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A bunch of Samsung devices are getting handy audio upgrades - including Auracast

While none of these are new features, they are new to these phones, tablets, TVs, and earbuds.
Written by Artie Beaty, Contributing Writer
Samsung Galaxy Buds FE
June Wan/ZDNET

It was just last week that Samsung announced some pretty big upgrades to Galaxy Buds. Now, a host of other devices, including phones, TVs, and tablets are getting in on the audio upgrades.

Samsung announced a number of new audio boosts today, including Auracast, 360 audio, and Auto switch. None of these are new features on their own, but they are coming to some new devices.

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First up is Auracast, a Bluetooth-based technology that allows one source to transmit audio to an unlimited number of devices. Initially, this feature was only available for the company's smart TVs. It later expanded to the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro and the S24 series of phones, and now it's available on even more devices. 

The S23 series, Z Fold 5, Z Flip 5, and Tab S9 series with One UI 6.1 or above can now both broadcast and transmit Auracast audio, and the Z Fold 4, Z Flip 4, A54 5G, M54 5G, and Tab Active 5 5G with One UI 5.1.1 or above can now receive Auracast audio.

Next is 360 audio, a surround sound feature that makes it seem like audio is coming from all around you. While this debuted on a few of Samsung's phones and tablets, it's now coming to the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro and Buds 2. It is also coming to several televisions, including the Neo QLED 8K, Neo QLED 4K, S95, S90, and S85 OLED series, as well as the 80D and 70D QLED series. Galaxy Buds, Samsung says, will be able to track your head movements and adjust the audio to keep you right in the middle of the sound.

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Last is Samsung's Auto Switch feature, which lets users easily switch audio from their earbuds to another device if they get a phone call. For example, a press release reads, "If you are enjoying some music on your Galaxy tablet when a call comes in, your Galaxy Buds Pro will use the Automatic switching feature to switch over to your phone so you can take the call." This feature is expanding to multiple PCs with One UI 6.0 or above, including the Galaxy Book 4 series.

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