The successors to Samsung's best wireless earbuds so far are expected to land soon at Galaxy Unpacked 2024 – and a new leak appears to have given us our first real-world look at the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro's fancy new charging case and so-called 'blade lights'.
A Redditor called 'Plastic_Development1' shared the images (also picked up by reliable leaker Ice Universe, below) in a Reddit post, after claiming that they'd been able to buy the earbuds. Those claims appear to have been backed up by some extra photos in the thread showing what they look like when being worn.
The photos reveal the new earbuds' retail packaging, charging case and the ANC earphones themselves. They show the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro's silver (or grey) color, with the earbuds also expected to be available in white – which is fitting because their stem-based design is very similar to that of the Apple AirPods Pro 2.
What the Apple AirPods don't have is an LED strip running down their side like these Samsung rivals, which is a detail we'd seen in previous Galaxy Buds 3 Pro leaks. It still isn't clear exactly what those 'blade lights' are for, although it seems likely that they'll at least serve as a battery indicator.
Galaxy Buds3 Pro！ pic.twitter.com/pHCJeI2T46July 5, 2024
A previous leak revealed that the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro would have features like improved IP57 dust and water resistance, an Auto Switch feature, and support for 24-bit 96KHz audio streaming (which may be restricted to Galaxy phones). The main difference between the standard Galaxy Buds 3 and the Pro version is expected to be that the latter have two drivers in each ear, rather than one, for better sound quality.
While this leak should still be treated with the usual caution, the Redditor 'Plastic_Development1' also shared a few early thoughts on what we might be able to expect from Samsung's new flagships buds...
How might they compare to the AirPods Pro?
There's a chance that these leaked earbuds are a compelling fake, but they're also shown connecting to the Galaxy Wearable app – so it's possible that they're indeed a real-world look at Samsung's incoming Buds 3 Pro.
In the Reddit thread, the leaker has given some first impressions in response to some questions, including that the fit feels similar to the AirPods Pro, but that the "longer stem will probably be a bother if you sleep with them". They also claim that the ambient mode, which lets you hear outside noises, is better than the AirPods'.
As for price, the Redditor 'Plastic_Development1' claims they paid $250 (which converts to around £195 / AU$370) for the Buds 3 Pro. While we should take that with a pinch of salt, it does sound like a likely ballpark figure – the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro cost $229 / £219 / AU$349 at launch, and their successors are expected to get a small price bump.
Opinions on the new design appear to be mixed on the Galaxy Buds subreddit, with many stating that they're not huge fans of the gun-metal 'fridge' color and that the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro's stems look a little too long. But all this is solely based on leaks –we'll get our first official look at the earbuds at Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2024, which kicks off on July 10 at 9 am ET / 6am PT/ 2pm BST / 11pm AEST.
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