Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro Review

These sleek, futurist earbuds combine a pop-friendly sound profile with a surprisingly lightweight and comfortable fit.

Sound Quality

The Galaxy Buds3 sound excellent, creating a wide soundstage that lets the music “sprawl around my head.” The mix is punchy and polished, with boosted highs and lows that could feel overly sculpted to more discerning ears. Still, they pair perfectly with today's top hits and bring an immersive feel to your favorite songs, no matter the genre.

The treble is smooth and warm, often floating delicately above the rest of the mix. It's rarely radiant, though. More often, the high notes play it safe, never tipping into harsh keening tones. One tester said, “They don't take many chances in their delivery.” And sometimes we miss the drama.

Luckily, the bass brings it. The low notes can sound too forward at times, resulting in a V-shaped mix that can drown out details. While those powerful bass lines can push country songs too far, they make hip-hop and R&B sound great.

Though they are less emphasized in the mix, the mid-tones sound wonderful and rarely get lost in the boosted lows. Instruments are vibrant, with crisp detail, and vocals maintain realistic timbre.

Faye Webster's “Kingston” is a great example of the sound signature. A mellow bassline anchors the track, warm and distinct beneath Webster's hushed, dreamy vocals. Rich textures from steel guitar, horns, and keys fill the mids, while a soft flute adds just a hint of shimmer up top. The drums deliver a satisfying punch that balances the floaty highs and hefty lows.

The Galaxy Buds3 offer a solid volume range. The middle setting worked perfectly in the office, supporting focus without blowing eardrums. While the buds maintain detail and clarity at low volumes, the bass frequencies can sound aggressive and boomy at higher volumes. It's not exactly muddy or blown out, just a bit much.

We brought in SoundCheck software and our Brüel & Kjaer Type 5128 ear and head simulator to crunch the numbers. They charted the frequency response of these buds, which we then compared to our GearLab House Curve benchmark. The two curves track pretty well, with the Buds3 Pro frequencies all turned a little higher than our target curve, accounting for all that drama.

Comfort and Fit

The Galaxy Buds3 Pro are some of the most comfortable, but not the most stable. Despite a bulky appearance, they are surprisingly lightweight and wonderfully comfortable. We wore them for hours without fatigue. The soft silicone ear tips easily conform to your ear, creating a gentle, secure seal. They come with four ear tip sizes, but they are so soft they tear easily, and changing them is a pain.

Stability

While they stay put most of the time, they are easier to dislodge than competitors. Even exaggerated facial expressions can loosen them, and frequent adjustments are necessary.

Noise Cancellation

The Galaxy Buds3 block some ambient sound by sealing the ear, which is called passive noise isolation. They also use technology to dissipate background sounds called active noise cancellation (ANC). While we noticed a difference using this feature, it is underwhelming.

We can hear keyboard clicking and coffee mugs settling on the counter in the office. It does little to block out the distractions of an open-plan office or coffee shop, but the hushing effect helps somewhat with focus.

The ANC's performance is mediocre compared to that of top performers. However, we appreciate that it doesn't cause uncomfortable pressure like some earbuds in their effort to dampen sound.

We use our head-and-ear simulator and SoundCheck software to support our listening experience. With the ANC engaged, the Galaxy Buds3 manage to block an impressive 20 to 45 decibels across the spectrum.

Ease of Use

While the futuristic, AirPod-like look is a significant departure from the button design of the Galaxy Buds2 Pro, we like their take on the stem design, which makes them easier to grip and control than past versions.

Android users get a less-than-intuitive app, but we think the comfort and scintillating sound are worth dealing with a less-than-super-smooth user experience. They have minimal compatibility with Apple devices.

Touch controls let you adjust the ANC, ambient, and adaptive listening modes and control your music and phone calls without accessing the app.

App Features

The Galaxy Buds3 offer the standard features, allowing you to customize EQ settings with presets and battery life checking. They also have an ear fit test to optimize sound quality and a Find My Earbud feature to help locate a misplaced earbud.

Battery Life

The Galaxy Buds3 have 8.1 hours of battery life, which is well above the 6-hour manufacturer claim.

Unlike most earbuds, there is no quick-charge option. However, the case holds enough power for four additional charges, and wireless charging adds convenience.

Call Quality

Earbuds should isolate your voice from distracting background sounds to help clear calls. To test how well the Galaxy Buds3 Pro does this, we played recordings of male and female voices through the microphone in our head simulator, varying the amount of background noise and capturing the results. The Galaxy Buds3 Pro are only average.

In a quiet room, the recorded voices sounded soft, though the clarity was excellent and distortion-free. The lower-than-average volume may make it harder for callers to hear you.

In a slightly louder office, it's harder to hear the voices. Background sounds sneak through, making the quiet voices even harder to hear.

Voices can sometimes be drowned out on a blaring subway platform. Voice isolation succeeds in blocking out some of the most aggressive subway sounds, but it isn't super effective.

Should You Buy the Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro?

For Android users, especially those embedded in the Samsung ecosystem, these stylish earbuds will please, especially for those looking for a fun sound and all-day comfort. Their soft silicone tips and featherweight feel go a long way to make up for their less intuitive app and subpar noise cancellation. If you're often in loud, chaotic environments and rely on strong noise cancellation to tune it out, these may not be the right fit for you.

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