Get Them Here
So the new Galaxy Buds 2 are a great pair of entry level everyday carry truly wireless earbuds that any android user just can’t go wrong with. However… the Beats Studio Buds, Apple’s Trojan horse to sell earbuds to android users are also very good. And if you’re trying to choose between these two earbuds this is actually a very tough choice. So I’m honestly really excited about this video.
Now regarding pricing, both of these earbuds retail for $150. But knowing Samsung I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Galaxy Buds 2 go on sale on a regular basis. And in order to not miss out on the fun I also expect the Beats Studio Buds to go on sale on a regular basis as well. So personally I don’t think price is going to be a factor when it comes to choosing between these two earbuds. I expect their pricing to be in lock step. But nonetheless if you want to pick either of these two earbuds up they’ll be linked down below… and if you wan to learn more about either of these two earbuds please watch their full reviews because we’re only going to be going over their main differences.
Now first lets talk about these cases because they are very different. Size wise both of these cases are fine and they aren’t too noticeable when they're in your pocket. However the Galaxy Buds case does have a smaller foot print than the Studio Buds case… but the studio buds case is a little thinner. But overall when it comes to pocketability… personally I do find the Galaxy Buds case to be less noticeable in my pocket than the Studio Buds case. However, I do want to point out that I really to like the strong magnets found in the Studio Buds case. It just makes taking your earbuds out and putting them back in feel much more secure. Where as with the Galaxy Buds weaker magnets you gotta be a little more careful or else you’ll might drop your earbuds.
Now when it comes to charging these cases… they both charge via a USB C port because they are meant for android users. However, the main differences between these two cases is that the Galaxy Buds have wireless charging where as the Studio Buds don’t. Now personally I don’t care about wireless charging on my earbuds, but I do want to point out either for the people that have a phone that has power sharing… or if you’ve already invested in multiple wireless charging matts.
But now let's talk about battery life. The Galaxy Buds 2 do manage to edge out the Studio Buds here. With their active noise cancellation turned off the Galaxy Buds 2 have a combined advertised battery life of 29 hours. The earbuds themselves can go for 7 and half hours and the case can supply about 3 additional charges. Where as with the Studio Buds they have a combined advertised battery life of 24 hours. The earbuds themselves can go for 8 hours and the case can supply 2 additional charges.
But with their active noise cancelation turned on the Galaxy Buds 2 have an advertised combined battery life of 20 hours. The earbuds themselves can go for 5 straight hours and the case can supply those 3 additional charges. Where as with the studio buds they have a combined battery life 15 hours. The earbuds can go for 5 straight hours and the case can supply those 2 additional charges. So overall both of these earbuds have decent battery lives… but the Galaxy Buds 2 do edge out the Studio Buds here.
But now lets talk about the earbuds themselves. When it comes to fit, even though both of these earbuds are in ear earbuds… they do fit a little differently from one another. The galaxy Buds 2 fit like your standard pair of in ear earbuds. As in they go into your ear canal a decent amount. Where as with the Studio Buds, they are a little more shallow fitting making them feel slightly less intrusive than the Galaxy Buds 2. Now even though I do find the studio buds to be a little more comfortable than the Galaxy Buds… the studio buds do like to wiggle out a little more than the Galaxy Buds. Nonetheless both of these earbuds fit fine… but personally I would only recommend these earbuds for casual use. Neither of these earbuds would be great for working out because they do like to wiggle out.
But now lets talk about connectivity, on both of these earbuds each earbud establishes a connection with your phone. So if you jut want to use one earbud at a time you can use either one it doesn’t matter. And this is the connection set up that we expect to see with our earbuds nowadays.
However if you’re a Samsung power user you’re going to be able to hot swap between all of your Samsung devices with the Galaxy Buds 2 thanks to seamless ear buds connection. Where as with the Studio Buds they can only be connected to one device at a time.
However with both of these earbuds… they're both good for power users with multiple devices. Like for example me I use an iPhone and a pixel device. And switch from one device to another is easy with both of these earbuds. All you gotta do it go into your device’s bluetooth menu and establish a new connection and the earbuds will automatically switch.
But when it comes to performance, both of these earbuds have zero latency across the board when watching movies or videos on your phone whether you’re using an iPhone or an android device and when it comes to audio codecs both of these earbuds have support for SBC and AAC.
But now let's talk about actually listening to music with these earbuds. Now both of these earbuds sound great for entry level earbuds. Now personally I think the Galaxy buds sound best when they're set to their dynamic EQ. Out of these box these earbuds can sound a little bright. However overall I do prefer how the studio buds sound over the Galaxy Buds 2. With the studio buds, these earbuds sound more open and their bass resonates much more. Leading to a much more dynamic and simply put more fun listening experience. Where as with the Galaxy Buds 2 they just don’t sound as open and even though their bass does resonate a a good amount when set to their dynamic EQ… its nowhere near as dramatic as the Studio Buds. Now one thing the Galaxy Buds have over the Studio Buds is that you can choose from a few different preset EQ settings. Where as with the Studio Buds their app doesn’t allow you to directly change their EQ. But nonetheless I think the Studio Buds sound great just the way they are. However if you prefer a brighter or more neutral EQ then you’ll might want to go with the Galaxy Buds.
