True wireless headphone duel – Apple AirPods vs Samsung Galaxy Buds +

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The fierce rivalry between Samsung and Apple is not limited to smartphones. With its recent Galaxy Buds +, Samsung challenges the undivided dominance of AirPods in the headset market true wireless. Does he have the weapons for that?

Characteristics

MANUFACTURE: GALAXY BUDS +

The AirPods and Galaxy Buds + are certainly far from being clones of each other, but they still show many common points in terms of their manufacture. In addition to the very similar size of the storage boxes, the two models are also mainly dressed in a glossy plastic which is by no means luxurious, but effective and pleasant both to the eye and to the touch. Just one could give a slight advantage to Apple's earphones regarding the quality of assembly of the case: the hinge of the cover, in particular, seems a little more robust.

But this advantage is offset by several small details that still push us to give our preference to Buds +. The latter in particular have the decency to recharge by a perfectly standard USB-C port, while the AirPods remain faithful to the famous owner Lightning port of their manufacturer. Better yet, the Buds + are compatible as standard with wireless charging via the Qi standard, while the AirPods only offer it as an option. Last but not least, the Samsung headphones are available in 3 different colors, instead of just white!

However, it should be noted that neither the AirPods nor the Galaxy Buds + guarantee any resistance to water. It is therefore forbidden to use it in the rain, even slight.

COMFORT: EQUALITY

Let's face it right away, it is very daring to want to directly compare the comfort offered by these two models, which each adopt very different design philosophies. While the Galaxy Buds + are very traditional in-ear headphones that are inserted into the ear canal of the wearer, the AirPods are more like button earphones, which are simply placed on the tragus, in front of the canal.

As a direct consequence of this difference, Buds + have the advantage of a significantly more secure maintenance than their rivals. This is all the more true since they are supplied not only with three different tip sizes, but also three sizes of silicone fins, which help them to wedge perfectly in the user's shell.

Conversely, AirPods are betting on a "one size fits all" approach, with no possibility of adapting the headphones to their morphology – if not via third-party accessories. Their ergonomics are therefore less universal, and, depending on the morphology of each, it is not impossible that one can experience some difficulties in putting them perfectly in place in one's ears. However, only a minority of people are affected. For the vast majority of users, their maintenance remains very correct, and even, frankly, quite surprising: it is only by shaking their heads violently in all directions that we risk seeing them dislodged. In addition, their "non-intrusive" side is obviously very pleasant, and facilitates their wearing for hours on end without risking the slightest discomfort.

It is therefore impossible to assert that one model is more comfortable than the other: both do a very good job, and the preference that we can have for one or the other is only a matter of sensitivity (or morphology) personal.

BASIC FEATURES: GALAXY BUDS +

Galaxy Buds + like AirPods are above all designed to be used within the ecosystems of their respective manufacturers: it is only by using Buds + with Samsung devices, or AirPods with Apple devices, that we can take advantage of their quick pairing functions (open the case next to a device and press a single button to connect the headphones to said device) and unified (only one pairing procedure to perform so that the headphones are recognized by all our devices of the brand – smartphone, tablet, computer, smart health connected watch…). But the two models remain perfectly usable with devices of other brands. No notable difference to note from this point of view, therefore.

For the rest, the AirPods are designed according to the eminently "Applesque" philosophy which would like simplicity to be born ease of use. Result: controls of absolute minimalism with only two physical interactions available on the headphones (double tapping on the left earpiece or the right earpiece). By default, they are allocated for navigation between tracks during playback. This means that it is however not possible to pause the playback – if not by removing one of the headphones -, let alone control the volume.

On the side of the Galaxy Buds +, the controls are arranged on tactile surfaces on the back of the earbuds. This allows them to be much more exhaustive: play or pause by simple press, navigation between tracks by double or triple press, and finally long press on the configurable function (we will come back to this in the next paragraph). Better yet, you can also activate the volume control by tapping on the strapping of the headphones. The solution is not ideal, since the controls are not very reactive, and do not really fall naturally under the fingers in practice. But it's much better than nothing.

Regarding the hands-free kit, it offers absolutely remarkable performance in both cases. With AirPods as with Buds +, the voice heard is clear, natural and perfectly intelligible, even in windy or noisy environments. These are simply the two best models of headphones true wireless of the market on this point.

A quick word on Bluetooth communication latency: it rises to 183 ms with the AirPods, against 310 ms for the Galaxy Buds +. The difference is not negligible, but in practice it does not make a big difference; both models offer automatic compensation for the sound / image offset, which works with most ehealth playback applications.

