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Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro Review : What you need to know!

Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro Price

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro is priced at US$249.99 / £159 / A$299 / RM999. Here are some online purchase options (prices as of 20 September 2024) :

Malaysia : RM919 | RM999 | RM999
United States : $249.99 | $239.99
United Kingdom : £169 | £169
Australia : $390 | $344 | $399 | $357

Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro Specifications

Specifications	Galaxy Buds3 Pro
Type	In-Ear
Speaker	Enhanced 2-Way: 10.5 mm Dynamic Driver + 6.1 mm Planar
Microphone	3 x Microphones + VPU
Sound Quality	UHQ, 24-bit Hi-Fi – 24-bit, 96 kHz using SSC UHQ 360 Audio with Direct Multi-Channel
Noise Cancellation	ANC, Ambient Sound, Voice Detect
Connectivity	Bluetooth 5.4, Auto Switch
Wireless Codecs	Samsung Seamless Codec (SSC) HiFi SSC UHQ (proprietary) AAC, SBC
Sensors	Voice Pickup Unit (VPU) Force + Touch (Swipe) SWIR, Accelerometer, Hall sensor
Battery	Earbud : 53 mAh Case : 515 mAh
Music Playback (Earbuds only)	With ANC : Up to 6 hours No ANC : Up to 7 hours
Music Playback (Total)	With ANC : Up to 26 hours No ANC : Up to 30 hours
Talk Time (Earbuds only)	With ANC : Up to 4.5 hours No ANC : Up to 5 hours
Talk Time (Total)	With ANC : Up to 20 hours No ANC : Up to 22 hours
Water Resistance	IP57 (earbuds only)
Earbud Dimentions	18.1 mm x 19.8 mm x 33.2 mm
Case Dimentions	58.9 mm x 48.7 mm x 24.4 mm
Earbud Weight	5.4 grams
Case Weight	46.5 grams

Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro : What’s In The Box?

First, let’s take a quick look at what’s inside the box. Samsung kindly provided us with a better unboxing video than we could have done ourselves. Inside, you will find the following items :

A pair of Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro earbuds
Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro storage + charging case
Guide Start Guide
USB-C to USB-C charging cable
Two sets of extra ear tips (small and large)

Next Page > Galaxy Buds3 Pro Features + Verdict

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Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro Features

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro is targeted at audiophiles who want the very best features. Let’s delve into the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro’s key features

Improved Comfort

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro has an in-ear design with silicone tips. By default, they come fitted with medium ear tips, but the package includes small and large ear tips. Use the proper tips, and you will find that they are light and comfortable to wear for long periods of time.

The new stem design may put off some people, but the earbuds actually feel lighter and less obtrusive. On the other hand, the angular design of the stem makes it a bit uncomfortable to sleep or lie sideways wearing the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro. This, of course, isn’t an issue if you are lying down or sleeping on your back.

Improved Audio Quality

The Galaxy Buds 3 Pro features Samsung’s first-ever planar tweeter, as well as dual amplifiers to allow for independent control of the 10.5 mm woofer and 6.1 mm tweeter to reduce interference between speakers. The Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro definitely sounds superior to the Galaxy Buds2 Pro, with greater clarity and richer bass.

Samsung has also leveraged artificial intelligence in the Buds 3 Pro through AI-assisted Adaptive EQ/Adaptive ANC. Its AI-boosted algorithm analyses sound from both the inner and outer microphones in real time to optimise your listening experience by adjusting the sound output to conform to the earbuds fit in your ear.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro comes with three microphones and a voice pickup unit (VPU), and leverages machine learning to improve phone calls, using a pre-trained model to restore the original voice of the speaker in various noise environments – a feature called Super-Wideband Call.

Samsung Seamless Codec Support

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro supports Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity, and common SBC and AAC wireless codecs. However, it notably does not support aptX.

Instead, it supports the proprietary Samsung Scalable Codec in both HiFi and UHQ (Ultra High Quality) versions. The UHQ mode allows for 24-bit sound at 96 kHz for superior audio quality and fidelity, but will only work with supported Samsung devices.

Adaptive Noise Control

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro takes noise cancellation to the next level with its Adaptive Noise Control feature, which automatically assesses and reduces unwanted external noise, while allowing important conversations and alerts to get through.

Its Voice Detect feature will automatically switch the ANC and Ambient modes on or off, so you can hear conversations without taking your Galaxy Buds 3 Pro off. Its Siren Detect feature will also automatically switch your earbuds to Ambient mode, so you can hear sirens and other important alerts even while listening to music.

Voice Controls

While Samsung hyped up its Galaxy AI-based Interpreter mode, its voice controls are likely far more useful, especially since you don’t need a wake word, like Hi Bixby!

You can simply command the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro to adjust the volume, play or pause music, skip forward or backwards, and answer or end your calls, by saying “Volume Up” or “Volume Down” or “Play Music” or “Next Song”.

IP57 Water-Resistant

Unlike the Galaxy Buds2 Pro, the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro is now IP57 dust- and water-resistant. That means it is sufficiently protected against dust to prevent interference with its operation, and is rated to withstand immersion in fresh water up to 1 metre in depth for up to 30 minutes.