But now I want to quickly address these earbuds apps. Now the Studio Buds play nice with both iPhone and android. You’re able to toggle between your ANC settings, and you can adjust the lay out of your media controls. Where as with the Galaxy Buds, they only connect to Samsung’s wear app if you’re using an Android device. If you try to use the Galaxy Buds 2 with an iPhone you’re simply not going to be able to get the most out of these earbuds. You cont be able to update them, you won’t be able to change their EQ, and you won’t be able to adjust their media controls.
Now speaking of media controls… this could actually be a deciding factor for some people. The Studio Buds are using physical buttons… where as the Galaxy Buds are using touch pads. Now the touch pads on the Galaxy Buds are very accurate and they’re easy enough to use. However, these touch pads don’t do the best of jobs of rejecting inputs when you’re just readjusting these earbuds. So for that reason, and just tactile feed back some people just prefer physical buttons on their earbuds. However with the Galaxy Buds if you turn on their tap the edge feature you do get more control over your media directly from the earbuds themselves over the Studio Buds. So the touch pads on the Galaxy Buds 2 do have their pros and cons.
Now when it comes to voice assistants, the Galaxy Buds have support for bixby which really only applies to Galaxy users. Where as the Studio Buds have support for Hey Siri… but given that the Studio Buds are mainly meant for Android users… I don’t think that matters that much. Nonetheless neither of these earbuds have Hey Google Support, but you can always active your voice assistant by pressing an holding on your earbud.
But now I want to address a pet peeve that I have about both of these earbuds. The Studio buds just flat out don’t have proximity sensors. So they won’t automatically pause your music when you take your earbud out of your ear like let's say AirPods do. And personally I really think that this is a noticeable inconvenience.
Where as with the Galaxy Buds, they clearly have proximity sensors. But they only pause your music if you take both earbuds out of your ears. I just don’t understand why they don’t pause your media if you take one earbud out and there’s now way to fix this setting through their app. So samsung, can we please fix this?
But now lets talk about the active noise cancelation on these earbuds. Now given that these are both entry level ANC earbuds… don’t expect them to block out as much noise as the big boys. Cause when it comes to ranking there’s the Sony WF-1000XM4’s which block out the most amount of noise, under them are the Jabra Elite 85T’s which also block out a ton of noise all while being more comfortable. Under them are the AirPods Pro and Sennheiser Momentum 2’s which I feel are neck and neck. And under them are the Galaxy Buds Pro.
Now below the Galaxy Buds Pro are the Beats Studio Buds, below them are the Galaxy Buds 2, and in last place here is going to be the Galaxy Buds Live. But obviously the Galaxy Buds Live are going to block out the least amount noise here because of how they fit. But thats a story for a different video. Nonetheless both the Studio Buds and Galaxy Buds 2 mainly only block out constant low frequency sounds like road noise… but the studio buds do block out a tinny bit more noise.
But like I’ve mentioned in the past, I only use the active noise cancelation on my earbuds when I have to and what’s really important to me is the quality of their ambient mode. Now the ambient mode on both of these earbuds is very similar. They both sound fairly natural with zero hissing in the background. However, the Studio Buds do do a slightly better job of rejecting wind noise when walking out doors.
However I do have to point out that with the Galaxy Buds you do have more control over how your ambient mode sounds. Now I think the Ambient mode on the Studio Buds sounds fine just the way it is. But the Galaxy Buds give you options.
But finally I do have to point out that the ambient mode on both of these earbuds let in everything. They aren’t the active kind like the ambient mode that you’ll find on lets say the Sony WF-1000XM4 which will automatically turn off when there’s a sudden spike in loud noise like a siren rolling by saving your ears from just getting blasted.
But finally here’s the microphone test. Now both of these earbuds have good sounding microphones… however the Galaxy Buds 2 do manage to edge out the Studio buds here.
In a quite room both of these earbuds sound fine… but the Galaxy Buds do have a little more amplification to them.
But the real difference is when it comes to blocking out noise pollution. Because right now the Galaxy Buds 2 are doing a good job of rejecting this road noise and focusing on just my voice. Because if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone you’re going to clearly hear all of this road noise. But if we were to switch back over to the Galaxy Buds 2 it is reduced.
Where as with the Studio Buds, you do hear a noticeable amount of road noise in the back ground. And when I talk there is a little bit of static in the back ground.
And when it comes to blocking out chatter its the same thing. You can hear a decent amount of noise pollution in the back ground and there is a little bit of interference when im talking.
Where as with the Galaxy Buds 2 they do a slightly better ob of blocking out chatter and they amplify my voice a little bit more. Now I’ll might sound a little robotic… but you can still understand me. But over all both of these earbuds are fine… but the studio buds are better used when in a quite room where as with the Galaxy Buds 2 you can get away with a little bit of noise pollution.
So with all that being said, I think you can’t go wrong with either of these earbuds if you’re an android user. And honestly I can’t say that one is definitively better than the other. The Galaxy Buds 2 have the better battery life, the slightly smaller case with wireless charging, you have more control over your media directly from the earbuds themselves, they have a slightly better performing microphone for phone calls and they have more customization options. But the Studio Buds sound better, they block out a little more noise, they have a slightly better ambient mode, I think they fit better, and they have physical media controls which could be a deciding factor for some people. Personally I’m leaning a little more towards the Studio Buds because of how they sound… but the Galaxy Buds 2 are great as well.