Samsung today said its Galaxy Buds Hearing Aid feature has been cleared by the U.S. FDA, which means hearing aid capabilities will be coming to the Galaxy Buds in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Samsung will join Apple in offering over-the-counter hearing aid functionality. Apple added an FDA-cleared hearing health feature to the AirPods back in 2024, allowing them to be used as a clinical-grade hearing aid.
Like the AirPods, the Galaxy Buds can replace a hearing aid for mild to moderate hearing loss, and Samsung is introducing a Hearing Test option like Apple did. Galaxy Buds users can do a self-administered hearing test in five minutes and the resulting clinical-grade audiogram can be used to adjust the built-in Hearing Aid feature.
The Galaxy Buds will amplify the sounds users have difficulty hearing, like high frequencies or whispers, which is also how the AirPods work. Noise elimination and beamforming also help Galaxy Buds users by focusing on the sounds in front of the user and suppressing background noise.
Samsung says it worked with the National Acoustic Laboratories and Samsung Medical Center to develop the hearing aid feature set. Hearing Aid features will be available on the Galaxy Buds3 Pro and the Galaxy Buds4 Pro. A newer Samsung Galaxy smartphone that supports One UI 8 or later is required.
After introducing hearing aid features in the U.S. in iOS 18.1, Apple has expanded availability to over 150 countries and regions. Apple had a two-year head start, but Samsung is now starting to catch up with a Galaxy Buds hearing health option that matches most of what the AirPods can do.
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