Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Professional
MSRP $250.00
“The Galaxy Buds 3 Professional are an enormous improve for Samsung followers.”
Execs
- Comfy match
- Glorious sound high quality
- Prime-notch ANC and transparency
- Responsive controls
- Waterproof
- Auto-pause with put on sensors
Cons
- You want a Samsung cellphone for the most effective audio
- Spatial audio/head monitoring is so-so
- No Bluetooth Multipoint
It’s unattainable to disregard the hanging similarities between the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Professional and the Apple AirPods Professional. Bodily, and with few exceptions, the most recent Galaxy wi-fi earbuds are AirPods Professional clones. Broadly talking, that is additionally true of how the Galaxy Buds 3 Professional work. They possess most of the identical options which have made the AirPods Professional stand out through the years, like adaptive ANC, adaptive sound, spatial audio, and head monitoring. Even the retail value is similar so long as you’re keen to not break up hairs over a mere 99 cents.
And but regardless of all these blatant acts of mimicry, the Galaxy Buds 3 Professional have simply sufficient of their very own standout areas of efficiency that Android customers — and particularly Samsung Galaxy customers — will really feel like they’re getting one thing greater than a mere copycat set of wi-fi earbuds.
Earlier than we dive into the total assessment, let’s cope with the elephant within the room: Samsung’s manufacturing and distribution pause on the Galaxy Buds 3 Professional after early stories that the silicone eartips had been ripping. My assessment mannequin got here from that first manufacturing batch, and I had the identical expertise.
The issue, nonetheless, is just not that the eartips are too fragile. The difficulty stems from the onerous plastic collar on the base of the eartip that’s used to snap it to the speaker opening on the earbud. The collar creates a really tight connection to the earbud. So tight, in reality, that utilizing the silicone of the eartips to tug it free inevitably causes it to tear. On my assessment unit, the difficulty solely occurred on the left earbud. I ended up utilizing a thin-bladed knife to rigorously pry the collar away from the earbud.
Whatever the cause, it seems to be like Samsung is taking steps to handle the issue, so I gained’t be deducting any factors on this assessment.
Cozy, for higher or worse
Stem-based earbuds just like the AirPods Professional are usually cozy as a result of there’s much less mass in your concha — and fewer pores and skin contact. There’s little question about it — the Galaxy Buds 3 Professional are extra comfy for longer intervals than most stemless earbuds. Nevertheless, they’re additionally much less secure for all the identical causes. Chances are you’ll want to regulate them extra incessantly, significantly when figuring out or working. For a lot of, the additional consolation shall be definitely worth the trade-off. However others could miss the soundness of Samsung’s earlier designs.
I’m dissatisfied with the eartips choice: three sizes in whole feels miserly, and it could forestall individuals from getting a great match — particularly those that want an extra-small dimension.
The Buds 3 Professional take the already wonderful IPX7 safety supplied by the Galaxy Buds 2 Professional and boosts it with mud resistance for a claimed IP57 score. I’ve all the time questioned why Apple’s earbuds have by no means given us something higher than IPX4, and now I’m much more curious.
Pinch to click on
The AirPods Professional’s squeezable, swipeable stems are one of the crucial modern issues we’ve seen of late within the wi-fi earbuds world. A pinch of the stem produces an audible click on, and once you swipe a finger up or down on its flat portion, you may simply modify the amount. I’m not stunned that Samsung thought these had been each price copying.
The controls work rather well, which I wasn’t anticipating given the angular form of the stems. I discover that anchoring the bud together with your index finger whereas pinching together with your thumb and center finger retains the buds from transferring round, however you might not really feel the necessity to take action.
Along with the entire standard controls for playback, quantity, name administration, ANC, and voice assistant entry, you may optionally set off Spotify Faucet or Samsung Well being’s Mindfulness app.
Supplementing all of this are put on sensors for auto-pausing music once you take away both earbud and hands-free voice instructions like “play music,” “quantity down,” and so on. They labored effectively, and I appreciated not having to preface each with “Alexa,” “Hey Siri,” or “Hey Bixby.”
Mild the best way
There’s an argument to be made that any earbuds with stems that drop down out of your ears appear to be AirPods. The bottom line is to seek out methods to take that fundamental form and make it your personal. With their trapezoidal stems and the out there silver end, I feel the Galaxy Buds 3 Professional look nice, and I doubt anybody will mistake them for AirPods (the white end is a special story).
In case you actually need to make an announcement, you may activate the “blade lights” — slender white LEDs that run down a portion of the stems. Fixed illumination, blinking, or respiratory (fade in/out), the selection is yours. Personally, I’d want not to attract consideration to my ears. However I can see a profit for many who run, particularly at evening — there’s no such factor as being too seen.
Additionally they pulse once you use Samsung’s Discover My Earbuds function, although I don’t know the way useful that shall be once they’re buried within the sofa cushions.