That said, I wouldn’t recommend running the earbuds under running water or using them in the shower – they are not rated to withstand pressurised water.

The charging case itself is not water-resistant, so please make sure you keep it dry. In addition, you must dry the earbuds before you put them back into the charging case.

Blade Control + Lights

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 series have angular stems (to differentiate from Apple AirPods?), which are called blades. They serve as touch controls – swipe up and down the black to adjust the volume. You can also pinch it to play or pause, or pinch and hold to change noise control, or to launch your favourite app.

The Pro version has an LED light strip in its stem, called Blade Light, that glows white. Its use appears to be limited to flashing when you use the Find My feature to locate your missing earbuds (they are visible even in the case!), or you can set them to light up while you’re wearing them as a fashion statement.

Battery Life

The biggest problem I had with the Buds2 Pro was its short battery life of about 5 hours with ANC enabled. I could get about 8 hours with ANC disabled, but that was still on the low side for premium earbuds.

The good news is – the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro actually lasts longer even though it has a smaller battery (53 mAh vs 61 mAh in the Buds2 Pro) – about 6 hours with ANC enabled, and just over 7 hours with ANC disabled. Not quite as long as I would like, but I can live with that.

Its charging case has an internal 515 mAh battery that provides another 20 hours of extra battery life (ANC enabled), or 23 hours (ANC disabled) – roughly 3 full charges – another improvement over the Buds2 Pro. The case also supports both USB-C wired charging, as well as wireless charging.

The good news is – the Galaxy Buds Buds 3 Pro supports quick charging – a 5 minute charge will get you about an hour of ANC-enabled battery life.

Pro Tip : Get into the habit of popping these earbuds into their case whenever you are not using, and you will never run out of battery life.

Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro : Our Verdict

The Galaxy Buds 3 Pro is Samsung’s premium earbuds and it didn’t get off to a great start. Reviewers who received early samples reported that they had a poor quality finish, with wrongly positioned Blade Lights, and even uneven gaps!

To Samsung’s credit, it immediately stopped shipment and even we didn’t get our unit until more than 2 months later. Samsung appears to have properly resolved those manufacturing issues, so they would no longer factor in our review.

There is no doubt that Galaxy Buds 3 Pro is the best earbuds you can buy from Samsung. It has all the important features you would need – great audio for music, and good voice pickups, with adaptive ANC to automatically cut down on noise while letting in conversations and important alerts.

But it is obvious that it’s getting difficult for Samsung to differentiate the Buds 3 Pro from its competitors. Hence, the rather pointless Blade Lights, and emphasis on niche Samsung-only AI features like Interpreter (instead of the far more useful but generic voice controls).

They rather distract from the fact that the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro are a great pair of wireless earbuds with excellent sound quality, active noise cancellation, and voice control. They are on the pricey side, but if you are on the Samsung ecosystem, the added Samsung-only features may be worth paying the premium.

Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro : Where To Buy?

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro is priced at US$249.99 / £159 / A$299 / RM999. Here are some online purchase options (prices as of 20 September 2024) :

Malaysia : RM919 | RM999 | RM999
United States : $249.99 | $239.99
United Kingdom : £169 | £169
Australia : $390 | $344 | $399 | $357

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro Review: 24-bit Audio FTW!

Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro : What’s In The Box?

First, let’s take a quick look at what’s inside the box.

Samsung kindly provided us with a better unboxing video than we could have done ourselves.

Inside, you will find the following items :

A pair of Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro
Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro storage + charging case
Guide Start Guide
USB-C to USB-C charging cable
Two sets of extra ear tips (small and large)

Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro : Key Features

The Galaxy Buds2 Pro is the latest AKG-tuned TWS earbuds from Samsung, with a slew of improvements.

Despite its name, it is the second generation version of the ultra-premium Galaxy Buds Pro, and not an improved version of the Galaxy Buds2 we reviewed last year.

Comfort

These are amongst the lightest and smallest earbuds I ever tried. Each earbud weighs just 5.5 grams and are 15% smaller.

They feel less intrusive, and are also more discreet than the last generation Buds Pro – fitting snugly into your ear.

The earbuds come with medium ear tips fitted, but the package includes small and large ear tips, allowing you to swap them out for a snug fit.

IPX7 Water Resistant

Unlike the Galaxy Buds2, the Galaxy Buds2 Pro are IPX7 water-resistant, so you can carry on using them even in the rain!

While they are officially rated to withstand submersion in up to 1 metre of fresh water for up to 30 minutes, Samsung do not advise you use them at the beach or in the pool.

I should also point out that the charging case itself is NOT water-resistant, so please make sure you keep it dry. In addition, you must dry the Galaxy Buds2 Pro before you put them back into the charging case.

Even so, water-resistance is one of the things I love about Samsung wearables and smartphones. As a rather clumsy person, I’ve dropped my fair share of gadgets, and more often than not – into pools of rainwater, or even swimming pools!

