SAMSUNG Galaxy Buds Pro 2 [2022] (SM-R510NLVALTA) - (Violet)

The Samsung Galaxy Pods Pro 2 are a set of excellent wireless earbuds. However, they are a Samsung product intended to be used with other Samsung products. This is not to say that they won't work with other devices – they will. But there are features that you'll never be able to use unless you connect to them with the Samsung Wearable app, and you need an Android phone/tablet for that. Without that, they're just very good earbuds. With the app, they become brilliant.Now, I happen to have a Samsung phone, so I'm able to make use of the added Samsung features. But I'll still try to cover what they can do otherwise.As with most wireless earbuds, these use a charging case strategy; there are rechargeable batteries in the earbuds and a third larger one in the case, which charges the earbuds when they're in the case. Charging the case is done via a USB-C port; these earbuds come with a USB-C-to-USB-C cable that's fairly long; you have to plug it into a USB-C charger (not included) or buy a separate adapter (also not included) to charge it. If you already have a Samsung phone that's at all recent, you already have a USB-C charger. Fully charged earbuds seem to last for a good 6-8 hours of constant use.Pairing the earbuds is simple. Just make sure Bluetooth is enabled on the device, take the earbuds out of the case, and the earbuds should appear on the device shortly. Choose them, confirm that you want to pair, and you're good. If you want to pair them with another device, you'll have to put them into the case, tap and hold both earbuds for a few seconds until the LED blinks, and that puts them into pairing mode, so follow the same procedure with the new device (though actually you don't have to take them out of the case when you reset them this way).And then, if they're connected to one device, and you want to connect them to some other device that's been paired with them in the past, all you have to do is go to that device and tell it to connect to the earbuds. That's it – they'll disconnect from the previous device and connect to the new one. It's very easy if you have certain devices you commonly use the earbuds with. I've paired them with Android, MacOS, and Windows devices and can switch between them all in this way.Now, these earbuds have active noise cancellation. That means they have exterior microphones that can pick up outside noise and the ability to generate a waveform that destructively interferes with those outside sound waves to cancel them out, or mostly so. However, because they have exterior microphones, they can also pass outside sound through to your ears, if you choose. What's more, a long press on either earbud (or controlling them with the app) can switch from noise cancellation to pass-through mode to neither of these. And more than that, these earbuds can tell when you're talking, so when you speak they can auto-switch to pass-through mode. That means you can carry on conversations without taking time to take the earbuds out of your ears (assuming you speak first). After you go for about 10 seconds without saying anything (this can be changed to 5 or 15 seconds, but only with the app), they go back to noise cancellation.I was unable to exceed these earbuds' wireless range while staying in my house. The range is very impressive. I've dealt with some Bluetooth earbuds that wouldn't reach across the room reliably. And even if you do exceed the range, the earbuds automatically reconnect when you come back into range. Some earbuds shut down to save battery when they go out of range and have to be reset (put them back in the case and take them out again) before they'll reconnect. Not so with these.As with many earbuds, these are controlled by tapping, long-pressing, double-tapping, etc. one or the other of the earbuds. There's a bit of delay, but there is also audible feedback when you do this, and the delay has a reason: if you just want to adjust the position of one of the earbuds in your ear, you can press it for a second with no effect; it won't count as a single-tap or a long-press.These earbuds are very comfortable; they're even easy to forget that they're in my ears at all. In fact, the noise cancellation is nice by itself, giving me a bit of an island of silence when I'm usually surrounded by noise at all times without consciously noticing it.On Samsung devices, there's even a feature to track your head movements so the sound seems to be coming from the direction of your phone/tablet, if you enable it. This doesn't make much sense if you're just listening to music or a podcast or making a phone call, but if you're watching a video, this feature makes more sense.The Samsung app (again, only available if you have a Samsung Android phone/tablet) allows you to download firmware updates and configure other things, like turning on ambient sound during phone calls so you can hear yourself talk and not feel like your voice is muffled (which could otherwise make you feel like you have to talk louder), control the amplification of ambient sound when it's passed through, and control the left-right audio balance.I'm not an extreme audiophile, but the sound quality is good. Bass response is always an issue with very small earphones due to simple physics, but these earbuds do better than some devices I've used.Of course, no product can ever be perfect. The shortcomings of these earbuds as I see them:The case has no indication of how much battery power it has left. It has one LED on the outside that tells you when it's charging (red) and when it's fully charged (green). The LED is only active when the charging cable is plugged in or for a few seconds after you open the case. It has another LED on the inside that is red when it's charging the earbuds and green when they're fully charged. There are times when it is used for other things. But nothing indicates how close the case's battery is to being empty or full, or how close the earbuds are to being fully charged.Controlling the volume with the earbuds is very difficult. There's no way to do this at all unless you configure them with the app to enable it (it's a Labs feature, meaning it's still being tested), and even when you do, it's difficult; you have to carefully double-tap on the edge of the left or right earbud just right. And this only seems to work on Samsung devices.The fact that they're so comfortable and so good at automatically reconnecting when they come back into range (after going out of range) is actually detrimental in a way. It means it's easy to forget to take them out and put them back in the case to charge when you're not listening to anything. You have to remember that noise cancellation still uses battery power.And if you don't have a Samsung device to pair them with, there are a lot of features you won't be able to access or at least fine-tune. This isn't really a deal-breaker in most cases, but the way it switches to ambient pass-through mode when you talk or during phone calls is really nice, and I'm not 100% sure it would do these things if I hadn't turned these on using the app.All things told, these are a great pair of wireless earbuds with amazing range, excellent usability, great comfort, and active noise cancellation.

