Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro review: brilliantly tedious in-ear headphones

It’s quite unfortunate that Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro they are just tedious. While the substantial tech company’s last generation of Pro headphones had an interestingly petite form factor and a unique clamshell design, the recent ones feel entirely familiar, much like Apple’s AirPods and countless imitators.

The stem design doesn’t leave much to be excited about this pair of accessories, at least externally. However, with fantastic sound quality, excellent call comfort, and decent noise cancellation, Samsung’s headphones are still among the best on the market, especially when paired with some of the best Android phones.

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Price and availability

You can buy the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro for $249.99 / £219.99 in the store Samsung Store or for less through other major retailers like Amazon, Best Buy and more. You can also take advantage of Samsung trade-in offers to get even cheaper handsets, which will likely be part of future promotions when Samsung sells recent smartphones.

This is about the same retail price as Apple’s flagship offering, the AirPods Pro 2, and considering the features are quite similar, I think it’s a fair cost. Admittedly, I wish Samsung would undercut the Apple Buds 3 Pro, but the brand’s trade-in offers and promotions usually do that anyway.

Design

While the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro case has a futuristic look and a lucid roof that encourages you to open it and listen to music, I can’t be as nice about the headphones themselves. There’s nothing really wrong with them, but they’re harmless and offer a familiar design that the market has seen since AirPods were released in 2016.

The stem does provide more comfortable touch control, allowing you to press a petite button rather than relying on the device’s sensitivity (or sometimes lack thereof), as is the case with the AirPods Pro 2. However, the edged design of the bracket is an issue as to whether pressing will be comfortable. Sometimes it’s easier than Apple Pro’s offerings, but sometimes it’s more tedious.

As a petite touch to complete the futuristic look, the left and right earbuds are color-coded to match their placement in the case. Instead of letters spoiling the invigorating feeling of recent technology, blue and orange labels encourage you to insert the earbuds into their corresponding slots, even if the square design of Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 3 Pro means you can’t just slide them in and slide them around to charge like that. as possible with AirPods.

Efficiency

It’s frustrating that the design of the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro annoys me more than I expected, especially since the naming convention is equally tedious. However, I must give a round of applause for the sound design, which is as absolutely amazing as I would expect from a next-gen set of Galaxy Buds.

There is a sturdy emphasis on high tones, with nice bass and great midrange. The music sounds full and lively, and when I listen carefully, I feel like I can hear notes of my favorite songs that I haven’t heard on other headphones. With features like 360° audio (as long as you’re using a Samsung phone), you can even play songs that support it with the feeling that you’re at your own concert, but this is a feature I rarely employ.

Battery life was also impressive. Despite habitual visits to the local store, daily walks or just listening to music in the comfort of my home, I worked over 20 hours a week, which meant I only had to charge the case and headphones once every seven days. It may not be the best battery life on the market, but I found myself charging them much less frequently than my pair of AirPods Pro 2.

Unfortunately, dynamic noise cancellation (ANC) is not that impressive. It certainly drowns out some everyday sounds, allowing you to easily immerse yourself in your favorite tunes, but Apple’s AirPods Pro 2, as well as its line of in-ear headphones and Bose Ultra headphones, perform much better than Samsung’s flagship in-ear headphones.

However, it is not that bad, because receiving calls using the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro works very well. This isn’t the most essential advantage for me, but I could hear the interlocutor with decent clarity and, according to my family, I sounded quite clear. At least there weren’t many “What did you say?” or “Can you repeat that?” during my employ of them.

Verdict

Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro are fantastic, but painfully tedious. The revamped design is innocuous and an imitation of many in-ear headphones on the market, but it houses premium hardware that delivers superb sound quality whether you’re playing music or taking calls. Moreover, the price is not too difficult to swallow. It’s just a pity that Samsung didn’t imitate the round stem as well.

Alternatives

If you’re not a substantial fan of the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, check out some of the available alternatives:

Bose Ultra Open in-ear headphones

Although the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds are more exorbitant than the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, they offer the same fantastic sound quality, improved ANC, and a mobile app for iPhone and Android smartphones. Bonus points if you prefer the petite pod design of previous Galaxy Buds Pro, because the Bose earbuds are just as petite.

Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 headphones

If you’re on a budget, the Galaxy Buds 3 offer excellent sound quality and the same design as the Pro versions. Granted, you’ll be sacrificing some features, as well as worse battery life and a lack of guidance, but if these things don’t bother you, it’s definitely worth saving the extra money.