Samsung can’t seem to help itself. With a major hardware event expected before the end of July 2026, the company has already let several of its upcoming products slip into public view — and the latest involves Samsung Galaxy Buds On, a new pair of open-ear earbuds that most people hadn’t even heard of until a few days ago.
- Samsung Galaxy Buds On is the expected retail name for the open-ear earbuds previously codenamed ‘Galaxy Able’ in Samsung’s app.
- The Samsung Galaxy Buds On appears to use open-ear or bone conduction audio, marking a shift away from Samsung’s traditional in-ear design.
- Galaxy Watch 9 and Watch Ultra 2 names have both appeared in the Samsung Members app, all but confirming a July launch event.
- Samsung is expected to announce all these products alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Galaxy Z Flip 8 later this month.
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What ‘Galaxy Able’ Actually Is — and Why the Name Matters
The trail started when SammyGuru spotted the string ‘Galaxy Able’ buried inside Samsung’s Galaxy Wearable app. That’s the companion software Samsung bundles with all its wearable hardware, and finding an unannounced product name sitting in its code is the kind of slip-up that makes leak hunters very happy. For a while, ‘Able’ looked like it could be the retail name — but that always seemed off. Samsung launching a pair of earbuds without the ‘Galaxy Buds’ prefix would be unprecedented. Breaking with that naming convention now, without warning, would be unusual to say the least.
That’s where leaker @Evowizz on X (formerly Twitter) comes in. According to the account, ‘Able’ is just a codename — the retail product will be marketed as Samsung Galaxy Buds On. That tracks. ‘On’ as a suffix makes sense for an open-ear design that sits on the ear rather than sealing inside it, and it neatly mirrors naming conventions we’ve seen from other manufacturers going after the open-ear space. Think of how Amazon has positioned its Echo Buds, or how products like the Shokz OpenRun have built an entire brand identity around open-ear listening.
Open-Ear Audio: Samsung Enters a Fast-Moving Space
The bigger story here isn’t the name — it’s the product category. Open-ear earbuds and bone conduction headphones have been quietly gaining traction over the past couple of years, particularly among fitness users and people who spend long hours wearing earbuds. The appeal is obvious: you get audio without blocking ambient sound, which is safer on a run and less fatiguing during an all-day work session. It’s a trade-off — bass response and noise isolation take a hit — but the audience for that trade-off is growing.
Samsung has been hinting at a product in this space for months, and the Samsung Galaxy Buds On appears to be the answer. Whether it uses traditional open-ear drivers or bone conduction technology still isn’t confirmed. The two approaches are meaningfully different in how they deliver sound and who they appeal to. Bone conduction, which bypasses the eardrum entirely by vibrating the skull, tends to feel strange to new users but is genuinely useful for athletes and hearing-impaired listeners. Open-ear drivers, like those used in the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds, keep sound quality closer to conventional earbuds while still leaving ears physically unblocked. Samsung’s choice here will say a lot about who it’s targeting.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 and Ultra 2 Also Confirmed by Accident
The Buds leak didn’t arrive in isolation. A screenshot circulating on X shows both ‘Galaxy Watch9’ and ‘Galaxy Watch Ultra2’ appearing inside the Samsung Members app — Samsung’s own first-party community and support platform. It’s not clear exactly which section of the app surfaced these names, so there’s a small chance this is mislabeled or miscategorised. But it lines up cleanly with what leakers have been saying for weeks, and it’s hard to dismiss a leak that comes from Samsung’s own software.
The Galaxy Watch 9 would be the successor to last year’s Galaxy Watch 7, while the Ultra 2 follows the Galaxy Watch Ultra that Samsung introduced in 2024 as its premium, sport-focused alternative. If recent leaks about pricing are accurate, both models are set to cost more than their predecessors — continuing an industry-wide pattern where flagship wearables creep toward the $400–$500 range without much apology. Apple’s done it with the Watch Ultra line; Samsung appears ready to follow suit.
Samsung Galaxy Buds On in the Context of a Packed July Lineup
What makes all of this notable is the sheer density of Samsung’s expected announcements. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Galaxy Z Flip 8 are already the headliners — both have been extensively leaked, with the Fold 8 rumoured to feature a slimmer form factor and refined hinge design. Adding the Galaxy Watch 9, Watch Ultra 2, and Samsung Galaxy Buds On to the same event makes this one of Samsung’s bigger hardware moments in recent years. It’s worth noting that the Samsung Galaxy Buds On would also represent the brand’s first dedicated open-ear product, making it arguably the most novel announcement of the bunch.
There’s a strategic logic to that. Bundling wearables with foldable phones is how Samsung reinforces its ecosystem pitch. The argument isn’t just ‘buy this phone’ — it’s ‘buy into this interconnected set of devices that work better together.’ With Google leaning harder into Pixel hardware and Apple continuing to dominate the premium wearables space, Samsung needs its July event to do real work. Showing up with five distinct products across phones, watches, and earbuds sends a message about breadth and ambition, even if each individual product has to stand on its own merits.
How Much Confidence Should We Have in These Leaks?
Honestly? Quite a bit — but with appropriate caveats. App-based leaks, where product names slip into shipping code before a launch, are among the more reliable types of hardware reveals. Companies don’t accidentally hardcode made-up product names into their own first-party apps. The Samsung Members and Galaxy Wearable apps are both Samsung-controlled, and what appears there tends to reflect real internal product naming at minimum.
The Samsung Galaxy Buds On name specifically carries slightly less certainty than the watch names, since it originates from a third-party leaker rather than from Samsung’s own code. It’s plausible. It fits the pattern. But until Samsung says it out loud, it remains an educated guess. The underlying product — open-ear earbuds of some kind, likely codenamed Able — does appear to be real.
With Samsung’s Unpacked event expected within weeks, the wait won’t be long. What’s becoming clear is that the Samsung Galaxy Buds On could end up being one of the more interesting products in the lineup — not because it’ll outsell the Fold 8, but because it signals Samsung taking a genuine swing at a product category where it currently has no presence. Whether the execution matches the ambition is the only question left to answer.
Source: 9to5Google
