Samsung - Galaxy Buds3 Wireless Earbud Headphones - Silver

[Employee of bestbuy] If you have a previous pair of Samsung Buds, you already know what you are getting into, if you don't keep reading. The Buds 3 have a very distinctive shape, that in my opinion, goes on the right direction, the triangular stems do facilitate swipe gestures but sacrifices the pinch by making it harder to keep steady while you do it. Audio quality along a Galaxy Device is really good, 8/10. Custom equalizer makes it shine tbh, people that buy this for sound mostly please do you research on how to reach your preferred sound profile to maximize this feature, trust me, it's worth the investment. Battery life is decent, bigger than my previous buds, by I am biased since I dont do long listening sessions. Case feels sturdy, very rigid, makes a nice clamp that hopefully doesn't softens up with time. My biggest surprise is how good the ANC is, IEMs are my preferred types of headphones, but since 3 Pros were pulled back I decided to give this a shot and boy I am not disappointed. Coming from XM5s and QC Ultra, this are very competitive on the field, but not as good due to design factor. Earbuds will never reach the same isolation as ANC, but this buds provide a more than solid experience avoiding noise. These are strong pair of earbuds the definitely outperform 95% of earbuds within the range, of course, in the right hands.

When I first got these earbuds I was super excited because I really wanted an earbud that fit an Apple Airpod but for Samsung. The redesigned Galaxy Buds3 is very similar to the Airpods 3rd gen in terms of shape, but I really like the stem controller better. Unfortunately the Galaxy Buds3 had 2 major downsides that are major factors in my decision return. 1. They don't have the ambient noise option that is included in the Buds 3 Pro version, which is a must for me because I use my earbuds at work and being able to hear various work-related notifications/conversations/etc. while still being able to listen to music is very important to me. 2. I have small ears (I have to use child-size in-ear hearing protection if I'm working in loud environments instead the regular sdult versions) and the Buds3 are just slightly too big for me to wear comfortably for more than 30 minutes at a time. It's also hard to keep them in my ears and I've had them fall out on more than one occasion if I turn or raise my headntoo fast. That being said, I really wanted to keep the Buds3 because the sound quality is better than the older Galaxy Buds I have and I found the touch gestures for the stems to be easy to learn/remember. The Galaxy Buds3 are a great addtion to the Samsung family, they just don't work for me specifically. Picture is of the right earbud for the Samsung Galaxy Buds3 (upper left) Apple Airpod 2nd gen (upper right), and Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro 1 (bottom center) for size comparison.

Great sound however slips out the ear often, easy to connect to Bluetooth volume features simple and location features are great when lost

The build quality is good, but the sound quality is disappointing. The audio is muddy, especially in rock tracks with a wide soundstage and many layered instruments. I tried adjusting the EQ, but it didn't help. I also enabled Ultra High Quality (UHQ) audio 96 kHz, and that didn't improve the sound either. tested them with a Samsung S23 Ultra. My wife has the AirPods 4 ANC, and even though they're Apple and I'm using Samsung, they still sound noticeably better - wider, deeper, and more detailed. I also have an old and cheap pair of QCY QS2, and honestly, even those sound clearer than the Galaxy Buds 3. I additionally tested the EarFun Air Pro 4 Plus - they are much better than the Galaxy Buds 3 in all ways. The only issue is that sometimes the vocals feel like they're coming from behind instead of in front, which is noticeable in movies, and in songs like "Nickelback - If Today Was Your Last Day" the vocals sound muffled. The Galaxy Buds 3 are probably fine as a headset for calls - the microphones are good - but they are not suitable for music listening. The ANC is also weak, much weaker than on the AirPods 4 ANC. In the end, I bought the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro. The sound quality is much better than the regular Galaxy Buds 3, and they work great with my Samsung phone. If I wasn't using Samsung, I would probably stick with the EarFun Air Pro 4 Plus.

These earbuds sound great and have a long battery life.