Samsung unpacked 2021: Buds & Watch

 

Samsung unpacked 2021 released two very important accessories: the Galaxy buds 2 and the Galaxy Watch 4. The Galaxy Watch 4 is the very first watch to launch with the Wear OS 3 and I was originally exited for that release. Galaxy Buds 2 also gave me what I hoped was another pair of budget earbuds to recommend. However a theme we've been seeing from recent Samsung accessories is a decay of openness. As you'll in this analysis the Galaxy Watch 4 and the Buds 2 are both great accessories...if your a Samsung user. 

Galaxy Watch 4

The Galaxy Watch 4 is the halo device for Wear OS 3 and It's hard to see why it shouldn't be. The Galaxy Watch 4 is packing a new dual-core Exynos W920 processor, 1.5GB of RAM (most in any Wear OS watch), and up to 16GB of Storage. The Galaxy Watch 4 specs almost sound like I'm describing an Android Go phone. There's also the rotating bezel that comes in a touch-sensitive form (like seen on Galaxy Watch Active) on the normal Galaxy Watch 4 and a physical rotating bezel on the Classic edition. LTE is available on both models as well as 40mm & 44mm versions for the regular and 42mm + 46mm for the classic version. What you need to know about specs is that:  

Image Credit: The Verge

• The Classic Version Offers a physical rotating bezel, Gorilla                                 Glass DX+, and more premium build materials.  

  The Exynos W920 processor is lightning fast and more than enough for Wear OS 3 

  Starting at $299.99 you're getting premium hardware for a premium price.    

  Honestly, Samsung is much more capable than Qualcomm in making processors for wearables, and this makes all the difference to Wear OS 3. However, some things we take for granted on Wear OS 2 such as reprogrammable side buttons aren't available. Those buttons are hard coded to Bixby on top and Samsung Pay at the bottom with no way to change them. This is the point where we can start to see Samsung monkeying around with Wear OS. One of the main changes in Wear OS 3 was that OEM's such as Samsung could now skin Wear OS much like how most Android phones have their own "skin" on android. Samsung has done the same by introducing One UI to their watches and making sure the design was Tizen inspired.  

   

  

  Image Credit: Android Authority. 

  
  

  Honestly, I would be ok with this if Samsung was adding features instead of removing them. Some things, such as watch complications on the watch face, have been a long time coming to Wear OS, but those are not Samsung features those Wear OS features. Same with Samsung bloatware that is decent for people who use them but annoying for everyone else. The software situation on the Galaxy Watch could be worse but at least we have a decent Wear OS experience on a decent part of the Android Ecosystem.  

   
   

  

  Image Credit: The Verge

  
  

  Notice I said "android" this is one of the first Wear OS watches to not work on iPhones and although most Apple users were not even considering Wear OS it hurts to lose interoperability. I do not like the Apple ecosystem because of how closed it is. Android becoming more closed is always taking us closer to the very thing I looked to avoid when going to Android: lock-in. Android heading closer to lock-in is a situation where no one wins, and I hope Wear OS is not the start of that nightmare becoming reality.

   
   

  The last bits I wanted to cover were the health sensors on the Galaxy Watch 4. Those sensors allow for heart rate tracking, pulse tracking, step counting, ECG, and blood oxygen detection. There's also something called the "bioelectric impedance sensor" that produces a bioelectrical impedance analysis that measures body composition instead of just BMI. To do this Samsung needs your weight everywhere you use the feature and results are mixed with most saying its useful but not truly accurate. Same with ECG and blood oxygen; their useful but not accurate enough to make a diagnosis. My point is that Samsung stuffed the Galaxy Watch 4 with sensors that are useful to point. It's a smartwatch not a doctor.  

   

  

  Image Credit: The Verge

  
  
   

  So where does that leave us with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4? Honestly, I think the best of Wear OS 3 is yet to come. Until it does, Wear OS is Samsung's platform, and their watch is the best Wear OS watch made to date.    

Galaxy buds 2

Our next item is the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2. These earbuds are some of the best value Samsung has ever offered and they're just a statement of how saturated the earbud market really is. The Buds 2 are also continuing the saga of Samsung closing their ecosystem. Let's start at the hardware.  

 
 

The buds themselves are a nice glossy plastic with the case being almost the same as the case being offered by the Buds Pro and the Buds Live. This case and the buds come in various contrasting colors and does support wireless charging. The buds themselves are using the pill shaped design instead of the stem design used by the Airpods and it comes down to personal preference whether which one suits you better. The battery life seems to be ok with most reviewers reporting a solid 5 hours with ANC and 7.5 hours without ANC with an extra 29 hours stored in the case. This is a bit better than the Pixel Buds A and on par with the Jabra Elite 75T's, so I'm impressed with the battery life from the Buds 2. One last bit of hardware news is that these buds have an IP rating of IPX2 meaning that Water resistance is basically non-existent and that the buds 2 aren't the best for fitness.  

 
 

Image Credit: The Verge

The headline change in the buds 2 is the addition of ANC and most have concluded that the ANC is good. ANC is a requirement for most Earbuds above $100 and I'm glad to see the Buds 2 have it. However, one area that Samsung continues to struggle in is microphone quality for phone calls and ambient mode. Other $150 dollar buds have decent microphones and not having that particularly important feature is a big letdown on behalf of Samsung.  

 
 

 
 

For the most part the Galaxy buds 2 are great but again we start to see some holes Samsung is punching in the android openness wall (my worst metaphor yet). For example, the only way to change Eq settings and control your earbuds from your phone is to use the Samsung wearable app that's only available on Samsung phones. We also see the introduction of "scalable codec" by Samsung. Here's an explanation from their website:  

 
 

Scalable Codec is Samsung’s proprietary codec which offers users a stable Bluetooth Connection, even over ambient Wi-Fi Interference, by analyzing Wi-Fi interference in users’ immediate surroundings and transmitting optimized data to users’ Headphone SPK units for seamless music playback. - Samsung.com

 

(Image credit: Regan Coule/Future)

Now, the Buds 2 still support AAC and SBC for standard Bluetooth streaming but my point is that Samsung is trying to apple-fy their lineup. I don't think it's going to work and the effects the Buds have is minimal (about 97% of the experience is still workable with any standard Android Phone) but I still wish I could recommend them to someone with an iPhone. The Galaxy Buds 2 are great $150 earbuds for most people and if Samsung keeps enough features available to the rest of the Android ecosystem these are another great alternative in the earbud market.  

 

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