The Galaxy Buds 3 Pro had a rocky start, but you should give them a chance

This year, seemingly more than ever, we’ve seen tech launches stumble out of the gate. From the Rabbit R1 arriving with only a fraction of the capabilities promised at CES to the Motorola Moto G Play (2024) promising less than one full year of software support, there’s been plenty to scratch our heads over. Even Samsung flew too close to the sun, delaying its Galaxy Buds 3 Pro after many early issues popped up.

However, Samsung has since fixed those flaws, turning its top-end earbuds into one of my favorite accessories of the year, and I still think there’s time for you to give them a chance.

Samsung’s problems were never about the sound

Unlike the Moto G Play, which skipped out on, well, everything to hit an incredibly low price, and the R1, which just didn’t do what it was advertised to do, the problems with the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro were all about quality control. Users complained about ear tips that were so soft they tore when removed, earbuds that sat at different heights in the charging case, issues with the embedded LED strips, and even more. I didn’t personally have those issues with my pair, but they were certainly widespread enough for me to tell friends and family to wait until Samsung made repairs before buying new ‘buds.

However, the good news about quality control is that it can be… controlled. Samsung quickly stopped selling its Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, delaying any orders that had already been placed until it could ensure that the earbuds being shipped met the correct standards. Ultimately, that delay lasted about a month, pushing the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro from late July to late August before they started to ship like normal — which also means they’ve been shipping without issue for a full three months at this point.

Anyway, you might have noticed one very important piece of all this — Samsung’s issues had nothing to do with the sound of the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro. If they did, I probably would have lumped these ‘buds into the same hall of shame that currently houses the Moto G Play (2024) and Rabbit R1, but I’m happy to say I don’t have to do so. I could have put them there for the funky triangular ear stems, too, but I’ve come to like pinching the flat surface to control my music.

I can’t argue with comfortable earbuds

As soon as you get past the initial quality control issues (and maybe that the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro look suspiciously like Apple’s AirPods Pro), you quickly realize that this is one comfortable set of really good earbuds. Because I was lucky enough to escape those initial problems with fit and finish, I’ve been able to bounce my Galaxy Buds 3 Pro from one review device to another since late summer, pairing them with everything from the Galaxy Z Flip 6 to Google’s entire Pixel 9 lineup, enjoying them all the way through. Yes, the ear tips might have been too soft at first, but I’ll take that in-ear softness all day long when it means I can keep the earbuds in for hours.

On top of the comfort, I really like the way the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro sound. I usually run in the Shokz OpenRun Pro, which means I’ve gotten used to a life without soft instruments or bass, but Samsung’s premium earbuds bring all that back. As much as I appreciate the safety of hearing oncoming cars while wearing bone-conduction headphones, I have to admit that I missed having reliable noise canceling like I get from the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro.

Noise canceling isn’t perfect — our audiophile friends at SoundGuys have informed us that it blocks slightly less sound than the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro — but to my untrained ear, it’s a game-changer when working in a loud coffee shop. I can easily block out the sounds of a coffee grinder and the chatter of orders at the bar, but Samsung’s adaptive pass-through means I can have a quick chat with a friend or two who stops by, too.

So far, the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro have come with me for a cross-country trip to the Pixel 9 event, a trip to Europe to run the Amsterdam Marathon, and several trips home as my pocket-friendly way to tune out my family after a few hours of visiting. I can’t recommend them enough — especially with holiday travel coming up. In fact, the upcoming holidays might be the best reason to upgrade your earbuds, as the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro are temporarily down to $189 ($60 off) for Black Friday with a $20 Amazon gift card, and you can grab a pair at the widget below.