I know this question has been asked a lot but my situation is a bit different, I have the airpods pro 2 for a year and a half, the sound is amazing and all it's features and it's been 6 months I switched from iPhone to a samsung phone s24, the connectivity is good the airpods automatically block out noise from outside but I'm considering switching to galaxy buds 3 pro, main reasons are: being able to find em in gps and better sound. So what are the main differences? And people who have both which one seems better? Let me know :)

Finally got my hands on the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro and I'm loving it so far! I was able to pick them up at BB today on August 23rd, but initially received an email on Aug. 22nd that it was ready for pick up, just an hour before midnight hit.

I also own a pair of airpods pro 2(USBC) and I think the galaxy buds 3 pro seem a little bit better overall in sound quality and ANC as far as what I can tell switching back and forth when I was testing them. The difference is not substantial by any means, but I prefer the Galaxy Buds 3 pro a little bit more not only because of the active voice command, but also because you can tune it how you want the sound to be aka Equalizer as well as being able to adjust the level of noise cancelation all of which you cannot do on any earbuds or airpods.

However the only gripe I have with the buds 3 pro is the design in terms of the stem blade and how the earbuds are mounted in the case makes them feel awkward. Don't get me wrong, the blade design, to me looks very aesthetic, but when it comes to functionality like pinching pause/play, swipe up/down for volume does not feel natural compared to a more rounded design found on the airpods pro 2 where it is more natural to operate. Anyways, I found myself constantly trying to angle my fingers to grip the stem of the galaxy buds when operating it. Then the outward position that these earbuds are mounted into the case is such a horrible idea because I found myself fiddling, spinning, dropping the buds way more than I should whenever I take them out of the case to wear them then putting them back in the case, so it feels extremely awkward. I think having them positioned inward like the airpods would have been a smarter move, so it feels more natural and less awkward. I was able to successfully remove the eartips to put on the L size ones, but I had to put more effort into removing it than I would with the airpods.

Later on the day when I was testing the voice commands feature like the Stop Music, Play Music, I discovered that the right earbud is only being used as a mic for the voice command while both are worn which may or may not be intentional for saving battery life. However if you choose to only use one earbud in one ear, mic may be disabled, so voice commands will not work. To enable the mic again, you have to remove them out of your ear and place it back in the ear again. I think you have to do this to tell the earbuds you are only using one of the earbuds, so it can toggle on the mic on that one ear. I think you shouldn't have to do this since one of the earbuds is already in the case, so this may be a bug Samsung needs to fix. FYI, I tested this using a pair of earmuffs :) Happy Earbuds 3 Pro for those who finally received them!

Please note that using the right type and size of ear tips can play a huge factor to determining how the ANC performs. I have both the airpods pro 2(USBC) and the galaxy buds 3 pro and I've extensively been testing them.

Without digging too deep into the testing, I had the foam eartips (by CharJenPro for those wondering) on the airpods, which btw is the best foam tips I've found that actually last long since it is made of hybrid material but still foam tips. Considering foam tips give a better and tighter seal in ears, it will perform better when canceling noise. I had the stock silicone eartips on the galaxy buds 3 pro with the right size tips.

With that said, the airpods should perform better than the galaxy buds 3 pro since it's rocking the foam eartips when it comes to ANC, but surprisingly, that is not the case. In the testing, I had my loud AC blowing right below me, TV on medium volume and repeatedly switched between the two buds constantly toggling ANC. To my surprise, the galaxy buds 3 pro had noticeably better noise cancelation. This is probably because the airpods auto adjust ANC level based on environment, so ANC probably wasn't at its max, whereas with the galaxy buds 3 pro, there's an option to adjust the level of NC but it is always on max so this could be another factor.

I've ordered a pair of foam tips for the Galaxy Buds 3 pro and I can give an update once I get them to see if there's actually any improvement on ANC. My prediction is that it will, probably not by a lot, but will be noticeable. Although, there's this slight white noise that I hear on the galaxy buds 3 pro, which is not present on the Airpods pro 2. Not a deal breaker since it probably could be fixed via software update and you can only notice it if you try to listen for it. I did a real life test of the buds at work. Setting is at a warehouse environment, loud machines/conveyors constantly running, and found that the galaxy buds 3 pro blocking more noise than the airpods pro 2, which is impressive.

Update first impression: I was surprised on how good they fit, so I no longer have to feel like I have to keep adjusting. The M and L size fits perfect but lean more towards L especially working 10 hr shifts 40 hrs a week so it doesn't come loose often after a long period of time. The M can probably be good if I want a little less pressure off but no difference in terms of NC between M and L. Both stock silicone eartips and foam feel equally comfortable. After long 10 hr shifts, I can say that both stock tips and foam tips have not given me ear fatigue.

