Leaked: Samsung’s next-gen Galaxy Buds look a whole lot like the current ones

A set of leaked images from Twitter user Ishan Agarwal claims to show Samsung’s next-generation Galaxy Buds, which are tentatively dubbed the Buds Plus or Buds 2. The images show black and white options, along with a pale blue version that includes silver or iridescent touchpads on each earbud. New color option aside, the only major difference between the new model and the first-gen Buds appears to be a physical button in the case labeled “L” and “R.”

We don’t have any specifications to go with the images, so it’s unclear whether Samsung’s altered the capacity of the case or earbuds’ batteries, or made any other meaningful changes. As the design changes are so minor, we’d be very surprised to see the addition of active noise cancellation, because that’s the sort of thing you’d want to make immediately obvious to lowly first-gen Buds owners.

Button for individual use? — The real mystery here is the physical button in the case. We can only speculate that it might be for assigning audio to a single earbud for use as a Bluetooth earpiece… though, most high-end wireless earbuds are able to detect that sort of usage automatically. Rumors suggest Samsung’s planning to include additional microphones in each bud this time around to address the complaints the first-gen faced about their call quality.

Agarwal says he expects the new Buds to be 50 percent more expensive than the existing Galaxy Buds… but doesn’t say why, beyond the possible inclusion of a bigger battery. If Samsung is going to push the price up to the $225 range (that’s approaching the price of Apple’s bestselling AirPods Pro and Sony’s WF-1000XM3, both of which include active noise cancellation), we want a bigger battery at the very least.

We’ll know all in two week’s time — The good news for early adopters, though, is there’s a good chance Samsung will throw in the new Galaxy Buds for free with pre-orders of some Galaxy S20 or Galaxy Z Flip phones. Samsung’s next Unpacked event is scheduled for February 11 where we expect it to unveil the new Buds — hopefully along with a hands-on area for us to test its AR fitness kit and Ballie home robot — so we don’t have long to wait to find out all about them… assuming the rest of the info doesn’t leak before then, that is.