Release date, rumors, price, features, and more

Samsung’s line of true wi-fi earbuds makes for an eclectic and impressive-sounding catalog. The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 stand proudly as an reasonably priced various to the flagship Buds Professional collection. They share a lot of the identical DNA, together with industry-leading noise canceling and sound high quality. They’re additionally nice worth for cash, costing little greater than $100 on the time of writing.

With that in thoughts, it’s no shock that persons are tingling with pleasure for a next-gen Galaxy Buds 3 improve. There’s no official announcement but, however learn on for all the things we all know and our tackle the options we want to see included within the Galaxy Buds 3.

Will there be a Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 collection?

Samsung has been updating its vary of earbuds fairly often because it debuted the Galaxy Buds in 2019. Its newest launch, the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Professional, is the model’s greatest accomplishment to this point. Introduced alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4 smartphones in August 2022, it has a number of the finest ANC capabilities available on the market. That is along with a number of bespoke options for Samsung smartphone house owners. Provided that Samsung solely lately launched earbuds from the flagship Professional collection, it’s secure to imagine there’s no imminent launch for the Galaxy Buds 3 Professional. Nonetheless, that does go away area for an replace to the unique Galaxy Buds line.

It’s additionally price noting that earbud producers are at present falling over themselves to bundle high-end options into reasonably priced buds. For instance, HUAWEI launched the FreeBuds 5i in January 2023. These earbuds supply superior ANC functionality and sound high quality with out breaking the financial institution. Not solely that, however OnePlus and Sony have made current releases too, within the type of the Nord Buds 2 and the WF-C700N respectively. All three of those earbuds are available in at a value level between $60 – $120. With that in thoughts, Samsung will greater than probably be showcasing its personal reasonably priced and feature-packed earbuds someday in 2023.

• Samsung Galaxy Buds collection — March 9, 2019
• Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 collection — August 11, 2021

Samsung’s Galaxy Buds portfolio is comparatively small compared to different producers, similar to Sony. For that motive, it may well generally be a little bit difficult to gauge the discharge sample of upcoming earbuds. That mentioned, the earlier two fashions within the Galaxy Buds collection had been launched roughly two years aside. Final era’s Galaxy Buds 2, Buds Stay, and Buds 2 Professional all got here out between the 21-28 August. That provides us a fairly good indication of Samsung’s most well-liked launch schedule.

For that motive, it appears fairly probably that the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 can be launched someday in August 2023. There’s nonetheless a short time to attend, but it surely actually isn’t too early to start out getting enthusiastic about this next-gen improve.

With none official bulletins to pinch particulars from, right here’s what we are able to collect from the rumors and our expectations thus far.

Design

The Galaxy Buds 2 made some good enhancements to the unique Galaxy Buds mannequin. They had been smaller and lighter than their predecessor, weighing in at solely 5g per bud. Additionally they had a really pleasing and compact kind issue, with out sacrificing a few of their top-of-the-range options. The rounded wing tip-free design was undoubtedly snug too, even when athletes needed to miss out on securing a dependable match. The construct high quality of the Galaxy Buds 2 felt sturdy, with out being too cumbersome to sit down properly in its charging case. Whereas we don’t think about the Galaxy Buds 3 will stray too removed from the design of the Galaxy Buds 2, there are a number of enhancements we’d wish to see.

For instance, the shiny end of the Galaxy Buds 2 feels a little bit outdated. We’d hope for a matte end on the next-gen mannequin, particularly given how nice Samsung’s extra subtle flagship Buds 2 Professional are to deal with and put on. It might even be welcome if Samsung adopted a barely extra ergonomic design for the Galaxy Buds 3. Despite the fact that the form of the Galaxy Buds collection helps to kind a greater seal within the ear, the cumbersome measurement means they usually really feel as if they could fall out. Slimmer designs, similar to these of Apple’s AirPods Professional, Nothing Ear 1, and HUAWEI FreeBuds 5i, are more and more common. We’re not searching for Samsung to ditch its trademark form utterly, however a barely smaller construct may enhance consolation additional.

One function Samsung’s future buds will little doubt excel at is energetic noise canceling. It’s a mainstay that retains listeners coming again, and it’s fairly secure to imagine the Galaxy Buds 3 will carry the torch right here too. A mix of excellent isolation offered by the form of the buds, in addition to the match of the ear ideas, is second to none with Samsung earbuds. The Galaxy Buds 2 Professional boast a number of the finest ANC available on the market immediately, and we count on the Galaxy Buds 3 to share this identical high quality.