Does the foam tips actually improve ANC!? Yes especially in a warehouse setting/environment where there is constant loud and excessive noise coming from machines and conveyors around you. You probably won't even notice any difference if you're just testing them in your house with TV or AC on which I did and hardly noticed a difference which goes to show how good the stock silicone tips really are so props to Samsung despite the QC on them! Stocks are actually that good on canceling out noise too and I can see why some might feel more comfortable wearing them over the foam tips since there is no pressure seal like the foams tips make your ears feel. I found that the foam tips are more consistent with canceling out noise since the foam tips grips into your ear canals better. Bad thing is foam tips are known to wear out substantially faster and the silicone last forever unless it's gone through QC and gets ripped apart like some people experience.

Comparaison des écouteurs (AirPods Pro 2 vs Galaxy Buds 3 Pro)

J'ai toujours été un utilisateur d'Android, mais il y a un an, j'ai décidé de migrer vers Apple. J'ai acheté un iPhone 14 Pro, le plus moderne de l'époque. J'ai cependant eu du mal à m'adapter, notamment par rapport à la sensibilité du clavier et de l'écran tactile. Un problème spécifique était l’envoi d’audios via WhatsApp, qui buguait toujours, rendant cette tâche extrêmement difficile, tant sur WhatsApp que sur Instagram. Je soupçonnais que cela pouvait être lié au fait que j'étais gaucher.

J'ai décidé de persévérer et de m'adapter, estimant que la difficulté était de mon côté. J'ai rejoint des groupes d'utilisateurs d'iPhone, posé des questions et suivi plusieurs conseils. J'ai également acheté un AirPods Pro 2, qui a été un succès absolu. Le téléphone m'a surpris par sa qualité, surtout lorsque je travaille avec la suppression active du bruit (ANC), me permettant de me concentrer sur mon travail, ainsi que de passer des appels téléphoniques et WhatsApp sur mon Samsung Galaxy Book 3 360, qui n'est pas un appareil Apple. Les AirPod ont également très bien fonctionné pour les vidéoconférences via Zoom, Teams, Meet et d'autres applications sous Windows.

Quelque temps plus tard, j'ai reçu un iPhone 15 Pro Max peu de temps après son lancement. Malgré des difficultés persistantes avec le clavier et l’envoi de son sur WhatsApp, les AirPods Pro 2 ont continué à offrir des performances impeccables. Appels téléphoniques, suppression du bruit, mode ambiant : tout a parfaitement fonctionné, sans problème.

Malheureusement, j'ai été cambriolé et mon iPhone 15 Pro Max a été volé. J'ai recommencé à utiliser mon Samsung Galaxy S23 de sauvegarde. À ma grande surprise, les AirPods Pro 2 ont parfaitement fonctionné avec le Samsung, même si j'ai perdu certaines fonctionnalités faute d'avoir l'application de gestion. Pourtant, j'ai pu basculer entre le mode ambiant et l'ANC et activer la détection automatique des conversations. J'ai seulement perdu la visibilité de la batterie et l'audio spatial.

Lorsque Samsung a lancé (sans succès) les Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, j’étais curieux. J'ai acheté le modèle pour essayer de maintenir tout mon écosystème Samsung. La comparaison avec les AirPods Pro 2 était inévitable, et les Galaxy Buds 3 Pro étaient en retard sur plusieurs aspects :

• Emballage : inférieur

• Conseils : qualité inférieure et quantité limitée

• Terminer : inférieur

• Design : plus grand et moins ergonomique

• Plage de connexion : plus petite que celle des AirPods, même lors de l'utilisation d'appareils Samsung

• Autonomie de la batterie : inférieure

• Qualité sonore : bien que les deux soient bons, les Buds ont des basses plus intenses, tandis que les AirPods ont un son plus équilibré et harmonieux, bien qu'avec des basses moins prononcées

• ANC (Noise Cancellation) : imprécis et moins efficace sur les Galaxy Buds 3 Pro

• Microphones : excellents et meilleurs sur les Buds

Un point crucial pour moi était le microphone. Dans les Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, il existe une technologie qui filtre efficacement le bruit lors des appels téléphoniques et WhatsApp. Dans les environnements bruyants, le casque traite ma voix, mais en contrepartie, elle perd en fidélité. Les AirPods Pro 2 transmettent ma voix avec une plus grande clarté, mais sans une fonction de suppression du bruit aussi efficace.

Maintenant, je suis confronté à un dilemme : quel téléphone dois-je acheter ?

