Earlier this month, Samsung unveiled its first clip-on earbuds called the Galaxy Buds On. Initially, it announced pricing and availability details only for Korea, but now the brand has revealed them for the US market as well. As per Samsung, the Galaxy Buds On will cost $229 and will be available to buy in early November. Only one color option, Black, will be available initially.
That is quite a steep price, considering the flagship Galaxy Buds 4 Pro go for $250. The Buds On also has no active noise cancellation, weaker bass response, and lower dust and water resistance. All that said, the use case is fundamentally different. While you might choose the Buds 4 Pro as the best daily drivers for your Galaxy smartphone, the Buds On keep your ear canals open, letting you listen to music while staying aware of traffic, conversations, and everything else happening around you. I can see the appeal for people who find traditional earbuds uncomfortable, or those who regularly listen to music while running or commuting.
Samsung has put a lot of work into the fit
Samsung says it analyzed over 119 million ear data points to refine the design. Each earbud weighs just 6.65 grams and uses an 11.3mm TwinBoost speaker. Open-ear earbuds often struggle with bass and sound leakage. Samsung is addressing the latter with Audio Leakage Reduction technology, which uses reversed sound waves to reduce how much audio escapes. There’s also automatic volume adjustment based on surrounding noise, although it’s an experimental feature that requires compatible Galaxy software.
The earbuds run on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S7 Gen 1 Sound Platform and offer up to 9.5 hours of playback, extending to 38 hours with the charging case. You also get IP54 dust and splash resistance.
You can do quite a bit without reaching for your phone
Samsung has included three microphones and a voice pickup sensor to help isolate your voice during calls. On compatible Galaxy devices, you can start a conversation with Gemini Live using a voice command, record quick voice memos, and use head gestures to answer or reject calls. Some advanced features require newer versions of One UI.