The AirPods-like charging case has wi-fi and USB-C charging, and I just like the clear lid and the flattened backside, which lets the case stand upright. Nevertheless, Samsung ought to have gone full Apple and included a speaker and a lanyard loop — helpful additions to the charging case that Apple launched on the AirPods Professional Gen 2.
Within the field, you get a really beneficiant 3-foot USB-C-to-USB-C charging cable. (Most earbuds ship with tiny, 6-inch cables.)
ANC, transparency, and calling carried out proper
I’ve reviewed tons of noise-canceling wi-fi earbuds. The power to kill off undesirable background sounds will fluctuate from mannequin to mannequin, however we’ve now reached a degree the place even the most affordable buds can do a midway respectable job. Nonetheless, the Buds 3 Professional are among the many finest. My standard testing environments (busy streets, noisy followers, and my native health club) had been all introduced underneath management. Podcasts, that are simply disrupted by noise, had been completely audible — at the same time as loud dump vehicles thundered previous.
That was with the usual ANC mode. I additionally tried Samsung’s AI-driven adaptive ANC mode, however it refused to hush loud sounds as a lot as I wished. I returned to common ANC at its most setting and by no means seemed again.
Transparency mode, alternatively, is a special story. Some earbuds do it effectively, some don’t, and solely three manufacturers do it so effectively that you would be able to barely let you know’re sporting earbuds in any respect: Apple, Bose, and Sony. Truly, make that 4 manufacturers — the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Professional are wonderful at transparency too.
The optionally available auto-switch to transparency mode (or ambient sound as Samsung calls it) when your voice is detected may be very helpful. It doesn’t all the time choose up speech immediately, however more often than not, it kicked in after I spoke a phrase or two, concurrently dropping the amount of my music so I might have a standard dialog.
There’s additionally a “siren detect” possibility inside auto-switch. Because the title suggests, it is going to kick into transparency mode if it hears sirens. Surprisingly for my city setting, I encountered no sirens whereas utilizing the Buds 3 Professional — however the function did produce a number of false positives, normally triggered by related higher-frequency beeps you might hear when a big car is reversing. Arguably, that’s precisely the form of sound the function desires you to listen to. However when a truck is s-l-o-w-l-y backing up, half a block from the place I’m standing, I feel I’m OK with leaving ANC on.
Properly-executed transparency on calls is very precious — with the ability to hear your personal voice clearly makes all of the distinction. In case you use the Buds 3 Professional with a Samsung cellphone, your callers may even hear you with hi-definition readability, due to the corporate’s proprietary Samsung Seamless Codec (SSC). It’s one of many largest causes you must use Samsung’s merchandise in tandem. I’ll speak extra about SSC in a second as a result of it additionally impacts audio high quality.
Battling Bluetooth
The Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Professional don’t do Bluetooth Multipoint (that’s the function that allows you to join two units concurrently), however they do supply Samsung’s seamless switching, which can routinely transfer the connection between units which can be supported by your Samsung account.
In case you don’t register, you might discover that issues get bizarre. As an illustration, I paired the Buds 3 Professional with an iPhone 14, Galaxy S23 Extremely, and a Motorola ThinkPhone. Getting them to change between these units (and keep switched) was usually unattainable with out shutting down Bluetooth on the 2 units I didn’t need. As soon as the buds had been paired with the ThinkPhone, they adamantly refused to depart, even once I informed the ThinkPhone to disconnect from them. They merely bounced proper again.
After efficiently switching from the iPhone to the S23, the buds reverted again to the iPhone moments later.
This ongoing custody battle nothwithstanding, the connection itself was completely secure.
Whereas the Galaxy Buds 3 Professional don’t do Multipoint, they do supply compatibility with one among Bluetooth’s most intriguing new options — Auracast. Auracast lets a cellphone just like the Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely grow to be a Bluetooth radio station of types, broadcasting its audio to anybody inside receiving distance who additionally owns an Auracast-capable set of headphones, earbuds, audio system, or listening to aids.
Simply as intriguing is that, with the Buds 3 Professional linked, a Samsung cellphone with One UI model 6.1 or larger can tune into these broadcasts.
I might see these choices within the settings of my S23 Extremely, however sadly, with out an Auracast broadcast supply, I wasn’t in a position to check them.
Get the Samsung sound
The Galaxy Buds 3 Professional’s audio structure is an enormous step up from their predecessors. They mix a planar driver with a dynamic driver and every is independently amplified. It’s the form of setup that’s uncommon within the wi-fi earbuds world, and once you do discover it, it’s normally in a set of buds which can be aimed squarely at audiophiles, just like the PSB M4U TWM.
I feel they sound nice. Out of the field, with none EQ tweaks, they ship wonderful readability and a bass-forward sound signature that lots of people will get pleasure from. If that’s not your cup of tea, quite a lot of EQ presets, plus a 9-band equalizer, ought to assist you dial within the form of tuning you’re in search of.
However similar to the Galaxy Buds 2 Professional and different Samsung wi-fi earbuds, you gained’t have the ability to maximize the capabilities of the Buds 3 Professional’s twin drivers and amps except you personal a Samsung cellphone. To clarify why, we have to speak about Bluetooth codecs.
