Galaxy Buds are Samsung's answer to Apple's AirPods

Among all the hardware reveals at Samsung's Unpacked event, some nifty wireless earbuds also made their debut.

Jason Parker

Jason Parker has been at CNET for nearly 15 years. He is the senior editor in charge of iOS software and has become an expert reviewer of the software that runs on each new Apple device. He now spends most of his time covering Apple iOS releases and third-party apps.

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Jason Parker

Feb. 21, 2019 1:09 p.m. PT

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Samsung Galaxy Buds

Samsung's Galaxy Buds have arrived. The completely wireless earbuds have a 6-hour battery life, seamless pairing, Bixby built in, and can be wirelessly charged -- even by setting them on the back of the Galaxy S10.

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Get them with the S10, or on their own

If you already have a phone you're sticking with, but need to have the Galaxy Buds, you can order them at Samsung.com.

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Wireless charging with the Galaxy S10

These earbuds' coolest trick is that their contactless charge-enabled case works with Samsung's new Wireless PowerShare charging on the back of Galaxy S10 phones. Drop them on your phone and they'll charge up at the equivalent of 5W. Samsung says it'll take roughly an hour for a charge to go from zero to 100 percent. The case can also charge via USB-C.

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Starting price: $129

The Galaxy Buds will cost $129, but if you preorder a Galaxy S10 or S10 Plus, you can get a pair for free. Those of us who don't preorder will have to wait for retail availability on March 8.

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Smaller than previous Samsung earbud cases

Samsung says the Galaxy Buds are 30 percent smaller than the Gear Icon X earbuds. According to Samsung, dropping onboard music playback from the Gear Icon X helped shrink these new Buds, though the Buds in their case still end up being a bigger package overall than Apple's AirPods.

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Three color options

Samsung has three colors for the Galaxy Buds. White, black and an unapologetically bright yellow.

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Charging via the Galaxy S10

A closer look at the Galaxy Buds charging via a Galaxy S10.

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Five to six hours of battery life

Samsung estimates the Galaxy Buds will last for five hours when being used for phone calls, or six hours when playing music. That beats AirPods, which get about two hours of talk time and five hours of music. The case retains an additional full charge, plus an hour or so.