AirPods Pro vs Galaxy Buds Pro: the best wireless headphones for you

Apple $ 249 AirPods Pro are some of the best wireless headphones you can buy, but Samsung is going after the flagship with the $ 200 Galaxy Buds Pro. The Buds Pro have almost the same feature set as the AirPods Pro, with active noise cancellation and spatial audio support. I spent two weeks testing these two headphones to weigh the pros and cons of each.

AirPods Pro are smaller, feel lighter in your ear

Both are in-ear headphones, but they have completely different designs. AirPods Pro have a clickable stem that protrudes from the ear and is only available in white. The Galaxy Buds Pro come in three colors (silver, black, or purple) and have a round design with faucet panels on the side and feel a bit heavier in your ear than the AirPods Pro.

Each pair of headphones also comes with interchangeable tips in small, medium or large. The fit will vary depending on the shape and size of your ear, but I had issues with both headphones staying on properly when you train or move a lot. In fact, I’ve found the most secure fit with third-party foam tips for the AirPods Pro – I use those from Comply, but there are plenty of other brands available. Galaxy Bud Pro tips do not come with the wing tip locks found in previous models, such as the Galaxy Buds Plus, which allowed them to be locked securely in your ear. I haven’t been able to find any third-party tips for the Galaxy Buds Pro yet, but I can’t wait to see if that will improve the fit.

Read more: 11 Awesome AirPods Pro Tips You Should Try Right Now

Galaxy Buds Pro have the edge in durability against water and sweat, with a higher IPX7 rating than the IPX4 of AirPods Pro. This means they can be submerged in up to 3 feet (1 meter) of fresh water for up to 30 minutes. I haven’t taken the Buds Pro for swimming or tossing in the washer yet, but I had no problem splashing water on them. The AirPods Pro can withstand sweat and a few light splashes, but I wouldn’t suggest taking them for a swim.

Galaxy Buds Pro, better sound quality; AirPods Pro, better noise cancellation

Both of these headphones sound great, as long as you can get a secure fit. It’s definitely a matter of preference, but I prefer the warmer sound profile and more pronounced bass response of the Galaxy Bud Pro when it comes to sound quality. You can also manually adjust the EQ in the Galaxy Wearable app to a number of different presets, from bass boost to smooth. AirPods Pro have a more neutral sound profile which actually works in their favor if you want to switch between calls, listen to music, or listen to podcasts. They have an adaptive equalizer that dynamically adjusts the sound for you.

While both do a good job of canceling out ambient noise, the AirPods Pro are a bit more effective at drowning out white noise like the sound of a fan or airplane engines. While you can set the ANC level on the Galaxy Buds Pro to either high or low, I didn’t really hear a difference between the two settings. I can also hear a very slight hiss when I have ANC on the Buds Pro while not listening to music.

They each have spatial sound (Samsung calls it 360 audio) for a simulated surround sound experience when listening to movies and TV shows. Again both sound great, but if I had to choose I would go with the AirPods Pro as the effect feels more natural. Note that at the time of writing this article, 360 audio support is only enabled Samsung Galaxy S21 Phones, while spatial audio on AirPods Pro is available on any Apple device running iOS 14 or later.

But the Galaxy Buds Pro have one feature that the AirPods Pro lacks: voice detection. Galaxy Buds Pro automatically lowers your media volume when it detects you’re talking, then reverts to your original settings 10 seconds after you shut down. This is great if you want to be able to have a quick conversation without actively switching the headphones to ambient sound mode (or removing one from your ear).

You can listen to mic samples in the video on this page to hear the difference for calls.

AirPods Pro: The Most Reliable Battery Life

Samsung quotes the Galaxy Buds Pro’s battery life at five hours with ANC turned on, but I’ve never come close to that number. With ANC turned on, the longest I could wear them was around four and a half hours which was disappointing considering the claim. Apple cites up to four and a half hours with ANC for AirPods Pro, but I steadily passed that and was able to handle almost five hours of total listening. According to Samsung, the Buds Pro can also last for up to eight hours of listening without ANC, but again, I couldn’t reach that claim.

Each case comes with a little extra as well, with AirPods Pro giving 24 hours of total juice and Galaxy Buds Pro an additional 18 hours. Both cases can charge wirelessly, or you can plug in Lightning on AirPods Pro or USB-C on Galaxy Buds Pro.

Read more: Best Apple AirPods deals right now

Smart features are similar on both

This is the first generation of Samsung headphones that I have tested that are not compatible with the iOS Galaxy Wearable app. This means they will connect to an iPhone ($ 900 at Boost Mobile) via bluetooth and you can turn on ANC and use the default tap controls, but you won’t be able to change the settings. AirPods Pro also work like regular Bluetooth headphones on Android, but provide the most seamless experience for customizing settings on iOS.

You can summon Siri on AirPods Pro or Bixby on Galaxy Buds Pro using your voice or with touch controls. Each will read the text messages or notifications and allow you to change the volume or make a call with your voice. There is no way yet to call up Google Assistant using your voice on the Galaxy Buds Pro, although you can activate Google Assistant on the Galaxy Buds Pro by assigning it as a long press on the touch panel, but you cannot make calls with yet.

Each earbud can be used independently for calls or for listening to music and you can find both on a map if you lose them using the Find My app on iPhone or the Smart Things app on Galaxy devices . They also both offer quick switching between devices signed in to the same Apple ID or Samsung account.

Read more: Galaxy Buds Pro: 10 tips to master Samsung’s latest wireless headphones

Galaxy Buds Pro for Android, AirPods Pro for iPhone

Both headphones have their strengths, but the best headphone for you will ultimately depend on the ecosystem you find yourself in. Previous comparisons of Samsung and Apple headphones were more platform independent, given that previous models were compatible with the Galaxy Wearable app on iOS, but this time around your phone will be a big factor in your decision. I prefer the warm sound profile of the Galaxy Buds Pro, so I would choose them for listening to music. But for multitasking between calls and music (and for more reliable battery performance), I go for the AirPods Pro.