This wireless earbuds guide explains everything you need to know about Samsung Galaxy Buds (and Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus): box contents of the buds, the layout of the buds, how to use the buds, how to charge the buds, how to check the battery status, how to pair the buds with other devices, how to use touchpad commands to control the buds. A concise review of the Galaxy Buds was also included.
Of course, some questions you may have on Samsung Galaxy Buds and Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus were also answered. So, this guide covers both Samsung Galaxy Buds and Galaxy Buds Plus (Galaxy Buds+).
Please note, Samsung released Galaxy Buds Live with Galaxy Note 20. Because of the new active noise cancelling (ANC) feature and new design, you may check this page (coming soon) on how to use Galaxy Buds Live. Galaxy Buds Pro was released with Galaxy S21 in Jan 2021 with some new and improved features (compared to Galaxy Buds Live).
Samsung announced Galaxy Buds, a wireless earbud for Android phones, together with the Galaxy S10 in March 2019.
Prior to Galaxy Buds, Samsung already offered Gear IconX as a fitness (and wireless) earbud.
Galaxy Buds is smaller and lighter by removing the built-in storage and workout-tracking ability in IconX. If you need earbuds for a workout with a heart rate monitor, the best option is the Jabra Elite Sport.
So, you can think Galaxy Buds is the wireless in-ear earbuds for Android phones matching AirPods for iPhones.
In 2020, Samsung updated Galaxy Buds with Galaxy Buds+ (Galaxy Buds Plus) with longer battery life, better sound and audio quality as explained in this guide. The MSRP price is $149. In many regions, Samsung Galaxy Buds+ is bundled with Galaxy S20 as a free gift.
The official spec sheet of the Galaxy Buds requires Android 5.0 and Galaxy Wearable app.
But this is for “quick” pairing.
In fact, you can use Samsung Galaxy Buds as a normal Bluetooth headset. Therefore, you can use the Samsung Galaxy Buds with most devices that support Bluetooth audio, for example, iPhone, Windows PCs, and laptops.
Unlike AirPods, Galaxy Buds does follow the Bluetooth standards. This means it is compatible with most devices that follow the Bluetooth standards.
In short, if your device can use other Bluetooth headphones, it can also use Galaxy Buds.
In most regions, you can find the following items in the Samsung Galaxy Buds box:
Please note, there is no charger (wall or wireless) inside the box.
To use Galaxy Buds effectively, you need to know the layout of both the buds and the charging case.
As illustrated below, there are mainly 11 parts you need to know:
Please note, the two buds (left and right) are identical. The illustration shows part of each.
Please note Galaxy Buds Live is substantially different. You may check the layout of Galaxy Buds Live here.
Galaxy Buds can only be charged by the charging case (cradle). You have to put the buds into the charging case to charge it.
The charging case has a built-in 252mAh battery for Galaxy Buds and 270mAh for Galaxy Buds+.
You can charge the charging case with at least 3 different methods:
Please note, when charging the charging case, the buds will be charged automatically as well.
The charging method for Galaxy Buds Live is similar, as explained in this guide.
To charge Galaxy Bud and the charging case (cradle) with a USB cable, you may follow these steps.
You can skip steps 1 and 2 if you charge the charging case without buds inside. For example, you are using the buds and just want to charge the case.
If you want to charge the buds together with the charging case, you should open the case to put the buds inside the case.
If the buds are inside the case, you'd better check the buds as well.
Of course, you can use your buds while charging the charging case. In this case, you can skip this step and the next step.
As shown below, you need to make sure the buds are inserted into their corresponding slots.
You should also check the direction of each bud and positioning.
If the earbuds are placed and positioned properly, or after you take out the buds, you can now close the case.
The Galaxy Buds charging case uses a USB-C port. Therefore you have to:
Anyway, the USB-C port on the charging case only accepts a USB-C connector.
You can plug the charger into an electric socket to power on the USB charger.
It should take less than 2 hours to charge Galaxy Buds and the charging case from 0% to 100%.
The LED light in the charging case should turn from solid red (charging) to solid green (fully charged) once it is fully charged.
Once it is fully charged, you can unplug the USB cable from the charging case and then unplug the charger from the electric socket.
You can charge the Galaxy Buds and the charging case with a Qi Wireless charger.
You only need to put the charging case on the wireless charging pad to start to charge, as shown below. Tha's all.
Please check this page if you want to learn more about wireless charging on Samsung devices.
Samsung introduced wireless PowerShare on Galaxy S10 and Note 10.
You can enable the wireless PowerShare on Samsung Galaxy S10 or Note 10, then put Galaxy Buds on the back of the phone to charge it, as shown below.
You may check this guide on how to enable and use wireless PowerShare to charge other devices with Galaxy S10 and Note 10.
You can open the Galaxy Wearable app to find the battery level of the Galaxy Buds.
Of course, in this case, the buds must be paired with the phone.
You can also check the battery level of Galaxy Buds (including Galaxy Buds, Galaxy Buds+, Galaxy Buds Live, Galaxy Buds Pro, and Galaxy Buds 2) in the Galaxy Wearable app. You may check this guide (it was written for Galaxy Buds Live. But it works for Galaxy Buds and Galaxy Buds + as well) to use any of the 4 methods (including using a widget on Android devices) to check the battery level of Galaxy Buds and Buds+.
