Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus problems and solutions: Distorted Audio, latency, pairing, battery drain and other issues

Samsung launched the successor to the original Galaxy Buds last month by releasing the Galaxy Buds+ for a retail price of $149.99 in the US. The new and improved truly wireless earbuds offer a bigger battery, a dual driver system, external mic for better call quality, faster charging, gaming control, Spotify integration, and a new Ambient Aware mode for letting you know what’s going in and around your surroundings.

At the time of its launch, reviewers churned out some rave reviews about the Galaxy Buds+, but having spent over a month in the market, the new earbuds have received a ton of feedback from end-users. And in contrast to what reviewers said, the Buds+ have a handful of issues that need to be addressed.

In case you’re on the verge of buying them, you might just want to take a look at the following list of issues that haunt the Galaxy Buds+.

Problem with pairing

Amongst the reports posted online, most of them pointed out at a random pairing issue. A lot of users (on Reddit 1,2,3) mentioned that one of the earbuds often seemed to lose connection or making a static noise.

Touchpad on either bud is too sensitive

Since the earbuds come with touchpads on the outside, there’s a chance that you might accidentally touch them when moving around your head or hands. A Reddit user complained that the touchpads on the earbuds were too sensitive on their unit as it often triggered commands when their hair touched them.

Interference with WiFi connections

The new Buds+ appears to have some kind of interference with WiFi networks when connected through PCs, in a way that it slows down the internet speed. An explanation for the issue could be that Bluetooth channels could be fighting for the same bands as the WiFi network or poor connectivity with a PC’s Bluetooth chip.

Battery drain on one earbud is faster than on the other

In what sounds like a bizarre incident, a Galaxy Buds+ owner posted that their right earbud keeps draining faster than the left one, even though the usage on both of them was the same. Similar incidents were reported by others on Reddit (1,2) who often have a difference of more than 10 percent between both earbuds with even light usage.

A reply to the post revealed that this could be arising due to the fact that the right earbud is what connects the buds to your phone and feeds content onto the left earbud, thus consuming more battery.

Audio distortion when screen is turned off

Another complaint on Reddit was that the new Buds+ caused audio to distort for a couple of seconds after you turn the screen off. Since this isn’t such a huge issue, we can expect Samsung to fix it via a software update soon. The issue also seems to occur when unlocking your phone when listening to audio after a user complained of a robotic sound.

Random clipping noise

The Buds+ appears to generate a clipping sound on random, most probably because of dynamic bitrate which happens when you’re around other Bluetooth devices. A temporary solution will be to pause audio for a few seconds and playing it again.

Glossy exterior getting scratched up faster

A user on Reddit shared a picture of their week-old Galaxy Buds+ case, that was on the receiving end of several visible scratches on the outside. While it’s nothing new that gadgets do get scratched up on long-tern use, the fact remains that users believe Samsung’s move from matte to glossy finish on the Buds+ is a “step down from an aesthetic point of view”.

Glossy finishes attract more scratches and fingerprint smudges than something with a matte exterior and in the long-term standpoint, it’ll not fare well in terms of looks.

Latency when playing games

Upon launch, Samsung teased a gaming mode on the Buds+ for low latency when gaming. The mode, however, seems tricky to enable and is believed to not work on non-Samsung phones. A Reddit user revealed that he felt that the earbuds do still have a noticeable lag when gaming.

Multi-point connections not supported anymore

When Samsung launched the Galaxy Buds+, it advertised the earbuds for having multi-device connection capabilities, meaning it would be able to stay connected to two sound sources at the same time.

While a Reddit user claimed that their non-Samsung devices didn’t support multi-point connections with the Galaxy Buds+, it has come to light (via Sammobile) that the Korean giant has backtracked on its promise and removed the original claim that the Buds+ will support such a feature.

Magnetic lids on the carrying case aren’t strong enough when dropped

In a reply to another user’s review of the Galaxy Buds+, a Reddit user disclosed his experience with the new earbuds. Apparently, the charging case that the Buds+ come in has a magnetic lid that can open on impact when dropped and close instantly as well.

As a result, you might end up losing one or both of your earbuds and damage them if they’re packed inside the carrying case.

Charging case drains extensively on standby

Earlier in this post, we discussed how the Buds+ drains battery differently on both the earbuds. The Galaxy Buds+ appears to have another battery draining problem, this time on standby. A couple of users on Reddit (1,2) have already reported that the charging case comes down a quarter of its charging capacity from full charge without being used. A bizarre thing to note was that one of the users stated that their buds charged a total of 37% while the case lost 53%.


Do you own the new Galaxy Buds+ from Samsung? If yes, have you experienced any of the issues that have been reported above? Let us know in the comments below. 

Posted by
Ajaay

Ambivalent, unprecedented, and on the run from everyone's idea of reality. A consonance of love for filter coffee, cold weather, Arsenal, AC/DC, and Sinatra.

1 Comment

  1. I have the same issue battery drains on right side so fast

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