By Engadget | Created at 2026-08-11 14:27:47 | Updated at 2026-08-11 14:42:09
20 minutes ago
The FDA approved Samsung's Galaxy Buds hearing aid feature, which will soon be available alongside a hearing test.
Billy Steele for Engadget
Samsung says the Food and Drug Administration has cleared its hearing aid feature for Galaxy Buds. As such, the company plans to make the feature and a hearing test tool available on Galaxy Buds 3 Pro and Galaxy Buds 4 Pro in the US and some other markets later this year.
The hearing aid feature is similar to the one found in Apple's AirPods Pro. It's designed to offer folks aged 18 and over with mild to moderate hearing loss an over-the-counter hearing aid solution. The hearing test, meanwhile, is said to offer medical-grade results in only five minutes. You'll be able to start the test from the Galaxy Buds settings on a compatible Galaxy phone.
Samsung
For each ear, the test will determine that the user's hearing is normal or categorize them as having one of four stages of hearing loss. Those are mild, moderate, severe or profound. Based on those results (which the user can access in the Samsung Health app), the hearing aid feature can amplify sounds that the wearer has difficulty picking up, for instance whispers, distant voices and high frequencies. The feature also ties into other aspects of the earbuds such as noise elimination, as well as beamforming to focus on audio from in front of the wearer.
