality and usability of the Buds+, with features such as battery status, ambient sound modes, equaliser settings, as well as touch controls.
 
 
The home screen of the Galaxy Wearable app has most of the features one would need for daily usage, in particular the equaliser and ambient sound modes.
As you can see, I personally prefer ambient sound to be off as I find it recesses the lows and highs far too much to be enjoyable to hear music with, no matter what volume. This is because the ambient sound modes simply use microphones on the rears of the buds and project those back into your ear, so all that sound that would typically be reserved for giving you the best listening experience, now has to also feed back the outside world, the staging just isn’t there enough to be able to differentiate outside from the inside.
 
 

 
The equaliser might be a controversial topic, as I find all of the equaliser settings are equally garbage, and I've found software equalisers are generally subpar and detrimental to sound quality and signature. The normal equaliser (aka, stock listening experience) is overly muddy, with the lows being overbearingly stomping, the mids being recessed quite a bit, and the highs sounding quite sibilant and tinny.
 
For the reasons above, and because of my own taste in music, I prefer the ‘Treble boost’ equaliser, as this evens out the harsh lows, whilst also highlighting the mids a bit more. The highs and treble aren’t as punchy as the name of the equaliser might suggest, but due to the nature of the Buds+ being low-heavy, it’s not surprising.
 
There are other equaliser settings such as ‘Bass Boost’, which eradicate all highs from your music altogether, the soft preset which does the opposite and squishes lows like a bug, and dynamic for if you want your Buds+ to sound V-shaped. I don’t recommend any of the presets apart from ‘Treble boost’ as that is the one that I find closest to my reference IEMs, the FiiO FH5s, in sound signature. However, I do enjoy that options are there for anybody who is looking for some more punch and bounce in their music whilst listening to these buds.
 

 
A forewarning, I will be using the ‘Treble boost’ preset for my sound review, since I really am not a fan of the ‘Normal’ preset, and would in fact not use these Buds if the preset could not be changed. £100 for the sound signature that ‘Normal’ gives was unacceptable to me and I refuse to use it. Sorry.
As a general umbrella comparison for the real, stock sound signature, take my findings for the sound, and put more emphasis on the lows, and blow out the mids a lot more.
 
Highs:
The highs, I personally find are the weakest point of the earbuds. They’re very recessed no matter what track I listen to, and are overshadowed by the lows and mids, especially in bassier tracks. Female vocals lack power and punch that I would typically expect out of a good pair of earbuds or headphones, which is a shame as female vocals make up a good chunk of my everyday music listening. The highs however make up for this with astounding clarity, even if such clarity lacks imaging.
 
Mids:
I find mids fairly strong with these earbuds, they are clear and crisp, but like the highs, are overshadowed slightly by the lows. In tracks that have a lot of synths, drums, and overall busy instrumentals, the mids are able to separate nicely and image well. The mids tend to muddle slightly when there is a lot of bass present, but otherwise, the mids are fairly competent and I have little complaints.
 
Lows:
The lows are easily the most prominent part of the earbuds, screaming for attention and have definitely overtaken both the mids and highs in a variety of tracks I have listened to. Bass is slightly veiled, and takes a front row seat to the mids and highs, and this is even with the Treble Boost equalise preset. Because of this, I find heavy metal and rock music lends itself nicely the Buds+ sound signature, even with Treble Boost on.
I am not a fan of lows as most of my music biases towards the highs and mids, so the sound signature of the Buds+ was slightly disappointing to myself, but as a casual pair of buds to take out when I’m out on the go, it’s not entirely a dealbreaker.
 

 
These Buds are definitely my favorite pair of wireless earphones I have ever owned, with so much creature comforts, it’s hard to argue with the price of £100. USB-C charging, Qi wireless charging, the small form factor, it’s all a complete package that fits in your pocket nicely. The design is also super low-key as well, even if you opt for the other colors of the Buds+.
 
Which I guess is unfortunate given I can’t necessarily vouch for the sound signature, the sound is slightly veiled and doesn’t punch the highs enough for it to be enjoyable, at least to my taste in music. I would much prefer a drop-off in lows in exchange for some more vibrancy in the highs. I can’t dock it too much though, as these are truly-wireless earbuds and aren’t made to be listened to in an isolated studio. I do otherwise enjoy these as a simple grab-and-go option for when I want to listen to music on the go, whilst still maintaining auditory awareness of my surroundings.
 
