Verdict

These are gratifying casual - use earphones with firm participating noise cancellation . But they trade away some of the symmetry of the other Samsung Buds mate in hunt of bass thrills .

Pros

Cons

Key Features

Introduction

The Samsung Galaxy Buds FE are a more low-priced pair in Samsung ’s true wireless earphone line - up . We had theGalaxy Buds 2 , theGalaxy Buds 2 Pro , and now these .

As gravid Samsung fans may have a go at it , the “ FE ” stands for sports fan edition , a label used in the society ’s phone and pad series .

There ’s near news show and bad word . The Samsung Galaxy Buds FE have all the key features of the pricier Galaxy pairs , including participating disturbance cancellation and car - break spike sensing element . However , these earphones utilise a completely different band of drivers , and do n’t have quite as faithful tuning as their siblings .

The changes made here are clearly deliberate , and the most renowned is a big old double easy lay of cochlea - quaking bomber - bass voice . It can be level - out too much with some songs , but it does add an energy many will enjoy .

Design

The Samsung Galaxy Buds FE are humble true wireless phone . They are fairly subtle and good - looking , with no giant Samsung logo on the bud themselves .

Samsung is n’t print on the buds at all , in fact , just on the top of the charging case .

There ’s no headphone stem here either . Samsung clearly was n’t out to make a affirmation earphone like theNothing Ear ( 1 ) . And unlike the other Buds earphones , these have a categorical back panel , arguably build them look all the more ceremonious .

Comfort is keen . The phone are light , and they have a trivial silicone fin that run across the exterior . It ’s a much small-scale version of the variety of mainstay used in sports earphone to add some stability without complicating the tantrum . You just fee the Samsung Galaxy Buds FE in and you ’re done .

These are far from sports earpiece , though . They have pretty pathetic IPX2 body of water resistance , which means they can handle falling water system at an angle of up to 15 stage from the vertical . A bit of rain , in other word , but nothing more .

This is a military rating so low you ca n’t really consider the Samsung Galaxy Buds FE water resistant , but I have used this duet in the pelting , on long runs and in the gym and have not encountered any issues .

Still , only the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are made for genuinely ambitious conditions . They have IPX7 piddle opposition , ready for an real dunking .

Features

miserable water resistance aside , the Samsung Galaxy Buds FE have a tidy cattle ranch of feature .

They practice touch sensation - sensitive headphone for ascendancy , just like the other Galaxy Buds earphones . Some might find the insipid backs make this seem more intuitive .

You long - closet to switch between the active racket cancellation ( ANC ) and ambient consciousness modality , which plays some noise of the outdoor world through the earphone speakers .

The Samsung Galaxy Buds FE ’s active noise cancellation is quite honest for a non - flagship true wireless earphones , and a detectable step up from the Galaxy Buds 2 ’s .

While we ’re not on the same level as theBose QuietComfort Ultrahere , but you do get more than the basic ANC effect of stopping engine grumble from bankrupt your music . you may apply the Samsung Galaxy Buds FE ’s ANC without any music playing to make noisy environments less distracting while working , for model .

The ambient style is n’t the most spectacularly natural I ’ve heard . However , it was comfortable to utilize for a few hours while work from home and waiting for a messenger delivery . Perhaps it ’s just the way the microphones are positioned , but the Samsung Galaxy Buds FE ’s ambient mode does n’t seem to amplify the mouse click - clack of your keyboard too much , relative to its gain of phone elsewhere around you .

Samsung says these headphone will last up to 8.5 minute per care , or six hours with ANC turned on .

This is affirmative . Using the Samsung Galaxy Buds FE at restrained volumes , I found the first earpiece die after 5 hours and one min . The second joined it at 5 hours 24 minutes . It ’s not a bad result , but it does n’t match the claim and is not notably good .

This was with the ANC switched on 90 % of the prison term , and the ambient mode used a few times .

Such a disparity imply you should expect these earphones to last closer to 18 60 minutes with a full charged showcase in tow rather than the newspaper headline form of 30 hr ( which refers to use with ANC work off ) .

The Samsung Galaxy Buds FE also have a sensing element to separate when they are in your capitulum , break and disable ANC when one is take out . These earphones connect to the Samsung Galaxy Wearable app on your phone , which let you use EQ and , for example , tweak what contact gesture on the earpieces in reality do .

