Galaxy Buds Pro appear well-priced for the features they offer

The Galaxy Buds Pro are shaping up to be Samsung’s best truly wireless earphones ever. Their design and features have been leaked weeks ahead of their announcement, which is set to happen next month alongside the Galaxy S21. Now, their pricing for the US market has been leaked as well.

Samsung’s own marketing slide that compares the Galaxy Buds Pro’s specs with the Galaxy Buds+ and the Galaxy Buds Live has been leaked. According to the image, the Galaxy Buds Pro will be priced at $199, which is a $30 markup over the $169 Galaxy Buds Live. If this information is correct, the upcoming truly wireless earphones appear well-priced for what they offer, at least for the US market. European pricing of these earphones is a different story altogether.

The Galaxy Buds Pro use a dual-driver setup (11mm woofer and 6.5mm tweeter), similar to the Galaxy Buds+. There are three microphones on each earbud and an in-ear canal fit for improved active noise cancellation compared to the Galaxy Buds Live. They also feature improved Ambient Sound mode, Conversation Mode, adjustable ANC levels, and 3D spatial audio. There’s an IPX7 certification for sweat and water resistance, which is an improvement over the Galaxy Buds and Galaxy Buds Live’s IPX2 rating.

According to Samsung’s marketing material, the Galaxy Buds Pro should offer 8 hours of battery life with the earbuds alone and a total of 28 hours with the case. Talk time figures stand at 4.5 hours with the earbuds and up to 15 hours with the case. Other features include Bluetooth 5.1, multi-point connection, fast pairing, USB Type-C port, fast charging, and wireless charging.

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Galaxy Chromebook 2 could offer improvement in one important aspect

Samsung will soon launch the next-generation Galaxy Chromebook. The device was first reported three weeks ago, and its image appeared yesterday for the first time. The Galaxy Chromebook 2 has largely the same design as that of its predecessor, but it could offer improvement in one important aspect where the Galaxy Chromebook fell short.

A leaked marketing image shows that the Galaxy Chromebook 2 will offer 12+ hours of battery life. That is a definitive improvement over the first-generation Galaxy Chromebook. Moreover, the upcoming laptop will be the world’s first Chromebook with a QLED screen. The device features a 13.3-inch QLED touchscreen display with 100% DCI-P3 color volume coverage, Intel’s 10th Gen. Core i3 processor, 178% louder speakers, 2×2 Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, and an S Pen. It could come with a price tag of $699, but we can only be sure about it after Samsung’s announcement.

Thanks to the previous leak, we also know that the Galaxy Chromebook 2 features a metal body with a 2-in-1 convertible form factor, a full-sized keyboard, a decently-sized trackpad, a webcam, two USB Type-C ports, a microSD card slot, and a headphone jack. It will be available in two colors: Fiesta Red and Mercury Gray. It will be sold in the US through Best Buy and Samsung’s website, starting February 21, 2021.

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Samsung removes ad mocking iPhone 12 not having a charger in the box. Any guesses why?

History, as they say, repeats itself, and that’s exactly what seems to be happening now. Last year, when Samsung ditched the headphone jack for its flagship phones, it deleted old ads mocking Apple for doing the same. Now, Samsung has removed an ad its Caribbean subsidiary posted back when the iPhone 12 was announced, mocking its archrival for not including a charger in the box, and we think we know why.

Samsung is repeating history, but once again, it’s not going to make everyone happy

It’s because, as recent rumors have indicated, Samsung will be following in Apple’s footsteps and not bundling a charger with its upcoming flagship. The Galaxy S21 lineup will reportedly come without earphones or a charger in the box in Europe, and there’s a good chance the same will be true for markets in other regions as well. The official reason for doing so will no doubt have something to do about saving the environment, which is a commendable goal but not one Samsung should be tackling so soon, for reasons we’ve explained before.

Then again, hypocrisy seems to be something of a habit for Samsung, and we can only hope the company will let customers get a charger and/or earbuds for free with a simple call to customer service, as it did for the Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra in the US, where the two S Pen flagships didn’t include earphones in the box. We’ll find out if that will be the case in less than a month from now – on January 14th, to be exact, the day the Galaxy S21 series is expected to go official.

What’s your take on the possibility that your Galaxy S21 may not come bundled with a charger (or earphones)?

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First One UI 3.0 beta update is now out for the Galaxy A51 5G

The Galaxy M31 was Samsung’s first mid-range phone to enter the One UI 3.0 beta stages of development. It happened earlier today but it didn’t take long for another very popular mid-range phone, the Galaxy A51 5G, to follow in its footsteps.

Samsung has introduced the Android 11-based One UI 3.0 beta program for the Galaxy A51 earlier today and it broke the news on the Community forums. Samsung Members and Galaxy A51 5G owners in Korea can now sign up to participate in the beta program and provide feedback to help Samsung steer the development in the right direction.

