The Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro comes two years after the release of the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro, and it looks quite different compared to its predecessor. The new wireless earbuds now feature a stem with a dual driver design, and yes, it does look like a certain pair of wireless earbuds from another brand.
Beyond its familiar-looking design, the Buds 3 Pro delivers great audio quality with a good amount of bass and a bright sound signature. It also offers long battery life on a single charge, and though I’m not thrilled about certain aspects of the Buds 3 Pro, it’s easily one of the best wireless earbuds in the market now.
What It Is
Given its premium positioning, the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro has a number of intriguing features. These include a dual driver design made up of a 10.5mm dynamic driver and a 6.1mm planar tweeter, active noise cancellation (ANC), up to seven hours of use on a single charge – six hours with ANC enabled – and an IP57 rating.
Priced at RM999, the Buds 3 Pro costs RM100 than the Buds 2 Pro at launch. Granted, it does have a number of upgrades compared to the previous model, including longer battery life (with ANC activated) and of course, Galaxy AI integration. The Interpreter app is the headline feature; setting the app to Listening mode allows the earbuds to do real-time translation, though it has to be paired to a Samsung phone with Galaxy AI first.
The Good Stuff
The tuning of Samsung’s wireless earbuds has always been a crowd favourite, and I’m happy to report that the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro is tuned very well. It has pronounced bass response without the bloat, clear highs, and relatively neutral mids. It also has a somewhat bright sound profile, so if you’re into that, you’ll appreciate these earbuds.
Aside from that, the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro has reasonably good ANC too. It can silent low frequency sounds very well, though it can’t quite cancel out higher frequencies with the same competency. While it doesn’t have the best ANC performance, it’s certainly not the worst either.
In terms of battery life, I can actually get close to Samsung’s quoted battery life of up to six hours with the Buds 3 Pro – ANC enabled, of course. On a somewhat related note, I also really like the design of the charging case with the smoked, transparent cover, though I do wish it was a bit more compact to better fit inside my jeans pocket.
I also really like the equaliser settings of the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro found within the Galaxy Wearables app. I personally prefer a warmer sound profile versus the earbuds’ bright default tuning, so I’m happy that I can tweak the different frequency responses to my liking. Speaking of tweaking, I can also customise the touch controls on the stem of the earbuds; more on this particular feature further down the review.
Last but not least is the IP57 water resistance of the Buds 3 Pro, an improvement over the Buds 2 Pro’s IPX7 rating. This means it is more dust-resistant now, and it can still be submerged under 1m of fresh water for up to 30 minutes. If you need to wash the earbuds after a particularly heavy workout session, you don’t have to worry about water damage.
The Bad Stuff
My one major qualm with the Buds 3 Pro are the proprietary ear tips. As this limits the earbuds’ access to third-party ear tips – many of which can meaningfully improve audio quality and fit – it makes it harder for users to get replacement ear tips.
It also doesn’t help that of the three provided ear tips – small, medium, and large – only the largest set can provide a good enough seal for my particular ears. Usually, medium ear tips are large enough for myself, so I imagine some folks may have some issues getting a good fit with the stock tips.
And then we have the touch controls of the Buds 3 Pro, which are good, but only after some adjustment period. Initially, I found it tricky to properly trigger the earbud’s swiping motion (for volume control) and pinch control for music playback. But once I found the sweet spot, these controls do feel seamless.
Is It Worth It?
Even though the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro sees a slight price hike to RM999 compared to the previous model, it’s a fair price to pay for a pair of wireless earbuds of this calibre. It is well-tuned, it has reasonably good ANC, and the battery life is quite long too.
While I wish Samsung had not opted for proprietary ear tips with the Buds 3 Pro, there’s no denying that it is one of the best wireless earbuds you can buy in Malaysia right now. In fact, I’m more than happy to recommend it to bassheads – you really have to hear the bass response of the Buds 3 Pro for yourself.