As you’ll be able to see within the charts above, the Galaxy Buds 2 isolates music from a variety of frequencies. Whereas not the strongest ANC-capable buds round, they render low drones round 100Hz a lot quieter than with out ANC activated. Which means rumbles from automobiles, planes, and trains are a lot much less audible. You additionally defend your listening to by not having to ramp up the quantity to maintain undesirable noise from penetrating your soundscape. The extent of isolation and noise canceling upwards of 2kHz can also be spectacular, making higher-pitched whines much less distinguished. It’s onerous to think about Samsung received’t be trying to enhance its ANC capabilities additional with the discharge of the Galaxy Buds 3.

Sound high quality is one other bastion of Samsung earbuds. The Galaxy Buds 2 Professional skilled a barely higher-than-normal enhancement in its bass frequencies. This pretty commonplace and consumer-friendly customization helps amplify the “oomph” of kick drums. Whereas that’s additionally true for the Galaxy Buds 2, its bass response stays flatter, just like that of the Galaxy Buds Plus and Galaxy Buds Professional. The treble frequencies above 2kHz are additionally amplified, which implies that voices and cymbals aren’t masked by the bass increase. If the Galaxy Buds 3 can recreate and improve the frequency response of the Galaxy Buds 2, we think about most genres of music will sound very nice.

Samsung’s Seamless Codec is certain to function on the Galaxy Buds 3 as nicely. This guarantees listeners 24-bit, 48kHz audio sampling at as much as 512kbps. In different phrases — respectable high-res music streaming. That spells excellent news for Samsung smartphone house owners searching for a high-quality listening expertise. It’s additionally a variable bitrate connection, robotically adjusting the information switch price when radio environments develop into congested. This helps to keep up a robust connection between the earbuds and the supply system whereas prioritizing audio high quality when much less congested radio environments enable. Nonetheless, the Samsung Seamless Codec is a proprietary connection. These and not using a Samsung smartphone should join through the AAC and SBC Bluetooth codecs. These are dependable however don’t do a lot in the way in which of enhancing audio high quality. If Samsung needs to up its sport, it ought to embody aptX wi-fi connectivity to attract in a wider viewers.

Samsung stays nearly on par with different headphone producers with regards to battery life. The Galaxy Buds 2 supply a most of simply over 5 hours of cost. That’s pretty typical of ANC-capable buds, albeit leaning barely towards the shorter finish of the spectrum. We’d wish to see the Galaxy Buds 3 maintain at the very least this quantity of cost, if not a little bit extra. As well as, the Galaxy Buds 2 case helps quick charging, offering 60 minutes of playtime from simply 5 minutes of cost. It additionally helps 15 hours of additional ANC-enabled listening time. The subsequent-gen mannequin ought to carry out equally nicely right here, with the inclusion of Qi wi-fi charging and Wi-fi Powershare with appropriate Samsung telephones.

These trying to immerse themselves in encompass sound can wager on the Galaxy Buds 3 that includes Samsung 360 Audio. Offered the content material is obtainable in Dolby Atmos, customers can expertise 360° encompass sound. Sadly, these on iOS have beforehand been excluded from having fun with lots of Samsung’s bespoke options. On the Galaxy Buds 2 and Galaxy Buds 2 Professional, there is no such thing as a app assist for Apple gadgets in any respect. Which means lacking out on firmware updates and different helpful app-related options. Samsung ought to think about tearing its propriety rulebook aside and eventually embracing Apple customers as soon as and for all. The Galaxy Buds 3 might be the turning level right here, however we doubt it.

The unique Buds collection are billed as an reasonably priced various to the extra subtle Buds Plus, Stay, and Professional collection, and that would be the case with the Buds 3. However, costs have been growing throughout the board yr after yr all through Samsung’s whole vary of headphones. We count on that development to proceed.

On August 28, 2022, Samsung launched its newest in-ear headphones, the Galaxy Buds 2 Professional. At launch, these buds price $229. Whereas they’re Samsung’s most completed buds to this point, they’re additionally the costliest headphones the model has to supply. Costing $30 extra at launch than its predecessor, the Galaxy Buds Professional, Samsung is persistently growing its costs.

At launch, Samsung’s unique Galaxy Buds price $129, adopted by a value hike of $20 for the second-generation product. With world inflation nonetheless using greater than regular in 2023, we may see the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 priced at greater than $149.

Samsung Galaxy Buds 3: What we need to see

Samsung’s launch of the Galaxy Buds 2 Professional final yr marked an unforgettable milestone for the corporate. They’re a really outstanding set of true wi-fi earbuds and are thought of a real various to Apple’s AirPods Professional and Sony’s WF-1000XM4. Whereas that achievement can’t be understated, it does beg the query: will Samsung have the ability to bundle its high-end function set into the extra reasonably priced Galaxy Buds line? Right here’s what we’d wish to see from the Galaxy Buds 3 in 2023.

