Galaxy Buds On and SmartTag3 go on sale in the US
Samsung's Galaxy Buds On, its clip-on open-ear earbuds, and the Galaxy SmartTag3 item tracker went on sale in the US on Friday, November 6. The earbuds cost $229.99 and are built for people who want to hear their music and their surroundings at the same time, while the $29.99 tag can guide you to lost items from farther away than the last model, according to Samsung.
Galaxy Buds On: open-ear audio with a clip
Galaxy Buds On rest on the outside of the ear instead of sealing the ear canal, using a band that clips around it. Samsung says it shaped the design using more than 119 million ear data points. Each earbud weighs 6.65g.
Samsung rates battery life at up to 9.5 hours of music playback per charge and up to 38 hours in total with the charging case, based on its own testing. The earbuds run on Qualcomm's Snapdragon S7 Gen 1 Sound Platform.
Open-ear designs let sound escape, so Samsung added what it calls Audio Leakage Reduction. It plays reversed sound waves from the back of the speaker to cut the audio that travels outward. The earbuds use what Samsung calls a TwinBoost Speaker, paired with an Auto Volume option that adjusts loudness based on background noise. Auto Volume is an experimental Labs feature that needs One UI 8.5 or later.
For calls, the earbuds use 3 microphones plus a Voice Pickup Unit, a vibration sensor that detects when you're speaking.
Hands-free controls lean on Galaxy phones
Several of the hands-free features depend on a Galaxy phone. You can start Gemini Live by saying "Hey Google, let's talk live," record a Quick Voice Memo by long-pressing an earbud and nod or shake your head to accept or decline a call. Quick Voice Memo works only on phones that support Galaxy AI. Head gestures need One UI 8.5 or later, and using them to dismiss alarms or hear notifications read aloud requires One UI 9.0 or later.
Galaxy users don't need the Galaxy Wearable app to set up the earbuds. Opening the case pairs the earbuds with a phone or tablet, and volume and EQ controls appear in the Quick Panel. The earbuds come in Black only.
Galaxy SmartTag3: longer range and new alerts
The SmartTag3 is thinner than earlier SmartTags and uses Samsung's Galaxy Find Network to report its location.
Its Compass View points you toward the tag with distance and direction from up to 60 meters away, which Samsung says is about 3 times the range of the previous generation. That feature needs a Galaxy device running Android 12 or later with ultra-wideband or Bluetooth Channel Sounding. Samsung says the full 60-meter range was measured with a clear line of sight using Channel Sounding, which for now works only on the Galaxy S26 Ultra, Galaxy S26 Plus, Galaxy Z Fold8 and Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra.
New alerts include Place Notification, a trial feature that tells you when a tagged item enters or leaves an area you set, and Movement Detection Alert, which can tell you when the tag moves. Location History keeps up to 7 days of the tag's whereabouts. Movement alerts depend on nearby Galaxy devices that have opted in to offline finding, so Samsung warns they can arrive late or not at all.
What it means for you
At $229.99, Galaxy Buds On make the most sense for runners and others who want to stay aware of their surroundings, especially Galaxy phone owners who will use the gesture and voice features. On an older Galaxy phone, check your One UI version first: Auto Volume and head gestures need One UI 8.5, and using gestures for alarms and notifications needs One UI 9.0.
The SmartTag3 costs $29.99 for a single tag or $99.99 for a 4-pack. Samsung quotes the 60-meter Compass View range only for Channel Sounding, which Samsung says works only on the Galaxy S26 Ultra, Galaxy S26 Plus, Galaxy Z Fold8 and Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra for now, so owners of other Galaxy phones shouldn't count on that figure.