Earlier this month, we spotted the Galaxy Buds 3 FE on Samsung’s Latin American store before it vanished quickly. Now, Samsung has made the announcement official and the earbuds will arrive on September 5th.

It will come with the new Blade design, improved audio, and Galaxy AI features at a less friendlier price point than its predecessor. Here’s what to expect.

Buds 3 FE promises better audio experience

The Buds 3 FE carries over the stemmed look from the Galaxy Buds 3 series, complete with semi-transparent accents and pinch/swipe controls on the stems. It looks a lot like Apple’s AirPods.

But the focus is much more on what it can do. Samsung has embedded Galaxy AI deeply into it. The earbuds can now become a pocket translator and a voice-first assistant.

With hands-free wake phrases like “Hey Google”, you don’t need to touch your phone or even glance at a screen. You can call up playlists, reply to messages, or check your agenda with only your voice. These features are positioned to make both buds feel less like accessories and more like natural extensions of your phone. 

Speaking of extensions, the integration with Galaxy AI Interpreter also means you can listen to a lecture in another language or carry on a bilingual conversation with live translation happening through your buds. 

The feature doesn’t exactly work without your connected Galaxy smartphone and the AI Interpreter app. They’re merely a delivery channel for the translation, while the phone is the actual brain doing the language processing. 

Related: OnePlus Buds Pro 3 Review

Enjoy up to 30 hours of audio playback

Each bud weighs 8g and has a 50mAh capacity that runs for six hours with ANC on. It’s approximately nine hours without. The runtime reaches 30 hours if you recharge the buds with the 500mAh packed case. 

The buds also support Bluetooth 5.4 with Auto Switch across Galaxy devices, as well as SSC, AAC, and SBC codecs. They’re IP54 rated and have one-way dynamic drivers that deliver deeper bass and clearer treble compared to the previous Buds FE. 

Samsung’s Crystal Clear Call technology has also been teased. It uses machine learning to analyze the sound picked up by the microphones and separate your voice from background noise. 

At the same time, the mics are angled closer to your mouth so they catch more of your voice naturally, instead of relying solely on digital cleanup after the fact.

Normally, they would pick up cars honking or motorcycles passing. But the model should recognize those sounds as not your voice and lower them in the audio feed. 

Buds 3 FE pricier than Buds FE

As aforementioned, Samsung will roll out the earbuds globally starting September 5 in Black and Gray. Pricing for Samsung’s buds are rumoured to be around $150. The original Galaxy Buds FE launched at $100, so that’s roughly a 50% price increase.

Interestingly, they’ll be hitting shelves earlier than Google’s own budget Pixel Buds 2a. It has now been delayed until October 9.