What you need to know
- The Galaxy Buds+ will be only a modest spec bump over the last generation according to newly leaked information.
- The earbuds include a larger battery, with shorter charging times.
- They also include an additional mic.
If you're planning on preordering a Galaxy S20+ or S20 Ultra, Samsung will give you a pair of Galaxy Buds+ for free. However, if the latest specs sheet leaked by the venerable Evan Blass is to be believed, they may not be all that big of an upgrade over last year's Galaxy Buds.
The leaked spec sheet largely confirms previous rumors about the upcoming refresh from Samsung. It also includes a helpful comparison to the Galaxy Buds. Based on the above, it seems the only real changes between the two relate to the battery and the mic setup.
The Buds+ feature an 85mAh battery inside the earbuds themselves, plus an additional 270mAh in the case, compared to the Buds' combo of 58mAh and 252mAh, respectively. The larger cells are probably also why the Buds+ are slightly heavier, coming in at 6.3g to the Buds' 5.6g.
In addition to their larger capacity, the batteries on the Buds+ are also faster to charge, with Samsung promising 60 minutes of playtime with three minutes of charge. The Galaxy Buds, on the other hand, can only muster 20 minutes of playback in a similar timeframe.
In terms of audio, the speaker on the Buds+ feature 2-way dynamic audio, with both a woofer and a tweeter. The Buds only have one-way audio, in comparison. The newer model also has double the number of external mics.
Both models sport Bluetooth 5, but the Buds+ are capable of multi-device connections, indicating they're likely using the new LE Audio format for Bluetooth. The two are virtually identical in every other respect.
