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The Galaxy Buds 3 Pro are DOA, and Samsung should just throw in the towel already

By Adrian Diaconescu

Updated: Aug 12, 2024, 9:40 AM

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Samsung Articles

The Galaxy Buds 3 Pro are DOA, and Samsung should just throw in the towel already

While many hardcore Samsung fans may have rejoiced at the news that the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro are (apparently) shipping again in key markets around the world, I'm here as PhoneArena's designated party pooper to, well, poop on your party.

Do you have 250 bucks to spend on a new pair of true wireless earbuds? Did you specifically save that money in anticipation of the fanciest ever member of the hugely popular Galaxy Buds family following Samsung's Unpacked event last month? Then now's the time... to look elsewhere. Hopefully, it's not too late for you to reconsider, cancel your existing order, or pick one of so many other great options available today from a multitude of trusted brands (including Samsung).

But didn't you guys praise the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro in your review?

I'm so glad you asked that question. And the answer is "yes, we sure did." We're also not retracting or revising our (largely) positive Galaxy Buds 3 Pro review either (not yet, at least) because all that was written there is still true... for a small number of lucky users.

This Redditor, for instance, is calling the Buds 3 Pro "god tier headphones", which is obviously incredibly high praise, even by that particular social network's occasionally bombastic standards. Another Reddit user, who claims to have initially criticized Samsung's divisive design choices this year, has essentially been swept off their feet after actually using the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro for a week, and the list of happy customers can go on... for a few more seconds.

The Galaxy Buds 3 Pro looked (and sounded) so promising in our original review.

But then there are the disgruntled buyers, who forced Samsung to temporarily halt and/or delay its Galaxy Buds 3 Pro sales with their honestly shocking complaints. Many units shipped to early adopters presented build quality issues that are simply unacceptable for a product marketed (and priced) as ultra-high-end.

Can you imagine paying $250 for a pair of "god tier headphones" only for their eartips to break without warning or apparent reason or receive units with random chips and dents all over them? How about ordering a white model and getting one smudged with blue dye that just won't come off?

That would clearly be bad even for a sub-$100 product, and to Samsung's credit, the company recognized the issue as something that needed fixing. But is everything fine now that shipments have (apparently) been restarted? We honestly don't know, and that's clearly another problem.

Can you trust Samsung?

I don't know about you dear readers, but I personally cannot. That's because the tech giant never communicated the root cause of those very serious quality issues, as well as the exact steps the company planned to take to avoid future problems.

Was it simply a matter of an initial batch of units insufficiently tested before being cleared for takeoff? I seriously doubt that, and I'm going to tell you why. If you try to order the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro on Samsung's official US website today, the delivery estimate sits at September 20. If you don't own a calendar (or a phone with a calendar app), that's more than a month away... more than a month after these bad boys were unveiled with an original July 24 release date.

This long wait is never a good sign for a new product. | Image Credit -- Samsung

If you look for the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro on Amazon... they're nowhere to be found. If you do a Google search for "Galaxy Buds 3 Pro Amazon", you'll eventually get to a page where you can buy the Galaxy Buds 3 and Buds 2 Pro. At Best Buy, the same troubled product continues to be up for pre-order ahead of a release date listed as "August 23", which is starting to feel like little more than wishful thinking on the retailer's part.

In a nutshell, the Buds 3 Pro's US availability situation remains all over the place, which strongly suggests (to me, at least) that there's something seriously wrong with this product.

What should Samsung do?

That's obviously not for a tech writer to say, but if I were in charge (which I'm not for a probably good reason), I'd pull the plug on the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro and go back to the drawing board. While the company is at it, the non-Pro Galaxy Buds 3 should also go away for the capital sin of following in the AirPods' poor repairability footsteps and for disappointing their own early adopters.

While we haven't reviewed the Galaxy Buds 3 ourselves, their 2.6-star buyer rating average on Amazon speaks volumes about their overall mediocrity, which is unacceptable at a fairly extravagant price of $179.99.

Despite their age, the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are still undeniably great.

Luckily for Samsung, the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro and Galaxy Buds FE are much more well-liked among their users, and at their frequently reduced prices, they're arguably some of the best wireless earbuds around in terms of their value for your money. Unfortunately, we all know it's not realistic to hope that the company will simply give up on the Galaxy Buds 3 duo so soon, which leaves this writer hoping that the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro and Galaxy Buds FE won't go away in the near future either.

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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.