Last updated on December 5th, 2023 at 02:18 pm
Samsung is a South Korean multinational conglomerate headquartered in Samsung town, Seoul. They not only manufacture consumer electronics but also military equipment, insurance, food, textiles, securities, shipbuilding etc..
The audio department of Samsung is now managed by the AKG headquarters situated in Austria which is a sub brand of HARMAN international which is eventually owned by Samsung!.. And yeah this earbuds are tuned by the AKG.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Packaging | Square-shaped box with pull-opening mechanism. Compact and minimal design. Includes 3 sets of ear tips, wingtips, USB-C cable, warranty card, and quick start guide. |
| Build and Fit | Case: Cylindrical shape with top-notch materials, sturdy build, metal hinge, subtle branding. Auto-connect feature. LED indicators for charge level. Magnet hold for earbuds. |
| Earpiece: | Oval-shaped, comfortable, glossy finish, responsive touchpad, adjustable sensitivity, 3 mics for calls and ambient mode, proximity sensors for wear detection. |
| Driver Unit | Square-shaped dual drivers (woofer and tweeter). |
| Sound | Tuned to Harman target curve, balanced with slight bass boost. Supports SBC, AAC, and scalable codec (exclusive for Samsung flagship smartphones). No lag, excellent connectivity. Gaming mode for Samsung users. |
| Bass | Excellent, detailed, good sub-bass extension, no bleed into mids. Resonating effect creates a sense of a massive soundstage. |
| Mids | Sweet and natural. Clear vocals, finely separated background instruments. |
| Highs | Catchy flute tune, clear sub-bass, maintains melody throughout. |
| Call Quality | Excellent with 3 mics on each earbud, effective in various environments, ambient sound during calls, natural voice transmission. |
| Ambient Sound | Mics capture external sounds, adjustable intensity through Samsung Gear app, 3 levels, extra volume option in advanced settings. |
| Samsung Gear App | Customizable controls, exclusive features for Samsung smartphones, volume control via double-tapping, firmware updates, battery percentage display. |
| Battery | Buds last 11hrs, case provides additional 11hrs. USB-C and Qi wireless charging. Fast charging (3 mins for 1hr of listening). Compatible with reverse wireless charging on flagship Samsung smartphones. |
| Pros and Cons | Pros: Harman curve, excellent call quality, ambient sound mode, good battery backup, massive soundstage. Cons: Limited case battery, lack of ANC. |
| Verdict | Recommended TWS under Rs. 10,000. Great for those with no budget constraints. |
Table of Contents
PACKAGING
The box is square shaped with a pull opening mechanism. It’s compact and designed minimally with the picture of the buds and case in front and specs of the unit in the back.
The box has 3 sets of ear tips and wingtips. A USB-C cable, warranty card and a quick start guide.
BUILD AND FIT
CASE:
The case is cylindrical shaped with no sharp edges. The quality of the materials used is top notch. It’s very sturdy and hard plastics are used. Most of the TWS have weak hinge areas whereas this one is so satisfying. Samsung is known for their excellent build quality hence they have built this like a tank. The heft is there with good balance. The hinge is actually made of metal so long time usage will not be a big deal.
The branding on the top is very subtle and minimalistic. It’s not flashy with bright letters. It’s blacked out and feels nice while touching the letters with the fingers.
Auto connect feature is present where the earbuds get connected to the smartphone instantly after opening the lid of the case however with Samsung flagship smartphone it gets a cute little animation for the connection prompt.
The case has a single led indicator depicting the charge level of the case. The color changes based on the battery level of the case. Inside the case there are two led indicators for depicting the charging status of each earbud.
The magnet’s which holds the earbuds in the case are decent but not good. They wobble if you shake with slight tight force but nothing like bad.
EARPIECE:
The buds plus earpieces are one of the comfortable one I have worn. They are oval shaped with good ergonomics. They have additional wingtips for extra seal. They have provided 3 sets of wingtips to choose from. Personally I find the flat wingtips to be more comfortable for me.
The earbuds are glossy finished with an external touchpad which is very responsive in nature. The sensitivity can be set to our preference in the app or even we can lock the touchpad. The touchpad is shiny and prone to fingerprints. The sound guide has good metal mesh. They have a total of 3 mics on each earbuds for clear calls and for the ambient mode.
The earpieces don’t have any led indicators for checking the battery level but they have individual proximity sensors for the wear detection which pause the song when both the earbuds are taken out of the ears.
DRIVER UNIT
Samsung has implemented the driver units in a different way. They have used square shaped dual drivers instead of a single round shaped dynamic driver’s. One driver acts as a woofer and another driver as a tweeter.
SOUND
The Samsung buds plus is tuned to attain the Harman target curve which is a benchmark curve for most of the AKG tuned audio gears. The sound signature is pretty balanced with a slight bass boost.
CODEC SUPPORTED: SBC, AAC, SCALABLE CODEC (exclusive for Samsung flagship smartphones)
No lag while watching videos or games is observed. However with the flagship Samsung smartphones the buds get benefited from the scalable codec which helps is extra sound clarity and lag free experience. The gaming mode is also available exclusively for the Samsung smartphone users.
