FDA approves Samsung's Hearing Aid feature on Galaxy Buds

Samsung has been improving its health-tracking features and the recent FDA approval for the Galaxy Buds' Hearing Aid feature adds another such feature to its toolbox.

The US Food and Drug Administration cleared the Hearing Aid feature as an over-the-counter (OTC) solution for users aged 18 and above. It makes some Galaxy Buds models a convenient alternative to some expensive hearing aid devices for people with mild to moderate hearing loss. For example, people having trouble following a conversation in noisy environments fall in this category.

According to WHO, hearing loss affects roughly 1.5 billion people to some degree, and that number is projected to reach 2.5 billion in 2050. However, due to cost, social stigma or limited access to professional care, many struggle with their hearing disability. That's why Samsung tries to tackle them all at once.

Wearing Galaxy Buds in public places won't attract attention. At the same time, the Hearing Aid feature offers quick and easy evaluation of one's hearing, which cuts costs and makes the whole process much more accessible.

Hearing Aid in Samsung Health

Once the user completes the hearing test, which uses clinical-grade pure-tone audiometry, the Samsung Health app generates an audiogram showing the user's specific hearing deficits of each ear. The results categorize the user's hearing loss as either mild, moderate, severe or profound.

The Hearing Aid feature then takes into account the user's specific hearing profile and amplifies the frequencies needed. The Galaxy Buds also support advanced features such as noise elimination and beamforming that focus the sounds in front of the user.

Currently, only the Galaxy Buds3 Pro and the Buds4 Pro support Hearing Aid, but future Galaxy Buds Pro models will most certainly ship with Hearing Aid out of the box.

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