New Headphones This Week: Samsung Galaxy Buds On Get US Price, PlayStation Pulse Opens Pre-Orders

Two launches stand out this week. Samsung confirmed US pricing and timing for its first clip-on, open-ear earbuds, the Galaxy Buds On. Separately, pre-orders opened for the new PlayStation Pulse wireless headset from Sony Interactive Entertainment. We haven't used either product, so everything below comes from the companies and the outlets covering them.

Samsung Galaxy Buds On

The Galaxy Buds On are Samsung's first clip-on, open-ear Galaxy Buds. There is no direct predecessor. Samsung announced them in Korea on Oct. 1, according to 9to5Google, and Korean sales began Oct. 27 at KRW 299,000, per SamMobile. On Oct. 28, Samsung's US newsroom confirmed US availability.

According to 9to5Google, the US price is $229. That puts them above the $179 Galaxy Buds 4 and below the $249 Buds 4 Pro. Samsung's newsroom says they arrive in early November 2026. Droid Life reports they come in black only.

Droid Life lists a Snapdragon S7 Gen 1 Sound Platform with a Class-D amplifier and up to 9.5 hours of continuous music playback. Samsung says the clip-on band was designed using more than 119 million ear data points. SamMobile lists a shape-memory alloy band, TwinBoost speakers, improved call clarity and head-gesture controls. Droid Life adds Gemini Live support and head gestures to answer or end calls and dismiss alarms. 9to5Google reports automatic volume adjustment and reduced sound leakage, and says the case design matches the Galaxy Buds 4 and 4 Pro.

Samsung positions the Buds On as the hands-free option, for example for outdoor running, next to in-ear models like the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro. They look aimed at people who want to hear their surroundings and already use a Galaxy phone. At $229 they are not a budget pick.

PlayStation Pulse wireless headset

Sony announced price and release dates for the new Pulse headset on Oct. 22, according to Vice. What happened this week is that US pre-orders opened at 7:00am PT on Oct. 29 through direct.playstation.com.

Vice describes it as an updated Pulse and says it follows a September reveal of next-generation PS5 audio products. The sources we could access don't include manufacturer specs or a feature comparison with earlier Pulse models, so we can't say what has changed.

The price is $99.99 in the US. Per Vice, the headset ships Nov. 19, 2026 in select regions, in White and Midnight Black. A Pulse Edge wireless headset is due in early 2027.

The $99.99 price and the PlayStation branding point to console players looking for a wireless headset without paying flagship money. Until full specs are available, it is hard to say how it stacks up against gaming headsets like the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7.