Absence of APTX support is not a worrying factor since it’s already lag free and provides excellent audio quality in my experience.
Connectivity is great with Bluetooth V5.0 and no unwanted disconnection is observed.
BASS:
The bass is excellent. Many users complain that this earbuds lacks bass and yes they don’t have the bass which other cheap TWS produces. The bass produced here is well detailed with good sub bass extension and doesn’t bleed into the mids. The bass do give a resonating effect in the head which creates a sense of massive soundstage and it felt really good.
- MOUNTAINS – HANS ZIMMER
The bass is perfect. No bass bleed and tuned to the perfection. The soundstage is big and the instruments are neatly laid out. At 2:02 the whole track becomes dynamic and the sub bass is sweet. Overall I loved it.
- RISE – HANS ZIMMER
The bass response from the start to the end is done lovely. Especially at 0:37 the bass beats start and it sounds great. At 1:05 the female vocal is centered and the sub bass continues to remain which is clearly depicted in this.
MIDS:
- THRILLER – MICHAEL JACKSON
Sweet…..sweet….sweet….The mids are brought out really sweet. The howling of the dog is as natural as possible. Jackson’s voice is crystal clear and the background guitars and drums are finely separated with adequate mid bass too. The imaging is spot on too.
- DREAM ON – AEROSMITH
The guitar’s at the start of the track is soothing to the ears for sure. The vocals are brought out really well with the bass guitar in the background. At 1:14 the guitars and the vocals are excellent with on spot accuracy.
HIGHS:
- MASK OFF – FUTURE
The sub bass in the starting of the track is awesome. The catchy flute tune is sick!.. Even when the song is playing, you can still hear the melody of the flute throughout.
CALL QUALITY:
If you want a truly wireless earbuds which has the best call quality then close your eyes and get this one. The 3 mics on each earbud does the job very well. From quiet environment to noisier surroundings this earbuds provide excellent call quality. It cuts out the external noises as much as possible without hindering our voices. The voice is as natural as possible to the receiver end. The other feature it has is the ambient sound during the call due to this you won’t feel screaming yourself while talking to others with the earbuds in your ears!.
AMBIENT SOUND:
This is the feature which is mostly missed in the budget range earbuds. I like this more than the ANC. The mics catches up the external sounds and amplifies it to your ears. The intensity of the ambient sound can be changed via the Samsung gear app. 3 levels of ambient sound is there and even there is an extra option which is activated in advanced tab which pumps out extra volume in ambient mode.
SAMSUNG GEAR APP:
With the app the earbuds controls can be changed to our desire. Some features are exclusive to Samsung smartphones like the long press to Spotify. Through the app an additional feature of controlling the volume can be activated by double tapping the edge of the earbud. The firmware of the earbud’s are updated via the app.
The battery percentage of both the earbuds and the case are displayed in the app itself.
BATTERY:
On a single charge the buds lasts for 11hrs combined with ambient sound turned off. The case has a battery backup of additional 11 hours which seems quite low at this price. The buds can be recharged only once after the buds get depleted out of energy after 11 hours. It has USB C charging and also Qi wireless compatible which is a good feature. It also has a fast charging compatibility where charging the case for 3 minutes will provide an hour of listening. The buds can also be charged using the reverse wireless charging feature present in the latest flagship Samsung smartphones.
PROS AND CONS:
- PROS:
- Harman curve – Balanced sound signature with slight bass boost
- Excellent call quality
- Ambient sound mode
- Excellent battery backup on single charge attaining 11hrs
- Massive soundstage for the price
- CONS:
- Case battery is less attaining only 11hrs
- Lack of ANC
VERDICT:
It’s a major GO! If you are in the thought of purchasing a TWS with no budget constraint then go ahead and buy this. Currently retails for Rs.8990 and in student offers can be bought with some offers. It also comes clubbed with the purchase of latest galaxy smartphones on some sales!
Buds plus remains as my top recommendation for go to TWS under RS.10,000 price point.
This Review is Written By KATHIRAVAN.C
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I’m Kathiravan from Tamilnadu. A budding audiophile here with high love towards music and audio equipments. My first experience of enjoying the hifi audio came when I started to use budget chi-fi gears and now it came all along the way of reviewing the gears with high end stuffs. I love reviewing audio products.
Also Read:
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Wireless Earphones Under Rs. 20,000
This content is collaboratively crafted and vetted by Shubham, a Mechanical Engineering specialist. His passion for unraveling the intricacies of machinery and consumer electronics mirrors his avid interest in gaming. With his wealth of expertise, Shubham adeptly navigates readers through the complexities of audio, home appliances, and everyday products, guaranteeing a smooth and enjoyable shopping journey. For every product you read about on this site we do rigorous research and testing behind the scenes to bring you the best value for money options. For any query directly reach out to me at my personal Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/shubhamgarg8024/
