New Samsung Galaxy Buds could boast 12-hour battery life to beat AirPods Pro

Samsung Galaxy buds
(Image credit: TechRadar)

The Samsung Galaxy Buds are among the best true wireless earbuds you can buy – and it looks like a new version of the earbuds is on the horizon. 

An FCC filing for a "Bluetooth headset" from Samsung all but confirms the existence of the Samsung Galaxy Buds+, which are rumored to be the company's answer to the noise-canceling Apple AirPods Pro – and it looks like they'll boast a huge 12-hour battery life.

After digging into the FCC filing, Droid Life discovered that the new buds will use 300mA batteries, while the charging case will use 600mA batteries – compared to the original Galaxy Buds, which used 150mA and 300mA batteries respectively.

That's a big improvement, and should mean a battery life of 12 hours from the buds and 14 hours from the case, eclipsing the AirPods Pro and many other true wireless competitors. 

While the FCC filing doesn't reveal much in the way of specs, it does suggest that a Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus release date is imminent. With CES 2020 coming up in a matter of weeks, it's entirely possible that we'll see the new true wireless earbuds at the world's biggest tech show in Las Vegas. 

Saying that, that last Galaxy Buds launched alongside the Galaxy S10Galaxy S10 Plus and Galaxy S10e. As we're not expecting the Galaxy S11 until February, we may have to wait a little longer to see the Galaxy Buds+.  

The original Samsung Galaxy Buds

The original Samsung Galaxy Buds (Image credit: TechRadar)

An identical design

Specs may not have been confirmed, but animations found by XDA-Developers in the Samsung SmartThings app show that the Samsung Galaxy Buds+ could look nearly identical to their predecessors. 

The animation shows the same pill-box style charging case, from which the buds emerge – from the looks of things, the same pearlescent material is in use on the outer housings, which we expect will feature the same touch controls as the original Galaxy Buds. 

One possible difference is that the new buds may eschew the rubber wingtips of their predecessors – although they could still be included as an optional extra for those wanting a more secure fit. 

We're expecting the Galaxy Buds Plus to come with noise cancelation, putting them in direct competition with the AirPods Pro and the Sony WF-1000XM3. Noise cancelation is an increasingly common feature of true wireless earbuds, and it often comes with a higher price – so be prepared for these buds to cost more than $149 / £139 / AU$249 when they launch in the new year.

Olivia Tambini

Olivia was previously TechRadar's Senior Editor - Home Entertainment, covering everything from headphones to TVs. Based in London, she's a popular music graduate who worked in the music industry before finding her calling in journalism. She's previously been interviewed on BBC Radio 5 Live on the subject of multi-room audio, chaired panel discussions on diversity in music festival lineups, and her bylines include T3, Stereoboard, What to Watch, Top Ten Reviews, Creative Bloq, and Croco Magazine. Olivia now has a career in PR.

Latest in Earbuds & Airpods
The Apple AirPods 4 on a blue background with text saying Lowest Price.
AirPods 4 are down to $99 again, but there's a better AirPods Pro 2 deal that I'd buy
AirPods Pro 2 out of their case on a wooden surface
Camera-toting AirPods with Apple Intelligence said to be in active development – but the idea may be too flawed to take off
A screen shot from a promotional video showing the HealthBuds fitness tracking earphones from Synseer
These mysterious wireless earbuds claim to monitor your heart and hearing health simultaneously, but there’s a catch
The Apple AirPods 4 on a blue background with text saying Lowest Price.
Quick! The Apple AirPods 4 are back down to under $100 at Amazon
AirPods Pro Review
Apple has quietly updated its guidance on how to clean your AirPods, and suggests you buy a kit… from Belkin
Samsung Galaxy Buds in white
Samsung may be working on new cheap wireless earbuds – will the Galaxy Buds FE 2 beat Sony's next value earbuds to the punch?
Latest in News
Google Gemini Flash 2.0 Images
I tried Gemini's new AI image generation tool - here are 5 ways to get the best art from Google's Flash 2.0
An image of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra from a hands-on event
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra could resurrect an intriguing camera feature
Eurocom Raptor X18
At $15,000, this massive 256GB RAM laptop makes Apple's MacBook Pro look affordable, tiny and very, very slow
Cristin Milioti in Black Mirror season 7
Netflix launches trailer for Black Mirror season 7, giving us a look at its first-ever sequel episode and an unexpected returning character
A graphic of the PC Gaming Show
Get ready for a bounty of PC games on June 8, as the PC Gaming show is back
A close up of The Daily podcast from Pocket Casts' web page
‘Podcasting shouldn’t be locked behind walled gardens’: Pocket Casts slams Spotify and makes its web player free to all