During the reveal for the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, Samsung spent much of the time going over the earbuds’ AI features. But there was one non-AI feature the company neglected to mention that deserves its own spotlight.
It’s called Voice Control and it allows users to control the earbuds via vocal inputs without needing a wakeup command. You don’t have to say “Hey Bixby” or anything of the sort. Instead, you issue basic commands to the Buds 3 Pro, they’ll pick up the input, and make the necessary adjustments.
The feature appears to have been discovered by user Stephancevallos905 on the Samsung subreddit. According to their comment, stating “Volume Up” or “Volume Down” is all you need to say to control the volume level. No need for extra input.
Industry insider Mishaal Rahman showed up later in the Reddit thread explaining how Voice Control works after having done some field tests. He claims the Buds 3 Pro were able to pick up on his commands inside both a pharmacy and on a noisy subway without having to shout into their mics
Command and control
Rahman states that Voice Control is not enabled by default. Galaxy Buds 3 Pro owners have to manually turn it on by going into the Galaxy Wearable app. Upon activation, you’ll be given a list of the exact commands you must utter to register the action. For example, you’ll need to say “Stop Music” to pause playback as “Pause,” “Pause Music,” or any similar variation to the original will not work.
What’s funny is that other people can mess with the earbuds. Android Authority states that because the pair lack a wake word and are not directionally trained, a friend can pull a prank and increase the volume while you wear them. They just need to say the correct command near the earbuds.
Voice Control is a highly useful feature “in terms of convenience.” You will, however, need to be mindful of your surroundings so the Galaxy earbuds don’t pick up inputs from others. We reached out to Samsung to ask about the issue and if it plans on rolling out a software patch to address it – we’ll update this story if we hear back.
Be sure to check out TechRadar’s list of the best earbuds for 2024.