Update (3/12/20 @ 9:30 AM ET): The Samsung Galaxy Buds+ are now available in red in the US.
For a while now, Samsung has been rumored to release a new pair of Galaxy Buds called the Galaxy Buds+. They were supposed to have better sound quality, better battery, better microphones, and the same design. At Samsung Unpacked today, Samsung has confirmed these earbuds, in fact, do exist with the amazing price tag of $149.99.
Samsung did a lot of work on these new earbuds to keep the design and style of the original Galaxy Buds while improving them in every way. The actual size of the earbuds stays the same with the buds coming in at 17.5 x 19.2 x 22.5mm. In this same size, they were able to fit an 85mAh battery. This is up from the 58mAh battery in the original Galaxy Buds. The case does get a small battery size increase, going from 252mAh to 270mAh.
Even though these battery capacities aren't much larger, Samsung has done some magic with the earbuds to almost double the battery life. They will now last for 11 hours of constant playtime on a single charge with another 11 hours if you charge them in the case. The call time on the earbuds was also increased as well, going from 5 hours to 7.5 hours. The buds also support fast charging in the case. A good 3 minutes of charge time equals 60 minutes of audio playback.
Another major upgrade Samsung implemented with the Galaxy Buds+ is connectivity. These new earbuds allow you to connect to multiple devices at the same time! You won't be able to play music out of multiple devices at the same time, but I'm not sure why would want to. Along with a multi-device connection, Samsung will also be adding a couple of new modes and commands to the Galaxy Buds. The first is a second touchpad. You will be able to touch the outer ring around the buds to control the volume on them. Samsung will also be adding a new gaming mode and Spotify command. The gaming mode will lower the audio quality but decrease the latency. This is very good for gaming. The Spotify command will let you hold onto the side touchpad to start playing music without taking your phone out.
As for audio quality, Samsung has made the already great audio quality on the original Galaxy Buds even better. They have switched to a dual driver system. Each bud will now have 1 woofer and 1 tweeter. This should make audio quality all-around much better, but we'll have to test the buds to verify this. As for microphone quality, Samsung has added another microphone to the outside of the buds. This should help the not great microphone quality on the original Galaxy Buds.
These earbuds, unfortunately, do not have active noise cancellation. Instead, they have very good noise isolation and something Samsung calls "Ambient Aware." The noise isolation on the Galaxy Buds was good enough that I would say it's about on the same level as the active noise cancellation on the AirPods Pro. As for Ambient Aware, it's a feature that allows for audio pass-through from the microphones into the buds. This is really helpful while talking to someone or trying to not get hit by a car while walking around.
The Galaxy Buds+ will be available starting on February 14th, the same day as the Galaxy Z Flip. You will be able to pick them up in Cosmic Black, Cosmic Blue, White, and Red. They will come in at $149. This is only $20 more than the Galaxy Buds. For such huge upgrades, the difference in price is astounding. People who pre-order the Galaxy S20+ and Galaxy S20 Ultra will get the Buds+ for free.
Update: Available in Red
Samsung recently launched two new colors for the Galaxy Buds+, but they were only available in South Korea. Now, the company has made the red Galaxy Buds+ available in the US as well. The new red color can be purchased right now from Samsung's website for $149.99. They are marked to ship by March 20th.
Via: The Verge