Samsung Galaxy Buds3 FE Review – Acoustically Awesome Midrange Marvel

Intended as the more affordable sibling of the top of the line Galaxy Buds3 Pro, the Galaxy Buds3 Fan Edition distills the most desirable aspects of the pricier model and clocks in at just RM499; nearly half the price of the Pro model though it’s still dearer than many competing midrange models.

After taking it for a spin, here’s our Samsung Galaxy Buds3 FE review where we share if it’s worth what you pay for.

Samsung Galaxy Buds3 FE Review – Design and Setup

The successor to the earlier Galaxy Buds FE that was launched in late 2023, the Galaxy Buds3 FE departs from the makeup-compact-shaped design of its predecessor and instead goes for the narrower, flatter treasure chest shaped form factor akin to the Buds3 Pro.

At launch, Samsung offered the unit in a shade of grey as well as a shade of black, our Samsung Galaxy Buds3 FE review sample came in the latter.

Seeing as this is a more affordable version of the Buds3 Pro, Samsung has skipped much of the frippery to keep costs down. Rather than a more premium metallic finish, the Buds3 FE opts for an understated matte finish, omits the glitzy stem ‘Blade’ lights of the Pro model and also omits the subtle blue and orange colour swatches on the ear buds that indicate which one fits into your left and right ear. Fortunately, you still get the usual raised L and R markings on both earbuds that you can feel by touch.

Oddly, Samsung has also removed wireless charging support from the charging case and also does not provide a charging cable for the Buds3 FE, presumably as a cost saving measure though they still bundle in a set of smaller and larger ear tips to ensure a better fit with a medium-sized set of tips preinstalled on the earbuds.

These omissions aside, our Galaxy Buds3 FE review sample looks quite similar to the Buds3 pro including a similarly sized charging case with a semi-transparent top lid and a USB-C port on the base for charging duties. 

The earbuds are also rather similar in design with triangular-shaped control stems that terminate in a bulbous housing that integrates the 53mAh battery, a single dynamic drive and silicone ear tips. Rather than mere frippery, the triangular-shaped design has a purpose as it allows users more precise control over playback and volume.

This time around, a pinch on the control stem of either earbud lets you play or pause a track, a double pinch lets you move to the next track while a triple pinch winds back one track.

Similar to the Pro model, swiping up and down along the length of the stem lets you control the volume. Pinching and holding lets you toggle between noise cancelling or ambient mode and to also cancel an incoming call.

Overall build quality is sturdy and the earbuds feature IP54 dust and splash resistance which is sufficient to survive the odd random Malaysian rain shower or a round at the gym. It’s a slight downgrade from the IP57 of the Buds3 Pro but this doesn’t significantly affect its capabilities. The lack of a charging cable is also an oddity but it’s not a deal breaker.

Samsung Galaxy Buds3 FE review – Setup and Performance

Getting our Samsung Galaxy Buds3 FE review unit up and running was a simple task and it paired up instantly with a Galaxy Z Fold7 that had Bluetooth activated the moment I opened the charging case.

While it can run straight out of the box in this fashion, you’ll need to access the Samsung Wearable App to fine tune its settings to taste. Non-Samsung branded phones will be prompted to download the Galaxy Wearable app first.

In the Galaxy Wearable app, you’re able to finetune equaliser settings to taste or select from a number of presents including a Bass Boost, Dynamic, Clear and Treble Boost option among the half dozen or so options available.

You’re also able to direct the earbuds to boost voices in videos for better clarity and to manage sound balance in audio playback with high and low volumes to ensure a more consistent listening experience.

One particularly useful feature with the app is the ability to tweak the intensity of ambient sound and active noise cancelling available by using a slider menu.

You’re also able to tweak the controls to some degree though the default controls are hardwired into the Galaxy Buds3 FE and you’re only able to tweak what pinching and holding the left and right earbuds do to some degree. 

When it comes to music playback, the Galaxy Buds3 FE supports the usual SBC and AAC codecs along with near-lossless Samsung Seamless Codec (SSC). As you’d likely surmise, SSC is limited only to Samsung phones of recent vintage within the last few years.  If you’re using this on a non-Samsung phone, you won’t get the full acoustic experience.

When paired with the aforementioned Galaxy Z Fold7, our Galaxy Buds3 FE review unit served up surprisingly good audio. While the Buds3 Pro is capable of greater nuance and depth, the Buds3 FE still does an excellent job, especially for what you pay for and it’s able to handle most musical genres without issue.

On the default balanced setting, the earbuds deliver surprisingly good clarity with a slight emphasis on bass. The usual ‘Prelude to War’ from Bear McCreary with its taiko drum beats was given due justice here. The earbuds were also able to handle vocals well, with Joanna Wang’s dulcet tones in ‘Vincent’ sounding crisp and clear. 

Télépopmusik’s titular track ‘Breathe’ which prominently features the late Angel McCluskey’s vocals sounded wonderfully ethereal as each aspect of the repetitive beat is introduced into the mix into a final, hypnotic melody. 

Assuming you have a good acoustic seal with the ear tips, the Galaxy Buds3 FE is able to null out quite a bit of noise via its active noise cancellation mode such that it was about to squelch out the noise of the irritating tannoy on the train and most of the background noise – coughing, people talking in the background and the noise of the train rattling on the tracks – into a dull murmur.If you’re playing music, you likely won’t hear the background noise at all. 

Ambient noise mode worked as it says on the tin, allowing you to hear critical external noise like voices and announcements. Both noise cancellation and ambient noise mode are good enough here to surpass what would be considered flagships earbuds on many other competing brands.

Of more critical value is that the Galaxy Buds3 FE supports voice input for Google Gemini, allowing you to interact with the AI assistant without having to type in a prompt. It’s also able to leverage Galaxy AI’s live translations so you can hear translations in real time without having to constantly glance at your phone.

Unfortunately, the earbuds do not support Bluetooth Multipoint, a feature present in many competing earbuds that lets you seamlessly swap between connected devices like your phone, tablet and laptop. What it does have is Auto-Switching which lets you swap between Samsung devices signed into the same Samsung account without the need for individual pairing. 

In terms of battery life, our Galaxy Buds3 FE review sample is rated for up to 6 hours of use with noise cancellation on and a total of 24 hours inclusive of the charging case.

When tested with a full charge and a full week on the daily commute, it averaged a good five hours and 45 minutes with ANC which is close to its original quoted figure. Unfortunately, it lacks wireless charging but plugging it to the mains got it to full charge in about an hour or so though seeing its endurance, it’s something you’d likely only have to do a couple of times a week at most.

Should you buy the Samsung Galaxy Buds3 FE?

On its own merits, the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 FE offers good sound quality for what you pay for, excellent noise cancelling performance and decent battery life.

However, many of its best features require you to own a Samsung phone. Even so, it remains a solid midrange design that punches above its price point. If you’re looking for the best that Samsung has to offer, the Galaxy Buds Pro beckons.

Specifications
Price RM499
Supported codecs AAC, SBC, SSC (Samsung Seamless Codec)
Connectivity Bluetooth v5.4 w A2DP, AVRCP, HFP
Battery 53mAh (earbuds), 512mAh (charging case) | 8 hours music playback (ANC on), 24hours music playback (ANC off)
Size/Weight 21.1 x 18 x 33.8mm /5g (earbuds) | 48.7 x 58.9 x 24.4mm / 41.8g (case)

Samsung Galaxy Buds3 FE review sample courtesy of Samsung Malaysia. For more details please visit https://www.samsung.com/my/audio-sound/galaxy-buds/galaxy-buds3-fe-black-sm-r420nzkaxme/