Samsung announced the Galaxy Buds FE earlier this month, the company’s first-ever FE edition TWS earbuds. Being the most affordable wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation (ANC) that Samsung ever made, the earbuds sure did raise many people’s eyebrows. I’ve been having the earbuds for a couple of weeks, it’s time for a full review.
Samsung Galaxy Buds FE Specs
- IPX2 Rating
- Dimensions & Weight
- Earbud: 19.2 x 17.1 x 22.2mm, 5.6g
- Charging case: 50.0 x 50.0 x 27.7mm, 40g
- 6.5mm Custom 1-way Speaker
- ANC (2 outers + 1 inner)
- Ambient Sound
- Bluetooth 5.2
- Codec: Samsung Seamless Codec HiFi (Samsung Proprietary), AAC, SBC
- Sensor: Hall Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Touch Sensor
- Battery
- Earbud: 60mAh
- Charging case: 479mAh
- Compatibility: Android 8.0 or higher with more than 1.5GB of RAM
- Colors: Graphite, White
Design
The charging case of the Galaxy Buds FE is the same as the Buds2 and Buds2 Pro, you can even use the same Minions Bob Eco-Friends Cover for the Galaxy Buds2 Pro on it. The case has a glossy finish on the outside, which I’m not a fan of since it is prone to fingerprint smudges. The case has a USB-C port on the back and an LED indicator on the front. Samsung has removed the wireless charging functionality, which means there is only one way to charge the case.
Opening up the case, you’ll see a rather familiar earbud design. Yes, the earbuds look like the original Galaxy Buds and Galaxy Buds+. Each earbud does have a wingtip on it, you can swap it out with a flat tip if you are not a wingtip person. Each earbud has a flat touch sensor, which is more practical in my opinion.
User Experience
Similar to other Galaxy earbuds, the Galaxy Buds FE comes with the Galaxy Wearable app for you to customize and tweak the earbud settings. The app is also available on Windows laptops, but some features may be missing. The FE edition doesn’t support Voice Detect and 360 audio, which is expected since this is a pair of affordable wireless earbuds.
Audio Quality
The Galaxy Buds FE is Samsung’s most affordable wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation (ANC), but it lost the AKG-tuned sound signature and only uses a 6.5mm one-way driver (Buds2 and Buds2 Pro have two-way drivers).
In terms of audio quality, I would say the Galaxy Buds FE did a great job with the absence of the tweet driver. You can’t expect much but it does have a nice bass, do keep in mind that this is quite subjective. Thankfully, the earbuds still come with ANC and ambient sound features, similar to the high-end Buds2 Pro. I would say the ANC and ambient sound performance is quite similar to the Buds2.
Battery Life
In terms of battery life, I only charge the case with earbuds in it once a week. I was able to get around 8.5 hours of battery life with ANC off and 6 hours with ANC on. Unfortunately, you can only charge the case via the USB-C port, no wireless charging this time around.
Final Words
Retailing at RM399, the Samsung Galaxy Buds FE is available in two colors — Graphite and White. It is Samsung’s most affordable wireless earbuds with ANC, I know I have mentioned it many times, but it is the main selling point. At this price range, I believe it’s hard to find any other wireless earbuds with these features. However, if you are willing to spend slightly more, the Galaxy Buds2 is a better choice.