Best Samsung earbuds 2024

Samsung has been pushing its pedigree in the audio space, particularly with its growing line of earbuds as complementary pieces to its mobile devices. They integrate nicely with Samsung phones and tablets, providing features that stay within the company's own walled garden.

While Galaxy Buds 3 Pro are now available, some issues with early shipments and a new stem design mean they're not quite right for everyone. The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro still stand out as the best Samsung earbuds you can buy right now, but if your ears are looking for something else, I've tested and reviewed plenty of other options that you should consider.

Ted Kritsonis

For 20+ years, Ted Kritsonis has been spending a lot of time testing out gadgets to help others make the best decision with their hard-earned money. When it comes down to audio devices, Ted's picks come from countless hours of listening for all the nuances that matter.

At a glance

Best overall

In our review, the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro proved to be both a combination of past features, with a newer look to raise the level of comfort for every pair of ears. As it stands, they are the best wireless earbuds from the company to date. They're small, lightweight, and pretty easy to grip. The IPX7 rating also makes these buds Samsung's most rugged for water and sweat resistance.

It's still unclear how much past issues with ear and skin irritation might factor in with the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro in the long term, but if your ears like them, then you get plenty to enjoy. They're very comfortable to wear for longer periods, and with improved active noise cancelation (ANC), you get to block out more of the background noise than before. Ambient mode is always there when you want to do the opposite. Features like Voice Detect also stick around to take advantage of that. 

Sound quality isn't radically different, though you will get a crisper tone out of the box, with the option to use one of the equalizer presets in the Galaxy Wearable app to tweak it further. Even call quality gets a nice boost in clarity. Just be careful with the touch controls, which continue to be finicky and overly sensitive at the wrong times.

Spatial audio also returns to provide a virtual surround sound effect using Dolby Head Tracking technology. A later update allows a compatible Galaxy phone to record audio in 360 degrees using these earbuds. Not to mention these are the first Samsung earbuds to support 24-bit hi-res audio playback, so long as you have a device and service giving you audio at that level. 

All these goodies do take a toll on the battery, which will max out at up to five hours per charge when ANC is on, going up to eight hours when ANC is off. The case is good for an extra three charges, and it charges via USB-C or wireless charging. Charge up quickly for five minutes through USB and you get up to an hour of playback.

Best value

Samsung has made FE, or Fan Edition, variants of its smartphones before, but never its earbuds until the Galaxy Buds FE. To a degree, they're a throwback to previous Galaxy Buds with the glossy finish and very comfortable fit, but more than that, they cater almost exclusively to Samsung users. They'll work just fine with other Android devices, though a Samsung device is best and iPhones are a total no-go.

Despite their small size and easy fit, they don't have much protection from water or sweaty workouts, so you have to be careful. To forge an identity that sets the Galaxy Buds FE apart from others in Samsung's lineup, the company focused on certain features to make them stand out. Chief among those may be the ANC performance, which is excellent for earbuds at this price. 

Sound quality skews a bit more toward bass response, though you can adjust that in the Galaxy Wearable app with the available EQ presets. A tighter seal always helps bring out the best in any pair of earbuds, but if you feel you need more bass, you can always try the Bass Boost option in the app. More than likely, you will play around with the EQ presets to find something that works for your preferences. 

Touch controls aren't bad, largely emulating those seen in other Samsung earbuds. You will often need to use them for phone calls, where they do the job well enough for a pair of mid-range or affordable earbuds.

Battery life is decent, maxing out at up to six hours with ANC on at default volume levels (nine hours with ANC off). The case gives you an extra two charges, but without wireless charging support, you'll need to plug in via USB-C to fill them back up again. 

Best bang for the buck

The Galaxy Buds 3 are Samsung’s latest update to its mid-range wireless earbud options. The headlining feature is, of course, Galaxy AI, but when it comes to standard listening, users have been quick to point out some design shortcomings compared to the well-liked Galaxy Buds 2. This updated design doesn’t come with soft tips and instead uses hard plastic tips that should sit in your ear. They’ve also sprouted an AirPods-like stem that has slide controls and pinch controls.

Before you write these buds off, there are a few upgrades to take note of. First of all, water and dust resistance has been improved to IP57, so you can safely work out while wearing them and don’t need to turn off your tunes if you get caught out in the rain. Sound quality is also high with 24-bit 95KHz audio and large 11mm drivers. The sound can be tailored by Galaxy AI so these buds sound good, even if you’re wearing them slightly loose. Speaking of AI, you can also easily issue voice commands to control your music or answer a call. You can also use live translation through these earbuds so you don’t have to stare at your phone for a translation.

The Galaxy Buds 3 case looks very familiar, with an easily pocketable design, a satisfyingly snappy lid, and USB-C charging on the bottom. With a 515mAh battery in the case, you’re looking at a total listening time of 24 hours with ANC on and 30 hours with ANC off.

