Hot on the heels of a blurry but still very revealing Galaxy Buds 3 Pro leak last week, the other big AirPods rival prepped by Samsung for an impending launch is today showing its face in
a couple of much clearer pictures.
These are almost certainly legit, and in addition to disclosing (or rather confirming) the design of the non-Pro Galaxy Buds 3, they strongly suggest Samsung’s next big wireless earbuds will go on sale soon. Possibly, sooner than previously expected, as retailers around the world may have already started to receive Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 inventory.
New design, improved audio technology, and a lot of question marks
The company’s summer Unpacked event this year, mind you, is all but guaranteed to take place on July 10, which means that there’s now a pretty good chance to see both the Buds 3 and Buds 3 Pro unveiled and perhaps even commercially released prior to that date.
Whether or not that will prove to be the case, a new look for the Galaxy Buds 3 compared to both the Galaxy Buds 2 and Galaxy Buds 2 Pro is now just about etched in stone. Like the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, these bad boys are expected to (more or less) resemble Apple’s AirPods 3 and AirPods Pro 2, as well as countless other stem-styled earbuds on the market today.
The leaked Galaxy Buds 3 design is radically different from the appearance of the existing Galaxy Buds 2 and Buds 2 Pro.
This revised appearance may or may not help with a wearer’s all-day comfort, but based on previous speculation, the audio performance should get an important improvement either way. An AKG logo will apparently grace the Galaxy Buds 3’s body, suggesting Samsung’s long-term acoustics engineering partner might work its magic in more complex and sophisticated ways than ever.
The backside of the presumably real retail box leaked today unsurprisingly reveals that the Galaxy Buds 3 will support fast charging technology and deliver up to six hours of uninterrupted listening time between (full) charges.
Will the Galaxy Buds 3 offer better battery life than the Galaxy Buds 2 or not?
That could represent an upgrade over the five-hour endurance rating of the Galaxy Buds 2 with active noise cancellation enabled… or a downgrade compared to the seven and a half hours of juice provided by the same 2021-released product with ANC switched off.
Of course, we don’t even know for sure just yet if the Galaxy Buds 3 will be equipped with noise-cancelling technology to begin with, although that certainly feels like a guarantee after Samsung released the budget-friendly Galaxy Buds FE with ANC last year.
The Galaxy Buds 3 should deliver respectable (at the very least) battery life.
The Buds FE make it pretty difficult to anticipate the recommended price of the Galaxy Buds 3, but something tells us all our questions will be answered very soon. Until then, if you want our best (educated) guesses, we think we’ll go with $200 for the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro and around $150 as far as their non-Pro sibling is concerned.
The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro, in case you’re wondering, are “typically” available for $230 a pair (although they’re actually much easier to find at reduced prices of $160 or less), while the non-Pro Galaxy Buds used to cost exactly $150 back in the day, dropping many times in recent months to $100 and even (well) below that mark at a number of major US retailers.
Because Samsung’s AirPods alternatives are sure to bid for the title of best wireless earbuds money can buy in 2024, those guesstimated price points could well be justified by the aforementioned sound quality upgrades and other possible improvements in the active noise cancellation, battery life, and yes, AI functionality departments.