It also declare oneself a “ find my earphones ” social occasion , which plays a note through the earpieces — dead handy . And if you have a Samsung telephone set , you may use Samsung ’s SSC codec ( Samsung Scalable Codec ) rather of AAC or SBC . It claims to make unremitting on - the - fly adjustments for the best experience .

When testing with aMotorola Edge 40 Pro , my experience was fairly mixed . While you could go prospicient stretch without any progeny , connectivity blips can really stand out . I ’ve taken these earphone out for several runs , and on one , the Galaxy Buds FE kept reverting to a mono or very lowly bitrate sign , and there were lashings of micro stutter that made it sound like Kylie Minogue was lose the beat .

These seem to be technique used to style out momentary connectivity woe . But it ’s just proof you ca n’t really style this stuff out . Suddenly blend in mono , or the musical equivalent of becoming passing - pixellated ? It ’s all middling detectable .

Sound Quality

So far , the Samsung Galaxy Buds FE do not seem a drop down from the Galaxy Buds 2 in any appreciable way . They ’re even an acclivity for disturbance cancellation .

They have a totally different driver regalia , though . Where the Buds 2 and Buds 2 Pro have an interesting dual driver organisation , with a woofer and a tweeter , the Buds FE just use a undivided dynamical driver . Like most earpiece .

When you open up up the subject , there ’s no “ sound by AKG ” ( a venerable audio troupe owned by Samsung ) tagline , which is found in the Galaxy Buds 2 case . So , are Samsung ’s good expert washing their hands of these ?

I take it to be a suggestion the FE ’s Maker just were n’t aiming for the same speech sound profile as the rest of the series , and that dally out in the Samsung Galaxy Buds FE audio frequency to an extent .

The Samsung Galaxy Buds FE have a much more pronounced freshwater bass hike than the Galaxy Buds 2 . It ’s not a thoughtless prominence across the entire bass range , though .

Samsung avoids stodging up the sound too much by making the low and sub - bass the most hyped surface area of the lot . While this is quite a warmly - sounding earphone , it does n’t end up too clouded or disconcert through an excess of mid - bass .

That say , in quite a mint of songs this leads to the bass sounding disconnected from the rest of the sound . It ’s an unbalancing bass response , even if it ’s not boomy in the usual sentience . It really led to me turning down Yussuf Dayes Black Classical Music as the stiff low bass of the kick brake drum becomes uncomfortably ear - pounding at otherwise normal volumes .

On the positive side , the mids are a little less recessed here than they are in the Buds 2 , and I ascertain the treble a little less “ hot ” or shouty . But just as was noted in our Buds 2 review , the Buds FE are not masters of double detail .

There ’s respectable news , though . The Galaxy Wearable app has a bunch of EQ presets for these earphones . And while I find none of them really assist for the Buds 2 , a twosome can aid tame the Galaxy FE . Samsung ’s Clear setting absent the Galaxy Buds FE basso ’s excesses , adds some spark to the dual and arguably makes the earphones voice more logical than the step - up Buds 2 . But it can make the twofold sound a little pinched too .

However , if you are n’t coming for the big basso , maybe you should n’t go for the Galaxy FE in the first blank space .

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Should you buy it?

These are a in force choice if you want a reasonably priced pair of earphones with fighting noise cancellation and do n’t take care trading some balance for bass .

The Galaxy Buds FE have more of an unbalancing low-toned bass boost than the other Samsung earphones , and assault and battery life is shorter than claimed at five hours .

Final Thoughts

The Samsung Galaxy Buds FE are a good fit for someone who likes their bass extra - deep and punchy . This duo run low prominent on sub - bass , but it does mean they are less well - balanced than the step - up Galaxy Buds 2 .

Active noise cancellation gets a slim upgrade , though , and you do n’t suffer out on any primal feature film just because these are more affordable “ FE ” earphones .

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We screen every set of headphone we review good over an prolonged time period of clip . We apply industry standard tests to liken feature properly . We ’ll always tell you what we discover . We never , ever , take over money to review a ware .

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FAQs

They have very basic IPX2 weewee resistance , which wo n’t protect them from much more than rain .

you may use any phone with these earphones , but with a Samsung , you may use a better streaming codec forebode SSC .

Yes , these earpiece have ANC , and an ambient aware mode .

Full Specs