A month and $250 later, Samsung’s Buds 3 Pro finally begin arriving at customer doorsteps

Summary

• A few days after Samsung’s Unpacked event, the tech giant announced that it would delay the launch of its Galaxy Buds 3 Pro because of quality control issues.
• Almost a month later, buyers have finally begun receiving their shipments, with many saying that the case and the buds themselves are “well-built.”
• It appears that US and European customers will have their orders fulfilled first.

Samsung’s recent Unpacked-revealed devices are up there on the list of botched releases.

For starters, Samsung just doesn’t have enough stock to keep potential buyers happy. For reference, its new Galaxy Ring sold out during its pre-order window, leaving the tech giant scrambling to make more to meet demand.

I mean, a product selling out so soon isn’t a bad thing at all; it means the company is doing something right, and there’s demand for its products. However, it doesn’t paint a pretty picture when the company in question is a top-three tech giant. The size 12 and size 13 Galaxy rings are still out of stock on the retailer’s website as of writing.

Then there’s the Galaxy Watch Ultra. Yes, the watch has been criticized for mimicking the Apple Watch Ultra, but that isn’t the biggest issue with it. Early Galaxy Watch Ultra and Watch 7 buyers reported being affected by unexpected battery drain issues and overall poor battery life on the two wearables, which could only be solved after the tech giant rolled out a software update.

We’ve also seen an early incident of the Watch Ultra’s display being misaligned, alongside several instances of phantom touches on its screen. Oh, and did we mention the shipping delays?

Lastly, how can we forget the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, the AirPod look-alikes, which, because of quality control issues like the earbud joints not sitting flush, blue dye blemishes, loose case hinges, scuffs or scratches on the case lid, earbuds not sitting properly inside the case, etc., had to be delayed.

“To ensure all products meet our quality standards, we have temporarily suspended deliveries of Galaxy Buds 3 Pro devices to distribution channels to conduct a full quality control evaluation before shipments to consumers take place. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause,” said Samsung at the time.

The buds eventually became available to order, and it appears that almost a month and $250 later, customers are beginning to receive their shipments.

US and European buyers to get their Buds 3 Pro first

9to5Google spotted a few Reddit threads indicating that users in the US and Europe have begun receiving their Buds 3 Pro shipment. It seems that the company has finally been able to address the underlying quality and hardware defect issues, with users on the Reddit posts suggesting updated delivery times for their order.

“I received mine today, no cosmetic or seam issues. Changed the ear tips like 20 times, no rips or tears,” reads a comment, while a different user wrote, “I have seen a lot of people talk about the build quality. The case itself has a decent weight to it, and feels very similar to the Buds 2 case. The lid hinge also feels like it is well-built. The buds themselves feel surprisingly sturdy after all the comments decrying the build quality.”

If you’ve ordered the Buds 3 Pro, or any other Samsung device that is yet to be delivered, navigate to Samsung’s website and log in with your account. Head to the My Orders section, and you should be able to track your order. If you checked out as a guest, you should be able to track your order by entering your Order ID on the same page.

In our review, we found that the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro offer best-in-class sound quality, even beating the AirPods Pro 2, alongside precise controls for ANC modes, 360 audio, and EQ settings. Only time will tell if the new buds will be remembered as a product that was delayed right after launch or buds that can actually hold their own against other top-of-the-line competitors.