Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro leak gives us a clue about battery capacity – don't expect any surprises

Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro
The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro (Image credit: Samsung)

We're very much hoping the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro are turning up soon – the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro launched all the way back in August 2022, and are very good – and we've just got a new clue about the sort of battery capacity we can expect.

The team over at 91mobiles has spotted the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro popping up at a couple of important regulatory databases, and one of those filings gives us the battery capacity of the charging case bundled with the earbuds: 500mAh.

"So what was the battery capacity of the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro charging case?" we can almost hear you cry, and it's a crucial question. That was also 500mAh, though we're talking about rated capacity here in both the new and old models.

Manufacturers tend to use what's known as typical capacity in their marketing, which is the average you can expect – that's 515mAh for the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro charging case. Rated capacity is the minimum level reached in lab test conditions.

Battery expectations

Never mind the milliampere-hours, just how much time can you expect between charges for the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro? Well, our Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro review will tell you that the charging case is good for keeping the earbuds going for 18 hours.

As for the actual Galaxy Buds 2 Pro earbuds themselves, without any case recharges, we got 5 hours of battery life with active noise cancellation enabled. That's with 61mAh batteries inside, but there's no word yet on the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro earbuds batteries.

Better battery life is certainly something we were hoping for with the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, but – based on the charging case at least – it doesn't look likely to happen. Of course, Samsung could always have engineered some hardware or firmware optimizations that lead to more time between charges.

As for when we might actually see these earbuds, the rumors are pointing to another Samsung Unpacked launch event sometime in July. We should see new foldable phones and wearables from Samsung there – and just maybe the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro.

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David Nield
Freelance Contributor

Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you'll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.