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We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
If you want a dedicated pair of earbuds with active noise cancellation, personalized audio and a proper charging case, choose SAMSUNG Galaxy Buds 3; if you need one wearable that doubles as a smartwatch with earbuds tucked inside it, choose Tuanzi X9.
• SAMSUNG Galaxy Buds 3 — biggest strength: A true wireless earbud built around sound and calls, with Active Noise Cancellation, an Adaptive Equalizer tuned with Galaxy AI, and an 11 mm dynamic driver.
• SAMSUNG Galaxy Buds 3 — biggest trade-off: It's earbuds only. There's no screen, no fitness tracking, and no watch functionality — you'll pair it with a phone and that's the whole story.
• Tuanzi X9 — biggest strength: Three devices in one. A 1.85-inch smartwatch, a pair of TWS earbuds that live inside the watch body, and a speaker, plus health monitoring, NFC and IP67 waterproofing.
• Tuanzi X9 — biggest trade-off: Earbud battery life is listed at 4 hours per ear, and the earbuds lean on the watch body for recharge cycles — so the whole system is more compromise than specialist.
• Who each is for: Galaxy Buds 3 is for someone who cares most about clean audio, noise cancelling and clear calls. Tuanzi X9 is for someone who wants a watch on their wrist and doesn't want to carry a separate earbud case.
The Galaxy Buds 3 is a focused product. Everything in the spec sheet points at one job: putting good sound in your ears and keeping the outside world out. Active Noise Cancellation handles the unwanted noise, and the Adaptive Equalizer uses Galaxy AI to personalize the audio based on how the buds actually sit in your ears. That last part matters more than it sounds — fit varies from person to person, and tuning to the fit is a smarter approach than one fixed sound signature for everyone.
The hardware backs it up. An 11 mm dynamic driver, a 20 Hz – 20,000 Hz frequency range, 32 ohm impedance and 102 dB sensitivity — that's a conventional but sensibly specced earbud setup. Bluetooth 5.4 with a 10 metre range is current-generation wireless, and the rounded-tip, in-ear shape with silicone tips is the standard approach for sealing off background noise. Battery is rated at 7 hours average life with a 1.5-hour charge time, and the package includes the charging case, eartips, a USB Type-C cable and a manual. A one-year limited warranty is included.
Where it earns its place is in the Galaxy ecosystem. Real-time interpreter translation through the buds during face-to-face conversations, and translation support when using the Samsung Phone app, are genuinely useful if you're on a Samsung phone and travel or work across languages. Touch controls are programmable through the app, so you set what a tap, double-tap or press actually does — pause, skip, take a call.
Buy it if you want earbuds first and foremost: commuting, calls, workouts, playlists, with noise cancelling and a real charging case. Skip it if you wanted a screen on your wrist, step counts, heart rate or watch-style notifications — none of that exists here. Also skip it if you're not on a Samsung phone and the translation features are the main draw, since those lean on Galaxy AI and Samsung's own apps.
The Tuanzi X9 is a completely different animal. It's a 2-in-1 wearable: a 1.85-inch rectangular smartwatch with a 320 × 385 display, and a pair of Bluetooth earbuds that store inside the watch body. There's also a speaker function, so the device covers three roles. The main shell uses a glass lens with a zinc aluminium alloy frame, CNC-machined, with an alloy decorative ring, a silicone band, and a 13 mm thickness. Total weight is 145 g.
The watch side is genuinely loaded. Health monitoring with a dedicated heart rate chip, multi-sport modes, exercise records covering pedometer, calories and mileage, Bluetooth calling, call reminder and rejection, alarm, weather forecast, NFC, shake-to-take-photos, information storage, and message reminders across SMS, WhatsApp, WeChat, Skype, Facebook, Twitter, Line, Viber and QQ. There's no GPS. It's IP67 waterproof rated to 1 metre depth, so hand-washing and sweaty workouts are fine. The main battery is 240 mAh polymer with the earbuds at 25 mAh each, and the watch body can recharge the earbuds for 2–3 cycles.
The earbuds themselves are 2.45 g per ear with a stated 4-hour battery life, Bluetooth 5.0, and a physical-button control scheme that's frankly unusual: four presses before pairing to switch between Chinese and English, hold 2 seconds to power on, 1.5 seconds to reject a call, 3 seconds to power off, double-click to answer or hang up, quadruple-click to wake SIRI, double-click to play or pause, triple-click left for previous and triple-click right for next. It works, but it's a lot of muscle memory to learn. Compatibility is broad — Android 4.4 and above, iOS 8.0 and above, via the Flow Fit app, with 29 app languages and 21 watch languages.
Buy it if you want one thing on your wrist that covers a watch, a fitness tracker, notifications, calls and earbuds without a separate case in your pocket. Skip it if audio quality, noise cancelling or long listening sessions are the priority — the X9's earbuds are a convenience feature, not an audiophile one.
• Best for audio quality → SAMSUNG Galaxy Buds 3. An 11 mm dynamic driver, 20 Hz – 20,000 Hz range and Adaptive Equalizer give it a clear audio-first design.
• Best for noise cancelling → SAMSUNG Galaxy Buds 3. Active Noise Cancellation is a headline feature; the Tuanzi X9 has no ANC listed.
• Best for listening time per charge → SAMSUNG Galaxy Buds 3. 7 hours average earbud life versus 4 hours on the X9 earbuds.
• Best for fitness and health tracking → Tuanzi X9. Heart rate monitoring, multi-sport modes, pedometer, calories and mileage tracking are all built in.
• Best for staying reachable without your phone → Tuanzi X9. Bluetooth calling, call rejection and message reminders across a long list of apps are handled on the watch.
• Best for travel and language help → SAMSUNG Galaxy Buds 3. Real-time interpreter translation through the buds is built for face-to-face conversations.
• Best for durability in water and sweat → Tuanzi X9. IP67 waterproofing rated to 1 metre depth covers the watch and the earbuds.
• Best all-in-one convenience → Tuanzi X9. The watch body recharges the earbuds for 2–3 cycles, so there's no separate case to remember.
In my opinion, the SAMSUNG Galaxy Buds 3 is the better buy for most people, and it's the one I'd pick. It does one job properly: 7 hours of listening, real noise cancelling, an 11 mm driver, and Galaxy AI features that actually change how you use earbuds day to day. The Tuanzi X9 is genuinely clever — a watch, earbuds and speaker in one — and I'd recommend it without hesitation to someone who wants a smartwatch on their wrist and hates carrying a case. But if your priority is the thing in your ears, the Buds 3 wins.
FAQ
They're Bluetooth 5.0 earbuds that pair to your phone, so they work on their own — but you'll want the watch body nearby since it charges them for 2–3 cycles.
It connects over Bluetooth 5.4 as standard wireless earbuds. The Galaxy AI features like real-time interpreter translation are tied to Samsung's ecosystem, so those are best on a Samsung phone.
That depends on what you're replacing. The Tuanzi X9 covers a watch, tracker and earbuds in one purchase; the Buds 3 covers one job well. Check the current price on Amazon for each before deciding, since value shifts with whatever you'd otherwise have to buy separately.
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