Galaxy Buds 3 Pro review: my favorite Android earbuds

Key Takeaways

Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 3 Pro offer premium audio and ANC, similar to the AirPods Pro 2.
The wireless earbuds feature a sleek design, a cool transparent case, and offer in-ear comfort.
The Galaxy Buds 3 Pro are ideal for Android users.

Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 3 Pro look like a sleeker, more futuristic version of Apple’s AirPods Pro 2. It’s clear the South Korean tech giant outright borrowed significant design elements from Apple’s high-end wireless earbuds. Sure, Samsung’s Buds 3 Pro are a little more angular, light up, and are dark gray (though there is a white option), but their stem design, in-ear tips, and overall appearance is strikingly AirPod Pro-like.

But if you’re an Android or Samsung device user looking for solid AirPods-like wireless earbuds, you probably don’t care. All you want is a pair of wireless earbuds that look great, sound awesome, and that seamlessly connect to your device (just be prepared for a bit of teasing from your faithful Apple friends and family). Thankfully, as far as those important factors are concerned, Samsung nails it with its latest top-of-the-line wireless earbuds.

Editor’s Choice

Galaxy Buds 3 Pro

The Galaxy Buds 3 Pro are Samsung’s premium wireless earbuds with improved audio quality, adaptive audio that adjusts based on your surroundings, ANC, and light-up earbuds.

Pros

Sleek-looking design
Great sound quality
Case has a cool see-through design

Cons

They nearly identical to the AirPods Pro (2nd gen)
They work best with Android phones

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Price, availability, and specs

Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 3 Pro cost $250, putting the earbuds’ price in line with the $250 Airpods Pro 2. The Galaxy Buds 3 Pro are available in silver and white and are listed as releasing on October 23rd, according to Samsung’s website.

The Galaxy Buds 3 Pro last up to six hours with active noise cancellation (ANC) off and five hours with it on. On the other hand, the cool-looking transparent case offers 30 hours of charging time. The earbuds feature Bluetooth 5.4 and are IP57 water and dust resistant, which offers limited protection from dust and immersion in water between 5.9-inches (15cm) and 100cm (1m). The wireless earbuds feature three built-in microphones and weigh 0.2oz each.

Finally, the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro feature dual 10mm dynamic drivers paired with a tweeter for extra treble.

It’s important to note that Samsung delayed the release of the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro following some early users experiencing issues with the wireless earbuds’ ear tips breaking when popping them off. I didn’t encounter this issue, and it’s unclear what Samsung has changed to fix it.

Galaxy Buds 3 Pro

Battery Life: 6 hours (ANC on), 7 hours (ANC off)
Charging Case Included?: Yes
Microphones: 3
Brand: Samsung
Bluetooth: Yes
Price: $250
IP Rating: IP57
Case battery: 30 hours
Dimensions and weight (earbuds): 0.77 x 0.7 x 1.3-inches (19.8 x 18.1 x 33.2mm), 0.2oz (5.4g)
Colors: White, silver
Noise Cancellation: Yes
Max talk time: 4 hours
Max playback time: 7 hours
Maximum play time (overall): 30 hours

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What I liked about the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro

They look like the AirPods Pro (2nd gen), and sound as good as them, too

Look, I get it — the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro really do look like the AirPods Pro, especially in white. It’s weird, for sure, but I also don’t really care. First, they put a unique twist on the traditional AirPods Pro design thanks to their more angular stems (that Samsung amusingly calls “blades”) and cool-looking transparent case that reminds me of Nothing’s earbuds (it’s nearly the exact same shape as the AirPods Pro 2nd generation’s case, however). The earbuds also feature lights on their blades that let you know if they’re in pairing mode and flash when you’re using their finding feature. You can even pinch the stems to turn the lights on/off like a pair of children’s light-up shoes. It’s silly, but also kind of cool at the same time, and exactly the kind of fun ridiculousness I appreciate when it comes to tech.

One of the most important factors for me when it comes to wireless earbuds is how comfortable they feel in my ears. I’m not a big fan of in-ear wireless earbuds and have only found the AirPods 2nd-gen bearable. Thankfully, I feel the same way about the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro. They get uncomfortable after several hours, but in reasonable bursts, they feel just as comfortable as Apple’s AirPods Pro. You can also swap out their ear tips to find the perfect fit, which is essential for good active noise cancellation.

Speaking of noise-cancelling, the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro’s is excellent. The outside world fades away, even under noisy conditions, and there’s never an annoying hiss. The quality is on par with my experience with other high-end wireless earbuds that feature an in-ear design and is leagues beyond the Pixel Buds Pro 3. Adaptive Audio, which fades your media out if you or someone around you starts talking or an emergency services siren is heard, also works quite well.

I’d go so far as to say that they might be the best-sounding in-ear wireless earbuds I’ve used this year.

When it comes to the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro’s audio quality, there aren’t really any negatives. The wireless earbuds offer a wide sound scape with deep bass and satisfying highs, lows, and mids, thanks to their 10mm dynamic drivers. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that they might be the best-sounding in-ear wireless earbuds I’ve used this year. Their mic quality is fine, but it doesn’t stand out in any way — I’d say it’s better than most wireless earbuds because the stem design ensures the microphone is a little closer to your mouth than other earbuds, but it’s not notably better than the competition.

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If you’ve used AirPods before, you’ll be familiar with the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro’s on-bud swipe controls that adjust the volume and stop/start media. They’re responsive, simple to use, and most importantly, intuitive. Bixby, Samsung’s ill-fated voice-activated assistant, can also be used to perform tasks like stopping music, raising the volume, and changing songs, similar to Siri with the AirPods. It works fine, but I don’t find myself using this feature very often.

And finally, the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro thankfully maintain a clear connection to whatever device I have them connected to, whether it was my MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, Galaxy Z Flip 6 or Pixel 9. This should be the case with every pair of wireless earbuds that costs this much, but that’s unfortunately not always the reality.

Samsung sells a standard
$180 version of the Galaxy Buds 3
that features
less battery life and no in-ear tips
(they offer features similar to the
AirPods 4
). Similar to Apple’s AirPods 4, these earbuds also offer noise cancellation. As a side note, I hate that these earbuds are called the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro and not the Galaxy Buds Pro 3, moving the number after the name, like nearly every other pair out there.

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What I didn’t like about the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro

These earbuds don’t have a lot of downsides

As you likely noticed, I really like Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, but they aren’t without a few minor issues. For example, ear-detection is only compatible with Android devices as far as I can tell (I wasn’t able to get it to work with my MacBook Pro or iPhone 16 Pro). It’s a pretty common issue I’ve encountered with pretty much every pair of wireless earbuds, but it’s worth mentioning.

I’m disappointed the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro don’t offer some sort of auto-switch feature.

Adding to this, automatic pairing is limited to switching between Galaxy devices, similar to Apple’s AirPods line. For example, I couldn’t flip from the Galaxy S24 Ultra to the Pixel 9 automatically and needed to pair. Unsurprisingly, I also needed to manually switch between my MacBook Pro and my iPhone. Again, this is common when it comes to wireless earbuds, but I’m disappointed the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro don’t offer some sort of auto-switch feature with other Android devices that aren’t part of Samsung’s Galaxy line.

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Should you buy the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro?

A great Android alternative to Apple’s AirPods Pro

As far as wireless earbuds go, the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro are a solid option. They’re cool-looking, despite also kind of being AirPods Pro 2 clones, sound great, and most importantly, are very comfortable for in-ear wireless earbuds. If you’re an Android user looking for a pair of great-sounding wireless earbuds, the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro are some of the best out there.