Your Galaxy Buds FE just took a swim. Maybe they went through the wash, dropped in the sink, or got caught in a downpour during your run. Whatever happened, you're on the clock now. Water damage sets in fast once corrosion starts forming on the delicate components inside the buds, and the first hour after the dunk is your best shot at saving them.
Here's the golden rule: do NOT put the Galaxy Buds FE back in the charging case. Do not plug the case in. Power plus water equals instant short circuits. Leave the buds out of the case, turn off Bluetooth on your phone so they don't try to reconnect, and start drying them immediately. The Galaxy Buds FE have an IPX2 rating, which covers light sweat but not submersion, so survival after a good soaking is not guaranteed but absolutely worth trying for.
Don't Power Anything On
This cannot be overstated. Don't open the Galaxy Wearable app to check battery levels. Don't put the buds in your ears. Don't test audio yet. Every second that power is running through wet components is another second of potential damage. Get the buds out of the water and stop all electrical activity for at least the next 24 hours.
If the buds were inside the charging case when it got wet, take them out immediately. The case will try to charge them as long as it has any battery left, and that's the fastest way to kill them. Leave the case lid open to allow both the case itself and the buds to start drying.
Shake Out the Water Carefully
Hold each Galaxy Buds FE with the speaker mesh pointing down. The little microphones are located on the inner side of the bud near the stem, so gentle shaking helps clear water from those openings too. Don't shake violently, you could dislodge internal components. Just enough to see droplets fly out.
For the case, open the lid fully and turn it upside down. The USB-C port on the bottom is the biggest water trap here. Tilt the case so the USB-C opening faces downward and let gravity do its work. A few firm downward flicks can help clear the port. Do the same for the small well where each bud sits, there are charging pins there that need to be clear of water.
Dry With a Soft, Lint-Free Cloth
Take a microfiber cloth and gently blot each bud dry. Focus on the speaker mesh, the microphone openings on the inner side, and the gold charging contacts at the bottom of the stem. Don't rub aggressively, just blot and absorb the moisture. Get the matching pins inside the case wells as well.
If you see water around the seam where the case lid hinges, or around the USB-C port, work the cloth gently into those areas. You don't want to push fabric fibers into the openings, so be careful around the ports and meshes. Patience here pays off.
Let Them Air Dry for at Least 48 Hours
Place the buds and the open case on a soft, dry surface in a well-ventilated spot. A windowsill with some airflow is ideal. Do NOT use a hair dryer, oven, radiator, or microwave. Direct heat can warp the seals and damage the battery chemistry, which would kill the buds even if the water didn't.
Don't bother with rice either. That's an old myth that doesn't actually help absorb moisture from inside electronics, and it can leave starchy dust in your speaker meshes and ports. If you happen to have silica gel packets (the ones that come in shoeboxes or with electronics), put the buds and case in a sealed container with a few of those packets. Leave the container sealed for the full 48-hour drying period. That method works better than anything else short of opening the device.
Inspect for Corrosion Before the First Test
After two full days of drying time, examine the gold contacts on the bottom of each bud and the spring pins inside the case wells. Corrosion shows up as a greenish or whitish crust. If you see any, brush it gently with a dry, soft toothbrush. For tougher spots, a cotton swab lightly dampened with isopropyl alcohol (90% or higher) can help, but only after the buds are completely bone-dry.
Look inside the USB-C port too. Any visible gunk there can prevent charging later. A clean, dry toothbrush works for this as well. If everything looks clean and dry, you're ready to cautiously test.
Test the Buds in Stages
Plug the charging case into a USB-C cable. Watch the case's indicator light closely. If it turns on normally (steady amber or green), that's a good sign. If you see flickering, smell anything burning, or feel unexpected heat coming from the case, unplug immediately and stop everything. That means moisture is still inside causing a short.
If the case charges cleanly for ten minutes, place one bud in the case at a time. Start with the one you think was less submerged if you can tell. After about five minutes, open the Galaxy Wearable app on your phone. The app should show battery percentages for both buds and the case. If both buds report a charge level, they're likely alive.
Now test the audio with a short song or podcast. Check the microphones by making a voice recording or a quick call to a friend. Test the touch controls (tap once for play/pause, tap and hold for ANC or ambient sound). If ANC sounds weird or quieter than normal, there might still be residual moisture near the microphones used for noise cancellation.
If You Still Hear Audio Issues
Muffled sound on one side after drying is a common sign that water got trapped behind the speaker mesh. The Galaxy Buds FE use foam tips in the box, and those can hold moisture longer than silicone tips. Swap to the spare foam tips if yours are damp, or try the included silicone tips if you have them. The foam tips give a better seal for ANC, but moisture trapped in the foam can block sound temporarily.
Sometimes the water clears out on its own after a few more days of drying. If one bud still sounds quieter or distorted after 72 hours total, corrosion has likely made it inside the driver and repair is not practical. The Galaxy Buds FE are a budget-friendly model, and replacement may be the next step at that point.
In my experience, most survive the 48-hour dry if the case was protected and the buds were pulled from water within minutes. The charging case is usually the weak link since its USB-C port and internal battery are vulnerable. If the case won't charge after drying, try a different USB-C cable and power brick at 5W. The Galaxy Buds FE case does not support wireless charging, so that's not an option here.
Watch for intermittent disconnects or battery drain over the next month. Residual damage can show up weeks later as corrosion slowly forms on a connector inside. If your buds were connected to a Samsung phone, check the battery usage in the Galaxy Wearable app for any unusual drain patterns. That's often the first sign of trouble down the road.