When it comes to wireless earbuds, there are plenty of options to choose from but that doesn’t mean all of them work well with all smartphones. The best earbuds for a Samsung phone would be those from the company itself. Samsung has announced two new earbuds — the Galaxy Buds3 and the Galaxy Buds3 Pro. We have been using the latter for a few hours since its launch in Paris and here are our first impressions.

The new Galaxy Buds look very different from the Galaxy Buds2 and Galaxy Buds2 Pro. Some people may say it’s a familiar design but Samsung has done a good job adding their flavour. The “blade” design itself makes it unique… somewhat triangular around the stems, which have a cool light on it. When you open the case in the dark, the Buds3 Pro has a streak of light across it. Gimmick? Not at all. It helps find the earbuds in the dark or even take out the buds easily from the case in dim lighting conditions. If you accidentally drop it in the plane or car, the light can be a fantastic feature when it comes to searching for the buds.

The “blade” design gives the Buds3 Pro a few advantages. Instead of capacitive touch sensors, the sliding on the stem or the pinching effect works well. The sliding effect appears very effective from the few hours we have had with the Buds3 Pro.

The buds are light and fit snugly in the ears

Another good feature that comes on the buds is voice commands. If you are going for a run or cooking, and you don’t want to use your hands to skip tracks, we can simply say “skip a track” or say “pause/play”.

Staying on with design, there is a nice design touch in the form of the red or blue marking on each stem, so you don’t mix up the buds.

Looking at the case, I am not sure how it can resist scratches but we will find out soon. The case has a flat base, so you can keep the Buds3 Pro in any orientation. Looking at the geometry of the earbuds, they should fit well for most people. The comfort and fit are fantastic, even without a wingtip, which is something I don’t personally prefer.

Sound profile

Let’s talk about active noise cancellation. Within ANC there is adaptive ANC. The feature on its own does well but in adaptive ANC it’s like an invisible feature. In a quiet environment, it turns on your ambient noise but when you start walking, it will kind of turn that down. Then when we go into a louder environment, everything is much quieter; ANC is in full-blast mode. And it’s quite impressive. If you have a siren or an ambulance around you, it will turn on aware mode, so you can hear your surroundings. The adaptive EQ feature utilises the internal and external microphones on the earbuds to adjust the sound in real-time. It’s something that’s also found on Apple AirPods.

You can control all the settings from the companion app

These are great-sounding Galaxy Buds I have come across and Samsung is moving in the right direction, giving users a more premium sound. There are dual drivers and these have dual amplifiers as well. So you are getting a planar tweeter and a dynamic woofer, ensuring less distortion in the lows. Using the equaliser in the app makes the sound even better.

Diving deeper, the pair of wireless earbuds comes with enhanced two-way speakers with planar tweeter for precise high range sound production, and dual amplifiers for a crystal-clear sound experience on the go. One big difference between the two wireless sound cans that have launched is the two-way speakers on the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro. Samsung has paired a 10.5mm dynamic driver with dual amplifiers and a 6.1mm planar tweeter.

Lights glow on the stem, making it easy to spot the earbuds if you misplace them

The overall sound is consumer centric and out of the box, most people won’t change the sound from the EQ.

When using poor-quality earbuds, I constantly turn up the volume to look for details in the sound. Here, you can hear the details at low volumes, even at 20-25 per cent.

Another cool feature: The adaptive EQ calibrates the sound for your ears or essentially a more ideal sound. You can always use the EQ on the app and adjust but the technology makes the sound more natural.

The earbuds are rated IP57 against dust and water. Samsung’s proprietary Bluetooth codec is now capable of wirelessly streaming up to 24-bit / 96kHz audio so long as you use the Buds 3 / 3 Pro with one of the company’s recent phones. Though Samsung Seamless Codec is only available with certain Galaxy devices, the buds’ default audio codec is AAC, which sounds just fine.

Improvements in how sound processing is done have also helped on the microphone front and you can hear voices far more clearly. The microphones are pointing down towards your mouth, which should allow substantial improvements. One thing to keep in mind: We don’t know how wind will affect when it hits the triangular shape of the buds.

To improve overall voice quality, the company added a Super Wideband calls tool that allows Galaxy Buds 3 to transmit voice up to 16kHz. Samsung says previous earbuds only used up to the 8kHz band. Also employed are machine-learning models to battle background noise when you’re speaking.

Some AI features

One Galaxy-exclusive feature that Samsung has talked about is its Interpreter feature that’s part of Galaxy AI. “If you’re attending a class in a foreign language, you can turn on Interpreter in Listening mode on the Galaxy Z Fold 6 or Flip 6 with Buds 3 series plugged into your ears,” Samsung says. “This will allow you to hear the lecture translated directly through your Buds, removing language barriers that may exist in your studies.”

The pros on the device don’t stop there: You get longer battery life, lasting up to six hours on a charge with ANC on or a total of 26 hours including case recharges. The Buds 3 can hit five and 24 hours.

The sound cans come in a case that can be kept in any orientation

Samsung has also launched the Galaxy Buds3, which comes with an open-style design for people who don’t like the feeling of having their ears plugged up. In terms of sound, both are top-notch and offer good active noise cancellation. The Buds 3 are missing the dual amps and a transparency mode (they’re open earbuds, so you don’t need it).

With the arrival of the new buds, many may miss the Buds 2 Pro, especially the bean-shaped Buds Live. But Samsung has revamped its collection of wireless earbuds and it takes aim squarely at Apple’s AirPods. So far I love the new look and, of course, the sound profile.

At a glance

Device: Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro

High notes

Excellent soundstage

The companion app has plenty of features

Adaptive EQ features work well

Good battery life

Fits snugly in the ears