Product page: https://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/audio/headphones/galaxy-buds-plus-white-sm-r175nzwaxar/

MSRP: $150

Driver configuration: 2DD

The biggest question I think is on everybody’s mind right now is whether or not the Buds+ is a true upgrade to the original. And in my opinion, I think the Buds+ is a case of Samsung giveth and Samsung taketh away, improving on certain aspects but performing questionably on others.

In regards to the epiphet “Objectivist’s Dream”, the Galaxy Buds+ is (at the time of writing) the closest an IEM as ever gotten to the 2019 Harman In-Ear target. As I’ve mentioned in my Galaxy Buds writeup, this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise given Samsung’s acquisition of Harman International and AKG, and so it should only be expected that the new Buds+ would be even closer than its predecessor in this regard.

But that’s really all in theory. In practice, while I wanted with all my heart for the Buds+ to be the undisputed upgrade to the Buds (and by extension, the rest of the TWS market), I found myself nitpicking far too much to consider the Buds+ truly superior. The midrange got even shoutier and intense compared to the original Buds, and the timbre of the treble (i.e. hi-hats and cymbals) sound a tad too odd for me (either being a bandwidth issue or one relating to its frequency response). On top of that, the Buds+ is an IEM I’d consider “fatiguing” and I honestly struggle to listen to them for long listening sessions.

However to end things on a high note, the bass response of the Buds+ is immaculate. Virtually perfect, even in the context of other wired IEMs. The bass is very clearly emphasised with satisfying impact and deep downward extension, yet remaining free from smearing or masking of the midrange frequencies. The bass response is probably the saving grace that prevents me from saying that the Buds+ is worse than the original.

Perhaps you could say that my problems with the Buds+ is less about the Buds+ itself and more about my issues with the Harman IE target. But regardless, it’s still a solid product that can still be considered as one of the best sounding TWS IEMs you can buy today.