Samsung's next Galaxy Buds look almost ready to take on clip buds from Bose and Sony

Samsung might be getting ready to shake up its Galaxy Buds lineup, and this time, it could be doing so without asking you to shove anything into your ear canal. Clip-on earbuds have become an interesting alternative to traditional in-ear buds, especially for people who find silicone ear tips uncomfortable after a few hours. Samsung now appears ready to try the form factor with something called the Galaxy Buds On.

According to SammyGuru, the unreleased earbuds have surfaced in a recent One UI release, giving us an early look at both their design and some of the features Samsung is working on. And these definitely don’t look like your usual Galaxy Buds.

The Galaxy Buds On appear to use two rounded sections joined together by a flexible loop. One side rests inside your ear, while the other sits on the outside, letting the earbud hug your ear instead of plugging your ear canal. The outer section also appears to have a concave touch surface for controls. The black version shown in the leak looks premium, although it won’t be your only choice. Details found inside the Buds Manager app also point to a white model.

Samsung isn’t just experimenting with the shape, either. The Buds On could inherit the nod and shake gestures introduced with the Galaxy Buds 4 series. That means you could respond to certain prompts with a quick head movement. One feature I’m particularly interested in is Auto Volume. It can recognize when your surroundings get louder and automatically turn up your audio, then lower it again once things calm down. Think about walking from a quiet street onto a noisy subway platform — instead of constantly fiddling with the volume, the earbuds could handle the adjustment for you.

There’s also a separate Volume Boost option for situations where you need more loudness. The trade-off is that other people may be more likely to hear what you’re listening to, which is always a concern with open-ear designs.

Samsung also seems to be leaning heavily into voice features. You’ll be able to summon either Gemini or Bixby using your voice or a touch gesture. More interestingly, you can use the same shortcut to immediately start a voice memo. Those recordings can then be transcribed, and Bixby can search through them later. This feature requires a Galaxy device running One UI 8.5 or newer.

Another clever feature targets people who regularly fall asleep with earbuds in. A setting called “Pause media while you’re asleep” can automatically stop whatever you’re listening to once your phone determines that you’ve fallen asleep. If you’ve ever woken up three podcast episodes later with absolutely no idea what happened, you can probably see the appeal. This feature requires One UI 9.0 or later.

There are some compromises, though. There’s currently no indication that the Galaxy Buds On will support active noise cancelation, which isn’t entirely surprising given their open design. Samsung’s older Galaxy Buds Live offered ANC despite also avoiding a conventional sealed fit, but the Buds On appear to prioritize keeping your ears open to the world around you. 360 Audio with head tracking also appears to be absent.

Even with those omissions, the Galaxy Buds On could be one of Samsung’s more interesting audio products in years. We might not have to wait much longer to see the Galaxy Buds On officially, either. Rumors currently point to a Q4 2026 debut, and with that window already around the corner, Samsung could make things official very soon.