Despite all the leaks that flooded social media late last year (thanks to some guy who thought it was cool just out and sell them), the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro weren’t acknowledged by the company for a very long time… that is, until today. Samsung kicked off their Unpacked 2021 event by officially announcing the next step forward in the Galaxy Buds range and from what we’ve seen, they ought to be mightily impressive.
We at Stuff are big fans of the Galalxy Buds and took a particular shine to last year’s Buds+ and Buds Live. Yet the Galaxy Buds Pro seem to blow both of those devices out of the water. With better noise cancellation, tighter voice recognition, higher quality microphones and a battery life that rivals any competing wireless earbuds on the market, we can’t wait to pop them in.
So what’s in the Galaxy Buds Pro?
Yet what you really want to know about are the specs baked into that tiny shell. The Galaxy Buds Pro feature IPX7 ³ water resistance, 4 adjustable levels of ambient sound levels, and an 11mm woofer and 6.5mm Tweeter for some excellent all round sound.
They also feature 3 Mics, improved wind shield and connect to devices via Bluetooth 5.0. Oh, but what about that all important battery, right? Well, the Galaxy Buds Pro come equipped with a 61 mAh battery and will be bundled with a 472mAh charging case. According to Samsung’s spreadsheet, it should be able to produce an hour of playtime after just a quick 5 minute charge.
On a full charge you can expect to get around 18 hours of playback with the ANC (active noise cancelling) turned on and around 28 hours of playback with it turned out. Now that’s a lifespan you really don’t see all that often in the wireless earbuds space.
The Galaxy Buds Pro will cost R4,000 and as a result of their release will see the Galaxy Buds Live drop to R3,000.
But what about the SmartTag?
Right you are, dear reader! Samsung also announced it’s new SmartTag, the company’s very own answer to the question, “Where did I put my bag with all my cool stuff?”. The idea behind it is simple, all you do is place the tag on an item that you’re prone to losing or want to at the very least ensure can’t be stolen easily. Attach it to your keys, hide it in a back pack or maybe even attach it to your dog that keeps escaping through that hole in the fence you really should close up. Then all you need to do is download the corresponding app and be blessed with real time tracking of the tag and, obviously, the item it’s attached to.
If you want to be really precise and track whatever you’ve lost even more accurately, you can invest in the SmartTag+ which uses ultra-wide band technology to provide some of the comprehensive tracking information available to consumers today. Now you won’t have to worry about where exactly your cat is every night. Okay, maybe still worry but less! Samsung is clearly dedicated to helping users keep track of their belongings; just last year they launched SmartThings Find to quickly and efficiently locate Galaxy devices.
For a single SmartTag, you’re looking at paying R400, and for a four-pack you’ll pay R1,200 which obviously makes sense.