GSMArena: Samsung Galaxy Buds4 Pro and Buds3 Pro to gain hearing aid features via software update

Samsung has announced that its Hearing Test and Hearing Aid features for the Galaxy Buds have received medical device approval from South Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, GSMArena reports. The outlet says both features are coming to the Galaxy Buds4 Pro and Galaxy Buds3 Pro through a software update, with the rollout in Korea set to start in early 2027. GSMArena notes the same Hearing Aid feature was cleared by the FDA in the US earlier in the summer.

According to GSMArena, the Hearing Test is based on clinical-grade pure-tone air conduction audiometry, playing single tones at different frequencies to find the quietest sound a user can hear and measuring each ear separately. The result is an audiogram that places hearing into one of seven levels, from normal to profound, along with guidance on next steps. The outlet reports that the Hearing Aid feature uses that audiogram to amplify only the sounds a user struggles to hear, relying on the NAL-NL2 prescription formula developed by Australia's National Acoustic Laboratories.

GSMArena says the feature is meant for adults aged 18 and over who suspect they have mild to moderate hearing loss, and that users can tune it without help from a hearing specialist. Noise exposure levels and test results also appear in the Samsung Health app, per the report. The outlet adds that Samsung first added a personal sound amplification feature to the Galaxy Buds+ in 2020, and quotes Park Heon-soo, head of the Digital Health team in Samsung's MX business, as saying that building both features into the Galaxy Buds broadens access to hearing support.