For informal listening, I don’t get too hung up on Bluetooth codecs. The usual SBC and AAC codecs that work on 90% of wi-fi earbuds are completely enough for listening to your music in an enormous number of settings, from commuting to creating dinner. These codecs are even much less important when the earbuds in query are of common high quality.
Nevertheless, as I famous above, the Galaxy Buds 3 Professional aren’t common. In case you use them with an iPhone or a non-Samsung Android cellphone, they join utilizing AAC. Once more, AAC is ok. However Samsung’s Seamless Codec (SSC) is healthier. And for those who’re listening to lossless audio and/or hi-res audio in a quiet setting utilizing the Buds 3 Professional, it’s quite a bit higher.
It may be onerous to explain the distinction in phrases. I consider it as tough versus clean. With AAC, which makes use of significantly extra compression, larger frequencies like cymbals, trumpets, or the occasional vocal efficiency can sound abrasive in comparison with SSC, which lets them sound extra pure. Equally, bass components can really feel bloated and poorly outlined underneath AAC. With SSC, they’re extra relaxed and fewer strident.
There are additionally large variations intimately — SSC transmits extra knowledge, so it’s no shock that there’s merely extra of the unique audio that makes its option to your ears.
I examined this in two methods. I linked the Buds 3 Professional and the AirPods Professional to my iPhone 14, and listened to the identical lossless audio tracks from Apple Music on every. I most well-liked the best way the Buds 3 Professional sounded, however that had extra to do with the tonality of the Galaxy buds. In different phrases, they had been shut.
Then I listened to the identical Apple Music tracks once more, however this time with each fashions linked to a Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely. That’s when the Buds 3 Professional demonstrated themselves to be far superior, with a wider, extra detailed soundstage and a separation of devices and components that exposed rather more of the music.
Sadly, the one option to extract this degree of efficiency from the Galaxy Buds 3 Professional is with a Galaxy cellphone with SSC.
To be honest, the variations I heard won’t be completely as a result of SSC. I additionally had adaptive EQ turned on — one among Samsung’s so-called AI options — which could have been serving to out a bit.
Skippable spatial
Spatial audio (or 360 Audio to make use of Samsung’s title) is one other Samsung unique, however I’d be OK giving it up. Like different spatially geared up earbuds, you may select to allow head monitoring, which locks the music in area as you flip your head. Apple’s model of this tech is seamless and really reasonable. On the Buds 3 Professional, it’s a bit jerky as small head actions can usually produce sudden shifts within the obvious location of the audio.
I’m glad Samsung has included it — there are occasions when spatial audio can sound very cool — however I wouldn’t purchase the Buds 3 Professional for it.
AI translation
One other Samsung AI function is real-time translation. The precise translation is carried out by a appropriate Samsung Galaxy cellphone, however for those who’re utilizing the Galaxy Buds 3 Professional, the earbuds hold your finish of the interpretation personal.
It’s not about secrecy (although relying on the dialog, possibly that’s a bonus) as a lot as it’s about making issues extra pure. Why ought to your companion must take heed to their phrases translated right into a international language once you’re the one one who wants to listen to it?
Samsung demoed the function for me on the Galaxy Buds 3 Professional launch. It was a bit sluggish and at occasions it appeared to get confused as to who was speaking. However the half I couldn’t work out was why you wanted the Buds 3 Professional for any of it. Earbuds are earbuds, proper?
In response to Samsung, “audio interpretation is barely out there when sporting Buds and linked to a Samsung Galaxy smartphone. Interpreter function is just not instantly supplied by Buds themselves. If Buds are unavailable, the interpreted content material is supplied on the display screen of your Samsung Galaxy smartphone.” So the buds don’t do the interpretation, however if you wish to hear the interpretation, you want the buds? Yeah, I’m nonetheless confused.
Battery life
Samsung claims the Galaxy Buds 3 Professional get 6 hours of use on a full cost when ANC is on, with 26 hours of whole time once you embrace the charging case. These numbers rise to 7 and 30, respectively, for those who flip ANC off.
These are completely enough numbers for a set of wi-fi earbuds. However extra vital is that the Buds 3 Professional enhance significantly in comparison with their predecessors, which tapped out after 5 hours with ANC on and will barely muster 18 hours in whole.
Samsung’s finest earbuds by far
It’s honest to say that the Galaxy Buds 3 Professional are a serious improve from the Galaxy Buds 2 Professional. They’re comfier and so they have higher ANC, higher transparency, higher audio high quality, and higher battery life. And hey, don’t neglect about these futuristic blade lights.
In case you personal a latest Samsung Galaxy cellphone, these new earbuds (as soon as Samsung fixes that eartip problem) are completely definitely worth the value.
However with out the advantages of Samsung’s Seamless Codec, or the choice of spatial audio, the worth drops off considerably for non-Samsung Android house owners. They’re nonetheless an excellent set of wi-fi earbuds, however you’ll additionally discover loads of different nice choices, and possibly for much less cash.
