Introduction and unboxing
The Samsung Galaxy Buds have always been a solid choice for Android users: they’re well-made, sound better than most other earbuds, and come with a full complement of features.
It’s safe to say that none of that has changed, even if the earbuds themselves look radically different in their sixth generation. This is the first time Samsung’s earbuds have a stem design, and it’s made them better, even if it’s lost a lot of character and brought them closer to the Apple AirPods Pro.
The Galaxy Buds3 Pro are $250 / £220 / €250 and ship in silver and white. Inside the box, you’ll find a USB-C cable and S, M, and L silicone ear tips.
Let’s take a look at Samsung’s biggest update to the Galaxy Buds yet.
Design and Features
Casual observers will insist that the Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro is a cheeky Apple AirPods Pro 2 copy from the shape of the earbuds to the shape of the case. We don’t necessarily agree, the Galaxy Buds have a different shape and look, especially if you buy the Silver model.
Aside from the Apple-esque similarities, the Galaxy Buds3 Pro have a completely different design than their predecessor. What were bulbous, stemless buds are now thinner buds with long, flat stems.
The case has a clear top and small accents of blue or cyan and orange to show you where your earbuds are with matching accents. The earbuds nestle inside the case the opposite way as the AirPods Pro 2, facing outward, while the Apple Pro Earbuds sit the way you would wear them in your ears.
The direction you place the buds in the case is usually something you get used to after a while, the problem with the way the Galaxy Buds3 Pro return to charge has to do with the flat stems. You have to properly align the stem with the angled tunnel in the case, and that’s an awkward exercise for your fingers that doesn’t get easier with time. Simply put, these buds are difficult to put back in the case every time.
On a positive note, the Galaxy Buds3 Pro’s new angled stems open up a world of control possibilities that didn’t exist in previous models in the series.
Similar to the AirPods Pro and Nothing Ear, you press the stem to control playback. But here, you can also slide your finger up and down for precise volume control. The flat side of the Galaxy Buds3 Pro’s stem makes this possible in a way that other earbuds can’t.
A word about the reported quality issues that forced Samsung to temporarily suspend sales of the Galaxy Buds3 Pro. It involves replacing the ear tips, which attach to the earbuds via a plastic cradle, which some users have reported breaking on their units. Our Galaxy Buds3 Pro don’t appear to have this issue. We removed the tips multiple times to be sure, with no issues.
The sprouts themselves
The Galaxy Buds3 Pro stems feature a Blade Light that lights up when you place the buds back in the case. You can set the lights to always be on with a long press on the stem. It’s a different design, but we can’t say it adds anything to the experience.
The case has a USB-C port and supports wireless charging. There’s a small LED in the center of the case to give you battery and charging information, and there’s a button at the bottom for pairing.
We believe this case design is more convenient to use. The smaller lid is easier to close gently than the large flap of the previous Galaxy Buds case.
The earbuds themselves have an IP57 rating for moderate dust protection and solid water protection.
The in-ear feel of the earbuds is a very individual thing. This editor found them to be a bit too loose, regardless of the tips.
They were fine for most activities, but eating lunch and watching a movie did cause a few drops. Pushing the earbuds deeper into my ear helped, although it did make the fit a little less comfortable.
The stem controls are excellent on the Galaxy Buds3 Pro. Tapping on previous models was a tedious experience. And they constantly thought I was tapping them when I wanted to readjust them.
The latest model’s stems make all of this a thing of the past. Pressing once to pause, twice for the next track, and three times to repeat the current one worked flawlessly.
With earbuds like the Nothing Ear and the Galaxy Buds3 Pro featuring excellent controls, it’s hard to go back to stemless designs.
The stems are also useful for removing the earbuds or adjusting them in your ear. Removing the earbuds pauses whatever you’re playing.
Sound quality, active noise cancellation and battery life
The Galaxy Buds3 Pro come with Adaptive Noise Control, a smarter ANC than before. The buds will monitor the noise to cancel, but they can detect your voice and will turn off ANC if you start a conversation. The buds will also use AI to detect an alarm or siren and will turn off ANC so you can hear the alert.
You can adjust the intensity of the noise cancellation in the Galaxy Wear app. At maximum intensity, the noise cancellation is pretty solid. We tested these earbuds in a typical office environment, as well as outdoors and on a three-hour flight.
The Galaxy Buds3 Pro do a great job of canceling out the constant noise of a jet engine, but struggle with human voice frequencies or random noises.
Maintaining a snug fit helps ANC a lot.
Before we talk about sound quality, a word about the underlying technology. The Galaxy Buds3 Pro use a 2-way driver with an independent woofer and tweeter in each earbud. On the software side, the Galaxy Buds3 Pro encode audio up to 24-bit/96kHz and then decode the sound at the same quality using what Samsung calls its Seamless Codec.
The Galaxy Buds3 Pro may very well be the best earbuds for calls. The six microphones deliver excellent quality without the “speakerphone feel” you get with most earbuds of this type. All of our callers were surprised when we told them we were using earbuds.
If you use these earbuds with a Galaxy phone, you can also enjoy 360 Audio (spatial audio), which simulates a multi-speaker system in a physical room. You can also use the Galaxy Buds3 Pro with Galaxy AI Interpreter mode. There’s also some sort of multi-point connection mode, but it apparently only works with other Galaxy devices.
Finally, you can control the earbuds with your voice with commands like Volume Up, Play Music, Previous Song, Answer, or Reject the call. But this also only works with Galaxy phones.
The Galaxy Buds3 Pro sound impressive. There is a noticeable increase in volume and an improvement in the soundstage and overall dynamics compared to the Galaxy Buds2 Pro.
The bass comes from the sub-bass frequencies and grows throughout the range. Set them to the Bass Boost EQ setting and you get a nice rumble throughout the range.
But it’s in the mids that the Galaxy Buds3 Pro shine. Instruments and melody are well defined. Even vocals come out natural and there’s just the right amount of presence and sparkle in the higher frequencies.
One issue with the Galaxy Buds3 Pro is the EQ. The custom EQ is quieter than the presets, even if you make them identical. For example, if you duplicate Bass Boost as a custom EQ setting and switch between them, the custom one is about 10% quieter.
We expect this to be a software issue that will be fixed with an update.
Conclusion
The Galaxy Buds3 Pro represent another strong showing from Samsung and a great, if controversial, entry into a solid lineup of earbuds.
Comparisons to the AirPods Pro and unfortunate quality issues that have already been addressed mean they’ve faltered from the start, but they’re still a strong upgrade over the excellent Galaxy Buds2 Pro. The Galaxy Buds3 Pro introduce a radical new design, adding multiple layers of functionality and comfort.
In addition to the design changes, the Galaxy Buds3 Pro make subtle but significant upgrades to sound quality, resulting in a better sounding product. We’d even argue that the Galaxy Buds3 Pro sound better than their mainstream rivals like the Apple AirPods 2 Pro and Nothing Ear with stronger bass and a more dynamic soundstage.
The Galaxy Buds3 Pro cost $250/£220/€250, which is quite high, but slightly cheaper than Apple’s AirPods Pro 2.
If you’re a Galaxy owner, these are probably the best earbuds you can buy for your phone, with the added features that make the purchase worthwhile. Other Android users may want to look elsewhere for a similar sound and feature set at a lower price—the new, cheaper Nothing Ears are worth a look.
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