The Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 are here. The long-awaited successors to 2021's Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 were announced by Samsung at its Samsung Unpacked event on 10 July 2024.
The launch confirms many of the rumors we've been hearing about the Galaxy Buds 3 and the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro: in the days leading up to the launch we saw multiple leaks including Galaxy Buds 3 unboxing videos and leaked Galaxy Buds 3 images.
There's a new design with AirPods-like ear sticks, active noise cancellation, a new 11mm driver, and AI-powered features including a voice-call booster and a translation tool that kicks in automatically when it detects someone speaking in another language (if you have the right Samsung phones).
Both sets of buds, the Buds 3 and the Buds 3 Pro, were launched alongside the latest generations of other key Samsungs, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6. You can read our hands-on experience with all these devices – here's our Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 hands-on, here's our Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 hands-on, our Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 hands-on, our Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra hands-on, and our Samsung Galaxy Ring hands-on.
Here's what you need to know.
Samsung Galaxy Buds 3: price & release date
The Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 were launched at Samsung Unpacked on 10 July 2024, with pre-orders going live on the same day.
The Buds 3 are $179 / £159 (with no official word on an Australian launch yet) and customers who pre-order via Samsung.com by 23 July will get a free protective Clip Case.
That price is slightly more expensive than the Galaxy Buds 2 and original Galaxy Buds. Both of those earbuds launched at $150 / £139 / AU$219. This time around Samsung is pricing its earbuds basically the same as Apple's AirPods 3, which launched at $179 / £169 / AU$279 in October 2021. However, that AirPods model doesn't include active noise cancellation. The Galaxy Buds 3 do.
If you're looking for something more affordable, the Nothing Ear (a) arrived in April 2024 with a price tag of $99 / £99 / AU$192, which equals the Samsung Galaxy Buds FE's price – but the Nothing outperform Samsung's most budget-friendly Buds. We'll see how they compare to these soon.
Samsung Galaxy Buds 3: what's new?
The new Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 have been redesigned to make them more comfortable, and they now feature a stick on the bottom, much like AirPods. You can squeeze and swipe this stick to control them. They're rated IP57 for dust and water resistance, and Samsung says you can expect up to 5 hours per bud with ANC on and 6 hours with it off. Total listening time is up to 24 hours with ANC and 30 hours without.
Samsung's output has typically only managed about five hours of playtime on a single charge, and that's the case again here; rivals such as the Sony WF-C700N manage 7.5 hours , and although the overall battery life from the older, still inexpensive Sony WF-C500 isn't amazing (there's only one extra charge in the case) you'll get 10 hours from the earbuds alone. We really hoped for a little extra stamina from Samsung's newest buds.
The Buds3 have an 11mm dynamic driver to provide the sound, and support 24-bit Hi-Fi audio and 360 Audio spatial sound on compatible devices – meaning the Samsung Galaxy S23 or later, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 or later, and the Galaxy Tab S9 series. Bluetooth is 5.4 with auto switching, and in addition to the familiar SBC and AAC codecs the Buds 3 also support Samsung Seamless Codec (SSC) in both its Hi-Fi and UHQ flavours. ANC is included, but you don't get the ambient sound modes that the Buds 3 Pro will deliver.
Each earbud weighs 4.7g and you currently have a choice of silver or white models.
As expected, Samsung has gone all-in on AI with these new buds. If you have a Galaxy Z Fold 6 or Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6, you can use your Buds with the Interpreter feature to listen with real-time language translation. And the mics in the Buds 3 can adjust the ANC quality based on what your earbud mics can hear, tweaking the sound settings automatically with both Adaptive EQ and Adaptive ANC.
There's also a Super-Wideband Call feature, uses AI to 'restore' the voice of a caller in terrible conditions, and promises far clearer voice calls, though we'll have to see how that holds up in practise.
Samsung Galaxy Buds 3: leaks and rumors
Tthe most recent leak was a Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 unboxing video along with more leaked images. And just days before, notable industry leaker Evan Blass posted new high resolution photographs of two pairs of Galaxy Buds and two Galaxy Watch models on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter).
We've also seen a regulatory filing that gave us an early look at the Galaxy Buds 3. From that leak it appeared that the design of the earbuds had been tweaked slightly, giving off Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus vibes.
That leak didn't tally with more recent AirPods-esque stem design images, but those claimed to be for the Buds 3 Pro, which look significantly different to their siblings: Samsung is looking to launch (ahem) a stem sell experiment in its flagship Buds. Recent leaks also nod to a 'pinch' functionality, pointing to a similar feature in the AirPods Pro 2, and "blade lights", which are LED strips down the stems of the Buds 3 Pro.
More leaked images, shown in the tweet below, reveal a stylish and rather futuristic, AirPods-esque look, and a charging case to match. They certainly look like a quality pair of earbuds from this leak.
갤럭시 버즈3의 제품 이미지가 쿠팡에서 발견되었습니다. pic.twitter.com/aCWUEyigVdJune 20, 2024
One rumor that got our hopes up was the secret unveiling (which sounds like an oxymoron, but is essentially what happened) of a Samsung earbuds case with a screen – though that appears to be only a concept so far. Samsung says it has no plans to release this as an actual product, so sadly we're not going to see them on the Galaxy Buds 3.
One other thing we've seen recently is that the Galaxy Buds 2 now support real time translation, courtesy of the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy AI. Samsung has also gone on the record as saying more advanced health features are on the way, and the Galaxy Buds 3 could well play a part in that. Leaked promotional items for the next generation of Z Fold and Z Flip phones are pushing Samsung's Galaxy AI hard, so it's possible we'll see more of an AI focus in the Buds 3 Pro too. Leaked Buds 3 Pro marketing images have the tagline "where audio meets AI", although we don't yet know what that meeting actually entails.
