Samsung launches its first clip-on earbuds in South Korea

A global rollout will follow, although we don’t yet know the details.

Samsung

Samsung is hopping on the clip-on earbud bandwagon. On Thursday, the company revealed the Galaxy Buds On for its home Korean market, bringing the style popularized by Bose, Huawei and Shokz to the Galaxy ecosystem. Those of us living elsewhere will have to wait.

If you aren't familiar, the clip-on style is designed to latch onto the side of your ear, leaving the canal open. Although that can be an advantage for those who don't like the feeling of something stuffed in their ears, the design is also prone to sound leakage. Samsung is addressing that problem with a TwinBoost speaker system that it claims increases bass, along with automatic volume adjustment that responds to your environment.

With the aim of boosting comfort, Samsung says it gave the buds a wide contact area to distribute pressure evenly across the band. Touch controls live on the back of each bud, and a voice-isolating feature is designed to help with call clarity. 9to5Google notes that the Buds On's case looks nearly identical, externally at least, to the one that ships with Galaxy Buds 4.

Owners of compatible Galaxy devices get a few extra perks. These include hands-free features like head gestures for call control, Gemini Live support and a Quick Voice Memo feature that's activated by pressing and holding the touch area.

The Galaxy Buds On are launching in just a single black color option in South Korea on October 27. They'll cost 299,000 won, which translates to $220. Samsung says a global rollout will follow, but it hasn't yet announced any specific regions, dates or prices.