Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 look like AirPods, but that’s not all that’s new

Samsung launches new headphones for the first time, Galaxy Buds 3 and Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, have stems like Apple’s AirPods. The new Buds are more high-end, with the open-back Buds 3 priced at $180 and the Buds 3 Pro at $250, but their “blade” design gives them a more versatile look than previous Galaxy Buds models. both Now open for booking Will ship on or after July 24th.

I’ve had limited hands-on time with the headphones, but I haven’t had a chance to properly evaluate them yet, so this isn’t a full review. I do have some early impressions of their design, and there are plenty of features and specs worth talking about.

read more: Everything announced at the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event

Galaxy Buds 3, the successor to Galaxy Buds Live

Available in white or silver, the Galaxy Buds 3 are open-back earbuds like the standard AirPods. Like Samsung’s earlier open-back headphones, Galaxy Buds Live According to Samsung, the Buds 3 (also known as The Beans) have some active noise cancellation features. I don’t think it would be that effective since ANC generally doesn’t work on open buds. I will be able to comment more on this once I have fully tested the buds.

Similar to AirPods, they are designed for people who don’t like having earbuds in their ears and prefer to hear outside sounds. They are lightweight, comfortable and fit better than my ears AirPods 3. Both the Buds 3 and Buds 3 Pro have pinch controls like the latest AirPods (I love the pinch controls on them), as well as slide controls for adjusting volume. Both models also feature ear-detection sensors that pause audio when you take the headphones out of your ears and resume playback when you put them back in your ears. No need to touch the headphones.

Bass performance can be an issue since open-back earbuds allow ambient sound to seep into your ears and don’t provide a tight seal. The Galaxy Buds 3 have an 11mm dynamic driver. They won’t sound as good as the Buds 3 Pro, but compared to other premium open-back earbuds, it promises to be good.

The Buds 3 have a battery life of up to 6 hours with ANC off and up to 5 hours with ANC on (the charging case charges wirelessly and has a dedicated Bluetooth button). Both new earbuds are equipped with Bluetooth 5.4, IP57 water and dust resistance, and support LE audio and the new Auracast function (it also supports Samsung’s 360-degree audio function). The IP57 rating means the headphones aren’t completely waterproof, but they can withstand constant water spray.

Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, the new flagship

The Galaxy Buds 3 Pro are Samsung’s new flagship earphones and are also available in white and silver. They have some key differences from the Galaxy Buds 3.

They also feature active noise cancellation and transparency mode. The ANC is of the adaptive variety and looks pretty good – at least based on the very limited time I spent with the headphones in my ears. Samsung said, “The microphones in the Buds 3 series analyze internal and external sounds in real time to enhance sound and active noise cancellation quality through adaptive EQ and adaptive ANC.”

Additionally, the Buds 3 Pro “constantly collect and identify surrounding sounds and automatically adjust the optimal levels of noise and sound through adaptive noise control, siren detection, and voice detection, eliminating the need for manual adjustments.” This sounds similar to the AirPods Pro 2 Adaptive audio function, but Buds 3 Pro does not have conversation awareness mode.

The Galaxy Buds 3 have a single dynamic driver, while the Buds 3 Pro have 10mm dynamic drivers and separate planar tweeters, which should help deliver clearer highs. Samsung also says the Buds 3 Pro have dual amplifiers, which should help reduce wireless issues.

In my early listening tests, I found that the earphones did indeed sound better than the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro. The Buds 2 Pro sound great, but the Buds 3 Pro have better treble clarity and bass clarity, and sound cleaner and more accurate overall.

Another extra feature of the Buds 3 Pro are the lights on their stems, or “leaves,” as Samsung calls them. They’ll notify you when the headphones are in pairing mode, and they’ll flash when you use the Find My feature as the headphones chirp (which will make them easier to find in a dark room). You can also activate the lights by pinching each bud for a few seconds, then wear the buds with the lights on (if you prefer).

The Buds 3 Pro also have an IP57 dust and water resistance rating. The battery life of Galaxy Buds 3 Pro is up to 7 hours with noise cancellation turned off, and up to 6 hours with noise cancellation turned on. Its charging case features wireless charging and a dedicated button for Bluetooth pairing, so you can more easily pair the headphones with a variety of Bluetooth audio devices.

Enhanced voice calling

Samsung has largely done a good job with voice call performance in its Galaxy Buds models, and these new Series 3 models offer excellent voice call performance and best-in-class noise cancellation. There are three microphones and a pickup in each headset. Earbuds with a stem design do bring the microphone closer to your mouth, so that helps with voice calls as well. When I made a call using the Galaxy Buds Pro on a noisy (and windy) street in New York, callers said they could barely hear any background noise, and my voice was mostly clear with limited vibrato. They were impressed.

Samsung said this; “Through a pre-trained model based on machine learning, the Buds 3 series is now able to restore the original sound of the speaker in various noise environments, while also delivering rich and natural calls – similar to high-quality smartphones. Calls – Features ultra-wideband calling capabilities, which according to Samsung enables the earphones to transmit voice up to 16kHz instead of up to 8kHz.

Special features for Galaxy Buds 3 and 3 Pro for Galaxy users

As mentioned earlier, these buds serve many of the same functions. The Buds 3 lack dual amplifiers, light bar lighting, transparency mode (they’re open earbuds, so you don’t need it), adaptive noise control, and voice detection/siren detection. Additionally, the Buds 3 Pro have dual drivers.

As for other special features for Galaxy smartphone users, they can automatically pair and audio switch with Galaxy devices, including Galaxy PCs. This is another way of saying that they offer multipoint Bluetooth pairing for Galaxy devices.

Both headphones also support Samsung’s Seamless codec, which Samsung says can now deliver 24-bit/96khz high-resolution streaming via HD music streaming services like Qobuz or Tidal. This codec only works with some Galaxy devices, but the default audio codec for the headphones is AAC, which sounds fine (iPhones and other Android devices will use AAC.)

The last Galaxy-exclusive feature that Samsung highlighted is its interpreter feature, which is part of Galaxy AI. “If you are taking a foreign language course, you can turn on the interpreter Plug the Buds 3 series into your ears and turn on listening mode on Galaxy Z Fold 6 or Flip 6,” Samsung said, citing an example of how to use the feature. “In this way, you can listen to the translated lectures directly through Buds, eliminating possible language barriers in learning.

Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 and Buds 3 Pro final first impressions

Like I said, this is just a quick overview of the Galaxy Buds 3 and Buds 3 Pro, I’ll be discussing more in my upcoming full review, including sound quality and performance comparisons with the AirPods 3, AirPods Pro 2, and other top true wireless models earphone.

Some may be a little disappointed that Samsung made some concessions and followed Apple’s design. I personally prefer stemmed earbuds, and I do think it makes sense to move to this design, even if it does seem like a cop-out, so to speak.

Samsung told me they simply found through testing that the “blade” design works best for most people. Many people are using Galaxy Buds Live and Galaxy Buds Pro 2 (I had to use my own larger earplugs). My impression, at least from my initial wear testing, is that these new models will fit more people better.

The only problem is that their design is a bit generic and arguably lacks a bit of a wow factor, as are their relatively high prices—the AirPods Pro 2 retail for $250, like the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, but are available online Prices are usually less than $200. $169 Now. Therefore, it is crucial that the buds deliver excellent performance. After some initial testing, I’m impressed, but I’ll talk more about it in my full hands-on review, which will be posted in the coming days.