Samsung Galaxy Buds3 FE – improved design, sound, ANC, controls and more
Samsung’s latest “Fan Edition” earbuds bring all of the the best features from their Pro model to the $150 Galaxy Buds3 FE.
FE stands for “Fan Edition”. Samsung’s FE-series of phones and tablets takes all of the best bits of their S-series of flagship phones and tablets to a more economical price. Confusing, there is no Buds2 FE, instead, the Buds3 FE is the fan edition of the existing Buds3 and Buds3 Pro.
Samsung Galaxy Buds3 FE are available in black or gray. While they still feature in-ear tips, they have an entirely new “Blade” design, instead of the circular one found on the original Buds FE. Small, medium and large in-ear tips are included in the box. The earbuds feature a matte dual-tone finish and the case has a semi-transparent lid. Internally, there’s a larger 11mm driver. They feature improved water and dust resistance, with an IP54 rating for the earbuds only. The earbuds weigh just 5 gram each, while the case comes in at 41.8 grams.
Enhanced Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) works to reduce external noise for an immersive listening experience. There’s also an Ambient mode for when you want the external world to passthrough to stay aware of your surroundings. Support for 360 Audio provides simulated surround sound for a spatial audio experience.
There are 3 mics on the Samsung Buds3 FE which power the ANC and calls These mics have been repositioned facing towards the mouth to optimize voice pickup. This is paired with Crystal Clear Call technology, which uses an advanced pre-trained machine learning model to isolate the voice for clear conversations in noisy environments.
Battery life is similar to the previous model at up to 6 hours of music playback on a single charge with ANC turned on, or 24 hours when paired with the charging case. These numbers are increased to 8.5 hours and 30 hours when ANC is switched off. Talk time is up to 4 hours and 18 hours with the case. The case charges via USB-C. Unfortunately there is no USB-C cable included in the box.
The Buds3 FE connect over Bluetooth 5.4 and feature Auto Switch on compatible Galaxy devices. This detects audio activity to transfer the connection for continuous listening. Compatible Galaxy devices also get quick pairing. Use the Samsung Find app to see the last known location of your earbuds when lost.
Galaxy AI comes to the new earbuds when paired with a compatible Galaxy device. One such feature includes Galaxy AI Interpreter for translating conversations. Listening mode will play the translations through your earbuds, while conversation mode will work both ways, displaying your translations on your phone. There’s also hands-free access to Gemini with the “Hey Google” wake phrase.
Alongside the new design comes new controls. Simply pinch for play/pause, skip, previous, switch ANC mode or activate the translator. You can also swipe to change volume. Controls are customizable in the app. What paired with a compatible Galaxy device, you get quick access from system settings for app-free control over the volume, ANC, 360 audio, equalizer and more. You can also save presets for different apps, so every time you open Netflix, the equalizer switches settings, for example.
The Samsung Galaxy Buds3 FE will be available from September 4 for $149.99. You can register your interest here. This is $50 more than the original FE launched for two years ago. With a lot of Galaxy-exclusive features, these will likely be one of the best pairs for existing Galaxy users, however there are a lot of alternatives for non-Galaxy users. You can currently get the Buds3 Pro for $189.99 on Amazon, Buds3 for $109.99 or the first generation Buds FE for $69.99.