Samsung has delayed the release of the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro due to some quality issues noted by people who received the Buds early. We were able to reproduce one issue with our unit that we are currently testing.
In the US, the current ship date for the Buds 3 Pro listed on the pre-order page is August 28, 2024, for both colors. In the UK, it’s currently listed as August 16, 2024, for both colors. Samsung Australia currently says it’ll be July 29 for the white version and August 26 for the silver.
According to Android PoliceThese issues include “ear tips not fitting properly, blue paint spots, loose case hinges, scuffs or scratches on case lid, ear tips not seating properly in case” – but one of the more prominent issues appeared to be ear tips that are a bit fragile and difficult to swap out safely (via The edge).
This last issue is something we investigated directly with our device, and it hadn’t come up yet because we hadn’t had to swap out the earbuds so far. The earbuds are very securely attached to the earbuds themselves by a clip system, similar to the one we use in the AirPods Pro 2.
The problem is that the earbuds are made of what seems to be too soft a material and the clips are very firm. This leads to some people completely ripping them while pulling on the more delicate ends, or also accidentally knocking a chunk out with a nail while trying to get a better grip for pulling.
Our reviewer said the only safe way to remove the tip is to grip your fingers as close to the cap as possible, being very careful to use the pads of your fingers and keeping your nails out of the way. He said pulling while gripping further away from the tip definitely felt like the material would tear, so he didn’t continue trying since he still needed to use the earbuds for our review.
This is in line with Samsung’s own advice to remove the earbud in a support article on his Korean site (as noted by The Verge), but we believe removing earbuds shouldn’t necessarily be necessary at lots of study and safety instructions beforehand…
However, when our reviewer was experimenting with pulling, and his fingernails accidentally got too involved in finding the optimal grip, the material dug in immediately when they scraped it off. You don’t want the piece visible below (and in the red circle at the top of the page) to fall into your ear once it’s loose.
Samsung responds
In a statement to Android Authority, Samsung said:
“To ensure all products meet our quality standards, we have temporarily suspended the supply of Galaxy Buds 3 Pro units to distribution channels to conduct a full quality check before shipping to consumers. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.”
“If a customer who already owns the Galaxy Buds3 Pro experiences any issues, he/she can contact Samsung or go to the nearest Samsung Service Centre.”
Yesterday (June 18), Samsung has issued a statement in Korea suggesting it still expects to meet its original June 24 release date there. The statement read: “We are currently strengthening the quality inspection of the currently produced products and conducting a re-examination, so there will be no problems with the official launch on the 24th.”
We expected the Samsung Buds 3 Pro to be among the best earbuds released this year – their predecessors were excellent, and the upgrades sound impressive. We’ll bring you our full review once we’ve finished testing the buds and the rest of…
