Apple costs $ 249 AirPods Pro are among the best wireless earbuds you can buy, but Samsung takes on the flag bearer with the $ 200 Galaxy Buds Pro. The Buds Pro have almost the same feature set as the AirPods Pro, with active noise cancellation and spatial audio support. I tested both earbuds for two weeks to weigh the pros and cons of each.
The AirPods Pro are excellent ANC wireless earbuds that work seamlessly with iOS and Apple devices. They support spatial audio (also called virtual surround sound) and have a battery that lasts longer with ANC than the Galaxy Buds Pro. The sound quality is balanced, but they don’t have a universal equalizer to change the sound in all apps. You can use the AirPods Pro on Android, although you will lose some features such as spatial audio and fast switching. Read our AirPods Pro review.
David Carnoy / CNET
In terms of specifications, the Galaxy Buds Pro are the most comparable earbuds from Samsung with the AirPods Pro. They sound great, with a strong bass response, but the battery life doesn’t last as long as the AirPods Pro when ANC is active. They also don’t work that well on iPhones as unlike previous Galaxy Buds, these are not supported in the Galaxy Wearable iOS app at the time of writing. Read our Galaxy Buds Pro review.
AirPods Pro are smaller, feel lighter in your ear
Both are in-ear earbuds, but they have completely different designs. The AirPods Pro have a clickable stem that protrudes from the ear and are only available in white. The Galaxy Buds Pro come in three colors (silver, black or purple) and have a round design with tap panels on the side and feel a bit heavier in your ear than the AirPods Pro.
Each pair of earbuds also comes with interchangeable earbuds in small, medium or large. The fit depends on the shape and size of your ear, but I have had problems with both earbuds sitting properly when exercising or moving around a lot. I actually found the most secure fit with third-party foam tips for the AirPods Pro – I use those from Comply, but there are many other brands available. The Galaxy Bud Pro earbuds don’t come with the wingtip locks of previous models, such as the Galaxy Buds Plus, which helped lock them securely in your ear. I haven’t been able to find any third-party tips for the Galaxy Buds Pro yet, but I’m looking forward to seeing if that will improve the fit.
read more: 11 Great AirPods Pro Tips to Try Now
The Galaxy Buds Pro have the upper hand when it comes to durability against water and sweat, with a higher rating of IPX7 compared to the AirPods Pro’s IPX4. This means that they can be submerged in up to 1 meter of fresh water for up to 30 minutes. I haven’t taken the Buds Pro for a swim or run them through the washing machine yet, but I’ve had no trouble splashing some water on it. The AirPods Pro are resistant to sweat and some light splashes, but I wouldn’t recommend them for swimming.
The AirPods Pro with third-party earbuds.
Lexy Savvides / CNET
Galaxy Buds Pro, better sound quality; AirPods Pro, better noise cancellation
Both earbuds sound good as long as you get a good fit. It’s definitely a matter of preference, but I prefer the Galaxy Bud Pro’s warmer sound profile and more pronounced bass response when it comes to sound quality. You can also manually adjust the equalizer in the Galaxy Wearable app to a number of different presets, from bass boost to soft. The AirPods Pro have a more neutral sound profile which really works to their advantage if you want to jump in between, listen to music or listen to podcasts. They have an adaptive equalizer that dynamically adjusts the sound for you.
While both do a good job at canceling out ambient noise, the AirPods Pro are a bit more effective at drowning out white noise, such as the sound of an overhead fan or aircraft engines. While you can adjust the ANC level on the Galaxy Buds Pro to either high or low, I didn’t really hear a difference between the two settings. I can also hear a very faint hiss when I have ANC on the Buds Pro when I am not listening to music.
Lexy Savvides / CNET
They each have spatial audio (Samsung calls it 360 audio) for a simulated surround sound experience when listening to movies and TV shows. Again, both sound good, but if I had to choose I would go for the AirPods Pro as the effect sounds more natural. Note that at the time of writing, only 360 audio support is enabled Samsung Galaxy S21 phones, while spatial audio on the AirPods Pro is available on any Apple device running iOS 14 or later.
But the Galaxy Buds Pro has a feature that the AirPods Pro doesn’t: voice detection. The Galaxy Buds Pro will automatically lower the volume of your media when they detect that you are talking and then revert to your original settings 10 seconds after you stop. It’s great if you want to have a quick conversation without actively switching the buttons to Ambient Sound Mode (or pulling one out of your ear).
You can listen to microphone samples in the video on this page to hear the difference for calls.
Look at this:
Compare Galaxy Buds Pro to AirPods Pro
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AirPods Pro: Most Reliable Battery Life
Samsung quotes the Galaxy Buds Pro’s battery life at five hours with ANC on, but I never got close to that figure. With ANC enabled, the longest I could wear them took about four and a half hours, which was disappointing given the claim. Apple quotes up to four and a half hours with ANC for the AirPods Pro, but I regularly exceeded that and was able to manage nearly five hours of total listening time. According to Samsung, the Buds Pro can also listen for up to eight hours without ANC, but again, I couldn’t live up to that claim.
Each case also comes with a little extra cost, with the AirPods Pro offering 24 hours of total juice and the Galaxy Buds Pro an additional 18 hours. Both cases can be charged wirelessly, or you can connect Lightning to the AirPods Pro or USB-C to the Galaxy Buds Pro.
read more: The best Apple AirPods deals right now
Smart functions are comparable on both
This is the first generation of Samsung earbuds I have tested that are not compatible with the Galaxy Wearable iOS app. This means that they connect to an iPhone ($ 900 at Boost Mobile) via Bluetooth and you can activate ANC and use the standard tap control, but you cannot change the settings. The AirPods Pro also work like regular Bluetooth earbuds on Android, but provide the most seamless experience for adjusting settings on iOS.
You can summon Siri on the AirPods Pro or Bixby on the Galaxy Buds Pro with your voice or with touch controls. Each reads out text messages or notifications and lets you change the volume or make a call with your voice. There is no way to call Google Assistant with your voice on the Galaxy Buds Pro yet, although you can activate Google Assistant on the Galaxy Buds Pro by assigning it as a long touch on the touch screen, but you cannot make calls with not yet.
Each earbud can be used independently for calling or listening to music, and you can find them both on a map if you lose them with the Find My app on iPhone or the Smart Things app on Galaxy devices. They both also offer fast switching between devices signed into the same Apple ID or Samsung account.
read more: Galaxy Buds Pro: 10 tips to master Samsung’s latest wireless earbuds
Galaxy Buds Pro for Android, AirPods Pro for iPhone
Both earbuds have their strengths, but the best earbud for you ultimately depends on the ecosystem you are in. Previous earbud comparisons between Samsung and Apple were more cross-platform as previous models were compatible with the Galaxy Wearable app on iOS, but this time around, your phone will play a big part in your decision. I prefer the Galaxy Buds Pro’s warm sound profile, so I would choose this one for listening to music. But for multitasking between calls and music (and for more reliable battery performance), I choose the AirPods Pro.