Samsung has plenty of experience making in-ear and open-fit buds. However, the company has never made clip-on-style earbuds.
A fresh APK teardown (via SammyGuru) sort of spoils the Galaxy Buds On, Samsung’s purported earbuds. Codenamed “Able,” the clip-on design hooks onto the outer ear, a fresh form factor unlike anything in the company’s lineup.
So what do these clip-on earbuds actually look like?
Each earbud is built from two rounded bulbs joined by a flexible silicone loop. The larger housing sits inside the concha, the bowl-shaped part of your outer ear, while a flatter touch surface clips onto the outside.
So far, only a black colorway has surfaced in the leak. However, hints buried in the companion app point toward a white version too.
Why is Samsung entering into the category now, though? Well, the clip-on earbud market has gained immense popularity in the last few years. Big audio brands like Bose and Sony already have their clip-style earbuds in the market.
So, it’s not like Samsung is reinventing the wheel here. It’s just playing catch-up. Sony
What features are baked in?
The report also mentions several software features that could accompany the company’s first clip-on earbuds.
For instance, they could include features like Auto Volume, which adjusts playback volume based on how noisy your surroundings are. There might also be a Volume Boost feature that pushes things louder, but that could come at the cost of more leakage.
Head-nod and shake gestures could also be borrowed from the Buds 4 line, letting you accept calls without using your hands. It could also sport a voice or touch trigger that wakes either Gemini or Samsung’s in-house Bixby on demand.
Finally, you could also get a separate sleep-detection feature that pauses your audio once you doze off. However, this one could require One UI 9 explicitly. What you won’t get, however, is active noise cancellation, which is the primary trade-off of the open-ear design.
