Samsung is well known for its true wireless earbuds. For the past few years, she has been releasing models in a similar format with an in-ear fit, but this year she decided to experiment by introducing the Galaxy Buds Live headphones. They received a unique design with a bizarre body shape that resembles bean seeds, as well as an active noise cancellation system. How convenient it is to use such a model, how it sounds and whether it really can filter out external noise, I will tell in this review.
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Galaxy Buds Live Package Contents
Like previous versions, the new headphones come in a small cardboard box.
Together with them, the manufacturer puts a charging case, interchangeable cartilage clips in size S and L, as well as a USB Type-C cable for charging.
Design and case
Externally, the Galaxy Buds Live are completely different from all the fully wireless headphones that are currently on the market. Manufacturers mainly produce either in-ear models or earbuds with “legs” hanging from the ears, but Samsung decided to try something in between. This is how the form factor turned out, which on the one hand has a fit, like the in-ear versions, and on the other hand, does not go into the ear canal, so it feels closer to the earbuds from use.
This was achieved due to the shape of the case, which repeats the shape of the auricle and, by a funny coincidence, resembles beans. The dimensions of the Galaxy Buds Live are quite compact, they do not stick out of the ears, so it is quite difficult to accidentally hook them. When you periodically have to wear a medical mask, liners with “legs” are constantly at risk of being on the pavement and this is rather annoying. With Buds Live, there is no such problem.
I’ll immediately note the fit here, Samsung tried to make it universal, using replaceable cartilage clips that create a slight emphasis on the ear wall and prevent the headphones from falling out while wearing. But, as in other similar models, a lot depends on the physiology of the user. In my case, the right Galaxy Buds Live earpiece sat like a glove, and the left one periodically wanted to be corrected. But they both never fell out even while running.
Headphones come in three color options: white, black and copper.
All of them have an external glossy almost mirror surface, which visually makes the case even more compact, although they are already small – 27.3 × 16.5 × 14.9 mm and weigh 5.6 grams. The inside of the headphones is made of matte plastic and there are also interchangeable cartilage clips, painted to match the main body color.
As in previous versions, the charging case is made of plastic and painted to match the headphones. But this time, Samsung has returned to using a matte finish, which has a very good effect on wear resistance, the case is less scratched and dirty.
The shape of the case has become more square with rounded corners, so it still fits quite well in the hand. The dimensions of its case are 50.2 × 50 mm, but since the thickness has not changed much (27.8 mm), it is not very convenient to carry it with you in your jeans pocket. The weight compared to the charging case from Galaxy Buds + has increased slightly and now reaches 42.2 grams.
The headphone housing has an IPX2 shell rating, which allows it to withstand the ingress of very small amounts of liquid. Basically, such certification implies that you can play sports in the device and it will not fail if sweat gets in. But even running in the rain is no longer recommended.
Connection, control and settings
Headphones can be used with devices that support Bluetooth version 5.0 or lower (A2DP, AVRCP, HFP profiles and SBC, AAC, Samsung Scalable codecs are used). I’ve tried the Galaxy Buds Live with a variety of smartphones and laptops, connecting them to a Galaxy Watch 3 and a Samsung TV. In all cases, the connection was stable, without interference and desynchronization. At the same time, switching between devices occurs almost instantly and does not require any additional actions.
To connect the headphones to a new device, you need to insert them into your ears, touch the outside of the case with your fingers and hold for a few seconds. In this not the easiest way, they switch to pairing mode. For some reason, Samsung once again ignores the possibility of adding a separate button to the body of the charging case, which, in my opinion, is more convenient. Although I know a lot of users who are completely satisfied with the touch panel on the headphones, including this method of pairing.
In addition to the first connection, touching the outside of the Galaxy Buds Live case allows you to control playback:
- One touch – pause / start playback;
- Double tap – play the next song / reset the phone call;
- Triple tap – play the previous song.
