Samsung updates Galaxy Buds with Bixby voice controls

Thanks to a recent firmware update, Samsung's Galaxy Buds now work with the company's Bixby voice assistant. In addition to having hands-free control of music and audio, users can now use voice controls to request a battery status update, change to a different equalizer setting and lock the earbud touchpads. Unfortunately, the new firmware only supports English and Korean commands, and you'll still have to use the earbuds with a Galaxy phone or Android device.

The update also improves touchpad controls for double and triple taps, and you can now activate Ambient Sound by holding the touchpad of each earbud. Or, you can press just one earbud to temporarily initiate the feature. These controls, in particular, are a welcome change, given that they were a big gripe in our Galaxy Buds review. As we've pointed out before, these earbuds come with a few major frustrations -- like average audio quality, on-board volume controls that sacrificed other features and disappointing microphone quality for calls. So far, Samsung has yet to address those issues.