Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 FE vs Galaxy Buds 3 Pro: The smarter pick might surprise you.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 FE and the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro are two of Samsung’s best true wireless earbuds for 2025, but which pair is right for you? While both come from the same brand and share several features, the Buds 3 Pro lean into flagship frills, while the Buds 3 FE focus on fundamentals. So which one makes more sense for your needs? Let’s break it down where it matters.

What’s it like to use the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 FE compared to the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro?

The Buds 3 Pro now feature a lollipop-and-stem design, which helps keep them secure in your ears by creating a strong anchor point. They also include a removable nozzle, allowing you to swap out eartips for the best fit. Their sleek, small, and semi-transparent case includes a few premium touches, like wireless charging.

On the earbuds themselves, you’ll find tap and swipe controls, along with the option for voice commands if you prefer hands-free listening. Combined with their IP57 water- and dust-resistance rating, the Buds 3 Pro are well-suited for workouts and daily use, even around splashes or sweat.

The Buds 3 FE share the same lollipop-stem look and sealed fit but come with three eartip sizes. Instead of the glossy finish on the Buds 3 Pro, which can attract fingerprints, the Buds 3 FE feature a sleek matte black design reminiscent of the Buds 2 Pro and earlier models. They carry an IP54 rating, which mean slightly less water and dust resistance than the Buds 3 Pro, though they’re still fine for the gym or rain.

So, unless you specifically need wireless charging or stronger durability, the Buds 3 FE look and feel just as good as the Buds 3 Pros. It just comes down to personal preference.

Do the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 FE or Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro have more features?

Both earbuds make use of the Samsung Galaxy Wearable app, which serve as the gateway to a whole suite of AI features, including Gemini voice commands and real-time translation services through a feature called Interpreter. They also both offer a bunch of quality-of-life features, including 6 custom EQ presents, a 9-band customisable EQ, ANC toggle, ambient sound controls, and Find My Earbuds.

While neither pair supports true Bluetooth Multipoint, both do feature Samsung’s Auto-Switch feature, which lets you jump between Galaxy devices provided they’re both tied to the same Samsung account. The Buds 3 Pro do add 360 Audio for head-tracked surround effects, but otherwise the app experience is nearly identical.

Unfortunately, though, all these features are exclusive only to Android users. If you’re using a Samsung phone, these functionalities are built directly into newer versions of One UI, but other versions of Android will have to download the Samsung Wearable App for the Play Store. If you’re on iOS, however, you’re out of luck, as the earbuds won’t offer any additional features beyond the basic Bluetooth connectivity.

How do the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 FE and Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro connect?

Both earbuds make use of Bluetooth 5.4 with Auracast support. The Buds 3 Pro support SBC, AAC, Samsung Scalable Codec, and Samsung Seamless Codec, whereas the Buds 3 FE drop the Samsung Scalable Codec, keeping SBC, AAC, and Seamless. The latter is a proprietary codec from Samsung that offers near-lossless quality… if you have one of Samsung’s current generation devices. Everyone else, unfortunately, is limited to SBC and AAC.

Is battery life better on the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 FE or Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro?

In our standardized test, the Buds 3 Pro lasted 4 hours and 31 minutes with ANC enabled. Though this is shorter than we’d like, it’s still more than enough for commutes, though they may suffer for intercontinental trips without several recharges.

The Buds 3 FE have similar battery life, which came out to 4 hours and 26 minutes with ANC enabled, and just under 6 hours with ANC off. That covers commuting and work sprints, though I wouldn’t count on a single charge for long-haul flights.

The Buds 3 Pro case supports wireless charging, while the Buds 3 FE case does not. Both charge quickly enough that a short top-up will provide meaningful listening time.

Do the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 FE or Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro block noise better?

The Buds 3 Pro are decent at blocking out noise, with passive isolation alone accounting for a 57% blocking of outside noise. With ANC on, the Buds 3 Pro reduce the loudness of outside noise by an average of 76%. While that’s fine for most people and use cases, it is a step below what some other true wireless flagships are offering for this price range.

The Buds 3 FE, on the other hand, have markedly better ANC than their Pro counterpart. The sealed eartips do a great job of passive isolation, blocking out 66% of outside noise. And with ANC on, the Buds 3 FE reduce the loudness of outside noise by an average of 86%. This makes these earbuds some of the best noise-cancelling earbuds we’ve tested in our lab, despite not being a flagship!

While the Buds 3 Pro do feature an AI-powered adaptive noise cancellation feature that can adapt ANC to different environments, a feature that the Buds 3 FE lacks, the truth is that the base ANC of the Buds 3 FE is so good that you likely won’t miss the adaptive ANC features. So if noise cancellation is your priority, the Buds 3 FE are the way to go.

