If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Apple will feel very praised and flattered when the company sees this barely disguised image of the new and long-awaited Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro. The image, which leaker Evan Blass has given A mosaic filter in what could possibly be an attempt to avoid legal unpleasantness, clearly shows a prominent stem that looks a lot like the design of the AirPods 3 and AirPods Pro 2. But of course, this is nothing like Apple's headphones , because they are white and the Samsung ones look silver. Apart from those who are (could be) white.
As fun as it is to be sarcastic, to be fair to Samsung, there are only a few ways to free up extra space for more hardware in even the best headphones: you can fill the body of the headphones and take your chances. They make them look bulky or more prone to falling out (and therefore not something we can recommend in our guide to the best headphones for small ears), or you can go the stem route. And clearly Samsung has chosen the latter.
Why are Samsung's Galaxy Buds suddenly growing stems?
In fact, we were waiting for the stems, to some extent. Previous reports had said that Samsung would add them to offer better battery life and improve voice call quality. They are believed to have a dual-driver design with Bluetooth 5.4, 24-bit/96kHz high-quality audio, active ANC and active equalizer, and IP57 water and dust resistance. There will be two color options, silver and white.
We're expecting 30 hours of total battery life from the Buds 3 Pro, and six hours before you need to put them back in the case. That's with ANC on and you'll get an extra hour with ANC off.
One of the most intriguing rumors about these buds is the inclusion of something called “blade light”, which has not yet been revealed. If you squint at the filtered image, you may be looking at them in the vertical stripe that runs down the center of the stems.
I am looking forward to listening to these headphones, as their current versions are already among our selection of the best wireless headphones. And we are also looking forward to hearing one more detail, which is still a secret: the price. We were expecting similar prices to the AirPods Pro 2 of $249 / £229 / AU$399, although Samsung could still surprise us.
We should find out soon, as the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 and Buds 3 Pro are expected to launch during or before Samsung Unpacked next month.
