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Image source: Samsung.
Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro
Featherweight Champ
The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro offer great audio quality, strong ANC, and some slick exclusive features when paired with a Samsung phone, like head-tracking spatial audio and 24-bit audio in select apps. The Buds 2 Pro have comparatively weak battery life, though, at just five hours per charge with ANC active.
Pros
Cons
Source: Google
Google Pixel Buds Pro
Fantastic Features
Google’s Pixel Buds Pro are the company’s best earbuds to date, featuring good audio quality, ANC, optional always-on “Hey Google” listening, and battery life of up to seven hours on a charge with ANC. The buds are on the larger size, though, and audio fidelity isn’t quite what you’ll get out of the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro.
Pros
Cons
Samsung and Google make some of the best wireless earbuds to use with an Android phone, and each has a Pro pair. The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro and the Google Pixel Buds Pro are both high-end earbuds with active noise cancelling, and they’re priced very similarly: Samsung’s are $230, and Google’s are $200. Both are great for different reasons, but the choice between the two comes down to more than which brand of phone you have.
Price, availability, and specs
The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro retail for $230, but they’re regularly on sale for $40 or more off MSRP. You can get them directly from Samsung, or from any of the retailers you’d expect, like Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, and others. The Google Pixel Buds Pro cost $200 at MSRP, but have been available for as low as $150 on a few occasions. You can grab a pair from all the same retailers as the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro — the Amazons and Best Buys of the world — or straight from Google.
Design and fit
Google’s Pixel Buds Pro and the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are pretty different, aesthetically. While Google’s earbuds are sort of bulbous with prominent Google branding, the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are comparatively sleek. They’re similar sizes, but Samsung’s earbuds are shaped in a way that puts more of the buds’ mass lower in your ears. It’s hard to quantify comfort and fit, but in our experience, both pairs are comfortable to wear for long periods.
The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are available in Charcoal, White, and Bora Purple; the Pixel Buds Pro come in Charcoal, Coral, Fog, and Lemongrass.
Sound and call quality
While audio quality from the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro and the Pixel Buds Pro is quite good, Samsung’s earbuds have a fuller, bassier sound — which many users tend to prefer. Samsung also lets you choose between a handful of equalizer presets in the Galaxy Wearable app. Google says EQ settings are coming to the Pixel Buds Pro in a future update, but they’re not here yet.
The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro also support Samsung’s new, proprietary Seamless codec when paired with a Samsung phone. It allows for 24-bit audio playback of supported tracks in certain apps. If you listen to music through Spotify or YouTube Music, you won’t get 24-bit audio — only certain streaming services like Tidal offer it. It’s not a reason most people should buy the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro, but if you know what 24-bit sound is all about and know you want it, you can get it here.
When not playing audio from a 24-bit source on a Samsung device, the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro support the AAC and SBC codecs. The Pixel Buds Pro exclusively support AAC and SBC.
Both the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro and the Google Pixel Buds Pro offer good call quality. Each set of earbuds has three mics per bud, and each is pretty good at picking your voice out of background noise to deliver it clearly to the other person on the other end of your call. Call quality won’t blow you away with either set, but unless you’re making calls from active construction sites, you won’t have trouble being understood, either.
Software and features
The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are managed with the Samsung Wearable app; the Google Pixel Buds Pro use the Pixel Buds app. If you’ve got a Samsung phone, you’ll have Wearable preinstalled, and Pixel phones come with the Pixel Buds app. If you use a phone from another manufacturer, you’ll have to download the corresponding app separately from the Play Store.
You can get always-on voice assistant listening on either pair of earbuds. The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro come with Bixby, while the Pixel Buds Pro have Google Assistant. Bixby can do some of the same things as Google Assistant, but if reliable help by voice is a big part of your purchasing decision, Google’s earbuds should probably be your go-to. (You can still access the Google Assistant on Samsung’s earbuds, but only with a configurable touch pad gesture — no hey Google.)
The Pixel Buds Pro support Bluetooth multipoint, which lets them connect to two audio sources simultaneously. The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro don’t, but they do have a feature that allows them to swap seamlessly between Samsung devices you’re signed into. If you use a Samsung phone and tablet, it’s pretty close to the same experience, but the Pixel Buds Pro are more flexible in this way.
Samsung’s got a couple more tricks up its sleeve, too. The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro can remind you to stretch your neck if they detect you’ve had your head down for too long — like you might at your desk. And when connected to a Samsung phone, they offer a 360-degree audio effect that makes it seem like the sound is coming from your screen — when you turn your head, the volume in the earbud closer to the screen goes up, and the volume in the one farther away goes down. It’s a little gimmicky, but it’s still fun.
Battery life
Google’s got the edge when it comes to battery life. The Pixel Buds Pro can go about seven hours on a single charge with ANC turned on. The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro tap out around the five-hour mark. You’ll get almost two additional charges out of the Pixel Buds Pro’s case and a little more than two from the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro’s case. Each case can charge over USB-C or wirelessly.
Which should you buy?
The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro retail for $230; the Google Pixel Buds Pro are $200. They’re both excellent pairs of earbuds, and we don’t have any problem recommending either to anybody who can afford them. Assuming you don’t want to buy both, though, it’s not an entirely easy decision of which to get.
Samsung’s earbuds offer marginally better (and more customizable) audio quality than the Pixel Buds Pro on every device, plus support for 24-bit audio on Samsung phones (though, again, that’s more of a niche feature than Samsung implies). Their ANC more thoroughly cancels noise, too. Even if you don’t have a Samsung phone, most of the good things about the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro apply to all Android phones; all you’re missing out on without a Galaxy device is Samsung’s proprietary audio codec and gimmicky head-tracking spatial audio.
Image source: Samsung.
Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro
Top choice
The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro offer great audio quality, strong ANC, and some slick exclusive features when paired with a Samsung phone, like head-tracking spatial audio and 24-bit audio in select apps. And while fit is subjective, we found their light and slim build to be very comfortable. The Buds 2 Pro have comparatively weak battery life, though, at just five hours per charge with ANC active.
The Pixel Buds Pro lead on battery, though, lasting seven hours on a charge with ANC to the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro’s five hours. Google’s earbuds support Android’s Fast Pair and Bluetooth multipoint, so they’re easier to use with more devices, and they’ve got the Google Assistant, while the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro have Bixby.
Ultimately, both pairs of earbuds are very good, and it’s hard to say either is better than the other. If you want long-lasting battery life, hands-free Google Assistant support, or multipoint connectivity, consider the Pixel Buds. Otherwise, the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro will serve you well with a more lightweight build and slightly better audio quality.
Source: Google
Google Pixel Buds Pro
Runner-up
Google’s Pixel Buds Pro are the company’s best earbuds to date, featuring good audio quality, ANC, optional always-on “Hey Google” listening, and really strong battery life of up to seven hours on a charge with ANC. The buds are on the larger size, though, and audio fidelity isn’t quite what you’ll get out of the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro. Still, if you value convenience above all else, the Pixel Buds Pro may be right for you.
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