Skip to content
Nungeum

Tech · Samsung · 2024

Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro

Paired with a Galaxy phone the money goes furthest here; on any other Android, much of it is idle.

The phone in your pocket rewrites this order — #2

Overall

8.2

out of 10

Axis scores

Tech is scored on these 5 axes. The total is their plain average — nothing is weighted.

Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro — axis scores out of 10Horizontal bar chart of editorial scores out of 10 across 5 axes. Bars run from a shared zero baseline; longer is better. Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro: Performance 8.3, Value 8.0, Durability 7.6, Ease of use 8.8, Design 8.2.PerformanceSamsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro — Performance 8.3 out of 108.3ValueSamsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro — Value 8.0 out of 108.0DurabilitySamsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro — Durability 7.6 out of 107.6Ease of useSamsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro — Ease of use 8.8 out of 108.8DesignSamsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro — Design 8.2 out of 108.2Editorial score out of 10 — higher is better
  • Performance — How well it does the core job
  • Value — What the same money buys elsewhere
  • Durability — Failure and fade reports past the one-year mark
  • Ease of use — Setup, daily operation, cleaning, maintenance
  • Design — Build quality and how it sits in a room

Specs

Codecs
SBC, AAC, SSC (Galaxy only)
Battery
About 6 hrs with ANC on
Shape
Stem
Water resistance
IP57

As published by the manufacturer. We didn't measure these ourselves.

Is it for you

Buy it if

  • A Galaxy phone, where the 24-bit codec is actually available
  • You switch between Samsung devices through the day
  • Warranty service you can walk into rather than mail in

Skip it if

  • An iPhone is your main phone
  • Stem-shaped buds are not your thing

On the Galaxy side these do what AirPods do inside Apple’s ecosystem, and more completely than most third-party attempts manage. Switching between a Galaxy phone, tablet, and watch happens automatically, battery levels surface in the notification shade, and the settings live inside the phone instead of in an app you forget you installed.

SSC is the technical headline. It carries 24-bit audio over Bluetooth and is available only on Galaxy hardware with the feature enabled. On compatible material through these drivers the difference over AAC is audible if you are listening for it, and irrelevant if you are on a bus.

Owners of the previous bean-shaped models argued about the move to a stem, and fit changed substantially with it. People who found the old shape comfortable do not automatically find this one comfortable, and the reverse holds too. The IP57 rating is the best in this group and makes these the most workout-tolerant pair here.

Cancellation is good without leading the category. It sits behind Sony and Bose, comfortably ahead of the budget field.

Pair them with an iPhone and you fall back to AAC with no companion app, which removes the codec advantage and the integration at once. AirPods present the same trap in reverse, and that is why these notes tie the recommendation to the phone you already own.

Last updated . The scoring method is on how we rank.