- Samsung unveils its first ever ear-cuff style buds, Galaxy Buds On
- Clip-on, C-bridge style open earbuds with head gestures and other features
- Only announced for Korean market for now, global launch TBC
We’ve been hearing leaks about new open earbuds from Samsung for months now, but I’m going to have to find a new rumored product to speculate about, because the brand has finally unveiled these new buds. Behold! The Samsung Galaxy Buds On.
This is the brand’s long-awaited attempt to attack the best open earbuds market, and it’s great timing, because recent figures show it’s a booming sector. These are earbuds which don’t block your ear canal, letting you hear your surroundings. Originally, they were targeted at outdoor runners and cyclists, but now I see them used all the time by couriers, drivers and commuters.
That said, the Samsung Galaxy Buds On can only be used by buyers in Korea right now, because the earbuds have only been confirmed for the sole market. According to the brand, they’ll be released in other markets later, but there are no specific release dates just yet.
The buds will go on sale on October 27, for 299,000 won, which converts to around $220 / £170 / AU$320. For a little speculation mixed with a dash of context, that’s roughly half-way between the Korean price of the Galaxy Buds 4 and Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, so I’d expect them to land for somewhere around $200 / £190 / AU$350 if we’re going half-way between the prices in each region.
Let’s get (Samsung Galaxy Buds) On with it
Enough price guessing: what’s going on with these earbuds? Well, from the outside, they come in a case very similar-looking to the Galaxy Buds 4 models, with a clear top, and I appreciate the shared design bone.
Otherwise, they look like pretty standard open earbuds, with a bud and counterweight joined by an arch. Unlike many other brands which release clip-style buds, Samsung hasn’t spent ages waxing lyrical about the design of the arch, simply describing how it analysed different ear shapes to make sure the speaker and battery were balanced well.
Audio-wise? Again, we’ve got little, but apparently they’ll use something called ‘TwinBoost speakers’ which sounds more like car technology you’d hear bragged about in F1. That implies there are dual drivers per bud, but we’ll have to wait to see to find out.
What Samsung has described, in detail, is the range of features the Galaxy Buds On will get. There’s an audio leakage avoidance tech, like in the Xiaomi OpenWear Stereo Pro, so people nearby won’t hear that you’re listening to the Runescape Soundfont cover of Pink Pony Club while you’re on a run. There are touch controls on the counterweight but also head gestures and voice command functionality, as in the Galaxy Buds 4 models.
If you own a Samsung Galaxy phone, you can use the buds with Galaxy AI, and enjoy a fast-pairing mode too. The battery life of the buds is said to be 9.5 hours, which is much better than the other recent Galaxy Bud models too.
Samsung has confirmed that it’ll reveal more about the Galaxy Buds On when their Korean official release date lands on October 27, so we’ll have a better idea then. We’ll also let you know when we find out about an international release date.
