Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro: Why Audio Enthusiasts Are Buzzing About This Release

I'm a huge Samsung fan, and I like everything from refrigerators to phones to earbuds. I've worn several versions of their earbuds, the most recent being the Buds2/Buds2 Pro. When the Buds3 Pro came out, though, I wanted to try those out to see whether or not I liked them any better than my trusty Buds2.

Right out of the box, a couple of things struck me as very different: size, color, and case. Once I put them on, the sound was the quality I'm used to from Samsung and, indeed, a bit better. But do they stack up as a must-have for your ears?

First Things First: The New Look and Feel

Given how the stem hangs from the ear, I've never been a fan of Apple AirPods. I prefer to keep my earbuds hidden as much as possible to ensure they don't compete with the earrings I wear.

I wasn't looking forward to the Buds3 since they followed Apple's lead and finally went with the stem look.

Fit Is Great But It Takes Some Patience

As it turns out, the stem isn't the detracting issue I thought it would be. Each bud slants forward a little on my ear the way I wear them, which gives it the ability to center nicely inside the ear. I'll confess, it was a tad annoying to get used to dropping these into my ears, but once I wore them for a few days, it became as natural as my old ones to drop in.

Fitting didn't go quite as quickly, however. It took me several tries to get the Buds3 Pro to fit perfectly in my ears. As it turns out, my ears are slightly different sizes. The fitting process, part of the overall earbud connection process to get things started, was rather tedious until I accidentally placed a medium tip on one ear and a small one on the other. Voila! Perfect fit.

Once the fit was perfected, the sound came booming through. They made me a little nervous sometimes because the fit is so light and gentle in my ear. I worried in the beginning that they would easily fall out, but the way that the stem is placed, they sit solidly, and I only had one come out once when I was pulling a sweatshirt over my head in a hurry.

The bonus of the stem? The bud can't roll very far.

The Case is Big and Beautiful

Of course, bigger isn't always better, especially if you're used to tossing yours into a small pocket at the gym. The Buds3 Pro includes a carabiner case, which makes everything even larger. I suppose that helps with the pocket conundrum.

I tried using it to see how it worked: The actual case fits inside it, and everything can be charged through a small opening in the bottom so you can keep things together. In the end, I wasn't a fan of my earbuds hanging off my jeans or purse, so I don't use the carabiner case, but I can see where some people might like the option.

Speaking of the case, it's marked with blue and orange to help you easily find the correct slots for your buds. It's also color-matched to the earbuds, so mine came in dark silver. The carabiner case is black with a clear, see-through top so you can easily spot your buds inside.

The Important Stuff: Samsung Buds3 Pro Sound, Mic and Controls

When you set up the Buds3 Pro, you'll walk through various settings in the Wear app. Once I adjusted the settings to my preferences, I immediately noticed the improved sound over my previous earbuds.

Dual Planar Drivers and a Pretty Decent Sampling Rate

Galaxy Buds3 Pro uses an improved dual-drive setup featuring planar drivers, which means that the sound includes more detail, bigger and more immersive sound, and a bit more control. (Technically, planar magnetic drivers have a better soundstage than dynamic drivers.)

They also include a high-quality audio codec that produces a 24-bit 96KHz sampling rate (the number of samples per second taken from an audio signal to produce a sound).

The bottom line for me is that the sound is crisper with less background crackling than I've experienced in other earbuds. I typically use mine to listen to music at the gym or during Zoom calls for work; I've found listening in both situations easier than I'm used to.

Samsung's AI and Active Noise Cancellation (ANC)

Part of the reason the sound is so good is Samsung's use of artificial intelligence. Both versions of the Buds3 feature Samsung's proprietary Galaxy AI technology. It analyzes different aspects of how you listen to audio, your ear shape, and how you specifically wear your earbuds to produce a sound that's optimal for your ears through adaptive EQ (qualifier) and ANC (active noise control).

The adaptive EQ adjusts signals and delays to eliminate echoes and other issues common in audio signals; active noise control blocks out noise in nearby areas to make it easier to ignore distractions.

For me, the bottom line is that the sound is beautiful. I can listen to my music instead of the music blaring at the gym, and I can easily hear others in conference calls without losing my train of thought because of what's happening around me physically.

The Buds3 Pro Mic is Marvelous

While Samsung likes to tout the Buds3 Pro's translation abilities, the Buds3 Pro's usefulness for me comes framed in the simplest of things: business meetings. I am in a lot of meetings, and previous earbuds I've worn never quite fit the bill in terms of connectivity and, especially, how well other people heard me. I always felt like I had to speak loudly, annoying everyone around me.

I have had zero issues like that with the Galaxy Buds3 Pro. Every call, every time, has been clear, and when I've asked others how well they could hear me, no one has ever had any complaints. In fact, I was told several times that I sounded more clear than usual.

That says a lot; I use the Buds3 Pro frequently for my meetings now instead of bulky headphones and a webcam microphone.

Connections

Connecting your Buds3 (Pro or otherwise) to another device is still super easy. I had no issues with this, and the app walks you through the process if you're unsure what to do.

Buds3 Pro Earbud Controls

This was probably the hardest thing to get used to on the Buds3: The earbud controls. The stem now houses those controls, and it took me several days to get used to the pinch approach instead of the tapping approach I was used to. It was fast and easy once I figured it out (it's honestly not as hard as I tried to make it in the beginning).

You can program your Buds to do several things, such as pause, skip, take calls, etc. The pinch is gentle and fast; it no longer annoys me now that I've got the hang of it.

My favorite part of the earbud controls are the voice commands. While I'm not typically a fan of appearing to talk to myself in public, it's much easier to say "Volume up" than fumble a bit for the stem and adjust the volume that way. You can control a few things with your voice; it's easy to set them up in the Wear app.

Samsung Buds3 Pro Release Date and Price

The Samsung Buds3 were introduced at an Unpacked event in Paris in July 2024. The suggested retail price of the Buds3 is $179.99, while the Buds3 Pro version is $249.99.

The Bottom Line

During the several weeks I tested them, I really grew to love these earbuds. I now use them almost exclusively for my video calls because they cut background noise so well, are crisp and clear, and the mic works without fail to let me speak clearly and normally without feeling like I have to shout.

If you're a Samsung fan, the Buds3 Pro are an upgrade you'll appreciate. You might grumble initially about the stem and using controls in a new way, but once you get the hang of it (and get past feeling that you look like an Apple fan), you'll like them, too. The quality is an upgrade worth the price.