The Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro offer exceptional audio quality, top-notch ANC, and a premium, albeit derivative, design. There’s so much to love! A few key updates over its predecessors solve a lot of our problems, the other features added don’t really impress, especially when they’re only available to owners of Samsung’s latest Galaxy devices. And there’s another factor at play here: the highest-value label.
Fantastic sound
deep African National Congress
Lightweight design
High price
Removing the bits is a pain.
Key features require a Galaxy phone
People are quick to refer to any wireless earbuds with stems as “AirPods clones,” but Samsung rarely does itself a favor by hijacking the term with its Galaxy Buds 3 Pro. They look like what you’d get if you threw in the Apple Earbuds and a Toblerone in a blender. Can we look beyond their familiar design if they are the most productive headphones on the market? Of course. But let’s not move too quickly.
The Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro are Samsung’s new premium earbuds for 2024, unveiled alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 on a launch occasion in July this year, and fill a gap in the company’s range. given that the Buds 2 Pro were becoming obsolete.
If you know anything about the Samsung line, you’re probably expecting great things from a product with the Korean tech giant’s callout, along with the word “Pro” thrown in for good measure, and possibly you won’t be left stranded and dry off with the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro.
Honestly, those headphones sound fantastic, with one of the most productive sounds of any headset I’ve tested. V-shaped audio means you get meaty bass but also explained highs, so whether you’re listening to the highest opera or the lowest synthesized wave, enjoy your music.
There’s no need to worry about background noises getting in your way either, as the powerful noise cancellation on the buds does an incredible job of eliminating noises around you. I was inspired by how the Buds 3 Pro not only decreased the salience of noises around me, but prevented me from noticing many of them.
And I know I’ve been put off by the design of AirPods (sorry, Galaxy Buds), but they’re a popular form in the wireless earbuds industry for a reason. The Buds 3 Pro are comfortable to wear, soft enough to stay glued to the ear, and also feel slender.
Some issues with our Galaxy Buds 2 Pro were also resolved, adding my non-public sticking point: poor battery life. The Buds 3 Pro last a little longer, but the case’s battery life has seen more noticeable increases, making the 3 Pro much more suitable for longer trips.
That’s high praise, but it’s worth noting that the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro is for everyone. The premium price is not only prohibitive for those who are die-hard audiophiles (or who buy the Buds as part of a purchase incentive with a Galaxy). phone), however, some of the really cool features are locked behind a boring wall.
This wall is owned by a Samsung Galaxy device, not an old Samsung fan, but also a recent Galaxy S, Galaxy Z, or Tab S device, according to our convenient compatibility explanation. If you don’t have such a device, you won’t be able to use Samsung’s new AI features, such as language interpreter, enhanced codec support, voice restorer, or Smart Dynamic ANC. Of course, it makes sense that the translation feature is only available employing AI computation on a Galaxy phone (and the teaser for 24-bit/96kHz streaming over Bluetooth uses Samsung’s new proprietary SSC UHQ codec), but dynamic. The ANC is commonplace. In headphones the value of the Buds 3 Pro starts.
Yes, Apple is also known for its closed ecosystem, which prohibits Android phone users from using the most productive features of AirPods (Find My, Spatial Audio with head tracking with Dolby Atmos, etc. ), but Samsung wanted to take inspiration in The Apple Book?
None of those features are a strong point of the Buds either, and you get a similar pleasure from using the Buds 3 Pro when paired with any other phone. Take it however you want.
Another “scandal” that I probably deserve to point out in this advent is that many of the early users of the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro found themselves breaking the tips in a variety of dramatic ways. This is because the proprietary formula that connects the tips to the heads holds them too tightly and the tips themselves are quite fragile, so it’s easy to break them when you check them to upgrade them to another size. I figured out a way to reliably upgrade them, which you can read about below, but it indicates production issues that delayed the release of the heads.
The Galaxy Buds 3 Pro were announced on July 10, 2024 alongside other products, adding non-Pro alternatives. At the time of writing, delayed dates mean you can pre-order them, but at least in the UK, the Samsung box tells you “Order now to get them starting August 22. “
You can buy the earbuds for $249 / £219 / AU$399, so they are expensive earbuds that also feature a small price increase over their $229 / £219 / AU$349 predecessors. The Buds 3 are less Pricey at $179 / £159 / AU$299, but in an era of fierce festivals and most brands saving extra dollars (or pounds) on new offerings, a $20 increase is an ambitious strategy from Samsung.
Depending on where you live, those earbuds are therefore just as expensive, if not a little cheaper, than the $249/£229/AU$399 AirPods Pro 2; however, keep in mind that the complex age of Apple earbuds means that they are now available for less than the listed costs.
You can find more options below, but for now know that these are the most expensive headphones that general consumers could purchase. However, audiophiles with deep pockets have many more options.
