Samsung kind of surprised us this year with its new generation of earbuds. Thus far, the Galaxy Buds have had a unique, stemless design, which made them instantly recognizable. Now, the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro adopted a more... orthodox look — some might say that they look like overly futuristic AirPods.
But is that all there is to it? A design change? Well, they do sound a bit different, the added stems have squeeze and swipe controls for more control over playback, and they are sort of trying to soft-lock you into the Samsung ecosystem (but don't take it as far as Apple).
So, are the new $250 earbuds by Samsung any good, and should you buy them? Let's go through design, comfort, sound quality, and connectivity:
Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro in a nutshell:
- Radical redesign with transparent case and LED lights on buds
- Dual driver, twitter and woofer setup
- Combined pinch and swipe controls
- Enhanced EQ within Samsung Wearable app
- Slightly retuned sound
- IP57 protection rating
Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro specs
| Color options | White, Black |
|---|---|
| Audio | AAC, SBC, and SSC Samsung Seamless Codec with Samsung phones |
| Noise cancelation | Adaptive ANC, Transparency mode |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth 5.4, multi-device, Google Fast Pair, Microsoft Swift Pair |
| Battery life | ANC On: 5.2 hours from buds, +19 hours from case ANC Off: 8.5 hours from buds, +32 hours from case |
| Ingress protection | IP57, buds only |
We've got multiple high-res codecs ensuring the buds deliver pristine sound, and Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity for stable connection. If you pair them to a Samsung phone, you get to listen to Samsung's own lossless 24-bit Seamless Codec. We have to say, we find them sounding pretty clear even with an iPad (paired to the enemy!), but audiophiles will probably be happy with the extra overkill codec.
Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro design and colors
The new Galaxy Buds 3 Pro design is very AirPod Pro-like — white buds with stems for the microphones (admittedly, a black color is available), pinch controls on the stems and silicone in-ear tips.
But we also detect some influence from the Nothing Ear buds. The flap of the case is transparent — fine, it could be a coincidence. The right bud is parked with a red stripe, the left one with a blue one — again, Nothing likes to put a red dot on the right bud. And it wouldn't have looked so out of place if Samsung didn't also mark the buds with L and R symbols. That's a bit too many design elements to serve the same purpose.
There are tiny LED strips on each of the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro — they light up invitingly when you open the case, signifying that they are now "on". Don't worry, by default, they don't stay lit when they are in your ears. But, if you wish to look like a cyberpunk agent, you can activate them in the Wearable app — either have them on for a steady glow, or enable a breathing, pulsing light if you want them to be extra obnoxious.
Was this whole redesign worth it? We think so. A bit of a subjective, personal opinion here — the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro are the most comfortable earbuds I've worn in a while. They feel soft, they fit right, and don't give me any ear fatigue for hours, which is a pretty big deal, because my ears are a bit narrow and picky with in-ear buds. Though, it's worth mentioning, that I've seen opinions around the Internet that some people find them easy to fall out of their earlobes. My suggestion is, if that happens, try to go down in ear tip size instead of going up for the bigger one — it may just help.
The combination of pinch and swipe controls is also pretty great. So, you pinch the stems if you want to control media playback, swipe up or down on any of them for volume adjustment. They are pretty intuitive and responsive, but not too responsive — gone are the days when you accidentally pause your music just because you tried to readjust your earbud fit for a second.
After gushing over the design, we do wish to remark that the assembly doesn't look perfect. At least on our pre-sales unit, the seals on the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro are slightly misaligned — there's a bit of an assymetrical lip to be observed where each of the Buds' shells meet. Not a big deal... unless we are talking about $250 earbuds.
Protection against the elements has also been increased — now with IP57 rating, the buds can survive a dunk in a puddle, and have some dust protection. They've been engineered with sweat resistance in mind. It's worth noting that Samsung advises against using them by the pool, and so do we. The case has no IP rating, so keep that in mind, too.
Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro sound quality
The Galaxy Buds 3 Pro sound a little bit Harman-y, however, Samsung did take the liberty of boosting the bass a bit more, and add more air in the highs post the 3 kHz mark. That's to say, they sound a little bit bass heavy, and have a lot of sibilance. But the drivers are handling those highs quite well — instead of sounding harsh or icy, they are smooth and present. For the bass — that'll be a mixed reception. Personally, I used the custom EQ in the Samsung Wearable app to dial it down to -4 at 63 Hz and -3 at 125 Hz.
The mids are nice and full, and instruments ring through nicely. The Galaxy Buds 3 Pro's soundstage is also decently wide. In general, we really like how they sound. In fairness, dialing down the bass kind of took away from their panache and character. But if you are not an earphone addict that's constantly cycling through, looking for that "different flair of sound", you'd be pretty pleased with how balanced, clear, and mostly "safe" they sound.
Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro noise cancelation and transparency
The Galaxy Buds 3 Pro noise cancelation feels a bit... weak. A lot of sounds come through — such as the clacking of keyboards and office utensils, some of the air conditioner's hum, et cetera. The sounds are definitely quieter, and you drown them out as soon as you play even low-volume music, but we were surprised that Samsung took a step back here. It feels like the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro had better ANC.
The good news is that the transparency mode sounds fantastic — there's a slight boost in the upper mids, so it's not quite "realistic", but you will definitely hear speech no problem.
Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro connectivity
Another step closer to the AirPods experience — the new Galaxy Buds 3 Pro can seamlessly switch from device to device. As long as said devices are logged into your Samsung account. That's certainly an upgrade from Bluetooth multipoint, which is limited to two devices, but it's a downgrade if you aren't fully invested in the Samsung ecosystem — phone, laptop, tablet and all.
The good news is that there's a fine print — you can still quick-swap to non-Samsung devices that have been paired to the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro in the past. You don't need to reset the earbuds, or put them back in the case — you just need to go into the desired device's Bluetooth settings and manually choose to connect to the Buds 3 Pro. They will swap to the new sound source almost immediately. It's not as convenient as being an auto-switch, but it's still less of a hassle.
Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro battery life
Samsung states up to 6 hours from the buds, 26 hours in total with the charging case, if you are using the buds with ANC on. Turn it off and you don't get much of a boost — 7 hours on the buds, 30 hours total.
These are not groundbreaking numbers by no means, and if you are looking for super enduring earphones, the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro may not be it. But, we've found them to be good enough for a standard day of commuting and office work.
The case can be charged both wirelessly and via a USB Type-C cable.
Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, should you buy them?
If you are looking for a pair of earbuds that have a great fit and feel and sound pretty good — we can definitely recommend you give the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro a go! Especially if you are into the Samsung ecosystem.
However, if you are platform-agnostic, it's a bit harder to argue Samsung's case here. You will only get to control and fine-tune the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro via the Wearable app on a Samsung phone. If you don't have one, you can't toggle 360 audio, you can't adjust the EQ.
This year's re-launched Nothing Ears have a very similar frequency response curve, come with Bluetooth multipoint (2 devices), and the Nothing X app with its Advanced EQ is available on Android and iOS. For $150.
