Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro review: Galaxy AI in your ears

Note: This review was first published on 24 July 2024.

When Samsung finally unveiled the new Galaxy Buds3 Pro at the latest Unpacked event, it came as a surprise that the South Korean company moved away from its distinctive bulb-like design to something eerily reminiscent of a certain competitor’s flagship true wireless offering. Despite the similar look, certain design details help the new earbuds stand out. 

The TL;DR version:



With a new design, dual drivers and Galaxy AI, the Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro offers great sound quality, improved touch controls, and a nifty feature for frequent travellers.



Note: You can preorder the Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro on Samsung Online Store, Shopee and Lazada. However, note that the retail availability date has been postponed to late August because of quality control issues.

Let's address the obvious: the earbuds themselves resemble the AirPods Pro, and so does the charging case. The only significant difference is that the bottom is flat so that the case can stand upright if desired. The lid of the case is transparent, making it easy to check if your earbuds are in the case. I'm rather fond of the case design. It has its own aesthetic, and it's compact enough to slip into pockets. The white version I've tested is clean and sleek, while the silver design is a little flashier. 

With a new stemmed design, the Galaxy Buds3 Pro uses a new triangular design that incorporates a thin LED strip called Blade Lights. By default, these lights don’t turn on automatically. They only flash when the case lid is opened or closed, and the lights will only show when there’s at least 30% battery for each earbud. 

You can turn them on by pressing and holding onto the stem for a second or so when the earbuds are out of the case and not in your ears. There are also other light patterns to choose from, like Blink and Breathe for slower or faster flashing. 

If you’ve been keeping up with the news, you might have already heard that Samsung has currently suspended shipments of the Galaxy Buds3 Pro due to quality control issues. The primary complaint appears to be ear tips that tear when removed from the earbuds. Though this isn't a good look for the brand, it's encouraging to see that they are taking the issue seriously by suspending shipments and thoroughly investigating the issue. We’ve successfully removed the ear tips from the earbuds a couple of times now without any drama, so your mileage will definitely vary.

Folks who preordered would have probably collected their earbuds on 19 July. If you waited for retail availability, that has now been shifted to the end of August. Regardless, it’s a good sign that Samsung is proactively fixing this issue and not just sweeping it under the rug.

Inside, there are two drivers, one dynamic and one planar magnetic, with two amplifiers to power them. This is impressive because it’s probably the first time we've seen planar magnetic drivers in wireless earbuds from a mainstream brand. Crucially, the planar magnetic driver affords a significant improvement in sound quality compared to single dynamic driver earbuds, which we’ll discuss later.

The new stemmed design allowed for a better fit for me than previous Galaxy Buds, although this will certainly vary from person to person since everybody’s ears are different. The change to using the stem for controls means it's considerably easier to control the earbuds with its touch controls.

Features

A small part of Samsung's Galaxy AI has made its way to the Galaxy Buds3 Pro as well.

If you're familiar with the Galaxy S24 Ultra, you would know that Samsung's proprietary translation service, Live Translate, has Conversation Mode that translates two languages to two speakers in real time. We've demonstrated how that works in two TikTok clips here and here.

Debuting on the new Galaxy Z foldables is Listening Mode, which also translates in real-time, but only for one listener, since there's no "other person" that needs to understand what you're saying.

You can also use Listening Mode with the Buds3 Pro by having the one-way translation fed to you, but that requires an updated Galaxy AI or one of the new Galaxy Z Fold6 and/or Galaxy Z Flip6. The Galaxy S24 series phone we tried did not yet have Listening Mode.

Additionally, there are nice quality of life features like Adaptive EQ and Adaptive ANC, as well as features that will automatically lower music volume if a siren is detected, or activate Transparency mode when the wearer is speaking (aka voice detect). However, we noticed that voice detection takes a while to activate, with about a three-second delay after speaking. 

The ANC works decently well at dampening environmental noise for the most part if music is playing. Rumbles and hums are cut out, although you can still hear higher-pitched noises like voices or cutlery if they’re particularly close or loud. 

