Don’t call them "stems" – the new Samsung Galaxy Buds3 series has "blades." You can pinch the blades to control playback and swipe up and down to adjust volume. The new buds also come in redesigned cases and feature a host of AI features. The Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro have 2-way speakers with 6.1mm planar tweeters and 10.5mm dynamic drivers, plus dual amps. The SSC codec has been updated to support double the sampling rate for enhanced sound quality.
The Pro has Active Noise Cancellation, of
course, and its microphones are constantly monitoring the environment with
features like Active Noise Control, Siren Detect and Voice Detect. The latter
two will automatically pipe in ambient sound so that you can hear what is happening
around you. Additionally, a machine learning model will help out with noise
coming from the other end during calls – it has been trained to recreate a
natural-sounding voice, even if the audio comes from a noisy environment. With
the Super-Wideband feature, the Buds can transmit voice at 16kHz, double what
normal Bluetooth buds can manage.
The style of the Galaxy Buds3 Pro is
complemented with the exclusive Blade Lights. This is a light strip that runs
down the edge of the stem, sorry, the blade. You can use the Wearable app to
customize the lighting style. The Samsung Galaxy Buds3 are the more affordable
option. They have 1-way dynamic drivers (11mm), while still offering Adaptive
ANC and Adaptive EQ to adjust sound based on environmental factors. Also, these
have an open design, which is more comfortable for extended wear (but the canal
type design of the Pro offers more passive noise isolation).
The redesigned cases have transparent tops
and the same battery capacity, 515mAh. However, the Pro buds have a slightly
larger 53mAh battery in each bud and can last up to 6 hours with ANC enabled
and a total of 26 hours with help from the case (or up to 7 hours/30 hours with
ANC disabled). The Buds3 have 48mAh batteries in each bud and promise 5 hours
of continuous listening and up to 24 hours total with ANC enabled (or 6
hours/30 hours with ANC off). Both the vanilla and the Pro buds support Galaxy
AI features like Interpreter mode – using Listening mode, you can listen to a
lecture in a foreign language with your Galaxy phone and buds providing a
translation to your native tongue.
Samsung used computational design for both
buds to ensure a better, more comfortable fit. This time around, both Buds3
models have the same dust and water resistance – IP57 (up from IPX2 on the
Buds2 and IPX7 on the Buds2 Pro). This is only for the buds and not the case,
though. Anyway, the Buds3 series is part of Samsung’s sustainability initiative
and features recycled plastic from discarded fishing nets and water barrels.
The Buds3 series goes on pre-order today and will be available from July 24.
They come in two colors, Silver and White.
The Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro are priced at US$ 250 / £ 220 / € 250, while the vanilla Galaxy Buds3 are US$ 180 / £ 160 / € 180. For
comparison, those prices are US$ 30 higher than the Buds2 models.
