It looks like Samsung might be preparing another pair of true wireless earbuds, as references to a Galaxy Buds 2 were discovered the latest Samsung Wearable APK.
Android Police made the find, which specifies that the Galaxy Buds 2 device is a pair of earbuds with the apparent codename "Berry." This pair of in-ear headphones look set to be a direct successor to the original Samsung Galaxy Buds, rather than last year’s Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro. And that would suggest Samsung may be looking to counter the upcoming Apple AirPods 3 with a more affordable competitor.
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Indeed, right now you can find the Galaxy Buds for as little as $80, in contrast to the $199 Galaxy Buds Pro. In exchange for a lower price, the Galaxy Buds 2 would likely lack some of the latter’s more advanced features, like active noise cancellation and Samsung 360 Audio. But it would likely improve on the existing Galaxy Buds’ feature set too, potentially with longer battery life or improved waterproofing.
One feature the Galaxy Buds 2 apparently includes already is multipoint technology, or the ability to connect to multiple devices at once; the Wearable APK includes the phrase "supportMultiConnection="true"." This could be regular multipoint or a sign that the Galaxy Buds 2 will support the same automatic device switching as the Galaxy Buds Pro, which lets the earbuds switch sources when it detects audio or video playback.
Of course, nothing is confirmed, and these few lines of code are our only indication so far that Samsung is working on the Galaxy Buds 2. It may be an extremely early prototype, or may have even been tried and scrapped, with the Wearable APK references simply left lying around.
Still, a cheaper pair of Samsung Galaxy Buds would make sense. While the Galaxy Buds Pro is firmly on our list of the best wireless earbuds, it follows a trend set by the Galaxy Buds Plus and Galaxy Buds Live of raising prices higher and higher.
A simpler, more affordable set of buds could help draw more budget-minded buyers in Samsung’s ecosystem as well as help it undercut the AirPods 3, which is expected to cost more than the current Apple AirPods in exchange for upgraded features.
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