Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 FE Review: Forget about the Buds 3 Pro, Seriously

Every brand wants you to buy the flagship offerings, and so does Samsung – I am sure they want you to buy the Galaxy Bud 3 Pro. But hot take: forget about the Buds 3 Pro seriously. After using their much cheaper Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 FE for a few weeks now, this is the smartest purchase you can buy from the entire earbuds lineup. Let me explain.

Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 FE Review

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 FE shares the same design as the other Buds 3 series in every way possible but misses out on some “aesthetic” polish – which I can live without. The FE does not have the Blade Light indicator, which I couldn’t care less about. It doesn’t get the slightly glossy-slash-metallic finish of the more expensive Buds 3 and Pro, which again is a win because this matte grey finish is so much easier to maintain and gives me less reason to worry about scratches and that sort of thing.

Better than the Buds 3 than imagined

If you forget the Galaxy Buds 3 FE for a moment and look at the normal Buds 3, it doesn’t share the same earbud design as the Buds 3 Pro, which has an in-ear tip for better Noise Isolation and Noise Cancellation. To my surprise, seeing the Buds 3 FE feature an in-ear tip-based earbuds caught me off guard because this is, without a doubt, the superior design choice for long run listening experience.

So, credit where it’s due – I am glad for this design and in fact, with the matte finish, it does have a positive effect on the ears, where it doesn’t get greasy and slip off. But this is the only thing interesting – what I am about to share next is going to confuse you a lot.

A Confusingly Positioned Earbuds in the Buds3 Lineup

Once you add the Galaxy Buds 3 FE to the Buds 3 and Buds 3 Pro lineup, this is where things get a bit weird? I don’t know, you can be the judge of it. While it does look like a better option than the Bud 3, it misses out on some features, like no wireless charging and IP54 instead of IP57, which I am okay with because the FE is a budget earbud.

But I don’t like the fact that it misses out on Multipoint connectivity – which is my one major compromise. This can come off as a huge oversight and perhaps a dealbreaker for users who use multiple devices and need one earbuds. Okay, fine, even if I were to close an eye, how does this Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 FE really perform in real-world situations?

The Good, The Bad and The Bassy

We tried these earbuds with the S25 FE, and here are things I’d like to share:

• The earbuds’ fit and finish are good enough. Though I am not a fan of the stem design, this one interestingly held well in my ears while travelling better than the Buds 3 Pro ever did.

• Codec-wise, you are getting SBC, AAC and Samsung Seamless Codec. If you have read our previous reviews, you know how I feel about the SSC, which has its own kinks that might be either up to your liking or it’s going to make you hate the earbuds more.
• Sound quality-wise: the earbuds are tuned to be balanced by default, and it is nothing like what balanced earbuds would sound. It is bassy; the vocals get a bit muddy, and the instruments lack the nuances you look for. The reverb you get from certain vocal bits is just lacking as well. Tweaking the EQ is not an option, but a necessary action to take. You can listen to our music playlist and see what we mean.
• It’s basically okay for a casual listening experience if you ask me. If you are looking for details, there are better earbuds to go for. So, at the price point they are offering, we can’t get too critical either, but what we are saying is, don’t jump into these with the hopes of a high-fidelity listening experience.
• ANC: definitely an improved experience compared to the OGs. The ANC could rival the Buds 3 Pro if you ask me. While the low-end ANC of the Buds 3 FE is a bit weak, which I noticed it while travelling around, but man, these earbuds knocked the ANC out of the park for the price. Ambient Sound is great! The microphones do a fantastic job of giving a better awareness by picking up the sound around you.

Are there any Flaws?

• The microphone for calls is going to be a setback because when I sent voice notes to my friends, I realised how it was not the best. It does okay until you are in an environment where it’s windy or you are on the move, for instance.
• The Battery life of the Buds 3 FE was a bit annoying for me because during my travel, I used up these earbuds extensively, so switching between ANC and Ambient Mode gave me like 4+ hours of life every time I took them out. In fact, this is pretty much the kind of battery life I even got with their more premium Buds 3 Pro – shocker, I know.

What don’t I care about?

On paper, the Buds 3 Pro hits all the right notes for people who chase after spec sheets, but more often than not, that isn’t the story you will get when you try the product. In fact, all of those fancy features it has, especially after using it right – and switching to these Buds 3 FE made me realise, I do not need them at all.

The 3 Pro has dual-drivers, technically better ANC, Multipoint, IP57, Hi-Res audio and so on, but these are features I am willing to let go of for earbuds that cost far less and get the fundamentals so right. That is what the Buds 3 FE is all about. The Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 FE has good drivers that are easy to tweak to your liking, comfortable, and offer on par and close to the Buds 3 Pro in experience – all that for less money? Well, say less.

Conclusion

Look, I’m still a little gutted about the missing Multipoint connectivity. It’s a feature I genuinely need, but I understand that to hit this price point, brands have to make some cuts.

So, if a simple, casual listening earbuds you are looking for, from the Samsung lineup, and you don’t need any of those features, which is pretty much a nice-to-have, the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 FE is by far the best one I would recommend from Samsung’s arsenal of earbuds. I would still pick these over the Buds 3 Pro any day. Because for daily use, it gets the most important fundamentals—comfort, a secure fit, and incredible value—so right that the Pro’s extra features just don’t seem worth the money.

For more tech, gaming, and lifestyle content, make sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Better yet, stay tuned to The Adventures of Vesper.