Galaxy Buds 3 FE debut as Samsung’s budget-friendly wireless earbuds

Samsung has announced the newest addition to its Galaxy Buds lineup, the Galaxy Buds 3 FE. The new earbuds are a more affordable alternative to the Galaxy Buds 3 and Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, which Samsung launched last year.

The Galaxy Buds 3 FE resemble the Buds 3 and Buds 3 Pro in design, featuring a stem (which Samsung calls a blade) with touch-sensitive controls, similar to Apple’s popular AirPods. Like the Buds 3 Pro, the Buds 3 FE include ear tips to improve active noise cancellation (ANC).

The Galaxy Buds 3 FE will be available in two colors: black and gray, and will launch in the US on September 4 for $150. In comparison, the Galaxy Buds 3 start at $180, and the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro at $250.

“As part of Samsung’s mission to expand its audio innovation to more people, Galaxy Buds3 FE are designed to deliver premium features at an accessible price. Buds3 FE bring more users into the Galaxy ecosystem with an iconic blade design, upgraded audio performance, and seamless connection to Galaxy AI capabilities on Galaxy smartphones,” Samsung said in a press release.

The Galaxy Buds 3 FE can last up to 6 hours with ANC on

This is the second time Samsung has released a pair of FE Galaxy Buds

Samsung / Pocket-lint

Galaxy Buds 3 FE bring a lot of the features you’d expect from today’s wireless earbuds, including “enhanced” active noise cancellation (ANC) and long-lasting battery life. According to Samsung, the Buds 3 FE can last up to 8.5 hours with ANC off and up to 6 hours with ANC on while listening to music, which is actually a bit longer than the Galaxy Buds 3’s capabilities.

The Buds 3 FE comes with a charging case that has a 515mAh battery. With the added battery life from the case, Samsung claims the Buds 3 FE can last up to 30 hours during music playback with ANC off and up to 24 hours with it turned on.

The Buds 3 FE also supports AI features linked to your phone, like Gemini for conversational AI assistance and the Galaxy AI Interpreter app, which lets you use Live Translate for translating phone calls.

One difference between the Buds 3 FE and the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro is the speaker setup — the Buds 3 FE uses a one-way speaker system, while the Buds 3 Pro have a two-way speaker system. This difference means the Buds 3 Pro provides a richer audio experience than the Buds 3 FE. However, the Buds 3 Pro costs $250, compared to the $150 price of the Buds 3 FE.

This isn’t Samsung’s first release of FE Galaxy Buds — it also released a pair in 2023, which started at $100. You can sign up to hear more about the Galaxy Buds 3 FE on Samsung’s website now, ahead of their release on September 4.