Low speed jets have important applications in chemical process, power and aerospace industries. Velocity fluctuations in low speed laminar jets have been investigated experimentally and theoretically, in the present work. The effects of buoyancy on the mean and fluctuating components of velocity have been highlighted. It is observed that even for forced convection dominated flow, convective instabilities and the resulting local velocity fluctuations are significantly influenced by buoyancy. Both the dominant frequency and the amplitude of velocity fluctuations depend on the jet exit temperature and spatial location within the jet. For isothermal jets, the dominant frequency of oscillation increases almost linearly with Reynolds number, while for buoyant jets nonlinearity exists at lower Reynolds numbers. Numerical simulations of the present study are found to be reasonably successful in predicting the oscillatory behavior of both isothermal and non-isothermal laminar free jets accurately. © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.