Galaxy Buds3 Pro – the best headphones in Samsung’s history (test)

Samsung presented the Galaxy Buds3 and Buds3 Pro headphones in Paris. The first are in-ear, the second are in-ear, I’ve been using the latter for a few days now.

Design of the spectacular ones – 9/10

These are not modest, black headphonesthere is no question of discretion here. The design is bold, associations with Apple AirPods Pro are inevitable, but Apart from the “stick and ball”, Samsung did everything its own way here. First of all, the sticks with the microphone and touch zone are triangular in cross-section, and a characteristic corner sticks out from our head. So there is no boring streamline, there is some character. The headphones fit perfectlyat least in the case of my auricles, they hold my ear much better than the Apple AirPods Pro Gen2.

Charging case with transparent cover already on the market, but that’s okay. I’m glad that the edges of the case poles are cut and the headphones can also stand up, not just lie down like many competitors. The manufacturer also decided to put a big pairing button on the bottom of the case – a good thing.

The LED strips on the earphones may look intriguing, but all that lighting isn’t necessary. It may be useful if you lose the earphone in the dark, in addition to making the sound triggered in the Samsung Find app.

The headphones are compatible with the Samsung SSC codec with a sampling frequency that is 2x higher than in the competition. In this way, on Samsung phones, we get lossless 24-bit/96 kHz sound. In addition, the company has focused on a double amplifier in each of the headphones – separate for each of the speaker duo. Here, we get a bass speaker (10.5 mm) and a unique, planar tweeter (6.1 mm) supporting frequencies up to 40 kHz. Here, attention, Buds3, the ones without rubber, have single 11 mm speakers and therefore their sound characteristics are completely different.

Sound – Samsung wasn’t kidding, it’s hard to stop listening – 10/10

It’s not the boring as hell sound of AirPods ProSamsung also does not try to pretend to be audiophile headphones at all costs. The sound signature is of the entertaining, warm type, but with very fast bass, without unnecessary extensions, with noticeable stuffiness when it is needed, especially when bass guitars come in. In contrast, however, Buds3 Pro can also surprise with exceptionally high brightness, as for typical V-ears, and fire a salvo of ear-ringing high tones. The very wide music scene and great separation are captivating, you can feel a bit of air between the instruments and what can I say, the new Samsungs play extremely well, very universally, and at the same time it is not a boring sound.

I think the most non-obvious thing happens here with the presentation of the bass, which is both fast and in its kick elasticity you can notice a bit of Sonos compression, on the other hand it is definitely not dry in the sub-bass and we have a huge reserve to add this bass, if someone’s preferences go in that direction. I had to get used to this bass – the headphones surprised me at first, because where something started oily like in Sennheisers, it suddenly ended like in Apple and vice versa. However, after a while my brain changed and I stated – what a brilliant tuning, this is exactly what I was missing all the time.

In the case of the Samsung Galaxy S24, all that was needed to pair was to open the case, then the phone downloaded an additional application to manage the headphones

What’s more, after connecting to the Galaxy S24 and harnessing it to listen to Apple Music, I easily noticed how much I was losing on the iPhone when listening to my favorite songs. Apple does not support Hi-Res audio on headphones, and the Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro is already at the level where the difference becomes really noticeable. Dolby Atmos and resolution spoil, it’s like we took a few steps closer to the artist, and it’s not about different volume levels on iOS and Android.

An additional plus goes to the adaptive ANC, the advantages of which are twofold. Firstly, it is able to intelligently get to the situation, regulating the volume level of the interlocutor or dynamically adapting to the changing acoustic conditions of a given place. What’s more, corrections are also made depending on whether the headphones are placed tightly or loosely in the ear. Secondly, the ANC operation is improved thanks to machine learning. On the bus, the headphones cut out all the hustle and bustle around me, leaving only the voice of the guide who was showing us around Paris. The headphones also passed the test with a hair dryer perfectly – they had no chance of drowning out the music. On the plane, it was not possible to completely eliminate the noise on an empty run – without music on. However, a quietly played song was enough for the magic to begin and the equipment to tune everything into a pleasant stream of emotions. It is even worth turning on the automatic muting of the music in case of alarms and conversations – the plane crew was twice unable to get through to me without it.

Additional Features – 10/10

One of the more interesting musical and social functions in Samsung headphones is Auracast, which allows you to send sound from one phone to several headsets at the same time. Perhaps the most interesting new feature is the AI ​​Translator, which may not actually be real-time, but with a delay of 1-2 sentences will tell us in Polish what the people talking at the table are talking about.

In addition to the Bixby voice assistant, customers have access to other popular platforms. Simply install the Alexa or Google Assistant app first, and the voice assistant will first ask you which platform you want to use by default.

The sound in the headphones is also personalized based on a hearing test. Individual frequencies are corrected depending on the differences in the functioning of the hearing aid in a given person, and the sound amplification reaches 20 dB if necessary. The new Buds definitely have the most to offer on Samsung smartphones, because in addition to the lossless sound codec, we also get additional ANC profiles here, in addition to the ambient mode there are also Media and Calls.

When it comes to calls, several hours of testing did not raise any concerns among my interlocutors. If there were any difficulties, they were those resulting from the disappearing cellular signal, not the headphones themselves. Samsung uses a special language model and a database of voice patterns. Even in high noise, the headphones are able to restore the user’s speech and ensure its clarity. Additionally, in the case of calls between users of the latest Samsung headphones, you can count on a wider sound band and thus higher call quality.

Summary

The Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro headphones practically killed the Apple AirPods Pro Gen 2 during testing. Let’s agree, however, that this is not a particularly difficult task. Apple’s headphones may be some kind of reference, but with a greatly inflated price, aging design and great blandness built on the desire to please absolutely everyone.

Galaxy Buds3 Pro, on the other hand, are something, they bring positive energy, intimate, sophisticated sound and surprisingly well-tuned sound. Although there is no shortage of AI-based innovations, they do not overshadow what is most important. Above all, these headphones play great. There is no better time to buy them – the manufacturer has prepared a pre-sale with a large cashback. If you are thinking about Galaxy Buds3 Pro, definitely stop. Just buy them.

My final rating is a solid 10/10. The competition is screwed.