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Samsung Galaxy Buds FE battery life: What to expect?

They last longer than your coffee break.
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Published onDecember 27, 2023

Samsung’s Fan Edition series of devices garner a lot of love from users, and the Galaxy Buds FE are no different. They are widely appreciated for their decent sound quality, great fit, and Samsung-specific perks.

Given that the buds are much cheaper than the competition, we don’t expect them to be perfect. We’ll take a deeper look at the Samsung Galaxy Buds FE battery life and answer whether it’s great or poor.

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The Galaxy Buds FE are advertised to offer about 6 hours of playtime per charge with ANC on and about 8.5 hours with ANC off, which can be extended to 21 hours and 30 hours, respectively, with the case.

In our test with constant playback of real music at 75dB sound pressure level (SPL), we got about 4 hours 38 minutes.


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What’s the battery life like on the Samsung Galaxy Buds FE?

The Samsung Galaxy Buds FE being worn by a man with longer hair.
Harley Maranan / SoundGuys
A stabilizer fin helps keep the Samsung Galaxy Buds FE secure.

Samsung’s official reports suggest that you should be able to get about 6 hours of playtime per charge with ANC on and about 8.5 hours with ANC off. When fully charged, the case should theoretically provide about 21 hours of playtime with ANC and 30 hours with ANC off.

However, your actual Samsung Galaxy Buds FE battery life will depend on your usage, volume settings, and network conditions.

In our review, the Buds FE managed to last 4 hours 38 minutes with constant music playback at 75dB SPL. With normal use, the buds should last you almost a day, which is not too bad for sub-$100 earbuds.

How long do the Samsung Galaxy Buds FE take to charge?

The USB-C charging port of the Samsung Galaxy Buds FE.
Harley Maranan / SoundGuys
The Samsung Galaxy Buds FE charge via USB-C.

Aside from the case and buds needing 20 to 30 minutes to turn on if completely drained, Samsung doesn’t mention anything about the charging time of the Galaxy Buds FE. However, from our tests, you should be able to get an hour’s worth of listening from several minutes of charging.

The case’s 479mAh capacity should be able to charge the 60mAh-rated buds about four times before needing to be recharged. This can only be done via a USB-C charger, as the case doesn’t support wireless charging.

How does the Samsung Galaxy Buds FE battery life compare to the competition?

The Jabra Elite 4, OnePlus Buds Pro 2, and Nothing Ear 1 earbuds in their open cases.
Lil Katz / SoundGuys
Jabra, Nothing, and OnePlus all offer apps that work on iOS and Android.

Although the Samsung Galaxy Buds FE battery life is not best-in-class, it’s still one of the best you can get for earbuds at this price.

While in-ears like the Anker Soundcore Liberty 4 NC give you much longer playtimes and faster charging speeds, most other options at this price range have about the same or worse playtime and charging speeds.

 

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