Galaxy Buds On Open Ear Earbuds Hit US Stores at $229

Samsung's Galaxy Buds On, the company's first clip style open ear earbuds, can now be bought in the US for $229.99. After pre-orders opened in late October, the buds showed up for sale on Samsung's site and at Amazon this week, according to 9to5Toys, which makes this the first time US buyers can actually get a pair rather than just reserve one.

The pitch is simple. Instead of sealing your ear canal like the regular Galaxy Buds, the Buds On clip onto the outer ear and leave you hearing the room around you. Samsung's Galaxy Buds On product page frames them around all day comfort, clear HD calls and hands free access to AI assistants. For now there is one color, black.

A $229 clip that skips noise canceling

The price puts the Buds On in an odd spot inside Samsung's own lineup. They cost more than the $179 Galaxy Buds 4 and sit just under the $249 Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, according to 9to5Google's report on US pricing. That makes them Samsung's second most expensive earbuds, even though they leave out active noise canceling, which open ear designs generally cannot offer anyway.

What you get instead is a set of features aimed at people who wear earbuds for hours while staying aware of traffic, coworkers or kids:

• Leakage cancellation, Samsung's term for cutting down how much of your audio spills out to people nearby.
• Automatic volume adjustment that reacts to your surroundings.
• Touch controls on the back half of each bud.
• Head gestures, so a nod answers a call, a shake declines it, and the same motions can dismiss alarms.
• Three microphones plus a jaw sensing voice pickup for calls, which Samsung brands Intelligent Clear Call.

9to5Google reported a battery rating of 9.5 hours and a Snapdragon chip inside, though Samsung has not broken out separate figures for the buds and the case in the materials we reviewed. The charging case looks almost identical to the one that ships with the Galaxy Buds 4, so it should feel familiar if you already own a recent pair.

Gemini Live and Bixby ride along

AI shows up here mostly as voice. The buds support Gemini Live and Bixby, and 9to5Google says Bixby can also search your voice recordings hands free, paired with a Quick Voice Memo feature for capturing thoughts on the go. That fits a pattern across Samsung's accessories this fall, where small hardware is sold partly on what the phone's assistant can do through it. The Galaxy SmartTag3 launch leaned on the same idea of tighter ties to Galaxy phones.

Open ear audio is also turning into a crowded category. Google and its partners are pushing glasses as an always on audio device, with Android XR glasses pre-orders opening soon, and voice control at home keeps changing too, as the Sonos 27voice rollout showed. Earbuds that never block your ears are Samsung's answer for people who want the assistant close without wearing a camera on their face.

Who should look at the Galaxy Buds On first

Runners, cyclists and office workers who keep one earbud out so they can hear what is going on are the obvious audience. If you mainly listen on planes or trains, the sealed Galaxy Buds 4 Pro remain the better pick for blocking noise, and they cost only $20 more.

Samsung has not published an IP rating, weight or driver size on the pages we checked, so anyone planning to sweat in them should wait for the full spec sheet or early reviews before buying. Compatibility with non Galaxy phones is also not spelled out yet, which matters for iPhone owners and Pixel users weighing them against rivals.

If you already wear a smartwatch for workouts, it is worth pairing these with features like Apple Watch Live Rewind in mind: the more your gear does on its own, the less you need to pull the phone out. More gadget launches are on our gadgets page.