I love these models. They fit perfect in my ears. Also the battery life is great. I love working out with them, walking, bowling, ect. Also the dynamic sound it has along with the ambient mode is awesome. Plus the violet color actually looks nice. It stands out and creates style.It came in a ni e package. With a power cord and instructional Manuel. Not to mention the charging holder. I'd recommend these.

The ear buds have a beautiful clear sound that cones out also they get in the ear really tight they don't just fall off they are great quality and sou d amazing they are super loud and cone with different inserts they charge really fast and connection was easy and fast to connect to Bluetooth great earphones.

I (mom) love them Perfect color, there light fit good in ear & charge does last. My son did perfect surprising me with this gift 💜

I'm 65 and not as tech-nimble as I used to be. Sometimes I struggle with new tech. I resisted purchasing earbuds for a long time because I had used the single over-ear Bluetooth headset for several years successfully and I didn't want to have to bother keeping track of TWO separate devices instead of just one (I lost count of how many times I had to replace my headset due to losing them or leaving them somewhere). Also, my previous phone (a Pixel) just didn't do Bluetooth well. But when I replaced it with a Samsung S24 Ultra, I couldn't find a single over-the-ear headset that would work well - the reviews just didn't measure up. So I finally gave in and ordered these. And I'm so glad I did! The pairing was seamless. Any questions I might have were quickly answered through a quick browser search. I have them not only paired to my phone, but to my PC and my transcription software that I use for work. I'm still getting used to having two separate devices and sticking them in my ear - and it took a while to figure out the controls (still learning, though). I've order a lanyard that connects the two and will hopefully prevent me from losing one, along with a case cover with a carabiner so I can connect the case to my purse when out and about.You can use just one earbud - a plus if you plan to use your phone in the car - no more shouting into the phone on speaker mode. That's also a plus for me. While there's no prohibition to using both earbuds in my state while driving, having both in I consider not exactly safe. But I can use one to answer the phone and still have an ear fully open to my surroundings.The sound quality is quite good; music, podcasts, Smart TVs, vids on your phone, all come through clearly, though I have had some issues with crackling and what I call "winding" - the sound that is like a breeze or very light interference in the silence between words and sentences. I haven't mucked much with the app on the my phone that controls the buds, yet, so hopefully I can do something about it. It's something, though, that can drive an OCD person a bit crazy, I think.I chose these specifically because I wanted to make sure they would be compatible with my phone; I did research, comparing them to the latest iteration of this model (earbuds pro 3) and came away with the impression that while the Pro 3's were good and supposedly an upgrade, the current price tag didn't support that - there should have been more and better improvements for the 3's. With discounts, this was affordable for me - even if I end up losing one or both - and can be easily replaced. With the lanyard, hopefully that'll never happen.

If you are shopping around and trying to determine if you want the Pro2 or Pro3 AND have sensitivity to squealing sounds AND can't wear earbuds without rubber tips for barrier/buffer, then this is for you. Based on the reviews, the upgraded version is not for you, I've lost my Pro2's so I am rebuying these and not upgrading. Many reviews state the Pro3's have a squealing noise issue and if you any noise sensitivity, don't risk it. I had these for a year and NEVER had that issue. Great sound, good fit, this time I am buying the cord to attach to the earbuds so I don't lose them when they inevitably fall out my ear. I cannot risk the squealing sounds of Pro3, cataplexy will render me temporarily paralyzed. NOPE.