As an entire unit, I do enjoy these earbuds, and I’m sure the average consumer would have no complaints with the sound signature, as these are an irresistibly convenient pair of earbuds for the price. As an impulse buy for my Samsung S20, these have been great, and I expect to hold onto these for a good few years, even if the sound signature and I don’t bond very well.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds+ are Samsung’s newest Galaxy Buds truly-wireless Bluetooth earphones that retail for £100 as of this review. I bought mine as a next step towards the truly-wireless earbuds vibe, coming from my former Anker Soundcore Liberty Airs, which I have reviewed here.
I have used my Galaxy Buds for approximately a week and a half, and I haven’t charged them for at least 5 days, using them on-and-off during breaks at work, out on the streets taking leisurely walks, or even just at home unwinding in my room.
 
The Buds+ were an impulse buy when I was moving from my iPhone 8 Plus to my new Samsung S20, and thought to cash out on an entirely new everyday carry setup, now consisting of my Samsung S20, Samsung Watch Active, and of course my Samsung Galaxy Buds+. The Buds+ were pretty easy to get hold of being as ubiquitous as they are, I decided to grab my pair in the same baby blue that I got my Samsung S20 in. Their case was much smaller than I expected, as well as the Buds themselves, which was a welcome choice as I wanted wireless earbuds that didn’t stick out in public, such as the AirPods.
 
I’ve been using these for a week and I’ve gotten to learn the sound signature of it, and how it performs compared to my prized FiiO FH5 in-ear monitors, as well as my open-backed Sennheiser HD 580 headphones. I did not prioritise sound as a top feature when selecting new earbuds, as I generally don’t fully appreciate sound quality in truly wireless earbuds, given how I am usually walking around and want to hear my surroundings as much as possible, whilst still having some background music. The Buds were a perfect choice for me given their small form factor and generally unity to my Samsung S20.
 

 
These are the cutest pair of earbuds I’ve ever used, they’re pretty round and fit flat into my ear, conforming similarly to that of a proper in-ear monitor such as my FH5s. I prefer these types of designs in truly-wireless earphones to the stick design as I find sticks to scream for attention.
 

 
The fitment of the earbuds is also spectacular. I have extremely small ear canals, so I only need the smallest ear tip size possible. The shape of the Buds+ fit nicely and give an impossibly-tight seal to my ears, with equally as good noise isolation. I don’t really experience the pressure that some people get from airplanes for example, so I can’t comment on that, but I find the noise isolation of these earbuds fantastic and not fatiguing. In fact, I find it scarily good that I sometimes have to enable transparency mode in the Galaxy Wearable app in order to get at least some outside world noise to come in in fear for the lack of environmental noise.
 

 
The case is super small and can fit in the small watch pocket that jeans have remarkably comfortably. The case is made of a glossy plastic that isn’t all that slippery. There is a flat side on the bottom in order to get these to comfortably sit on a table for example. Otherwise, they are a standard pill-shaped case, nice and minimal.
 

 
The case also charges using USB-C as well as wireless, however I find charging with USB-C much faster, even if you are charging them for ten minutes, tops. The case also swings open nicely, it is kind of difficult one-handed, but the lip on the front of the case makes it easy to visualise where the opening of the clamshell is.
 

 
As mentioned before, these use USB-C to charge, and also have the luxury of wireless charging with any Qi-enabled wireless charging, and even accept reverse-wireless charging from my S20 for extra quality of life, even if I still do find the reverse-wireless charging a little gimmicky.
 
Samsung claims 22 hours of battery life on their website, which I assume is both the Buds+ and the charging case as well. I have barely been able to get these below 40% on the case, and that’s with an hour or two per day with these on since I got them, so I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt and believe them. These certainly will not die quick even with heavy use, given how I wanted them to die but they just refused to. It doesn’t help that they’re so easy to charge as well.
 
It’s safe to say, you’re never going to get caught with your pants down with these if the case is still topped up.
 

 
The Galaxy Wearable app is paramount to the sound quality and usability of the Buds+, with features such as battery status, ambient sound modes, equaliser settings, as well as touch controls.
 
 
The home screen of the Galaxy Wearable app has most of the features one would need for daily usage, in particular the equaliser and ambient sound modes.
As you can see, I personally prefer ambient sound to be off as I find it recesses the lows and highs far too much to be enjoyable to hear music with, no matter what volume. This is because the ambient sound modes simply use microphones on the rears of the buds and project those back into your ear, so all that sound that would typically be reserved for giving you the best listening experience, now has to also feed back the outside world, the staging just isn’t there enough to be able to differentiate outside from the inside.
 
