If you've never used a pair of Galaxy Buds wireless earbuds before, you might be unfamiliar with how everything works. For example, you may be unaware that you can't always use your smartphone to monitor the precise battery level of the charging case — not even if you use the latest Galaxy Buds 3 series. Samsung's Buds work like that for a reason, and we'll explain everything you need to know below.
First, you need to know that you can use one of two ways to keep an eye on the battery level of your Galaxy Buds charging case:
- You can get a rough estimate via the LED indicator on the case.
- You can get a much more precise battery level reading via your phone, but only under specific conditions.
If you want to use the LED indicator to get an idea of your Galaxy Buds case battery level, flip the lid open and then close it back up again. Then, look at the LED on the charging case and observe its behavior:
- LED flashes red after closing the lid – the charging case has less than 10% battery charge left.
- LED is solid red for a few seconds after closing the lid – the charging case has between 10-30% battery charge left.
- LED is solid yellow for a few seconds after closing the lid – the charging case has between 30-60% battery charge left.
- LED is solid green for a few seconds after closing the lid – the case's battery level is greater than 60%.
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Using your phone to check the Galaxy Buds case battery charge
If you want a precise reading of the battery charge of your Galaxy Buds case, you can get one through the connected phone.
First, you need to have the Galaxy Wearable app installed. Then, you need to open the app and select your Galaxy Buds. And finally, you have to open the lid on the Buds case before the app can show you a precise battery level indicator, as seen below.
NOTE: You have to keep the lid open and also leave at least one earbud inside the case to get a precise battery level reading of your charging case. This is because Galaxy Buds charging cases don't have Bluetooth connectivity. The cases themselves never connect to your phone — only the earbuds do. Therefore, the charging case needs at least one earbud to be left inside to use it as an antenna that transmits battery information to your phone.
In addition to these methods, you can also get precise charging case battery reading through the brief earbuds connection pop-up when you establish a Bluetooth connection.
Lastly, you can get battery information on your charging case via the Battery Status home screen widget Samsung introduced with One UI 5.0. As long as your earbuds and phone are connected, this widget remembers and displays the last known battery level of your Buds charging case.
Once again, the charging case can't transmit battery information to the phone in real time without the earbuds. As such, the home screen widget will remember and show whatever battery charge the case had left at the precise moment you removed the earbuds.
And once you place your earbuds back inside the case and break the Bluetooth connection between them and your phone, the widget will no longer display any Buds-related battery information.