One of our biggest complaints with the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro was the limited battery life; Be pleased to know that the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro improves on that resistance. It’s not a huge increase, but it’s something.
According to Samsung, the headphones will last 6 hours if ANC is on and an additional hour if it is off. After my tests, I agree with this estimate: When I tried to perform continuous playback tests, the headphones turned off. They turned off when they were out of my ear for 15 minutes, even when auto detection was off. The charging case rounds up those totals to 26 (ANC on) or 30 (ANC off) hours of endurance, and you can rate this case wirelessly and with a USB-C cable.
I can understand why some people still have 6 hours too short for a headset’s battery life, and I’m in the same camp. That’s why battery life fell from the review’s list of “cons,” but didn’t make it to the list of “pros. “
So what about ANC, or active noise cancellation?Overall, it’s great – the headphones cover the background noise that occurs when you’re looking to pay attention to the music. I just moved into an apartment on an exercise track. And you may rarely know when the exercises were going on when you were wearing the headphones. This, of course, was in peak intensity mode, but the others work fine if you still need some surrounding awareness.
The Samsung Wearable app offers two more modes: Environmental and Adaptive (the latter exclusive to Samsung users, more on that later). The former is apparently to allow some background noise to penetrate a mid-level noise cancellation, while the latter adjusts its ANC to suit its surroundings, but in practice, those two seem to have the exact same result.
Wearable, the Buds’ other major app, is a bit undeniable compared to the broader world of headphone-connecting software. We’ll need to replace the ANC, replace the on-ear controls, replace an equalizer, and do a few other small tasks, but I haven’t used it much. In fact, on the two phones I tested the Galaxy Buds with, on one of them (the non-Galaxy one) I didn’t even download the app and found that the earbuds work fine. GOOD.
So, let’s move on to this Samsung-related issue, which is already indexed in the “cons” segment of the review.
The Galaxy AI’s features, which come with adaptive ANC, a feature that restores low-quality choppy voice calls, and a much-hyped live audio translation feature, are exclusive to others with a high-end Samsung smartphone. Samsung users would possibly be closing their website. . . But this “scam” is not as much of a “scam” as you might think, for better or worse.
As I mentioned, the adaptive ANC doesn’t seem to load much and I couldn’t verify the improvement in call quality as I didn’t revel in any bad phone call verification. I tried using the translation feature, but I couldn’t see how the headphones loaded anything into the app equation. The way it works is that you can say anything in one language and it translates into another, so that two other people who speak other languages can strike up a conversation. And that’s true without the headphones, so you won’t want to buy them to use this feature.
All of this is to say that the Galaxy AI features are really vital to the overall picture of the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, so the lack of a Samsung smartphone shouldn’t deter you from purchasing the earbuds. Some other exclusive features that are not missing Under Galaxy AI comes with multipoint pairing with only two Galaxy devices, higher audio quality through Samsung’s new 24-bit/96 kHz UHQ SSC codec and audio streaming across multiple devices. I’ve only used the Buds with a Samsung device, so I haven’t been able to get the most out of them.
It’s a shame that Samsung decided to put some of the features you pay for behind a paywall, especially when perks like adaptive ANC and multipoint pairing are common on less expensive headphones, but I can’t believe many Samsung customers use either of those. characteristics.
Some features of the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro are open to everyone and are very practical. The 360 audio works well for surround sound, the head tracking adds a bit for those who don’t find it puzzling, and the headphones have compatibility checks. helping you with what tricks to use (if you think you can replace them!) Array
The earbuds feature Bluetooth 5. 4, which is reliable and can allow you to listen over long distances from your phone. During the entire testing process, I didn’t experience any interruptions or connection issues.
One last thing I want to point out is that unlike the vast majority of headphones, wear detection is not enabled by default. After many tests, I thought the headphones did not have it; It does, you just want to activate it in the app.
For the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, Samsung moved away from the pebble-like design philosophy of the Buds 2 Pro and adopted a design similar to the AirPods Pro, with a spike, small body, and stems pointing toward the ground.
The design is similar in many ways to Apple’s, with the issues pointing downwards, the sleek white design of the default model, and even the silver trim on the edges of the stem. The only main difference is that when it is rounded, the stem is prismatic. like a Toblerone chocolate bar.
White is the only color option, as there is also a black one for sale, and each one has a little pop of color in the form of red and blue dots that correspond to spaces on the charging case, so you know which headset goes where. . Training
The temples also have what Samsung calls a “leaf light,” or a small strip of LED above the ridge that acts as an indicator. What? I couldn’t say, and since you can’t see the earbuds when in use, I find it a nifty feature. You can also use the sticks as controls: swiping up and down to change the volume is easy, but because of the prism shape of the stick, it’s a problem to look for pinching it to pause the music.
