$60 off of some of the best wireless earbuds is hard to say no to
Samsung Galaxy Buds 2
The Galaxy Buds 2 take the active noise cancellation from the Buds Live and Buds Pro and bring them down to the entry level. With superb sound, a plethora of features, and seamless integration with the rest of Samsung’s ecosystem, these earbuds are hard to say no to for $90.
Active noise cancellation (ANC) has long been a feature reserved for more premium earbuds, but Samsung brought them down to the entry point of its lineup with the Galaxy Buds 2. While the sound and ANC quality might not match the Buds 2 Pro, it’s still excellent, especially for the price. If you have other Samsung devices, these are the best earbuds to pair with them. And the Black Friday deals keep getting better, including this one.
The Buds 2 are already compelling at their usual $150 price tag, but if you go to Best Buy right now, you can get them for $90, saving $60. Samsung has them discounted to $100 with trade-ins available, but you won’t get much off unless you have a reasonably new pair to exchange, so the Best Buy deal is likely the best value.
Why we love the Galaxy Buds 2
The Galaxy Buds 2 are a pair of exceptional earbuds with only one major flaw — nickel. The Galaxy Buds 2 uses nickel for the charging contacts, and a not insignificant number of people are sensitive to this metal, leading to itchiness and swelling. That is a significant issue, but if you’re lucky enough not to be sensitive to the metal, these are a fantastic pair of earbuds that you’ll love using.
Samsung earbuds use an exclusive audio codec, so if you want the best sound quality from the Buds 2, you’ll need to pair them with a Samsung phone, tablet, or TV. This interoperability with Samsung devices is the Buds 2’s biggest strength. You can listen to music on your Tab S8, and your earbuds will automatically switch connections to your phone when you get a call.
The codec Samsung uses is a good one, so the sound quality is good for the price, as is the ANC, which does an admiral job of blocking outside noise. Battery life takes a bit of a hit with ANC enabled, with the Buds 2 lasting for 5 hours, which can be stretched to 7.5 hours with ANC switched off. The charging case, which supports wireless charging and USB-C, provides a total of four extra recharges.
If you’re expanding your Samsung ecosystem, there are plenty of other Samsung devices on sale this Black Friday, including smartphones, tablets, and wearables. If you aren’t entirely convinced by the Galaxy Buds 2 and want to compare them to the competition, you can see the best Black Friday earbuds deals here.
