Sleek and powerful new Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro wireless earbuds, Galaxy Watch 7 and Watch Ultra revealed

Making their official global debut at Samsung Galaxy Unpacked Paris 2024, the new Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro and Buds 3 wireless earbuds are the latest refreshed updates to their audio gear line-up since the release of the Galaxy Buds FE last year and the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro and Buds 2 in 2022.

Launched alongside the Galaxy Z Fold6 and Galaxy Z Flip6, at Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2024 in Paris, the new Galaxy Watch7 and Watch Ultra are the latest additions to their smartwatch line-up with the former being a direct successor to last year’s Galaxy Watch6 series and the latter being a ruggedised, tougher variant for more enthusiastic extreme sportsmen and women.

What’s new with the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro and Buds 3?

This time around, Samsung have ditched the square make-up compact form factor for their charging cases in prior models and instead have gone for an entirety new vertically oriented, narrow, treasure-chest shaped format on account of the fact that they also have a redesigned set of earbuds that now incorporate a stem at the base that houses the controls.

The earbuds of both new Buds 3 series earbuds also have IP67 dust and water resistance too.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro have silicone ear tips and better quality sound with a higher price tag while the Galaxy Buds 3 has an open fit design and a more modest price

Key updates this time around for both earbuds are the ability to support up to 24 bit/96kHz high quality audio when used in conjunction with the Galaxy S24 series, Galaxy S23 series, the new Z Fold6 and Flip6 as well as the Galaxy Tab S9 series and older Flip5 and Fold5 in tandem with the new OneUI 6.1.1 update.

The new Galaxy Buds 3 Pro and Buds 3 both also have improved noise cancellation capabilities along with support for SSC (Samsung Seamless Codec) Hifi and SSC UHQ which is a proprietary Samsung codec along with th emore common AAC and SBC codecs..

The Galaxy Buds 3 Pro is the higher end variant with silicone ear tips, dual 10.5mm dynamic amps as well as the addition of a 6.1mm planar  driver for richer, more detailed sound and have indicator lights across the stem control for various functions. 

The more affordable Galaxy Buds 3 are an open fit design that lacks silicone ear tips and a planar driver, relying on a single 11mm dynamic driver per earbud. According to Samsung, they surveyed a huge sample of ear canal sizes to create the best optimised fit for the Galaxy Buds 3.

According to the official specifications, the earbuds for both the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro and Buds 3 have IP57 dust and water resistance and both have enhanced integration with Galaxy AI so that they can pair up with a phone and offer real time audio translations to make conversations in different languages easier.

Both models have identical capacities for the charging case with 515mAh for both with the Buds 3 having 48mAh per earbud and the more premium Galaxy Buds 3 Pro having slightly larger 52mAh batteries per ear bud.

On paper, the Galaxy Buds 3 is rated for up to 5 hours of use with ANC on nd a total of 24 hours of use with the charging case with the Buds 3 Pro offering up to 6 hours of use with ANC on and up to 26 hours of use inclusive of the charging case.

Both the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro and Buds 3 also have enhancements with Galaxy AI and are able to offer real time translations when paired up with a Samsung Galaxy phone and now have automatic noise adjustment for better sound quality and active noise cancellation based on surrounding noise. 

What’s new with the Samsung Galaxy Watch7 and Watch 7 Ultra?

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is built for exceptional durability and toughness with a watch case made of Grade 4 Titanium with a MIL-STD-810H rating for shock and drop resistance as well as temperature extremes, a 10ATM water resistance rating and IP68 dust and water resistance. While a 10ATM rating does mean that it can go into up to 100 metres of water, the Galaxy Watch Ultra is not rated for diving work.

The 1.5-inch Super AMOLED watch display itself is sheathed in Sapphire crystal and has a special night mode for better clarity at night.

Under the hood, the Galaxy Watch Ultra uses the new Exynos W1000 processor built on a 3nm process running Wear OS 5, has 2GB RAM and 32GB storage with a 590mAh battery that has been quoted to offer  up to 100 hours in power saving mode and up to 48 hours when exercising.

Notable features include a dual-frequency GPS system for more precise GPS tracking, and an upgraded BioActive Sensor.

The Galaxy Watch Ultra (left) and Galaxy Watch7 44mm (right)

In terms of health and fitness tracking, Wear OS 5 in the Galaxy Watch Ultra offers the full monty with sleep, health and exercise tracking including ECG, blood pressure monitoring, heart rate, sleep quality and sleep apnea as well as the new ability to stack different exercises and rest periods into a customer personalised workout. A particularly new feature is an Advanced GLycation End Products (AGEs) index test that tells you your overall biological metabolic health.

Of note with the Galaxy Watch Ultra are double pinch gestures to take calls, snap a picture or pause music when paired to a Galaxy phone.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch7 in 40mm and 44mm sizes

The Galaxy Watch 7 series is a more mainstream designed for urban use and is less rugged but has same Exynos W1000 processor with identical 2GB RAM and 32GB storage, features the same enhanced BioActive Sensor, runs Wear OS 5 and almost all of the health, heart, fitness and sleep tracking capabilities of the Galaxy Watch Ultra including the double pinch gestures and customised workout routines.

There’s no Classic variant with a rotating bezel this time around but you can get the Galaxy Watch7 in either 40mm or 44mm sizes. The 40mm size features a1.3-inch Super AMOLED display while the 44mm size has a similar 1.5-inch sized Super AMOLED display as the Watch Ultra. Battery sizes are smaller than the Galaxy Watch Ultra as well with the 44mm getting a 425mAh battery and the 40mm getting a 300mAh battery. 

Naturally, the Galaxy Watch 7 is a bit less robust and has just 5ATM depth resistance but still retains IP68 dust and water resistance and a MIL-STD-810H rating for durability and damage resistance. It also uses the same tough Sapphire Crystal for the watch face though the case itself uses Armor Aluminium

A selection of optional straps will be available at launch to swap out at will for the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 and Watch Ultra

Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, Buds 3, Watch 7 and Watch Ultra prices

At Galaxy Unpacked 2024, Samsung announced that the Buds 3 Pro will retail for US$249 and the Buds 3 for US$179.

There’s no official word on prices for Malaysia but Samsung has stated that they will be available for preorder starting 10 July 2024 today and will be available on store shelves from 24 July 2024 onwards. We’ll keep you posted! For more details check out www.samsung.com/my 

[UPDATE] Samsung has announced prices and preorder details for the Galaxy Watch7 series which will come in LTE and Bluetooth only models as well as the LTE-only Galaxy Watch Ultra along with the Galaxy Buds3 and Buds3 Pro. Check out our Malaysia price and preorder feature here for more details.