Samsung's prototype revealed: Galaxy Buds case with OLED display. Yay or nay?

Remember that Oprah episode when everyone in the studio audience – almost 300 people – got a brand new Pontiac G6 car (and some almost got a heart attack)? It happened 20 years ago and not everyone was happy the day after due to a thing called “gift tax”, but that’s another story.

A certain refrain, however, was born on that day and is now considered meme material. It was Oprah, screaming frantically on the mic:


Samsung should hire Oprah to re-enact that same moment, but instead of a live audience, they should put various devices in front of her – phones, tablets, smartwatches, earbuds:


For the Korean giant, it’s not enough that the Flip and Fold phones from the Galaxy Z line feature external displays. No, they want to walk the extra mile and add an OLED display to… the Galaxy earbuds case.

There is another…

Truth be told, there is another earbuds case with a display that you might’ve stumbled upon. It’s a JBL earbuds model (JBL's Tour Pro 2, to be precise) and the on-case screen is a rectangular one. It makes it look like an iPod from an alternative universe.

Samsung’s new thing

Back to Samsung and its newest cool device. The Asian behemoth showcased many new types of OLED screens at the ongoing CES 2024 expo: brighter TV and monitor screens, thinner laptop screens, dual-foldable screens for phones, curved and rollable screens for cars, and even OLED touchscreens for wireless earbuds (via SamMobile).

This is only a prototype, but it looks mighty cool with the circular OLED panel – is that what spare Galaxy Watch displays are turned into?

It’s called “Earbuds OLED Case” and the display is a fully functional one – it can show things like the battery level of the earbuds and the case, it can display audio modes, and the status of ANC (active noise cancellation). Potentially, many settings could be adjusted and set right from the case rather than opening up the earbuds app on a paired phone. Users could also switch to another device right from the display on the earbuds case.

There is a short, but very informative video from CNET’s senior editor Lisa Eadicicco that’s on YouTube and shows the Earbuds OLED Case in all its glory:


So, are you hooked? Do you want to get a display on your earbuds case… or do you fear this thing is fragile and will crack quickly?