De plus, j'ai identifié un problème avec les Galaxy Buds 3 Pro Lorsque le couplage rapide est activé et que les écouteurs sont connectés à plusieurs appareils, ils génèrent un bourdonnement ou un sifflement intermittent, en particulier lorsque le mode ANC ou ambiant est activé et que les écouteurs sont activés. ne joue pas de son. Ce problème s'est produit à la fois sur mon téléphone portable et sur mon ordinateur portable Samsung.

La solution temporaire consistait à désactiver le couplage rapide dans l'application. Le problème s'est atténué depuis, mais je pense qu'il s'agit d'un problème matériel, peut-être d'une interférence lors du couplage, qui affecte l'ANC. Je ne sais pas si une mise à jour résoudra le problème

TL;DR: I like the buds 3 pro better but if you already have the 2 pros and planning to upgrade, I'd say wait for a deal/discount.

Improvements from 2 to 3:

• I feel the Audio Quality is better. If the buds 2 Pro were a 8/10 I'd say 3 Pro is a 10/10. It's a bit better with the latest software upgrade of the galaxy S23 and S24 that includes the UHQ option with 96 khz sample rate, noticeable only on Samsung Music at the moment of this review. With this option the audio is slightly louder and crispier if you're playing songs downloaded to your phone thru Samsung music compared to Spotify's highest quality setting. The UHQ improvement is not very noticeable if you aren't and audiophile. I had to compare them one right after the other to tell the difference.

• I like the fit of 3 pros better. It's not like I had an issue with the 2's, but I feel 3's better.

• Ambient sound feels more natural. With 2's I could hear people talking the quality felt dull. I don't even remove 3's from my ear to listen to others.

• ANC improved significantly, although ANC occasionally fluctuates depending on what kind of noise you are around.

Neutral:

• Touch commands are not better nor worse, but they're different. It took me a day or two to get used to the pinch system, there's a specific spot you need to touch, and you need 2 fingers. Buds 2 pros you can touch anywhere (one finger tap).

Worst:

• Some people got defective buds 3 pros and I know Samsung did a QA recall. I was one of the lucky ones that received a perfectly working pair but was kind of skeptical at first.

• Battery life for me works around 4-5 hours straight at max volume with ANC. (about 1-2 hours less than 2's).

• I didn't need to remove the tips but they look extremely hard to remove, feels like they're going to break by trying to. Many people broke them by accident. I preferred not messing with them since the medium tips fits me right.

New features:

• Voice commands works great. It's great to switch skip songs or stop/play music when you have your hands busy like if you are working out at the gym or cooking. I'd say they work 8 out of 10 times for me, and I have a latino accent.

• Adaptive ANC: This is a joke. It fluctuates a lot and it's annoying.

• Lights: you can turn the lights on just to show off. They look nicer, at the expense of ~1hr of battery life. They're off by default and you have to turn them on manually by removing the buds from your ears, releasing them, pinching them at the same time. You'll get a notification on your phone reminding you they're on. They will turn off when there's 30% battery left.

What I'd like to see in the next update:

• An option to turn on the lights automatically when music is playing with ANC, basically telling others "I can't hear you".

• An option to turn ANC on when music is playing and ambient sound when you stop music automatically. When I'm listening to music I have to manually stop it, then punch/hold the buds dorya few seconds to turn ANC off. I don't see a point of turning ANC on if you are not listening to anything. I know there's an option for voice detect but it drains your battery faster.

What new features would you like to see?

I can get the Galaxy buds3 Pro for 140 euro with a sale and cashback with Samsung, i also have an Samsung phone which makes it connect a lot better.

I already have airpods 2nd gen, but I want good noise cancellation on my earphones, I don't know if I should wait for the airpods pro 3 with apparently 2x the noise cancellation or if I should just go with the Galaxy buds3 Pro as they are €110 cheaper now.

I just want good noise cancellation as my ears are quite sensitive at times

Edit: Thank you for your help! I ended up getting the Galaxy buds3 Pro on amazonfor 123 euro with cashback. I'm really hoping they work out well! For half the price of the airpods pro 3 and over half the rrp of the galaxy buds 3 too, it's great to be able to get such a great deal.

Update: They just arrived today and I have been trying them out.

Right out of the box they connected really fast and it was easy to set up, however the sound quality was not great. I fiddled with the eq settings and got it to a point where I liked it. I really enjoyed the anc and transparency mode, I just didn't like how the sound changed between modes, I also didn't like how the sound didn't sound as full as my airpods gen 2, but once I put on loudness normalisation, all those problems went away.

They truly are great earphones, I'm sad they don't come preset with all the settings to make them a good experience right out the gate, but they are really worth it if you know how to mess around with them.