 

 
The equaliser might be a controversial topic, as I find all of the equaliser settings are equally garbage, and I've found software equalisers are generally subpar and detrimental to sound quality and signature. The normal equaliser (aka, stock listening experience) is overly muddy, with the lows being overbearingly stomping, the mids being recessed quite a bit, and the highs sounding quite sibilant and tinny.
 
For the reasons above, and because of my own taste in music, I prefer the ‘Treble boost’ equaliser, as this evens out the harsh lows, whilst also highlighting the mids a bit more. The highs and treble aren’t as punchy as the name of the equaliser might suggest, but due to the nature of the Buds+ being low-heavy, it’s not surprising.
 
There are other equaliser settings such as ‘Bass Boost’, which eradicate all highs from your music altogether, the soft preset which does the opposite and squishes lows like a bug, and dynamic for if you want your Buds+ to sound V-shaped. I don’t recommend any of the presets apart from ‘Treble boost’ as that is the one that I find closest to my reference IEMs, the FiiO FH5s, in sound signature. However, I do enjoy that options are there for anybody who is looking for some more punch and bounce in their music whilst listening to these buds.
 

 
A forewarning, I will be using the ‘Treble boost’ preset for my sound review, since I really am not a fan of the ‘Normal’ preset, and would in fact not use these Buds if the preset could not be changed. £100 for the sound signature that ‘Normal’ gives was unacceptable to me and I refuse to use it. Sorry.
As a general umbrella comparison for the real, stock sound signature, take my findings for the sound, and put more emphasis on the lows, and blow out the mids a lot more.
 
Highs:
The highs, I personally find are the weakest point of the earbuds. They’re very recessed no matter what track I listen to, and are overshadowed by the lows and mids, especially in bassier tracks. Female vocals lack power and punch that I would typically expect out of a good pair of earbuds or headphones, which is a shame as female vocals make up a good chunk of my everyday music listening. The highs however make up for this with astounding clarity, even if such clarity lacks imaging.
 
Mids:
I find mids fairly strong with these earbuds, they are clear and crisp, but like the highs, are overshadowed slightly by the lows. In tracks that have a lot of synths, drums, and overall busy instrumentals, the mids are able to separate nicely and image well. The mids tend to muddle slightly when there is a lot of bass present, but otherwise, the mids are fairly competent and I have little complaints.
 
Lows:
The lows are easily the most prominent part of the earbuds, screaming for attention and have definitely overtaken both the mids and highs in a variety of tracks I have listened to. Bass is slightly veiled, and takes a front row seat to the mids and highs, and this is even with the Treble Boost equalise preset. Because of this, I find heavy metal and rock music lends itself nicely the Buds+ sound signature, even with Treble Boost on.
I am not a fan of lows as most of my music biases towards the highs and mids, so the sound signature of the Buds+ was slightly disappointing to myself, but as a casual pair of buds to take out when I’m out on the go, it’s not entirely a dealbreaker.
 

 
These Buds are definitely my favorite pair of wireless earphones I have ever owned, with so much creature comforts, it’s hard to argue with the price of £100. USB-C charging, Qi wireless charging, the small form factor, it’s all a complete package that fits in your pocket nicely. The design is also super low-key as well, even if you opt for the other colors of the Buds+.
 
Which I guess is unfortunate given I can’t necessarily vouch for the sound signature, the sound is slightly veiled and doesn’t punch the highs enough for it to be enjoyable, at least to my taste in music. I would much prefer a drop-off in lows in exchange for some more vibrancy in the highs. I can’t dock it too much though, as these are truly-wireless earbuds and aren’t made to be listened to in an isolated studio. I do otherwise enjoy these as a simple grab-and-go option for when I want to listen to music on the go, whilst still maintaining auditory awareness of my surroundings.
 
As an entire unit, I do enjoy these earbuds, and I’m sure the average consumer would have no complaints with the sound signature, as these are an irresistibly convenient pair of earbuds for the price. As an impulse buy for my Samsung S20, these have been great, and I expect to hold onto these for a good few years, even if the sound signature and I don’t bond very well.

Every former laptop I've ever had. They're all obviously retired, but I could still boot them up and they're usable if I wanted them to be. My mum even uses one of my former ones and it's still alive and kicking.
 
I generally take care of everything I own like it's my own child, so if anything dies, that's a sign that I've done something gravely wrong. Even if the tech in question is literally a decade old.

