Samsung launches $200 Galaxy Buds Pro with improved audio and ANC

Compared to Samsung's previous Galaxy Buds, the company says the Galaxy Buds Pro have improved audio, active noise cancelation (ANC), and call quality. The $200 earbuds offer what Samsung describes as its "best audio experience yet."

Samsung says that it redesigned the buds to focus on sound quality. Unlike its open-ear Galaxy Buds Live, the new model has an in-canal design with adjustable ANC. They have an 11-millimeter woofer for bass and 6.5-millimeter tweeter to optimize treble.

The company also claims to have prioritized automatic personalization with its new ANC. The company says it can reduce background noise by 99%. It allows the user to fine-tune the ANC, including the option of amplifying nearby sounds by more than 20 decibels.

The earbuds recognize when you're speaking, automatically switching between muting and amplifying nearby sounds. When you start speaking, the Galaxy Buds Pro can also automatically turn down your music.

Similar to AirPods on iOS devices, Samsung's new earbuds can automatically connect to Samsung devices based on your usage. For example, if you're listening to music on the Galaxy S21, you can start playing a movie on a Samsung tablet, and the earbuds will automatically switch.

They also include a feature similar to AirPods' Spatial Audio. The Galaxy Buds Pro support Dolby Head Tracking, offering 360-degree audio for supported video content.

In addition to audio quality for music and movies, Samsung says that it prioritized call quality in the Galaxy Buds Pro. The company says the buds can separate your voice from unwanted sounds while on a call. It does this using three mics and what it calls a Voice Pickup Unit (VPU). One of the earbuds' outer microphones has a high signal-to-noise ratio that helps to further reduce call background noise. Samsung shaped the earbuds to help reduce wind contact, with a "specially designed chamber" and mesh filters.

Samsung says the earbuds will last up to eight hours with ANC turned off, and up to five hours with ANC on. The case offers up to 20 hours of extra battery life.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro can be ordered today from Samsung and on January 15 from retail partners. They ship in three colors — Phantom Black, Phantom Silver, and Phantom Violet, and retail for $200.