Samsung is considering adding UWB (Ultra-Wide Band) connectivity to future Galaxy Buds wireless earbuds. Evidence of this was found in a patent application filed in November 2023 and published this week.
The patent application describes a method of connecting wireless earbuds to a source, such as a smartphone, through Bluetooth and UWB. Both the source device and the earbuds would have to support these connectivity standards. So far, Samsung has applied UWB only to select Galaxy phones.
Whether future Galaxy Buds will support UWB connectivity is not guaranteed. Patent applications don't always reflect final products, but adding UWB to wireless earbuds would potentially bring several benefits.
- UWB has a higher bandwidth than Bluetooth, which could allow for the transmission of higher-fidelity audio.
- UWB is faster than Bluetooth connectivity.
- UWB would enable much more precise location tracking for lost Galaxy Buds through SmartThings Find.
- Adding UWB to wireless earbuds doesn't require Bluetooth to be removed.
On the other hand, adding UWB capabilities to Galaxy Buds could come with a couple of downsides, including higher energy consumption in some situations and higher costs.
Even so, the upsides of adding UWB to Galaxy Buds could vastly outweigh the downsides.
In 2024, Samsung introduced two new wireless earbud models, i.e., the Galaxy Buds 3 and Galaxy Buds 3 Pro. In theory, Samsung could mitigate the higher costs of adding UWB connectivity by reserving it to future Galaxy Buds Pro models — such the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro (tentative name). The non-Pro earbuds could continue to use only Bluetooth in favor of a lower price.
This is all speculation, of course, and we'll have to wait and see if Samsung goes through with turning this vision into reality. However, it is worth noting that other headphone brands have dabbled with the concept of creating UWB headphones. None have gone on sale yet, but the market could evolve to where UWB becomes a sought-after feature adopted by premium headphones and earbuds.
