Samsung Galaxy Buds3 FE Evaluate: Higher AirPods for Android

I’ve been very impressed with Samsung’s third-gen wi-fi earbuds. The Galaxy Buds3 Professional ($190), which have been launched in 2024, have been a stable AirPods Professional competitor for Android homeowners. Now, they’ve been joined by the Galaxy Buds3 FE, a brand new entry-level mannequin that appears practically an identical to the Buds3 Professional however trades away numerous bells and whistles for a extra accessible value: $150.

The Professional’s high-tech LED “blade” lights are gone, as is head monitoring, auto-pause, twin drivers, wi-fi charging, and full waterproofing. What issues extra is what Samsung stored: a really comfy match, nice sound high quality, and surprisingly good ANC, transparency, and name high quality. In brief, the Galaxy Buds3 FE get crucial stuff proper.

Like all Samsung Galaxy wi-fi earbuds, a few of their extra attention-grabbing options are solely obtainable when utilizing Samsung Galaxy telephones (and don’t even take into consideration shopping for them when you’re on an iPhone), which narrows their potential market. However when you’re a true-blue Samsung fan on a price range, the Galaxy Buds3 FE are an incredible set of wi-fi buds.

Midrange Gems

{Photograph}: Simon Cohen

Although Samsung calls them Galaxy Buds3 FE—you’d naturally assume meaning they change 2023’s Galaxy Buds FE ($100)—they’re really a sort of midrange choice. Samsung is preserving the Buds FE round (and sustaining the worth), which I believe is a superb concept. The unique Buds FE are nonetheless wonderful, and now you’ve acquired two totally different match choices: the older, button-style, and the newer AirPods imitation form. As a bonus, when you go for the Buds3 FE, you get higher water and mud safety: IP54 versus IPX2.

Between the 2 FE fashions, I’ve acquired to present the consolation award to the Buds3 FE. With much less mass in your ear and no silicone stability fin wrapped across the circumference, it’s a delicate, straightforward really feel. In the event you’ve ever tried the Galaxy Buds3 Professional, Apple AirPods Professional, or equally formed, stem-based fashions, the Buds3 FE ought to really feel immediately acquainted. Nonetheless, that additionally means they aren’t precisely rock-solid for high-impact actions like working. That is the place the unique Galaxy Buds FE nonetheless have an edge: Twist them into place and it’s unlikely they’ll budge until you need them to.

Put on App through Simon Cohen

Samsung isn’t very beneficiant with ear tip sizes. Past the preinstalled medium suggestions, you solely get a small and a big dimension within the field—the brand new AirPods Professional, for instance, provide you with 4 pairs. Be sure to use the match check within the Samsung Put on app when you get the earbuds related. I assumed the medium suggestions felt OK, however the check prompted me to attempt the big, and it was proper: They gave me a greater match and a tighter seal.

Talking of what’s in (or not in) the field, Samsung, like Apple, not features a charging cable. You in all probability have a minimum of one USB-C cable already, however when you don’t, you’ll want one.

Shifting to the stem-based design brings pinch and swipe gestures to the FE household. Samsung borrowed this technique from Apple’s AirPods Professional, however the triangular form of the Galaxy Buds’ stems could make these controls a bit of tougher to make use of than Apple’s. You do get used to them, nevertheless, and general, I believe they’re an enchancment on the first-gen Buds FE’s contact controls—particularly utilizing the up/down swipe gesture to regulate quantity.

Samsung’s AirPods

{Photograph}: Simon Cohen

Sound high quality on the Galaxy Buds3 FE is excellent. It not solely compares effectively to different earbuds at this value, it holds as much as many dearer fashions. The sound signature is powerful, with wonderful response throughout frequencies. The low finish is resonant but snappy, the mids and highs are clear and detailed, and the soundstage has a satisfying quantity of width and depth.