Samsung could have an exciting AirPods Max challenger in the works

Samsung is thought to be working on a pair of premium over-ear headphones, potentially called the Galaxy Studio.

The name suggests that these are high-end headphones, designed to rival the likes of the Apple AirPods Max, but also to fend off launches like the Nothing Headphone (1) Pro.

Back in 2014, Samsung released the Samsung Level Over headphones, but with the acquisition of brands like AKG, JBL and Harmon Kardon soon after, Samsung's focus shifted to Galaxy Buds. Now, it seems, there could be a change of direction.

The existence of these headphones first became known thanks to code strings in the Galaxy Wearable app, uncovered by SamMobile.

At the time, the headphones were simply referred to as Galaxy H1, but the Galaxy Studio name has now been suggested by a leaker on X, who seems to have accurate insights into Samsung's audio plans.

It's thought that Samsung's headphones will launch in 2027 and it's likely that they could make their debut alongside the Samsung Galaxy S27 series, which could be January or February.

Little else is known about the headphones, but it's likely they will offer active noise cancellation, a range of audio codecs to support higher quality listening like SSC UHQ, but might forego common options like LDAC, which is a Sony technology.

Spatial audio, a folding design for travel and long battery life would also put them in contention with popular Bluetooth headphones, while it's likely that access to Gemini or Bixby assistants will also be included.

Currently, Samsung's plans for 2027 are unknown. There's no date for Galaxy Unpacked, while the launches for 2026 are almost finished. The latest launch has been the Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra and we're expecting to see the launch of Galaxy Glasses, probably some time in November.

That will add another string to Samsung's bow, establishing Android XR in a glasses format and providing some challenge to Meta's smart glasses.