Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro review: Brilliantly boring earbuds

It is very unfortunate that the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro are downright boring. While the big tech company’s last generation of Pro earbuds delivered an interestingly small form factor and a unique clamshell housing, the new ones feel utterly familiar, just like Apple’s AirPods and the countless copycats.

A stemmed design leaves little to rave about with this pair of accessories, at least externally. Thanks to fantastic sound quality, a great calling experience and decent noise cancellation, Samsung‘s buds are still some of the best on the market, especially when combined with some of the best android phones.

You can buy the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro for $249.99 / £219.99 from the Samsung store or for less through other major retailers, such as Amazon, Best Buy and more. You can also take advantage of Samsung’s trade-in offers to get the earbuds even cheaper, and they’ll likely be part of future promotions when Samsung sells new smartphones.

This is about the same retail price as Apple’s flagship AirPods Pro 2, and considering the features are quite similar, I think this is a fair price. Granted, I wish Samsung had undercut Apple with the Buds 3 Pro, but the brand’s trade-in and promotional offers tend to do that anyway.

A small detail that completes the futuristic look are the color-coded left and right earbuds that correspond to their placement in the case. Instead of letters ruining the exciting feeling of new technology, blue and orange labels invite you to stick your earbuds into their respective slots, even though the square construction of Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 3 Pro means you can’t just pop them in slide and move them to charge as you can with AirPods.

There’s a big focus on the treble, with nice bass and great mids. The music sounds full and vibrant, and when I listen carefully, it feels like I’m hearing notes from my favorite songs that I hadn’t heard on other earbuds. With features like 360 ​​Audio (as long as you have a Samsung phone), you can even experience songs that support this with the feeling of being at your own personal concert, but it’s a feature I rarely use.

Likewise, battery life was also impressive. Despite running to my local shop, taking my daily walks or just listening at home, I racked up over 20 hours in one week, and that meant I only had to charge my case and earbuds once every seven days. This may not be the best battery life on the market, but I found myself charging them much less often than my pair of AirPods Pro 2.

Unfortunately, the active noise cancellation (ANC) isn’t that impressive. It certainly drowns out some everyday noises, making it easy to immerse yourself in your favorite songs, but Apple’s AirPods Pro 2, as well as Bose’s Ultra line of earbuds and headphones, fare much better than Samsung’s flagship earbuds.

It’s not all bad, however, because calling with the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro goes very well. To me it’s not a major selling point, but I could hear the other person with a fair amount of clarity, and according to my family, I sounded pretty clear. At least there weren’t too many questions like “What did you say?” or “Can you repeat that?” during the time I used them.