The Samsung Galaxy Buds and Galaxy Watch Active – 2019’s must have accessories

Brought to you by Samsung

Plenty to like about the Samsung Galaxy Buds and Galaxy Watch Active.

It's been a big few months for Samsung with the launch of the new Galaxy S10 range of smartphones, but something that may have slipped your radar a little bit is that they've also produced two really exciting pieces of tech. We're talking about the Samsung Galaxy Buds and the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active, two items we were very excited about when we heard about them at Samsung Unpacked. This is the third iteration of the Galaxy Buds and by far the best version of the wireless earbuds so far. As someone with some skepticism towards wireless headphones and earbuds and a love for all things corded, I've been somewhat reluctant to commit to abandoning my traditional headphones even as the trend for wireless has continued to gather momentum. This opinion has changed following a week using Samsung's Galaxy Buds. The sound quality is excellent with with warm, deep bass, and good separation. Music and podcasts alike sound great when played through these little buds. You can mix and match with the eartips and fins until you find the right mix, but we didn't find them slipping out of our ears much at all. The Galaxy Buds survived gym sessions and runs as well as plenty of movement throughout the day with minimal fuss. Since the last version of the earbuds, the case is noticeably smaller meaning it's no chore to carry it around in your pocket to charge your earbuds when they need it. Battery life stands around six hours with regular use and they charge quite quickly when put into the case. Aside from looking good, the housings act as touch controls, which can be used to play/pause your music, skip tracks, answer and end calls, and launch Samsung’s voice assistant Bixby. Although these are quite sensitive and require some care when using. The buds obviously work best with Samsung phones, but having used them with various devices through the Galaxy Wearables app, they connect easily and swiftly with other smartphones. You can buy the Galaxy Buds in the Samsung Store for €159 here.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Active

It’s sleeker and more lightweight than any other Samsung smartwatch I’ve worn, and is suitable for all occasions from the office to the gym. The device is beautiful, comfortable to wear, does everything your regular smartwatch does with some nice added fitness tracking features, and offers a fitness-based alternative to the regular Galaxy Watch. The Galaxy Watch Active has built-in GPS, and tracks outdoor running, treadmill running, walking, hiking, cycling, both pool and open-water swimming, circuit training, weight training, stretching, yoga and many other types of activity.

Most Galaxy watches feature a rotating bezel to help navigate through the software, but the Watch Active omits this and simply features two buttons along the right-hand side.

In terms of battery, it will last two full days on a charge and not a lot more, which is on par with most other smartwatches on sale at the moment. With the reduced size, it has enough space for a 230mAh battery inside. If one of your main sticking points about smartwatches is the size, then there's good news; it doesn’t look tiny on large wrists, and doesn’t look bulky on small ones. It’s really is a great one-size-fits-all watch and it's quite easy to forget you're wearing it at times. It uses AMOLED display with a resolution of 360 x 360 pixels and you can change the colour of the face, and others offer customisable complications to display the information you want to see most. As with the Galaxy Buds, owners of Samsung phones get the best experience from the Galaxy Watch Active. You can buy the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active on the Samsung Store for €259 here. Brought to you by Samsung