Active Noise Cancellation

Budget ANC earbuds use one microphone, with mid-range ANC earbuds like the Galaxy Buds2 use up to two microphones to receive ambient noise for cancellation.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro uses three microphones with high signal-to-noise (SNR) ratio to expand the amount of ambient noise it can cancel, and you can tell the difference. Its ANC performance is markedly improved from the last generation.

I managed to test them out on two turboprop flights which are noticeably louder than your typical airliner, and they worked great! The noise outside the planes was greatly muted, and once onboard, it’s like you are in your own oasis of peace and quiet.

If you need to listen to someone speak, there is an Ambient mode that temporarily disables ANC and lets you listen to the outside world. When you take out one earbud, the other earbud cleverly switches to Ambient mode so you don’t get disorientated, and switches back to ANC when you put the earbud back on.

You don’t even have to turn Ambient mode manually like with the Galaxy Buds2. The Galaxy Buds2 Pro comes with the Voice Detect feature, which automatically activates Ambient mode when you start talking! Just make sure you enable it in your Galaxy Wearable app first!

24-bit Audio

If you are an audiophile, you will love the 24-bit audio support in the Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro.

24-bit audio has been around for a while, offering higher audio resolution and fidelity. However, adoption has been limited so far to expensive music players and audio devices.

After all, the entire chain – from the music file to the music player (software or hardware) and the earphones / headphones, plus the connectivity between them – must support 24-bit audio.

So it’s great to see Samsung driving the 24-bit audio effort forward by making sure that its mobile devices support 24-bit audio. Just make sure you upgrade to the One UI 4.0 or higher, to enable its proprietary Samsung Seamless Hi-Fi codec.

Built on the Scalable Codec it introduced several years ago, the Samsung Seamless codec is able to encode full 24-bit audio to transmit to the Galaxy Buds2 Pro wirelessly.

The only downside is that it’s proprietary, and will only work with Samsung Galaxy devices running One UI 4.0 or higher.

360 Audio

The Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro also supports 360 Audio, which is basically their version of the spatial audio feature in Apple AirPods. It’s not enabled by default, because you may not want to turn it on all the time.

The 360 Audio feature only works with apps and content that support Dolby Atmos surround sound. When enabled, it delivers a 360-degree surround sound effect for a more immersive experience.

On top of that, the Galaxy Buds2 Pro supports head tracking, so the 360 audio you hear will actually change with your head movement!

While it doesn’t do much for music (very few are encoded for Dolby Atmos), you should enable it for movies and games.

Connectivity

The Galaxy Buds2 Pro connects wirelessly to your devices using Bluetooth 5.3, with support for AAC, SBC and Samsung’s new Seamless codec, but not aptX, LDAC or LHDC. Again, please note that the Samsung Seamless codec is proprietary, and will only work with their devices running on One UI 4.0 and above.

These earbuds do not offer Bluetooth multipoint connectivity, which means they can only be connected to one device at any one time.

They support automatic switching between Samsung Galaxy devices using the same Samsung account, but if you want to switch from your Samsung Galaxy smartphone to your laptops you need to manually switch using the Bluetooth menu.

Battery Life

The biggest problem I have with the Buds2 Pro though is its short battery life of about 5 hours with ANC enabled. I can get about 8 hours with ANC disabled, but that’s still on the low side for premium earbuds.

This is really a trade off – a larger battery (and consequently, longer battery life) would mean a heavier and more obtrusive earbuds. There is only so much Samsung can squeeze out of the tiny 61 mAh battery in each earbud.

The charging case with an internal 515 mAh battery provides another 13 hours of extra battery life (ANC enabled), or 21 hours (ANC disabled) – roughly 2.5 full charges.

They support quick charging though – a 5 minute charge will get you about an hour of battery life.

Pro Tip : Get into the habit of popping these earbuds into their case whenever you are not using, and you will never run out of battery life.

Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro : Our Verdict

If you want the very best TWS earbuds with active noise cancellation technology from Samsung, there can be no doubt – the Galaxy Buds2 Pro is it.

It is amazing that such a small package comes with so many great features – 24-bit audio with 360 Audio, active noise cancellation with three SNR microphones, and IPX7 water resistance.

While the Galaxy Buds2 Pro is not cheap, those features do really make a real difference in the enjoyment of your music, videos and games.

For those reasons, I think it deserves no less than our Reviewer’s Choice Award!

Just be aware of its relatively short battery life, lack of Bluetooth multipoint connectivity, and reliance on a proprietary codec which limits 24-bit audio to Samsung devices.

If you are in the Samsung ecosystem and would like to enjoy 24-bit audio and/or surround sound, you can’t go wrong with the Galaxy Buds2 Pro.

But if you are not using a Samsung Galaxy smartphone, or do not need 24-bit audio support, then these are not the earbuds you are looking for. You are better off buying the cheaper Galaxy Buds2!

Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro : Where To Buy?

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 is priced at RM899 / S$328 / US$229 / £189 / A$349.

Here are some online purchase options (prices accurate as of 11 November 2022) :

Malaysia : RM899 | RM899 | RM899
Singapore : $243 | $279 | $328
United States : $179.99 | $226.49
United Kingdom : £189 | £189
Australia : $301 | $306 | $310

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Mobile | Tech ARP

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!