SAMSUNG Galaxy Buds 3 Pro AI True Wireless Bluetooth Earbuds + $20 Amazon Gift Card, Noise Cancelling, Sound Optimization, Redesigned Comfort Fit, Silver [US Version, Amazon Exclusive 2Yr Warranty]

Will become near-perfect with future updates
Just a quick aside to start, over the past decade I have owned the following in-ear buds (in no particular order):-Bose QC (Gen 1)-Galaxy Buds Pro (Gen 1)-Sony XM4-Sony XM5For starters, the fit is an improvement over my Buds Pros (and every other stemless design I have tried). Like, not even in the same league. Due to the stem and silicone tips, every few hours I’ll catch one wanting to slip out. Small downside for decreased ear fold discomfort. I wear these all day at work- more on that later- and after my ears adjusted to the new shape for a week or so, I can wear them hours on end pain-free.Touch controls are likewise the best I have ever found on in-ear buds. Pinch and tap stem are dead reliable and the swipe up/down stem for volume is intuitive and works flawlessly. The triangular stems with large, flat surfaces are instantly locatable and wonderfully usable. Stemless buds cannot compare to the ease of use.The buds look, and feel, premium. They better, at this price point. I don’t get the case gripes, but maybe that’s just because I recently retired my XM5s and their famously flimsy case for this pair. Survived a drop or two from pocket height, once on hardwood and once on concrete. Small scuffs but the hinge is still rock solid and no cracks.Connectivity is phenomenal, though this will likely only apply to folks inside the Samsung ecosystem. Can see case and buds battery info from my Watch 6 Classic, and buds autoconnect on case open to my Z Flip 5 even if my bluetooth is currently toggled off (can be disabled/changed in Galaxy Wear settings.) Got maybe a good 25, 30 feet of range before connection diminishes noticeably, worse obviously if you’ve got walls in the way.Sound quality is great, bordering fantastic after you finally burn them in. I only say that because no in-ears will compare to something like a true pair of studio monitors etc. High budget audiophiles I’m sure could pick things out to you but the in-app equalizer is great and to my ears the highs are crisp and not tinny, the mids are well developed and you can dial up a surprising amount of bass through the equalizer, and I never experienced buzzing or washout. Very good listening experience across every genre I’ve tested.Now, nothing is perfect, right? Battery life is a little short with ANC active, it runs out on me with about 2 hours left in any given shift when the XM5’s would get me through some full days. No big deal, 10 minutes in the case and im good for the rest of the night. My only true gripe would be with the noise cancelling. At times, it rivals the best I’ve experienced (for my money the XM5s,) effectively blocking most noise of all frequencies quite well. Uber trips, shopping, walking in public spaces, waiting at the train station etc they perform quite well. However, I work specialty service and in my shop I basically have to both work with heavy steel grinders and be able to field phone calls with clients/speak to customers in shop. When I’m standing and working on my machine, the ANC will be humming along smoothly when suddenly some frequencies stop being blocked, if that makes sense? All will be quiet, then suddenly through one earbud I will pick up certain sounds as louder than the other ear as they evade the ANC’s processing. It’s quite disconcerting to be honest, I’d almost liken it to feeling a pressure change in your ear but without the physical sensations. Some times it’s better/worse than other times, but I’d say by and large the ANC holds its own. If every other point in my review is a 5/5, battery life is a 4/5 and ANC is (currently) a 3.5/5.I would hope to, and assume to, see the problems with ANC addressed with future software updates. For now, as an early purchaser that understands products almost never release in a perfect state, I am very pleased with my purchase and do feel that I got my money’s worth.

Review of ear bud cover, case and app only. Not a review on sound quality because of defect.
I am seriously freaked out. Do you remember the Star Trek movie where the nasty green bug is put into the prisoner’s ear? If so you will understand. I have narrow ear canals and found that the medium ones which it comes fitted with were a bit too large. It was difficult to get them removed and yes I followed the directions and watched video on how to do it. One of them came off finally so put the small one on, again as directed. I put it in the ear and it felt odd. I removed it and you can guess what happened: the bud cover remained in my ear canal. Thank heavens someone was home to help me get it out because I was seriously panicking! In 25 plus years of wearing ear buds, I have NEVER had this happen. If it had, I would never wear them again because obviously “yuck bug”!The ear bud covers themselves are very odd. They are very thin and the one I couldn’t get off felt as if it would rip if I pulled harder…….which is good given that the one I changed felt secure and basically fell off in my ear. There are only 3 pairs total, small, medium and large. With this price point I anticipated more covers as with my Masters & Dynamic earbuds there were several pair in each size. I can see why they don’t want you to change the covers often but even with cleaning, my experience has been that eventually you need to replace them and here you would need to purchase another one in your preferred size. They simply don’t compare to my M & D ones at all.I waited on the charging case to turn green which again per instructions would mean they were both fully charged. It ended up with only one charged and the other one completely dead. Again comparing them to the M & D ones the case is simply inferior. On mine there is a light for each ear bud and one for the case itself. That way you can see if all 3 pieces have a complete charge. You can also tell from the app the percentage of charge remaining which is a handy favor. (I don’t know if the Samsung app provides that information or not because didn’t get to that point, but it should show on the case itself.) The case is okay. It doesn’t feel nearly as sturdy as my M & D ones, nor does it look anywhere near as good. I really don’t care how it looks if they work, but it is a nice feature to have a case that looks like an expensive car does, one which you can immediately tell by the look and the feel that it is extremely well made.My security app on the phone identified the Samsung app as being dangerous, so I am going to uninstall it immediately. Samsung usually does well with its app. It was only because I have loved my Samsung phones, watches and televisions that I decided to give these a try. The ear buds sound like they have potential but are not up to the standards I would expect as the “pro” version from Samsung.I have lost feeling on the ends of some of my fingers due to nerve damage in my neck which is why I have stuck with M & D for years. They have wonderful mechanical buttons which I can easily manipulate. I was willing to give these a try because while not mechanical it wasn’t the universal one button which I hate as I can never tell if I have pressed it the requisite number of times and end up advancing a chapter, turning them off, ending a call, etc. These may be wonderful but as I knew I was returning them I didn’t take the time to figure out the controls….plus to be honest I didn’t want to put them back in after the bud cover came off!I spent hours yesterday reading reviews because I couldn’t decide which pair to try between the Samsung, Bowers & Wilkin and Sony. I like to purchase on prime days or other sell days because of the cost. As I loose things all too often, I try to get the best price I can. Having really good hearing and blessed with the curse or gift of hearing anything that is out of tune, I found early on that I detested cheap ear buds. I still love my Shure buds that are wired, but it is a pain to have the dangling cord all the time. I paid a fortune for them in 2000 and they still sound better then any blue tooth ones I have ever tried, but I figured that would be the case.I listened to the sound on the charged one but that is not a fair test so I am not commenting at all on the sound.I think Samsung has the right idea, but in going for so many features, they have skimped on some elements and cut corners on the basics which you need to make any of the rest of it worth your time. I may try again if changes are made but right now these fail. I mean when the case shows green you would assume both were charged and that failed, you can see there are going to be issues right away.