Every former laptop I've ever had. They're all obviously retired, but I could still boot them up and they're usable if I wanted them to be. My mum even uses one of my former ones and it's still alive and kicking.
 
I generally take care of everything I own like it's my own child, so if anything dies, that's a sign that I've done something gravely wrong. Even if the tech in question is literally a decade old.

Every former laptop I've ever had. They're all obviously retired, but I could still boot them up and they're usable if I wanted them to be. My mum even uses one of my former ones and it's still alive and kicking.
 
I generally take care of everything I own like it's my own child, so if anything dies, that's a sign that I've done something gravely wrong. Even if the tech in question is literally a decade old.

Hi, so for a bit of context as to what my quest involves, I've drawn up some graphs to help elaborate.
 
I currently use a USB-C wall adaptor, and so anything that needs to be charged using USB-A is pretty non-negociable.
 
 
 
I want a wall adaptor that contains both USB-A and USB-C so that I am able to fill the gap and be able to intercharge (interchange + charge) all my gear at once.
 
Some criteria for a new wall adaptor:
Must contain USB-C and USB-A ports Must be 45W at least - this is because my laptop requires 45W for optimal charging through a dongle 65W charging is ideal Must be UK 3-prong plug Preferably in white Budget is £50 for adaptor Included cable not really needed (more information below)  
I might also need suggestions for a cable, so I'd also need some help sourcing the following cables:
USB-C to USB-C cable USB-C to USB-A cable Both cables must do the following: 3ft / 0.9m ideally Preferably in white Budget is £20 for cable Must handle 65W throughput (unsure if this is a cable thing or adaptor thing) TL:DR - looking for the following:
65W USB-A & USB-C wall adaptor C-to-C cable A-to-C cable  
Thanks in advance to any advice on my probably very over-complicated question!

Thanks man!

The notification shade improvements are bomb, unfortunately it might take a good few months for my S20 to get close to Android 11.

Can't wait to try it out in 2027. Thanks Obama Oppo.

Took a while to get here due to COVID shipping delays, but my Thic Thock Marshmallows have arrived! These things are cute!

 Hot take: They're not bad. I don't really notice the difference with the progressive spring VS a regular spring. They are very smooth stock with a nice pop upon release. Got to put it in a board to really appreciate them better.
 
EDIT: Just noticed that the product page shows that the price is $10/pack. I paid half that when it was on group buy last November.
EDIT 2: Also, LOOK AT THAT CUTE STICKER!!!

Lubing the stems makes a big difference in feel, my Yellows and Ambers both feel much smoother and quieter after lubing them. If I even get some browns I am going to be sure to lube them up too!

So I finally got around to converting my PC8801 a few days ago. I removed the multiplexer because I don't want to be using jank-ass Arduino code and would rather use QMK which I know how to use and I know works. I can interface directly with the matrix from there, and I mapped it out so all I had to do was wire it to a controller and set up a keymap. I had some Pro Micros lying around, but since it is a 12x8 matrix, I need 20 IO pins which the Pro Micro doesn't have...sort of. The two onboard LEDs, TX and RX, are controlled by two more pins that can be accessed and used as normal IO if you remove the resistors before the LEDs and solder to the lower pad:
The problem here is that these pads are very small and hilariously fragile. So I go ahead and wire it up nicely, and I didn't break the pads. Yay! But as soon as my dumb fucking ass tries to slightly nudge the Pro Micro to a more aesthetically pleasing spot (keep in mind, it worked fine the way it was)...those two pads sheared right off.
(you can see in the pictures above how the Pro Micro is sitting slightly above the keyboard PCB. I tried to tuck it underneath like I had it originally)
 
So I go and spend another hour redoing all my work, this time putting some hot glue over the wires to hopefully give them some more structural support.
But clearly that wasn't enough, because it happened again! ffs...
 
 
So I gave in and ordered a Teensy. Pains me to do so because they are overpriced as fuck (seriously, almost 30 CAD for something with barely more functionality than a $5 Pro Micro?), but I guess I can actually finish this project now...

Upgraded my Womier with a new keycap set, NP profile. 
Love it but gets dirty pretty easily during gaming sadly. 

WeChat shut down but not WhatsApp seems like kind of a half-ass move to me. Both are just as bad as each other, especially with Facebook at the helm of WhatsApp.

Should've probably asked a refund then. I personally hate clickies but if you're up for sourcing other clickies, Kailh Box Jades and other box switches which use a clickbar have much more pronounced and sharper clicks than traditional Cherry click jackets. Box Whites are a fine choice.