Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro Review – AI-enhanced earbuds with rich sound tested

Wireless earbuds have become an ubiquitous part of the everyday carry ensemble of most urbanites and come in a mind boggling array of price points with diverse features and form factors.

Bar the launch of the Galaxy Buds FE last year, Samsung hasn’t had a true successor the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro launched in 2022. Until now that is as they launched the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro alongside the new Galaxy Z Fold6, Flip6 and Watch Ultra at their recent Galaxy Unpacked 2024 in Paris.

We managed to secure a test sample at launch and managed to put it through its paces – here’s our Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro review where we share if it is worth its substantial price tag.

Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro Review – Design, Build and Upgrades

Astute readers will notice that the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro has a completely different design for its earbuds and charging case compared to its predecessors.

Rather than the bean-shaped earbud and square-shaped charging case design common to earlier generations stretching all the way back to 2020 with the first Galaxy Buds Live, our Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro review unit instead has a tall and narrow charging case as well as earbuds that feature elongated stems reminiscent of some competing designs from Cupertino.

In Malaysia, the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro is available in your choice of either a shade of white with a transparent top lid on the charging case or in a shade of silver with a dark grey top lid. Our Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro review unit comes in the latter colourway.

Bar the new design, Samsung’s latest earbuds come with the usual basic assortment of kit that include a set of swappable large and small-sized silicone ear tips and a USB charging cable.

What immediately draws the eye in for the new Galaxy Buds 3 Pro are the ‘blade lights’ on its stems which Samsung refers to as ‘blades. Stretching halfway along the length of the blades is a white LED strip that lights up to act as status indicators for pairing and for finding them if you happen to lose them. 

You can also perform a long press to leave the lights on if you aim to be the centre of attention though those aspiring to have a personal set of disco balls may have to rein in their hopes as they only glow white.

The earbuds also boast of an improved IP57 dust and splash resistance rating; its predecessor the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro only had an IPX7 rating. Note however that the charging case has no such dust or water resistance so you’ll have to be a bit more careful to protect the charging case from dust or water.

In terms of design, they’ve also made several quality of life improvements with each earbud marked with a coloured strip so that you don’t put them in the wrong ear with the left bud having a blue coloured strip at its base while the right bud has a red coloured strip.

Rather than for mere aesthetics, the semi-transparent top lid is a practical design choice that lets you know if your earbuds are stowed securely so that you don’t accidentally leave them behind. Placed underneath the charging case is a pairing button and a USB-C port for charging.

Aesthetics aside, the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro are Samsung’s most powerful earbuds for the year and are a direct successor to the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro that was released in 2022.

Key upgrades this year include a 6.1mm planar tweeter paired with 10.5mm dynamic drivers in each earbud with a frequency response of 20Hz-40KHz. There is also support for Samsung Seamless Codec (SSC) which offers 24-bit/96kHz music playback which ensures higher quality sound along with the usual support for AAC and SBC codecs.

Another key improvement with our Galaxy Buds 3 Pro review unit is improved battery life with the earbuds having a larger 53mAh battery and the charging case offering a beefier 515mAh battery with up 5 hours of usage on a single charge and up to 26 hours of battery life with ANC on with up to 30 hours of use with ANC off inclusive of the charging case. The charging case also supports wireless charging. 

Overall build quality for our Galaxy Buds 3 Pro review sample is up to snuff with a precise fit and easy one-handed opening for the charging case with the earbuds offering a good blend of ergonomics and comfort with the option to swap out to a smaller or larger ear tip to optimise passive noise insulation.

Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro – Setup and Controls

Getting our Galaxy Buds 3 Pro review unit up and running is a relatively straightforward task especially if you’re using a Samsung phone. After a quick charge to make sure the battery was full, it paired up with my Galaxy Z Fold6 in seconds with the foldable installing the necessary firmware for it to work on the Galaxy Wearable app. Those who don’t own a Samsung phone will have to download the Galaxy wearable app beforehand.

Within the Samsung Wearable app itself, you’re able to tweak a few settings. You’re able to set it to Ambient Sound, Adaptive or Active Noise Cancelling mode as desired.

You are also able to allow the earbuds to auto switch to ambient sound in case it detects something critical happening nearby like sirens or someone talking to you in the immediate area around you.

The app also lets you tweak equaliser settings, toggle 360 degree head tracking that is akin to spatial audio, modify earbud controls to some degree, get firmware updates and best of all, the option to toggle voice commands so that you can use just your voice to control calls, volume and music. 

These voice commands are hardwired into the firmware, don’t require any lengthy setup to enable and work like a charm especially if your hands are otherwise engaged though they only work with specific phrases so you’ll have to memorise them but they aren’t too difficult with most ‘Volume Up’, ‘Volume Down’, either Play or Stop Music, either Next or Previous Song and either to Answer or Reject Call.

Unfortunately the voice commands don’t cover toggling ANC or ambient sound; both of these have to be done manually via the pinch controls but the inclusion of voice commands for music playback is a real game changer.

Controlling our Galaxy Buds 3 Pro review unit is primarily via a series of pinches along the stem/blade portion with the ability to single pinch to play or pause a track, double pinch to job forward, triple pinch to wind back one track and, best of all, swipe up and down the stem to control volume.

With the addition of voice commands, all these features simply act as a welcome backup in the off-chance you’re in a place that requires absolute silence like a library.

