when you use libs it's like that you just keep the dependencies string away from gradle anlong with that dependencie version.

shortly if you intend to only use one module project which will have only one gradle file then there is no benefits for using libs.

but if the project is multimodule (will have a. build.gradle.kts file for each module) libs are very helpful here since they help you centralize all your dependecies and versions in one place and call them from any gradle file.

and with that you can a void a lot of problems like using different versions of the same dependency by mistake also when u need to update a version for example you wont have to do it for all modules and your build folders will looks much cleaner .