Samsung has a respectable lineup in the TWS market. The notice cancellation among other features, design, battery life, and sound quality place Buds near the top in various categories. However, some in-ear TWS devices from the Galaxy Buds lineup seemingly have an issue. Most reports talk about the left bud but some have the same issue with the right one. It seems that one side of Galaxy Buds suddenly started being quiet for no apparent reason.
We recommend cleaning the Bud that’s quiet to fix the issue. Still, before doing all that, check some software-related steps we provided below. The fact that most users have problems with a left Galaxy Bud makes us suspect possible software issues.
Table of contents:
- Disconnect and connect again
- Check Sound settings
- Update Earbuds firmware
- Use an air duster and alcohol
Why is one of my Samsung earbuds quiet?
Your best bet to fix this? Find yourself a thin needle, an air compressor/tin of compressed air, a cotton swab, and some alcohol. Remove the rubber tip and use a needle to remove the metal grill. Remove the mesh under it, too. Carefully clean the insides with a cotton swab dipped in alcohol and then use compressed air to get all dirt out. Place mesh, grill, and rubber tip back, and your bud should be working without problems.
1. Disconnect and connect again
First, try disconnecting the earbuds by placing them in the charging case and try connecting again. If that didn’t help, you can reset the buds to factory settings from Samsung Wearable.
Here’s how to reset Galaxy Buds to factory settings:
- Enable Bluetooth on your device.
- Place buds in the charging case and open the case.
- Open Galaxy Wearable.
- Connect with Galaxy Buds and open Earbud settings.
- Tap Reset and confirm.
Once you reset Galaxy Buds, add them again through Galaxy Wearable and check if the issue persists.
2. Check Sound settings
There’s an option you should consider checking both in system settings and in Galaxy Wearable. It’s under Accessibility settings and it’s called Left/Right sound balance. You can use it to make audio output louder or quieter on either the right or left earbud or speaker.
This is a long stretch because most users rarely meddle with this setting. Still, it’s worth checking it out just in case. You can find this option in Settings > Accessibility > Sound (or Hearing Enhancements). In Galaxy Wearable, it’s under Earbuds settings > Accessibility. Make sure to position the slider in the middle, if that’s not already the case.
3. Update Earbuds firmware
Another thing on the software side that you can do is update the firmware. After that, we’ll move to hardware-related troubleshooting. To check if there are available firmware updates, you’ll need to open the Galaxy Wearable app and open Earbud settings while the buds are connected.
Once there, open the Earbuds software update, download, and install available updates. Hopefully, this helps you address the problem.
4. Use an air duster and alcohol
Now we move to solutions that proved to be the best for the problem with one Galaxy Bud being quiet. Have in mind that meddling with hardware can void your warranty, though. So, some users removed the protective cover (metal grill) with a needle and used an air duster for keyboards to clean the bud from residue and dirt.
After that, some used 95% medical alcohol to wipe the mesh and metal grill. You can give it a try and check if one side of your Galaxy Buds is still quiet. More times than not, the speaker on buds gets filled with dust, dirt, or ear wax and that can lead to lower volume.
With that said, we can conclude this article. Thank you for reading and don’t forget to share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.
Editor’s note: This article was initially published in May 2022. We made sure to revamp it for freshness and accuracy.