The Transparency mode is quite good, with natural-sounding voices. It won’t make you feel like you’re not wearing earbuds, but it’s good enough to not feel like you have to remove your earbuds to have a short conversation with people.

There are several options in the Equaliser to choose from, and I particularly liked the Dynamic setting where instruments and the midrange get pushed forward with a richer, more V-shaped sound signature. For people who prefer more forward vocals, the Clear setting is excellent, bringing the singer’s voice to the forefront and making it crisper. 

Samsung claims that the earbuds are also capable of 24-bit, 96kHz transmission over Bluetooth thanks to its Samsung Seamless Codec (SSC). There’s also support for the usual SBC and AAC codecs, and for spatial audio fans out there, there’s 360 audio with head tracking. 

There is limited customisation for the pinch and hold controls, but if you prefer not to use that, the Galaxy Buds3 Pro supports voice commands such as “Play music”, “Pause music”, “Next song” and more.

There is an issue with this feature, however, where someone nearby can actually hijack your earbuds and control your music playback just by saying the commands loudly enough. If you’re worried this will be an issue or if you have a lot of friends who like to prank you, we would suggest turning voice commands off.

You’ll want to use these earbuds with a relatively updated Samsung phone, if possible, since features like Live Translate and that high-res SSC codec can only be activated or are only supported when using a compatible Samsung handset. There's also Seamless Earbud Connection, which allows for the earbuds to auto-switch between nearby devices that are signed into the same Samsung account.

Samsung has upgraded the IP rating on these to IP57, which is a notable change from the IPX7 of the Galaxy Buds2 Pro. Check this article out if you don’t know what that means.

These earbuds are supposed to last up to six hours with ANC turned on, but that’s dependent on various factors, including how loud you listen to music. I listen at a relatively low volume of around 25-30%, and I managed to eke out 5 hours and 24 minutes from the earbuds, so I reckon people listening at louder volumes could only end up with around five hours.

That’s a bit of a bummer as six hours is the average I would expect, especially from a flagship product. Wired charging via the USB-C port is decently fast, and there's wireless charging support. With the charging case, Samsung expects users to get around 26 hours of playtime in total.

Audio performance

Thanks to the new dual-driver design, the sound quality of the Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro is much improved. The planar magnetic driver in charge of the highs offers a crisp airiness to the treble range that you rarely experience with single dynamic driver earbuds. 

Samsung claims the frequency response gets up to 40kHz thanks to the planar magnetic tweeter, and while my ears certainly can’t hear up to that high, I can confidently say that you get more resolution and sparkle, particularly with string and wind instruments. 

The dynamic driver for the lower frequencies is no slouch either, with a rich, detailed midrange that offers excellent timbre with warmth and fullness. The bass region gets a slight elevation, but it never crosses into boomy territory. There’s plenty of punch and attack, which makes the earbuds suitable for most genres of music. 

Of course, if the default sound isn’t to your liking, the EQ presets available in the Samsung Wearable app are all pretty good as well. 

Conclusion

This year, it’s even more painfully obvious that if you’re the owner of a relatively new Samsung phone (one that supports Galaxy AI), the Galaxy Buds3 Pro are the best choice of true wireless earbuds to get. The ease of use and setup aside, the integration with Galaxy AI's translation features makes these earbuds incredibly useful for travellers. And if you own multiple Samsung devices, the auto-switch feature is really handy.

The excellent sound quality is also a major reason to upgrade if you’re still hanging on to an older pair of Galaxy Buds. The only downsides I can think of are the lower-than-average battery life and its slightly underwhelming ANC performance. The Buds3 Pro's ANC can't quite compare to the top contenders like the Sony WF-1000XM5 or AirPods Pro. But if you’re using a Samsung phone, its list of pros can easily outweigh its minor shortcomings.

Now, we only need to wait till the end of August for shipments to finally arrive.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro retails at S$358 and you can pre-order the device at Lazada, Shopee, and the Samsung Online Store.

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