The beta program will likely be split into a few releases, each bringing One UI 3.0 closer to the public release. According to Samsung’s preliminary schedule, the Galaxy A51 5G should be getting the first public Android 11-based One UI 3.0 update in March 2021.

We expect Samsung to bring the One UI 3.0 beta program to the Galaxy A51 in other key markets but time will tell how soon it’ll happen. It all depends on how smoothly the beta program goes. Other Galaxy smartphones that are scheduled to receive One UI 3.0 in March 2021 are the Galaxy M21, the Galaxy M30s, Galaxy M31, and Galaxy Note 10 Lite.

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Paid content will soon be removed from the Galaxy Store in some markets

Samsung will be pulling the plug on paid Galaxy Store content in a handful of countries come next month, the company confirmed in a notice that was sent out to users who reside in affected markets. Free content will remain available for download but paid apps will be going away along with apps that have in-app purchases as well as paid Galaxy Themes beginning January 26.

The markets that will be affected by this new change of policy are: Albania, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Iceland, Moldova, Pakistan, and Uruguay. An exact explanation as to why paid content will be going away from the Galaxy Store in these regions wasn’t offered but it’s likely that it has something to do with the way each country handles online payments rather than with Samsung’s own policies.

In any case, Galaxy Store users in these countries who have already purchased apps will be able to download their purchased apps even after January 26, by accessing the My Apps section in the store. As for app developers, they’ll obviously have to make a choice between letting their paid apps be removed from the Galaxy Store in these markets or provide completely free alternatives, which probably won’t happen. We’ll keep you up to speed as soon as we find out more.

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Samsung is poised to win the smart TV race for the 15th consecutive year

Samsung has been the world’s top smart TV brand for more than a decade and market research firm Omdia estimates that 2020 won’t break the company’s incredible winning streak. According to said company, Samsung is about to become the largest TV vendor in the world for the 15th consecutive year.

That’s become somewhat of an expectation given the company’s success over the last decade and a half, but what you might not expect is for Samsung to enjoy as much success as it did in the year of the so-called new normal. It’s true though, at least according to Omdia who estimates that Samsung’s TV sales figures have jumped up by 11.2% year-on-year.

Samsung is likely to top 49.02 million TV sales this year, which means that Samsung almost broke its own record of 52.94 million yearly TV sales. The record was reached in 2014 thanks to major sports events including the Brazil World Cup and the Sochi Winter Olympics.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics have not boosted Samsung’s TV sales figures this year because, obviously, the Olympics didn’t take place. They’ve been postponed until 2021, which means that Samsung might be able to reach a staggering 49.02 million TV sales during a global pandemic. There’s a higher demand for TVs now compared to last year because of the lockdowns and the fact that more people are working from home.

All of this spells good news for customers. Although sales figures went up, the total value of TVs sold in 2020 by Samsung and all other brands combined might be considerably lower than it was last year – by nearly $60 billion. In essence, this means that OEMs are selling more TVs for lower prices than before.

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SamMobile promotion gets you 25% off PanzerGlass accessories

Any SamMobile reader can download Samsung firmware and APKs directly from our website, and as most of you know, all our resources are available for free while premium members take advantage of additional benefits such as faster firmware downloads, expert support, ad-free browsing on our website, as well as access to giveaways and various promotions.

Right now though, any SamMobile reader – premium or otherwise – can save 25% on PanzerGlass accessories that were designed for Samsung’s mobile product portfolio. PanzerGlass screen protectors and cases can make a huge difference as they minimize the chances of your phone breaking upon accidental drops. And SamMobile readers who may want to benefit from this 25% discount on the PanzerGlass website can do so after following a few simple steps:

• Make sure you are logged in at SamMobile
• Head over to this page and select Claim your promotion
• You will receive a coupon code which you can then use on PanzerGlass’ website for 25% off

No deal for you? No problem

It’s unfortunate that the ongoing PanzerGlass promotion doesn’t apply everywhere and it might not be available in your country. Despite our efforts, there’s always a chance that you might not be able to take advantage of our deals, depending on the availability of our partners’ products and other factors.

The good news is that SamMobile always tries to offer something worthwhile to every reader, premium or not. If you can’t get 25% off at the PanzerGlass shop and you’re looking for a different deal, there’s a chance that you might be able to find one waiting for you on the My Account page.

And finally, whether you’re new or old to SamMobile, you’re always bound to find something worth checking out at our SamMobile shop. We offer face masks, caps, mugs, t-shirts, Galaxy smartphone cases, screen protectors, as well as high-quality ZENS wireless chargers, and we’re updating our catalogue regularly.

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