It’s weird, I’ve heard a wide veriety of reviews on both the Buds Pro and the Buds Plus and they seem to be quite contradictary now. Here are my thoughts –

– Sound quality is fantastic, compared to my mid range Sennheisers, higher end Razor full gaming headphones, my old Oneplus Bullet 2’s, these are absolutely miles ahead in terms of sound quality and they do sound a little better than the Buds Plus. There’s more clarity. I wouldn’t call them bass heavy like some have, if anything they’re extremely well balanced across the board, I’d say to anyone who thinks they’re bass heavy to get some open earbuds like the Buds Live which are regarded as tinny.

– More comfortable than the Buds Plus, their little wing digs into my ear which is very uncomortable, these are very secure on my ears and the best fit was surprsingly the smallest tips, despite having large ears! They are almost comfortable enough to sleep in but bulge out just a little too much for me, it starts to put pressure on them.

– The ANC is decent bit not top of the line, but it’s the best you’ll get in this price catagory. I’d rather have it than not have it, it’s good enough to mostly cut out the sound of my PC fans running 100% (there are 9 noctua fans in there) or my brother’s snoring around 80%. If someone is listening to the TV while I have this in without anything playing, noise cancellation will cut out most of the bass, so you’ll be left with just tinny background sound, throw in actual music on top of that that you want to listen to and this is obviously an improved, if not perfect listening experience. I’d rather have ANC than not.

– I haven’t had a problem with battery, I bought a couple of small wireless chargers for a total of 15 and just leave the buds charging when not in use, they charge very quickly. The battery life of 5 hours use on the buds might not sound great compared to the Buds Plus, but when are you really going to listen for a solid 5 hours without a break where they go back in the case? I can’t see a scenario where this would be a problem for 99% of users.

– I bought the white version but the case itself is a sort of pearlescent blue/lilac, which I’m not a fan of at all, I’ve bought a silicone black case to hide this. The buds are white and silver plastic, despite this, they feel very high quality, as does the case. It really irks me that the official product shots show phantom white as white. This has clearly been edited for the product shots, the professionals that Samsung hire to take their photos could have taken photos that truly represent the colour if they wanted to.

– The fact that the case is plastic means it is probably prone to scratch up long term, best to consider a protecting case if thats important to you.

– Never have I had a pair of bluetooth headphones that is so easy to switch between devices, it’s normally a faff having turn bluetooth on one device, go into the other device, turn bluetooth on and hope it actually syncs up etc etc etc – you don’t have to do that with the Buds Pro, just tap them on any device you’ve synced with once and they will immedialey connect no problems.

– Touch controls can be a bit tempremental. Sometimes a double tap to skip song won’t register so it will just pause instead, so you have to tap again to resume playing and try to double tap to skip again.

Long term, I just hope the batteries hold up because I’d be very happy to use these for 5 years or more.

I won’t comment on the other features, they’re just kind of gimmiky in my opinion.

I love these technologies. For total immersion, look no further. For sleek design, look no further. For a cheap imitation, you’re in the wrong place buddy.

I’m going to start with the most important things sound, comfort and fit and then mention some of the other factors to consider.

Mids and vocals are where I focus first since traditionally this is the area where audio has struggled to reproduce naturalness and it’s an area where we humans are particularly sensitive to hearing any flaws in the reproduction. If the audio gets that right then the next hurdles are delivering sufficient bass quantity and kick to carry the rhythm and enough detailed but not sibilant or harsh treble to convey energy, air and the sense of a live acoustic.

The mids are clear and natural sounding and at a higher level of clarity than regular AirPods however when listened to after my Sony WF1000xm3 the Pro sounds slightly less convincing (recordings of how they sound on my Amazon profile). Without having better sound quality buds to compare against however their relative lack of clarity would probably not be apparent.

Like the sony WF1000xm3 the Galaxy Buds Pro has a soft bass in terms of kick and impact though quantity is at a good level and less rolled off except for sub bass which is much less well represented than even some much less expensive buds.

While highs are more rolled off and slightly sweeter than the Sony’s they are nevertheless not wanting in detail or energy or extension so the net effect is that one can enjoy fuller mids without fear of treble aggression forcing one to turn the volume down.

So in summary clear, though not the clearest, mids and vocals, a gentle but in the main sufficiently powerful and deep bass and detailed if slightly toned down treble making for a very pleasant and inoffensive sound, albeit one that may be a little too tame for those looking for more dynamics and fireworks in some of their music.

ANC is good though not at the level of the class leading Sony or the Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro (be aware that earphone ANC only reduces some low frequencies and provide nowhere near the ANC level of headphones)

Comfort is great and they stick out far less than my CX400BT so you look less like a cyberman – and can sleep on your side more easily.

As far as fit goes I’m usually a medium or large with tips and I used the largest of the 3 sizes of earbuds provided. These are oval and with custom notches so not of conventional design which means you’ll be forced to go to Samsung for replacements and cannot use standard foam tips for example. They were very secure however and inspired confidence (more than the Sony) that they wouldn’t fall out without a significant jolt.

Connectivity was fine with drop outs only starting through a wall.

Controls operated fine with my perfect touch format of double tap for skip and hold for volume configurable through the app. The Sonys make you triple tap for some actions.

Battery again is fine if not exceptional with a great 8 hours at a stretch but just 18 hours total before a recharge is needed though the case does have wireless charging which the Sony doesn’t.

Latency for the YouTube app on my old S7 was fine and the microphone very clear.

Aesthetics are one area where I think they really trump the Sonys. The buds themselves are beautiful in phantom silver and the pearlescent finish on the case very tasteful which of course is a lot smaller and more pocketable than the Sonys.

A little feature I’ve not seen before is that when you take one bud out this activates ambient (pass through) mode on the one left in the other ear so by removing one you can hear almost as clearly as removing both.

Edit: The configurable automatic activation of ambient pass through mode within a second of when you start talking so you can hear your interlocutor as well as with the buds completely removed is innovative and really works well (distinguishing your speaking and not activating erroneously from voices from the tv or radio say) having pleasantly genuinely surprised me a few times. Also the high waterproof rating is reassuring for use outside..though having dropped them a couple of times I worry about scratches or dents on the metal exterior of the buds.

I appreciate good aesthetics and as a package the buds pro are great though you pay a big premium for the style and brand. If you buy them you won’t get the bass slam or stellar clarity you get with some other TWS earphones however they offer a beautifully relaxed but still clear sound which many will likely enjoy.

You can get better pure sound quality for a lot less cash but the aesthetics if not stellar performance may win them admirers.