It looks like Samusung is getting close to announcing its latest rival to Apple's AirPods and AirPods Pro.

Expected to be called the Galaxy Buds 2, these wireless earphones come after the original Galaxy Buds and the more recent Galaxy Buds Live – you'll likely remember those as the strange, bean-shaped earphones.

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The wireless earphone market is fiercely competitive at the moment, and while Apple has iPhone owners catered for with AirPods, Samsung will be keen to offer a worthy alternative to Android users.

The European price of the Galaxy Buds 2 leaked at the start of June, at €180 to €200, which should translate to around $225 in the US. Now, a gif showing a 360-degree view of the earphones and their charge case has appeared on Twitter.

Published by Evan Blass, a renowned and often accurate technology leaker, the gif shows how the ear buds have a more traditional design compared to the Buds Live. It also shows how the charge case is white on the outside and the color of the buds on the inside – a previous leak claimed the Buds 2 will be offered in black, white, green and purple, as shown in the gif.

Specifications are unknown for now, but the gif appears to show a pair of microphones on the outside of each earbud. This suggests they have active noise cancelling, and should therefore be a close rival to the Apple AirPods Pro – which we found to have active noise cancelling every bit as good as that of much larger, over-ear headphones from Bose.

The inside of the Galaxy Buds 2 appears to have a proximity sensor. This will be used to automatically play and pause music when the earbud is placed in and out of the ear.

The design, price and likely inclusion of active noise cancelling suggests these earphones will be a close rival to the AirPods Pro when they arrive later in 2021. What we want to see is whether Samsung plans to rival Apple's spatial audio technology with something of its own, and if it plans to integrate Dolby Atmos too.

Samsung is expected to hold one of its Unpacked product launch events at 10am ET / 7am PT on August 11, where we hope to see the Galaxy Buds 2 become official.

SAMSUNG Galaxy Buds Pro, Bluetooth Earbuds, True Wireless, Noise Cancelling, Charging Case, Quality Sound, Water Resistant, Phantom Black (US Version)

List Price: $169.99

New From: $159.00in Stock

Used From: $101.99in Stock

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