Best for Galaxy AI

The Galaxy Buds 3 Pro launch has been a little rocky with Samsung delaying some shipments to address quality issues early on. Even so, these buds are technically impressive with Samsung’s high fidelity audio codec at 24-bits and 96KHz. Paired with a two-piece driver with a separate tweeter and woofer, these buds are designed for high-quality audio. That being said, it must be noted that this high-fidelity codec is only available with Samsung Galaxy phones. Walled gardens aren’t that uncommon in this industry with Apple leading the charge, but it's less common on Android.

These buds are a good fit for workouts with IP57 water and dust resistance. You don’t want to swim in them, but if you sweat or get rained on during a run, you don’t need to worry. The soft tips with multiple sizes also help the buds fit well with a good seal further helping with audio quality. You get to slide and squeeze controls on the angular stems. The stems also have a light on them giving them a futuristic look.

Like the standard Buds 3, Galaxy AI features sweeten the deal with adaptive noise control to help reduce unwanted background noise. You also get voice controls and live translation with these buds, so you can have a conversation with someone speaking another language. As far as battery life goes, you can get up to 26 hours with ANC on, or 30 hours with ANC including the case with its 515mAh battery.

Best wired

For those on tight budgets and who are willing to keep wires around, the Samsung Type-C Earbuds certainly fit the bill that way. You're not looking at the flashiest or most exciting pair to put on, but it's hard to argue with what you're paying to get them. And the best part is they prove their value every time you play tunes on them afterward.

Being wired earbuds, they connect to your phone using USB-C, which is great if your phone doesn't have a headphone jack. Samsung claims the USB-C connection enables the separate left and right channels come out 10x better than traditional 3.5mm jack connections. But the real benefit comes from the high-quality DAC (digital-to-analog converter) that amplifies sound quality to be much better than what you'd expect for earbuds this cheap.

The company also wisely went with a braided cable design to make them lighter to hold, and less susceptible to tangling when storing them away. The in-line playback controls are easy to find and nicely responsive when adjusting volume or play/pausing a song without having to reach for your phone to do it.

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How to choose

Samsung has plenty of great choices

Samsung has a new set of great buds to choose from with the latest Galaxy Buds 3 and Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, but the aggressive new design and lackluster new AI features mean they may not be a worthwhile upgrade for owners of older Galaxy Buds. Still, with a powerful driver and a high-quality codec available on Samsung Galaxy phones, they may still be exactly what you're looking for and will sure become some of the best wireless earbuds you can get.

The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro continue to be an excellent choice for most people with a comfortable design, long battery life, and good active noise cancellation. While their sound quality may not measure up to the latest Pro Buds, their discounted price and ready availability makes them a strong pick even today.

If you're on a budget, the Galaxy Buds FE are still a solid choice with active noise cancellation and a comfortable fit. The battery life is solid when you turn off ANC making these buds a strong choice if you plan on wearing them for a long time. They've even got multiple tips and wings so you can find a great fit for your year.

Do you need ANC?

Active noise cancellation (ANC) is one of the most popular features on wireless earbuds for its ability to eliminate annoying background sounds no matter where you are. Compared to passive noise cancellation, which is simply a design to block sound out physically, active noise cancellation uses microphones to remove sounds from outside. In fact, the Galaxy Buds 3 and Galaxy Buds 3 Pro have three microphones on each bud to help with cancellation.

One thing to consider is that ANC is more demanding than simple listening, so using ANC will significantly reduce battery life. For example, the Galaxy Buds 3 lose six hours of total battery life when using ANC. Still, it's a nice feature to have available, especially if you tried to save a few bucks on a flight and ended up right next to the engines, or you're trying to concentrate while people are working around you.

How we test

Testing wireless earbuds at Android Central is an exercise in understanding all the nuances involved with products that make the cut for lists like this. How they sound is naturally a very important detail, but so is how comfortably they fit and how they can integrate with other products — in this case, within the Samsung ecosystem.

Granted, you don't need a Samsung phone or tablet to use a pair of the company's earbuds. They can work with any other Android device offering Bluetooth support. These are the details we look to understand while testing to better convey expectations in our coverage. That's why we often test using more than one device.

After all, it's not just the earbuds themselves, it's how much you can customize or personalize them to your own preferences. Samsung's earbuds work with the Galaxy Wearable app, which contains a series of settings and options to choose from. Our job is to know what those are, what they can do, and whether they're worth trying for yourself. Samsung even offers experimental and beta features under the "Labs" section that we rigorously test to gauge results.

The point is to explain how any product we include in such a guide performs for users like you. We don't run benchmarks or lay out charts and graphs showing audio spectrum measurements because we focus on real-life situations. Sound quality, noise cancelation, phone calls, comfort — what are those like under different conditions?

Finding the right answers means putting in work to figure out the nuances. That's always what we aim to express anytime we cover audio devices.

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