You can also assign an action to touch and hold the right or left earbud. By default, it launches Active Noise Cancellation, but you can choose to adjust the volume, launch the Bixby assistant, or launch the Spotify app instead.
But for this you will need the Galaxy Wearable app, which is only available on Android and iOS . In it, in addition to control, you can customize the sound of the headphones by changing the equalizer settings, choose which alerts will sound, disable the touch panel and download updates.
Galaxy Buds Live sound
The headphone design uses 12mm drivers and a separate bass channel to boost low frequencies. I listened to all Samsung TWS headphones, starting with Gear IconX, and looking ahead, I note that in Buds Live the company has finally found that golden mean that brings this model to the first place among all the previous ones in terms of sound. The fact is that most TWS headphones generally try to sound flat, thereby compensating for the lack of high or low frequencies. This goes for the Galaxy Buds and the newer “plus” version, they have good, versatile sound, but no more.
With the Galaxy Buds Live, Samsung engineers finally managed to implement a more pronounced bass, which immediately removed the need to hold on to the mids and highs so that they do not drown out the lows even more. Thanks to this, the sound of the new model has become more interesting. This is certainly not the level of an imaginary scene, as in good full-size headphones, when the mass of audible details allows it to be significantly expanded. But it’s already livelier than most true wireless headphones, especially given the size of the Buds Live and the new type of design.
Headphones are great for everyday listening to music from a smartphone or laptop, they have good sound, a fairly wide imaginary stage and finally a decent bass for such a model. The very nature of the sound can be changed through the Galaxy Wearable application, using the preset equalizer settings.
Separately, I note that the sound quality in the Galaxy Buds Live is greatly affected by landing. Since the case format is rather unusual, at first you want to push the headphones deeper into the ear canal, in the manner of in-ear, but you should not do this, otherwise the speakers will overlap, and the sound will become distorted.
Noise suppression
The Galaxy Buds Live are Samsung’s first active noise-cancelling TWS earphones, and before that the company has always used an in-ear design that cuts out external noise pretty well on its own. But since the new model does not differ much from conventional earbuds in terms of noise isolation, the developers decided to add an active noise cancellation system (ANC) to it.
When we talk about this feature, we basically mean almost complete clipping of external noise, as in full-size models. But in Buds Live, it can more or less cut off only the low-frequency range, for example, the rumble of the road and the noise of the train. That is, not quite the noise reduction that users are counting on. I have read quite a few reviews from early buyers of the Galaxy Buds Live and many of them complain about the poor performance of the noise cancellation. Although Samsung honestly indicates in the description of the model that ANC in it cuts off up to 97% of extraneous unwanted sounds in the low-frequency range and refers to the UL certification issued by the independent laboratory Underwriters Laboratories Inc.
Therefore, in practice, Galaxy Buds Live users with ANC turned on can expect to reduce the noise level on the street from the wheels of passing cars or from a passing train on the subway, but it cannot cut off people’s voices, car horns and other high-frequency sounds. For city headphones, this is actually not bad, because moving around the city allows you to hear the environment, which is corny safer. But Samsung clearly should position this feature in a way that makes it easier for users to understand that this is not the same ANC as in full-length headphones.
Microphone quality
Since the previous model Galaxy Buds + , Samsung has improved the speech transmission through the headphones, using two external and one internal microphone. In the new model, a bone conduction sensor has been added to them, which improves voice transmission, since the latter is well transmitted through the tissues of the skull, but external noise is not. Accordingly, during a telephone conversation, the voice really began to be transmitted better.
Galaxy Buds Live battery life
Each earphone has a built-in 60 mAh battery, which provides up to 6 hours of music listening with ANC or 4 hours of talk time during a call. The bundled case uses a 472 mAh battery, which allows you to recharge the Galaxy Buds Live three more times without having to look for an outlet. By the way, the headphones support fast charging, 5 minutes in the case adds about an hour of listening to music.
The case itself charges via a USB Type-C port and wirelessly via Qi-compatible charging stations.
