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It’s been weeks since Samsung launched its new flagship wireless headphones, and a lot has happened since then. Sales of the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro have now stopped, but how did it get here? Let’s take a moment to break down what happened, the issues customers are having, if they’ll start shipping again, and more.

Just over a week after its launch, the tech giant has decided to pull its new premium headphones from sale. Currently, customers cannot pre-order the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro from retailers such as Best Buy or Amazon. On Samsung’s own website, the shipping date has been changed from July 24 to August 28.

According to Samsung in a statement provided to Android Authority (read the full statement), quality control issues are responsible for the decision. As such, the company has temporarily suspended supplies to its trading partners. The company also issued a statement to buyers in its domestic market apologizing for quality issues while offering replacements or refunds.

Samsung says it will perform “a full quality control assessment before shipping to consumers.” It also states that any customer who already owns the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro should contact Samsung or visit their nearest Samsung service center if they experience any issues.

What problems are customers experiencing?

When people started getting their hands on the company’s new premium headphones, certain issues were discovered. These problems started with just the ear tips, but more problems have since been discovered.

Brittle ear tips are one of the most talked about issues ever. Multiple reports on Reddit and YouTube claim that the ear tips can break when you try to remove them from the tips. The problem appears to be with the hard plastic ring at the base of the silicone ear tips that snaps onto the ear tips for a snug fit. However, Samsung has published a support page instructing users on how to safely remove the ear tips. Users can also contact Samsung for a replacement if their ear tips have already been damaged.

In recent days, one of South Korea’s top tech reviewers released a video listing the various issues he found. Known as ITSub on YouTube, the reviewer purchased ten sets of the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro. Here are the issues it found:

• The surfaces of the earplugs were not contoured flush.
• The bottoms of the stems had uneven seams.
• The headphones sat at different heights in the box.
• Some cases had a sticker on the hinge that was not present on other cases.
• The tips of the ears already had dust on them before they were taken out of the case.
• Residues of blue and orange dye were found on the surfaces of the headphones of two pairs.
• One of the headphones had a chip or dent near the LED area.
• The top of the LED light is rounded on most of them, but there were two instances of an LED light that appeared to be cut straight.

You can see some of these issues depicted in the screenshots below. The first image shows the right earpiece positioned higher than the left earpiece. In the second image, we see uneven staining around the bottom of the stem. The next image shows a problem with the LED, while the last image shows the blue paint residue on the tip of the ear.

SoundGuys, our sister site, also found an issue with active noise cancellation (ANC) and the new siren detection feature. Siren Detect is designed to allow sirens and alarms to bypass ANC so that users can be aware of their surroundings. However, the feature was found to be largely redundant as the buds allowed any kind of intrusive noise to interrupt the listening experience. After putting the headphones through some tests, they found that the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro’s ANCs were only able to block out 76% of outside sound. In comparison, the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro can block up to 84% of external noise.

It’s important to note that the issues seem to only extend to the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro. There don’t seem to be any reports of the base model Galaxy Buds 3.

As mentioned earlier, there are many reports on Reddit and YouTube. It’s unclear how widespread these issues really are, as availability is still quite limited.

In the ITSub video, of the ten Buds 3 Pro purchased by the YouTuber, eight are white and two are silver. The issues found in the video seem to be with the white variant. According to the reviewer, three of the 10 units had build quality issues that were bad enough to be worth sending back to Samsung.

Will Galaxy Buds 3 Pro start shipping again?

Samsung said it has “suspended the supply of Galaxy Buds 3 Pro devices to distribution channels.” However, you shouldn’t worry too much. The supply freeze is only a temporary measure the company is putting in place to give it time to assess build quality issues with the buds. Samsung should resume shipping as soon as this is over. On its own website, the manufacturer lists August 28 as the new delivery date, signaling that it expects to resume deliveries eventually.

Can I get a refund for my order?

Not all customers are experiencing issues with the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, but if you’re having a problem with your earbuds, Samsung offers a few solutions. The company recommends sending your headphones back to stores for a replacement. But if you just want your money back, Samsung also offers refunds.

When Samsung first announced the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, the company took a lot of flak (rightfully so) for copying the design of Apple’s AirPods. Although not a direct imitation, they are heavily inspired by the design philosophy of the Cupertino firm. As a result, Samsung put itself in a position to be questioned right out of the gate.

While there aren’t really any differences of opinion regarding the performance, other than the lack of ANC, the build quality issues cannot be ignored. It also seemed like more and more issues were being discovered before Samsung finally decided to temporarily stop shipping.

Overall, we’d say it was a nightmare of a launch for a product that received a drastic design change. Adding fuel to the fire, these are supposed to be Samsung’s flagship headphones. A recall due to the poor build quality of its premium product is more than embarrassing for a company that has been in this space for years.