Do the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 FE sound better than the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro?

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 FE and Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro both have good sound quality that most people will enjoy, though the Buds 3 Pro do hold the slight edge based on our ratings. The Galaxy Buds 3 Pro have slightly more bass and treble emphasis out of the box, but you can always dial that back using the custom equalizer.

Multi-Dimensional Audio Quality Scores (MDAQS)

According to MDAQS sound quality testing, the Buds 3 Pro score high in Timbre and Immersiveness, coming in at an impressive 4.9 and 4.7, respectively. That said, they are rated a little lower for Distortion, coming in at 3.3, which could mean more non-linearities and added noise.

The Buds 3 FE on the other hand, score moderately high across the board, coming in at 3.8 for Timbre, 4.1 for Distortion, and 4 for Immersiveness. This tells us that our virtual panel of listeners are more likely to enjoy the sound of the Buds 3 Pro than the Buds 3 FE. That said, just because these earbuds post good scores does not necessarily mean that you’ll enjoy their sound. Sound is subjective, and so it’s best if you can get your hands on these earbuds to test and listen to them before you buy.

Objective Measurements

Out of the box, the Buds 3 Pro and the Buds 3 FE have very similar tuning. Both earbuds have an overemphasis in the bass compared to our SoundGuys Headphone Preference Curve. This may be preferable if you’re someone who enjoys bassy genres like EDM. This 5dB over-emphasis is common for many modern wireless earbuds, though, as it seems to suit the masses’ tastes and helps with combating sound leakage from a poor fit.

The Buds 3 Pro tend to deviate more from our curve, over-emphasizing the sub-bass between 40-200Hz more than the Buds 3 FE. This can cause kick drums and bass lines to sound louder than you may be used to. It also has a greater over-emphasis from 4kHz to 9kHz than the Bus3 FE, which can result in bells, cymbals, and hi-hats sounding too shrill to some.

Of course, with EQ presets, you can adjust and fine-tune the tuning of both earbuds to your preference. The Samsung Wearables app comes with 6 custom EQ presets and a 9-band customisable EQ, giving listeners a lot of flexibility when it comes to creating a sound that suits them. Unfortunately, these features are exclusive to Android users, so if you mostly use Apple devices, you’re stuck with the default sound profiles of both earbuds.

Do the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 FE or Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro have a better microphone?

Both earbuds are perfectly usable for calls, but the Buds 3 FE handle background noise better. On the Buds 3 Pro, the mic itself sounds fine, but noise reduction is minimal unless you’re in Samsung’s ecosystem, so loud environments bleed through. The Buds 3 FE take a noticeable step up, filtering out background noise better and letting my voice cut through office chatter or street sounds more clearly.

Both sets struggle with wind, but the FE hold up better than most earbuds we’ve tested. The Buds 3 Pro, meanwhile, not only suffer with wind but also with stability, since a fit shift can trigger the wear sensor mid-call and cause frustrating dropouts. You can listen to the microphone samples of both earbuds below:

Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 FE microphone demo (Ideal conditions):

Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro microphone demo (Ideal conditions):

Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 FE microphone demo (Street conditions):

Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro microphone demo (Street conditions):

Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 FE microphone demo (Windy conditions):

Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro microphone demo (Windy conditions):

Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro vs Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 FE: Price and availability

The Galaxy Buds 3 Pro retail for $249, whereas the Galaxy Buds 3 FE come in at $149. You might be able to find the Pro model on sale since it is older, but at retail price, the Buds 3 FE are a much better value.

Should you get the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro or Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 FE?

I’d tell most Samsung phone owners to buy the Galaxy Buds 3 FE. It nails the fundamentals: class-leading ANC that actually beats the Pro, sound that tracks our target without fatiguing treble, reliable sealed fit, and the same core Galaxy app experience. You give up wireless charging, adaptive ANC, blade lights, and some IP water and dust resistance, but the savings and performance wins make the FE the smarter pick.

Only choose the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro if you want the full “flagship Samsung” experience: dual-driver hardware, IP57, wireless charging, advanced Ambient options, and the most AI frills. They still sound very good, and integrate beautifully with newer Galaxy phones for higher-bitrate playback. Just remember you’re paying more for features while getting weaker ANC than the FE and similar battery life.

If you’re on the market for wireless earbuds, though, these aren’t your only two options. There are plenty of earbuds on the market that may better suit your needs. Check out our article on the best wireless earbuds here for some of our top picks.