Samsung confirms Galaxy Buds 3 and 3 Pro are moving to AirPods design

Samsung has just accidentally pulled an absolutely classic move from the tech launch playbook – confirming a leak by leaking something of its own.

It's only been a matter of days since prolific leaker Evan Blass shared an image of a heavily pixelated earbud that people were pretty sure represented the next step for Samsung's best in-ear headphones. That wasn't something that could be guaranteed, but now someone has spotted some icons in a Samsung update that all but confirms it. 

Tech influencer @RydahDoesTech posted a screenshot on X (formerly Twitter) of a device list that he said was from "the Samsung Members app to file an error report for the new Galaxy Watch 6 beta".

The device list includes two new entries for earbuds that don't exist yet – the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro and Galaxy Buds 3. 

That confirms the obvious, that the earbuds are indeed on the way, but it's those icons that make things all the more powder-spoiling for Samsung. They clearly show a new AirPods Pro-style design, backing up Blass' leak, with a stem protruding below the in-ear section of the earbud. 

There aren't any differences in the icons of the two earbuds, either, suggesting that they're likely to look very similar on the outside, despite the Buds 3 Pro presumably bringing some extra features to the table. 

For those who use their wireless earbuds for calls all the time, this change to a stem design could have some very positive outcomes, to be clear – it'll most likely bring an improvement to call quality thanks to microphones that little bit closer to your mouth, and more easily pointed at your vocals.

It's also been rumoured that the design change will also let Samsung sneak more battery life into the earbuds, which is never unwelcome. 

However, there's no doubt that it'll disappoint some people who want as small a design and profile for their earbuds as possible. 

So, now all that remains is for Samsung to officially put out an announcement about the earbuds, so that we have a little more to go on than leaks – whether they come directly from Samsung itself or not.