The ability to access volume controls without having to resort to using a paired phone is a life saver and is a huge quality of life improvement. Alas, most of these controls are hardwired so you really can’t modify them much beyond reassigning either the left or right ‘pinch and hold’ control to Bixby, Spotify, Samsung Music or to toggle ANC/Ambient sound modes. 

You’re also able to reassign ‘pinch and hold’ to access arguably the best app/feature for insomniacs. For those with insomnia or are having trouble relaxing, the Galaxy Buds 3 has a brilliant Mindfulness mode where you can select from a range of sounds be it lullabies or even the sound of rain, set a timer and more that can be played on a set timer. 

While the setup and options to control our Galaxy Buds 3 Pro review sample were relatively comprehensive, it still didn’t allow for a means to control the intensity of active noise cancellation and it’s strictly either on or off though it is a relatively minor quibble to be sure for what is otherwise an improved and relatively comprehensive set of controls and features.

Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro 3 Review – AI Features and upgrades

Of note with the new Galaxy Buds 3 Pro is that it leverages a slew of AI-powered enhancements and features. Additional AI features include improved adaptive active noise cancellation capabilities that enable the earbuds to swap to ambient noise mode when detecting sirens and voices so that it can prioritise these sounds lest you be caught flat-footed in a crisis. 

Another AI-enhanced feature that also leverages Galaxy AI is a special Interpreter Listening mode that lets you get a live translation straight into your earbuds of a targeted language while interacting with someone when paired with a Samsung Galaxy phone in Live Translate mode.

The provision of Interpreter Listening Mode needs you to pair with a compatible Samsung phone and helps listening to translations easier in real time as there’s less distractions and the mics in the earbuds are able to pick up your voice in a clearer fashion.

When tested with a Cantonese speaker, it worked like a charm even with the subtle intonation required of the language. To be fair, you don’t necessarily need the earbuds to achieve this function but it does make it a bit easier to use as you needn’t have to constantly interact and tap your phone throughout a live translation interaction.

Unfortunately, here’s the kicker – these AI-powered features are limited to a Samsung-issued Galaxy series flagship phone of recent vintage such as the current Galaxy Z Fold6 and Flip6, the latest generation Galaxy S24 series phones as well as a generation back including the Galaxy S23 series as well as the Galaxy Tab S9 series, Fold5 and Flip5. 

Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro Review – Performance

When it comes to sound quality, our Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro review unit impressed in all the ways that matter. When paired with our Galaxy Z Fold6, the Buds 3 Pro was able to yield deliver exquisitely rich and detailed sound across the board with lively bass and good detail without drowning out the mids in a variety of musical genres.

Vaughan Williams’s challenging masterpiece ‘The Lark Ascending’ with its subtle violin work sounded even richer and more detailed while Hans Zimmer’s signature track ‘Kiss the Ring’ from Dune 2 with its intricate woodwind instruments before seguiing into a layered array of cello, percussion and synths sounded even more soulful than ever on the Buds 3 Pro.

In terms of vocals, the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro performed well, handling Joanna Wang’s ‘Vincent’ in sterling fashion with her soulful, rich vocals sounding lustrously detailed and intimate with the ability to bring out nuances and subtleties of sound that its predecessors were unable to achieve.

While it yields great results with my  usual Spotify playlist thanks to its superior hardware, the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro yielded the best outcomes when used with high resolution 24-but/96kHz tracks with a hi-res rip of Joanna Wang’s ‘Start from Here’ sounding breathtakingly beautiful. 

Where our Galaxy Buds 3 Pro review sample made a difference was its active noise cancellation and it made the tedious train commutes more bearable with the ability to drown out most of the background noise including chattering passengers, the rattling of the train going over the tracks and, of late, the banshee screaming of children unleashed for the school holidays. While it wasn’t able to completely nullify all of the noise, it muted them enough to allow me to catch up on my reading.

Of note was its voice actuated commands that came in really handy especially over the weekend when I was laden down with groceries in both hands to take calls and control music playback.

In gaming, the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro acquitted itself surprisingly well though it isn’t exactly intended for gaming out of the box. For best results, you have to manually enable Game Mode in its settings to get faster response time for reduced acoustic range. In Call of Duty Mobile, gunfire sounded off at the same time as I pulled the trigger with good sound staging especially for incoming ordnance.

In terms of battery life, our Galaxy Buds 3 review unit offered about five plus hours and 30 minutes with ANC on which is fair but hardly stellar as wireless earbuds go which is enough to survive a long commute or a shuttle flight at the airport. The charging case augments this to 26 hours of endurance with ANC on which is more than sufficient for all but the longest flights.

Should you buy the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro?

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro are a premium, accomplished design that delivers excellent sound and superb noise cancellation performance when paired with a Samsung phone of recent manufacture.

The addition of improved sound quality, voice controls and a more practical design make it a worthy upgrade though the new charging case design means that it isn’t compatible with those used by its predecessors.

Specifications
Price RM999
Connectivity Bluetooth V5.4 w/ A2DP, AVRCP, HFP, PBP, TMAP / LE Audio
Drivers 6.1mm planar tweeter + 10.5mm dynamic driver per earbud
Battery Life 53mAh, 6 hours (ANC on for earbuds), 515mAh, 26 hours music playback time (ANC on, charging case)
Size/Weight 18.1 x 19.8 x 35.2mm / 5.4g [earbuds] / 48.7 x 68.9 x 24.4mm /46.5g [case]

Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro review unit courtesy of Samsung Malaysia. To purchase visit https://www.samsung.com/my/audio-sound/galaxy-buds/galaxy-buds3-pro-silver-sm-r630nzaaxme/