A mystery has been solved: the rumoured "blade lights" on the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro appear to be LED strips. But there's another mystery: what are they actually for?
As previously reported, Samsung has moved to a more AirPods Pro-style design for the forthcoming Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro. And now images of the new earbuds have leaked, confirming the rumour – they really do look like silver AirPods Pro 2 earbuds – and finally letting us know what those mysterious lines down the stems are.
The leaked images, posted to X by Ice Universe, appear to show that the lines are little LED strips. And the rest of the design looks very much like the images we saw in previous leaks, with the exception of two little additions: the same blue and orange flashes we've also seen on some of Samsung's other products this year.
There's still a mystery, though. We're pretty sure those strips are indeed LEDs, the "blade lights" that baffled everyone when they were mentioned in previous rumours. But we still don't know whether they're more than just decorative.
Galaxy Buds 3 Pro: what we know so far
The leaked images also show Samsung's own Auto Switch fast pairing system in use, which suggests that the buds won't also support Google's fast pairing.
Previous rumours have suggested that both the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro and the new Galaxy Buds 3 will both support hi-res audio, with the Pro versions delivering higher quality as well as better performance due to a two-way speaker design. In addition to the obligatory ANC the Buds 3 Pro are also expected to have Ambient Noise Control and Ambient Sound Mode to further customise your ANC.
We're also expecting spatial audio, IP57 dust and water resistance, Bluetooth 5.4 and up to 30 hours of battery life via the included case; per-bud life is believed to be seven hours solo. That's with ANC switched off.
One interesting question about the Buds 3 Pro is what, if any, AI features they might deliver. Samsung has gone all-in on AI this year, so for example much of the marketing materials for the forthcoming Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6 focus on their AI-enhanced powers. Could something smart be coming to Samsung's best earbuds too? We'll find out soon enough: Samsung Unpacked is just five days away.
