Samsung’s Cellphone-Styled Galaxy Buds Pro Case Is a Blast From the Flippin’ Past – Review Geek

Just a week after the release of its cutting-edge Galaxy Buds Pro ANC earbuds, Samsung is looking back to the past with a pair of Buds Pro cases that resemble the company’s groundbreaking Anycall T100 and Anycall E700 flip phones (known as the Samsung SCH-X430 and SGH E-700 in the US). The cases are a South Korean exclusive and only avalible as a $230 bundle with the Galaxy Buds Pro.

While charging case accessories are a must-have item for AirPods users, they’re a rarity for Samsung-branded earbuds, which change dramatically each year. By releasing its own novelty case, Samsung is skipping the middleman and giving retro dorks (like me) a reason to splurge on their new top-of-the-line Galaxy Buds.

Of course, the Anycall cases are non-functional, and they aren’t a replacement for your charging case. Instead, they wrap around the Galaxy Buds Pro charging case, adding significant bulk to your headphones and your pocket. And while photos of the Anycall case show an outer display with a clock and battery life indicator, Samsung’s website (and Korean tech websites—thanks, Google Translate) make no mention of this outer display, so we aren’t sure whether it’s functional or not.

Samsung modeled its new Galaxy Buds Pro cases off of the Anycall T100 and Anycall E700 cellphones (released in the US as the Samsung SCH-X430 and SGH E-700). While these phones are little more than a distant memory today, their sleek designs and high-quality display technology helped define Samsung as a cellphone brand in the early 2000s. (Not to say that these displays stand up to the test of time—the Anycall T100, Samsung’s first TFT LCD phone, has a resolution of 128 x 160!)

Here’s a fun fact; Samsung refers to these cases by the nickname “Lee Kun-hee phone,� honoring the late Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee who pushed the brand to manufacture some of the world’s best mobile devices. Samsung is the most powerful brand in Korea, and naming an accessory after the late chairman isn’t too different from naming an Apple or Microsoft accessory after Steve Jobs or Bill Gates.

Unfortunately, the Anycall-styled Galaxy Buds Pro cases are a South Korean exclusive. You can try ordering the Buds Pro with an Anycall case for around $230 on Samsung’s South Korean website, or fly over to Korea and get the charging case as a free gift after buying the Buds Pro in-store.

Source: Gizmodo and Sedaily via Samsung