Very similar to its greatest rival, Samsung has more and more adopted proprietary options to entice customers into its ecosystem. These days, you usually must resolve not provided that you’re an Android or Apple fan, however in the event you’re a devoted Samsung fan too. You’re pressured to commit to 1 ecosystem that tends to lack any significant assist for some other. This over-simplified black-and-white alternative causes issues with cross-connectivity and makes our listening experiences tougher.

No more true is that the case than for iPhone customers wishing to put in the Samsung Wearables app for his or her earbuds. For too lengthy, iPhone customers have been unable to carry out software program updates for the unique Galaxy Buds or Buds 2 collection. Not solely that, however iPhones are excluded from having fun with Samsung’s ear tip match check, EQ presets, and management customizations. That’s to not point out the Spotify Faucet function, which solely works for people who stream music through Spotify on their Android system. We’d wish to see the Galaxy Buds 3 change the tide right here, with higher iOS assist out of the field for the Samsung Wearables app.

Talking of proprietary options, the Samsung Scalable Codec gives high-res audio, however just for these utilizing Samsung smartphones. For everybody else, the Galaxy Buds 2 helps AAC and SBC Bluetooth connectivity. Whereas they’ll play properly for the typical listener, audiophiles will undoubtedly be left wanting.

A contented center floor might be the adoption of the aptX Bluetooth codec. This could stream 16-bit, 48kHz audio at 352kbps. That isn’t fairly on par with Samsung’s Seamless Codec, but it surely’s way more common. Whether or not you personal a OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite, Xiaomi Mi 11, or something in-between, you’d have the choice of listening to high-quality music. Higher but, Samsung may incorporate aptX Lossless into its headphones. This would supply common entry to 16-bit, 48kHz audio sampling as much as 1Mbps. We’d like to see the Galaxy Buds 3 undertake this Bluetooth connectivity into its arsenal, nonetheless unlikely.

Provided that Samsung prides itself on audio high quality, it’s shocking the Samsung Wearables app is but to host an adjustable equalizer (EQ). By comparability, the Sony Headphone app has provided this function for a while. One of many most important causes I hold coming again to Sony headphones is due to how customizable and interactive the companion app is.

EQ presets may get the job accomplished for many, however audiophiles are prone to need extra management over their combine. For instance, The Samsung Wearables app solely boasts six totally different choices to select from. Whereas that’s greater than, say, the Nothing X and HUAWEI AI Life apps, Samsung solely consists of “regular,” “bass increase,” “smooth,” “dynamic,” “clear,” and “treble increase.” Having the ability to modify particular frequency ranges throughout a multi-band EQ offers way more management over your sound. It additionally means you don’t must depend on pre-made settings to get the perfect out of your music. If the Galaxy Buds 3 need to be actually aggressive, we’d wish to see them host a multi-band EQ within the Samsung Wearables app.

Let’s face it, true wi-fi headphones will battle to ship the decision high quality of over-ear headphones with nearer microphone proximity. Nonetheless, that doesn’t essentially imply that each one wi-fi earbuds are doomed to supply poor microphone high quality eternally; there are already some good examples available on the market. It simply so occurs that Samsung has faltered right here considerably with its earlier fashions.

Apple’s AirPods Professional 2nd Gen, for instance, host presumably a number of the finest microphones on the earbuds market immediately. The Google Pixel Buds Professional aren’t too dangerous both. The issue is, these headphones price much more than the Galaxy Buds 2 did on launch. What can be most welcome, is that if Samsung may bundle a low-distortion, high-quality microphone setup into the Galaxy Buds 3. This may handle an often-overlooked facet of reasonably priced wi-fi buds.

I’ve usually discovered that Samsung Buds really feel a little bit bit too cumbersome within the ear. It’s true that their construct, along with the silicon ideas, is usually what helps to seal off the ear canal from undesirable noise. Mixed with spectacular ANC, Samsung is a proud champion of noise canceling. The caveat to all of this, nonetheless, is that the buds are a little bit on the bigger facet. Which means they don’t all the time relaxation snugly between the tragus, concha, and antitragus.

Extra streamlined earbuds, similar to Apple’s AirPods, Nothing Ear 1, HUAWEI FreeBuds 5i, and OnePlus Buds Professional 2 are typically extra snug. Their addition of a stem additionally helps to separate the contact controls from the remainder of the bud. Which means no unintentional music skipping when inserting the buds into your ears. Sadly, I do that on a regular basis with my Samsung Galaxy Buds Professional, and it’s fairly irritating. The Galaxy Buds 2 suffered from this too, internet hosting overly-sensitive contact controls that picked up unintended gestures. If Samsung doesn’t need to undertake a stem for the Galaxy Buds 3, they could think about chucking out the single-tap perform. That approach, we are able to insert and take out our buds with none annoying unintentional prompts.

That’s all for now! That’s all the things we want to see from the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3.