Samsung's Galaxy Buds (2019) vs Microsoft's Surface Earbuds (2019)

You can’t walk down the street without seeing someone (maybe everyone) with wireless earbuds in their ears. They are, without a doubt, the hottest tech accessory of the past several years. And then earn their popularity–after all, cords suck.

Quick Overview:

Galaxy Buds – $179.00
Surface Earbuds – $199.99 via Microsoft Store
Quick Verdict: Neither set of earbuds are steller examples of what wireless earbuds can be. However, for their relatively low price, the Samsung Galaxy Buds are probably a better deal than the Microsoft Surface Earbuds. However, the Surface Earbuds do have a cooler design and are a better solution if you’re a big Microsoft Office user.

But everyone from Apple to Samsung now offers its own wireless earbuds. In this VS we’re looking at how the ones from Samsung and Microsoft stack up against each other. These are the Galaxy Buds and Surface Earbuds, respectively.

Design

Galaxy Buds – The Galaxy Buds look like a traditional hearing aid—short and squat. Everything is scrunched together. The Galaxy Buds comes in white, yellow, or black.
Surface Earbuds – The Surface Earbuds feature a radically different design. They can be likened to a cork stop with a broad flat surface on top. You basically look like you’re wearing a flat white coin in your ears.

Winner? Surface Earbuds – Their flat coin-like design is unique among wireless earbuds.

Audio & Connectivity

Galaxy Buds – The Galaxy Buds feature adaptive dual microphone technology and an accelerometer, as well as connecting over Bluetooth, too.
Surface Earbuds – The Surface Earbuds feature dual microphones and connect over Bluetooth, too.

Winner? Draw – Neither have outstanding audio features like active noise cancelation (ala Apple’s AirPods Pro).

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Battery & Charging

Galaxy Buds – The Galaxy Buds get you 5 hours of use and their case gets you 20 hours in total. The Galaxy Buds’ case also sports wireless charging.
Surface Earbuds – The Surface Earbuds get you 8 hours of use and their case gets you 24 hours in total. However, the Surface Earbuds only offer a wired charging case.

Winner? Surface Earbuds – 8 hours of usage on a single charge is pretty impressive.

Voice Assistant

Galaxy Buds – The Galaxy Buds support hands-free Bixby commands.
Surface Earbuds – The Surface Earbuds offer app-specific assistant features. For example, you can reply to emails in Outlook on some smartphones and use the touch controls to advance PowerPoint slides on others.

Winner? Surface Earbuds – The app-specific voice assistant features of the Earbuds outweigh Bixby.

Cost

Galaxy Buds – $129.99
Surface Earbuds – $199.99

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Verdict?

Yeeesh. This is a tough choice. Not because either of these buds are among the best (Apple’s AirPods Pro are), but because their features and cost are all over the map.

At $129, Samsung’s Galaxy Earbuds are a decent choice, mainly because they are some of the cheapest brand-name wireless earbuds available. However, due to their low cost, you don’t get advanced features like active noise cancelation. That being said, then do include a wireless charging case in that cost. All in all, they’re probably a good solution if you own a Samsung smartphone.

At $199, you’d think the Microsoft Surface Earbuds would have crazy better features. However, at that price they don’t even include a wireless charging case. They also don’t include any kind of active noise cancelation. Are the worth paying $70 more than the Galaxy Earbuds? Probably not. However, if you’re a big Surface fan, they might be right for you.