Samsung's wireless earbuds were due for a refresh and the company has given us one of the most comprehensive revamps of the product with the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro. There's a bold and flash new design, improved internals, and a hard lean into Galaxy AI features.
They're also $20 more expensive than their predecessor, so that begs the question: are they worth the money? That's precisely what we'll address in our Galaxy Buds 3 Pro review.
Design and fit
The Galaxy Buds 3 Pro look unlike any other wireless earbuds from Samsung. The company has gone for a stem design with sharp corners that make it look very futuristic. It has also incorporated “blade lights.” These blink in a few instances such as when the battery is low or when you're trying to locate the earbuds. They're useful, but unfortunately, there's no way for users to control the colors of the lights.
There's no finding fault with the fit. The Galaxy Buds 3 Pro are great to wear for hours because you won't feel uncomfortable. There are tips in the box that you can use to find the perfect fit and after conducting a very thorough head banging session to some rock music, I can confirm the fit is very secure.
Futuristic design, funky lights
We do get an improvement in durability. The Buds 3 Pro feature an IP57 rating, up from IPX7 on their predecessors. This means your earbuds are better protected against water and dust. Do bear in mind that the case doesn't have an IP rating, so don't take it with you into the swimming pool.
The touch controls will take some getting used as they're different from previous models. You pinch at the bottom of the stem to play or pause media and swipe up or down at the back edge of the earbuds to control the volume.
The stem has a pinch and hold gesture to launch apps like Bixby and Spotify. It all works very well, and the learning curve won't be more than a few minutes. However, good luck manually turning on those blade lights – you can do that by long-pressing both earbuds when they're in your ears and the charging case is open, but it's incredibly hit and miss.
The case has gone through a redesign as well, and it's also unlike any other wireless earbuds case that we've seen from Samsung before. They've got a transparent lid so you can always see the buds in the case and there's a quick pairing button at the bottom for ease of use. The design itself is nicely rounded so the case remains very easy to slip into a pocket.
Sound quality and performance
Samsung has made considerable improvements to sound quality with the Buds 3 Pro. It starts with the more powerful internals. The Galaxy Buds 3 Pro have a 10mm dynamic driver and an independent planar tweeter that achieves clear-sounding highs. The Dual Amps reduce hiccups and round out the overall robust package.
Punchy bass with good sound signature
There's no denying that the sound quality of the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro is impressive. The range of these sound drivers is amazing. They get nice and loud with no noticeable distortion. These are also the first wireless earbuds from Samsung to have the capability to stream 24-bit audio at 96KHz, making it a treat to use high resolution audio streaming services like Tidal.
The sound quality of the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro is right up there with more premium wireless earbuds. The lows and highs are very well balanced even on the default mode, with smooth vocals, good track separation and an overall robust sound signature. There are also a variety of presets that you can choose and also tinker with the EQ yourself to get the desired listening experience.
Just like their predecessors, the best listening experience is only possible when you use the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro with a Samsung Galaxy device, preferably a more recent model, to take full advantage of the Samsung seamless codec.
Samsung very much wants the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro to be a part of its Galaxy ecosystem. But that doesn't mean you can't use the new earbuds with non-Samsung devices. They'll work with any Bluetooth device that you can pair earbuds to.
There was already the expectation that the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro would be a decent upgrade in the sound department. I'd go so far as to say that they exceed expectations. It's worth noting that Samsung has many premium audio brands under its umbrella, including the likes of Harman Kardon, so it's able to call upon all of that industry knowledge to deliver an amazing personal audio product.
Active Noise Cancellation
Samsung has made some improvements in the ANC department as well. It's a decent upgrade and the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro do a good job of drowning out the worst of the sounds when you're on a train or a busy downtown sidewalk. They're also very effective at bringing down human chatter in a crowded room, a noticeable improvement over the predecessor.
Galaxy AI, now available on wireless earbuds
What I did find was that the Active Noise Cancellation struggled a bit when it was very windy outdoors. There was still a noticeable ANC effect, but not quite as good as it could have been. Samsung's sprinkled a bit of its Galaxy AI magic on ANC as well. Adaptive noise cancellation intelligently bumps the noise blocking up and down depending on your surroundings. For example, it'll tone down the effect if someone's speaking to you while you're jamming out to your favorite song.
The ambient sound or transparency mode works well. It lets in ambient sounds very clearly and they don't feel robotic in the slightest. Another intelligent feature you can enable is to have the ANC turned all the way down automatically if the earbuds pick up sirens from an emergency vehicle. It works well, but I noticed that in windy outdoor conditions, the emergency vehicle would often be long gone before the ANC came back on.
Overall, the Buds 3 Pro get you the best ANC experience of any Samsung wireless earbuds. That's one of the reasons why the price point is justified and why we'd recommend picking up a pair despite the price hike that Samsung has implemented for this iteration.
Call quality
Samsung has improved the microphones considerably to elevate the call quality. The stem design also brings the microphone closer to the mouth, which does help in voice pickup. However, it's because of this design that the microphone also picks up more wind. The wind noise is discernible to the person on the other end, even if it's not quite as bad as it was on the previous model.
There are upgrades in a few other areas that also contribute to improved quality. The Super Wideband call feature allow for voice pickup in up to 16kHz as opposed to the normal 8kHz, which contributes to the overall better quality. Do keep in mind that other factors, like your network connectivity, play a role in how your voice sounds to the person on the other end. But by and large, the experience will be more than satisfactory.
Connectivity and features
There are some cool connectivity features that are worth a mention. Auto Switch seamlessly switches the sound between your Galaxy phone and Windows PC. We found that it works very well. There's no real lag, much the same as the similar functionality works for automatically switching between Galaxy phones and Galaxy tablets. Auracast support enables you to connect multiple pairs of Buds to a TV or smartphone to stream audio across connected devices.
Samsung's ecosystem shines through
There's hands-free Bixby pickup, as expected. There's also the ability to control basic functions like picking up phone calls or skipping songs using voice commands. SmartThings Find support is included as well. You can easily locate the missing buds using the app, with the blade lights shining to help you find them in the dark.
Samsung always pairs its earbuds with exceptional software features that further elevate the user experience. It's no different from the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro. Some familiar features like hands-free Bixby Voice wakeup, Game Mode, Easy Pair, and more are all present.
The biggest Galaxy AI-powered software addition to the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro is the Real-Time Interpreter. In listening mode, the earbuds will pick up the foreign language and play it back to you translated in your desired language. Use your compatible Galaxy phone in conversation mode to listen to a real-time translation of your entire conversation. It's a neat feature that works very well.
Battery life
Samsung tends to be pretty spot on with battery claims for its wireless earbuds. The Galaxy Buds 3 Pro are rated for 6 hours of use on a single charge with ANC enabled.
In our testing, we found that to be almost accurate. Our unit was able to go up to five and a half hours before needing a charge. This is about an hour's worth of improvement over the previous model, yet another point that justifies the price hike.
Verdict
The Galaxy Buds 3 Pro are a solid pair of wireless earbuds. From the fresh and sleek design to the incredible sound quality, solid ANC, and new Galaxy AI features, these are the most well-rounded wireless earbuds yet from Samsung.
Should you buy the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro? They're so big of an upgrade that I'd even recommend Galaxy Buds 2 Pro owners to make that $249.99 purchase. The Buds 3 Pro deliver an elevated user experience in every aspect of what makes a good pair of wireless earbuds.