ADVANCED FEATURES: GALAXY BUDS +

Apple's search for absolute simplicity is still widely seen here, and doesn't really stand out as a quality. Apart from what we talked about in the previous part, they offer almost no other functionality. It is simply possible to modify the command carried out by double tapping to assign it pause / play or call Siri, and that's it. This change is also only offered to iOS users, since it can only be done from the system settings of the Apple OS. These same users are also the only ones concerned by the possibility of requesting their voice assistant, by simply pronouncing the magic incantation "Dis Siri". Not necessarily a gift, given the very limited capacities of the latter.

Again, there is a little more proliferation on the side of Samsung. Buds + work in tandem with a mobile application available on both Android and iOS. It allows in particular to activate the automatic reading of incoming notifications on Android, or even to choose the effect of the long press on each of the tactile surfaces: call of the voice assistant, volume adjustment … or activation of the "transparency" mode. ", which amplifies outside sounds. Convenient when you want to stay fully smart health connected to its environment – but it must be recognized that a similar function on the AirPods would have been superfluous, their non-in-ear design means that they do not produce almost any sound insulation anyway.

Finally, the Galaxy Buds + app also makes it easier to find a headset lost by the emission of a beep. This can be very practical.

AUTONOMY: GALAXY BUDS +

Impossible for the AirPods to fight in the field of autonomy, since the Galaxy Buds + are quite simply our great champions of endurance in the category true wireless. With more than 11 hours of continuous operation on a single charge, they do better than all their competitors, and place themselves far from Apple's headphones with their meager 5 hours.

The only small consolation for the AirPods: they are on par with the Buds + if we consider the total autonomy, including the recharges provided by the storage box, which then rises around 24 hours. It's always taken.

AUDIO QUALITY: AIRPODS

Are you one of those purists who consider that sound quality must be the first criterion to consider when buying an audio product? Let it be clear: in this case, neither the AirPods nor the Galaxy Buds + are aimed at you. Both models are satisfied with performances which are certainly not dishonorable, but little more than correct. Despite this, the AirPods still manage to take the lead, thanks to a significantly more balanced and musical restitution.

For Apple headphones, the main problems are in the lower part of the spectrum. Since their non-in-ear design prevents any acoustic seal from forming between the wearer's speakers and eardrums, they inevitably have a lot of trouble reproducing the bass extremes. To compensate for this lack, the choice was made to clearly highlight the area around 100 Hz, in order to restore some weight to the bass region as a whole. The strategy would have been very judicious if this same frequency zone had not suffered from a small lack of precision: this gives bass a little soft and having an annoying tendency to overflow on low mids, leading to a slightly clogged sound.

As for Buds +, the picture is very different. The bass has an undeniably superior reactivity, and this time there is no lack of presence of the bass extremes … on the contrary. Their excessive prominence causes a lack of binding with the mediums, and their integration into the rest of the sound message is ultimately not much more natural than with the AirPods.

On the rest of the spectrum, the two models enjoy a fairly fair and clear reproduction of the voices, but suffer from the precision of small peaks of distortion appearing when listening at high volume. The AirPods stand out, however, thanks to their much better balance. Buds + suffer from a very excessive emphasis on the area around 4 kHz, corresponding to the sensitivity peak of the human ear. As a result, their sound sometimes takes a very aggressive turn, especially on very dense mixes. What is more, this character sometimes causes mask effects on the treble extremes, with harmful effects on the stereophony: the sound scene singularly lacks sharpness and breadth. AirPods, without being sound virtuosos, at least manage to avoid these kinds of problems.

VERDICT: SAMSUNG GALAXY BUDS +

With his latest headphones true wireless, Samsung ultimately managed to beat Apple at its own game. Without making a splash, the Galaxy Buds + do better or as well as the AirPods on almost all criteria, the exception being slightly slower sound quality – but it is ultimately only an anecdotal disadvantage, since the AirPods are themselves far from being exceptional musicians.

Certainly, it will take more for the most fervent aficionados of the Apple ecosystem to renounce their allegiance to the white rod in the ear. For them, the extensive integration and unified pairing of AirPods with iOS and macOS systems remains a significant advantage. The choice of AirPods can also be justified by their non-in-ear design, of decisive importance for people who cannot stand the sensation of intrusion into the ear. But to all the others, we advise without hesitation to turn rather to Buds +: used as a hands-free kit, interface for voice assistant or non-musical listening companions (podcasts, for example), they provide total satisfaction .

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