Samsung’s Galaxy Buds4 Pro and Buds3 Pro are close to working as over-the-counter hearing aids in South Korea. The country’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has approved the Hearing Test and Hearing Aid functions as medical-device features, and Samsung plans to switch them on through a software update early next year.
The test plays tones to each ear and builds an audiogram, then sorts the result into one of seven levels from normal hearing to profound loss, with advice on what to do next. The aid then boosts sound to match that profile. It targets adults with suspected mild to moderate loss, who can tune the settings on their own without seeing a specialist.
According to a Korea Herald report, the amplification follows NAL-NL2, a formula from Australia’s National Acoustic Laboratories. Test results and noise exposure can be viewed in the Samsung Health app. Pak Hon-soo, who leads Samsung’s digital health team for its mobile business, said the company has built both functions into the buds to make hearing support easier to reach.
In the US, Samsung announced that its hearing aid function had FDA clearance on the same two models, and the Korea Herald puts that country’s launch in the fourth quarter. The technology goes back to the original Galaxy Buds Plus, which added sound amplification in 2020.
The Korea Herald says the approval puts Samsung into closer competition with Apple’s AirPods, which already carry a hearing aid feature. Samsung has not said which phones or software versions the update will need.
Neither report mentions any other country. Medical approval is granted market by market, so Korea’s decision does not by itself bring the feature to phones sold elsewhere.