Each earbud weighs 5. 4g and I found them to have fairly comfortable and reliable in-ear compatibility, without falling out or causing ear pain from the weight. They are IP57 rated, meaning they are protected against dust to a certain extent and immersion in water up to 1 meter deep for a short period.
A main challenge with the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, which we’ve already discussed in detail, is the replacement of the tips. Samsung uses a homemade closure formula to hold the ear tips in place, which is what Apple does with other brands. Primary of the headphone manufacturers.
Simply put, the tips stay incredibly firm in position and are quite difficult to remove from the earbuds when resizing is necessary. People have reported that they broke their tips while trying to remove them, and I accidentally tore off a piece with my fingernail while trying to do the same. I’ve found that the most productive way to remove the tips is to pinch as close to the earbuds as possible when pulling, but honestly, if you’re worried about the threat of breaking the earbuds, you might need to keep that in mind. Instead, check out non-headphone features. -Pro.
The other facet of the Buds 3 Pro’s design is the case, a lightweight 46. 5g plastic container that’s not overly large. It has an LED charging light, a USB-C charging port, a reset button; the same accessories as always. As a fan of transparent charging cases, I was content to see a small display port on the Buds case.
The Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro are some of the wireless earbuds I’ve tested sound-wise and have a complicated tech shopping list to back up that claim.
There’s the Samsung Seamless Codec, which compresses and decodes music up to 24-bit/96kHz when used with the Samsung Galaxy S23 or later, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold five/Z Flip five or later, or the Tab S9 series. The company calls it ultra-high-quality sound (be aware of the capitalization!) and that’s it. Then there’s the two-way speaker that includes a woofer and tweeter, as well as an adaptive EQ that uses AI to adapt to your listening and adjust the EQ. consequently (another locked Galaxy device that I curiously couldn’t locate on my Samsung Galaxy S23Ultra).
Whatever jargon Samsung throws at you, and even if you pick up on it, one thing’s for sure: the Buds 3 Pro sound great.
The Buds have a V-shaped sound, meaning the bass and treble are sharp and distinct, while the mids are a little recessed. Some might consider this to be the optimal type of sound signature because it appeals to both bass and treble lovers. When listening to a song, you can appreciate the bass line and drum beats as much as the vocal melody or guitar solo, making the music dynamic and full of energy. This creates a wide soundstage and you feel like there are actually other tools around you.
If I were pedantic, I’d say that the treble sounds a little higher than the bass, and that you can “feel” the bass a little more than you can “hear” it, but that’s nitpicking to be smart.
Like the herbal effect of V-shaped audio, midrange sounds are a bit more in the mix. Personally, I’m a media fanatic (a media fanatic?Or does that make it seem like I’m just a fan in part?), so it was a shame, but I found the EQ to be convenient and allowed myself to take advantage of them. in the mix. Array presets will come in handy here as well.
I was inspired by the maximum volume of the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro – many headphones think that an audible output point is optional, but Samsung obviously disagrees. You can take a smart, plump look if you want, and I didn’t dwell too much on the higher volume areas, for fear of damaging my hearing.
It’s hard to stand head-to-head when considering the price proposition of the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, given that they are some of the most expensive earbuds designed for the general public.
There’s no doubt that these are high-end headphones, especially in the audio quality and noise cancellation departments, and if cash is rarely an issue, you’re in the right position to purchase your new headphones.
But if you need to make sure your money goes as far as possible, there are plenty more features that offer competitive sound, greater feature diversity, and longer battery life. Plus, the max allows you to replace the tips without crushing them. . .
Check out our full Apple AirPods Pro 2
See our full Sony WF-1000XM5 review
I used the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro for over two weeks to review them, and combined, we experienced a wide variety of trials and tribulations.
Paired (variably) with a Xiaomi Mi Note 10 or a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, I used them in the office, on walks in neighborhoods with different noise levels, in exercises, once running, and also in my new apartment (which overlooks an exercise track and is also under a flight path, I know).
They were able to cancel out a lot of noise, so I relied on the top-notch ANC form on the Buds 3 Pro. In terms of EQ, I relied on the default option, but played around a bit for testing purposes.
I usually listened to Tidal, Spotify, Netflix or YouTube, most commonly relying on the former to consult music and audiobooks.
My history of technical reviews for TechRadar now spans over five years and includes countless headphones and other Samsung products; Of course, I attended the first launch event for the original Samsung Galaxy Buds (and the Galaxy S10). So I really enjoy devices like this.
Tom Bedford, deputy editor of phones at TechRadar until the end of 2022, after rising through the ranks from the position of editor. Although it has specialized in phones and tablets, it has also ventured into other technologies such as electric scooters, smartwatches, fitness, mobile games. and much more. He is founded in London, United Kingdom and now works for the online entertainment site What To Watch.
She holds degrees in American Literature and Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia. Prior to working at TechRadar, he freelanced in the technology, gaming, and entertainment industries, and spent many years working as a mixologist.
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