You can check the battery status of the charging case with the battery (and charging) status light on the front panel of the charging case.
The LED colour will tell you about the battery charging status of the charging case:
If the charging case is not connected to a charger, when you close the case, the LED will light up for a few seconds:
The quick pairing between Galaxy Buds and your phone requires the Galaxy Wearable app.
If you did not install the Galaxy Wearable app, or you are trying to pair the buds with your laptop of PC, you have to pair them as a standard Bluetooth headset.
If you have installed the Galaxy Wearable app on the phone, the phone will be able to detect Galaxy Buds automatically when you open the charging case.
You just need to follow the pop-ups and agree to pair.
You can pair the buds with the device as a normal Bluetooth headset.
Galaxy Buds can remember the last paired device. By default, it will not try to pair with other devices.airPod
To pair the buds to a new device, you can use one of the following methods:
You can use the touchpad on each bud to control Galaxy Buds.
The supported gestures (touchpad commands) include:
Please note, Galaxy Buds Live uses slightly different touch controls. You may check this guide if you want to learn to use touch control on Galaxy Buds Live.
When you are playing music or videos, you can tap the touch panel once to pause.
You do not need to tap on both buds. You only need to tap on any of the buds (left or right). In other words, the single tap work on both buds.
When you are playing music or videos, you can tap the touchpad twice quickly to play the next track.
If there is an incoming call (i.e., the phone rings), you can tap the touchpad twice to accept (pick up) the call.
If you are engaged in a call, the double-tap gesture will end the call.
If you are in a multi-party call (conference call), the double-tap gesture can be used to switch lines.
When you are playing music or videos, you can tap the touchpad three times quickly to play the previous track.
Functions for the tap and hold (long tap) gesture of Samsung Galaxy Buds can be customizable for:
The first 5 functions can be assigned to either of the buds. But the volume control will use both touchpads on Galaxy Buds. Galaxy Buds+ allows you to assign volume down or volume up individually.
For calls, the long tap gesture will (not customizable):
You can hold both touchpads to force the Galaxy Buds to enter Bluetooth pairing mode manually.
In this way, you can pair your buds with new devices without unpairing from old devices.
Yes, you can use only left or right bud. The audio will automatically change to mono when you use only one bud.
Samsung Galaxy Buds differs from most other wireless earbuds by not forcing a master-slave mode for the two buds. So, you can use one bud while charging the other.
When wearing the buds, you should insert the wing tips into ears, then adjust accordingly, as shown in l the left side of the picture below.
Based on our usage and testing, we would recommend the buds for:
Of course, we also have some disappointments for the Galaxy Buds, mainly:
If you have any questions or encounter any problems with the Galaxy Buds, you may let us know in the comment box below.
The community will help you.
You may check Headphone 101 for detailed explanations of headphone technologies and terms.
For Bluetooth headphone guides, please check the Bluetooth headphones section.
Sports headphones section is dedicated to guides on sports headphones.
Active noise-canceling headphone guides can be found in the Noise-canceling headphones section.
This post was last modified on November 28, 2021
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View Comments
Hello, often I hear a drone like alert sound and is repetitive. It’s like if there was some kind of interference with the Bluetooth signal? When a text comes in, i hear the alert of a beep so that’s fine. I can’t figure out why this drone sound comes in? BTW, it does not cut off what I’m listening to. I mostly listen to a radio station !!!
Is it notification sound from certain apps?
It's disgusting that IF you want to use the features for which you've bought these buds, you HAVE to install their Galaxy app, and you HAVE to allow the app access to, contacts, gps, sms, read notification, access to local storage...
when I ONLY WANT TO ENABLE NOISE CANCELLATION when I'm using it primarily on PC!
I hate it. Good product, bad corporate decisions.
no noise cancellation for me
1. You can always disable/remove these permissions after initial setup, or firmware udpate. These permissions are needed for some features. For example, if you want to listen to notifications from the earbuds, you need to grant permission to access notifications. As a tiny device, it is impractical to add all controls on the earbuds. So, you need the app to fully control the earbuds. Of course, you can use it just like normal Bluetooth earbuds without the app.
2. Noise cancelling is available in Galaxy Buds Live and Galay Buds Pro only. Buds and Buds+ do not have noise cancelling.
how do i connect qair buds to my laptop.I try several time to connect to laptop bluetooth
You may follow these steps to connect Galaxy buds to the PC:
0. If the buds are connected to your phone. You can turn off Bluetooth on the phone temporally.
1. Put your Galaxy Buds (Buds+, Buds Live or Buds Pro) in your ears.
2. Tap and hold both buds' touchpads. The Galaxy Buds should enter pairing mode and you should hear a sound.
3. Open the Bluetooth settings on the PC and add a new device. Your PC should be able to find the buds.
can buds+ be paired/used with a Samsung smart TV? If so, how does one pair the buds+ & TV?
Yes, if your Samsung smart TV supports Bluetooth audio. You can check whether you have Bluetooth Speaker List in TV settings -- sound --sound output. In older Samsung TVs, it may be Menu -- Sound - Speaker Settings - TV SoundConnect.
If the TV supports Bluetooth Audio, you just need to put the Buds+ into pairing mode (holding both touch panels on the left and right buds for a few seconds), then you search Bluetooth devices from TV settings.