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How does the Galaxy Buds Live compare to the Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus?
The Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus is the same price, or cheaper, than the Galaxy Buds Live, and outperforms the Galaxy Buds Live when it comes to sound quality, fit, and battery life. Our same testing recorded 11 hours and 44 minutes of playtime with the Galaxy Buds Plus, which runs circles around the ANC earbuds’ battery life, even with ANC off. The old earbuds lack noise canceling but do a better job of mitigating high-frequency sounds.
You can customize the controls, EQ the sound, and more through the Galaxy Wearable app; and the Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus case supports Wireless PowerShare and quick charging. Microphone quality is a hair better with the Samsung Galaxy Buds Live, though. For the best value within the Samsung family, get the Galaxy Buds Plus.
Who should get the Samsung Galaxy Buds Live?
Samsung Galaxy smartphone owners will benefit the most from the Galaxy Buds Live, thanks to Samsung Scalable Codec support and Wireless PowerShare. Plus, anyone considering the AirPods (3rd generation) should get this instead since it fits more securely.
How do you wear the Samsung Galaxy Buds Live?
To properly fit the Galaxy Buds Live, follow these steps:
- Identify the left and right earbuds.
- Locate the bottom, inward-facing part of one earbud.
- The bottom should face down as you slide it into your ear canal.
- Rotate the top of the earbud so it rests firmly against your upper ear (concha).
- Make sure the external mics are still visible (you may need a mirror)
- Repeat steps 1-5 with the other earbud.
If the buds are falling out after you’ve tried these steps, you may need to try a different-sized ear stay. There’s a learning curve to correctly wearing the earbuds, but soon it becomes automatic. If you’re unsure of how to install the Samsung Galaxy Buds Live, Samsung provides directions on how to wear them in the Galaxy Wearable application.
You will find a hidden page giving technical information and a tool to test your beloved earbuds by following those steps :
1- Open galaxy wearable app and click on "About earbuds"
2- Click several time on "Name of the device" until it open the hidden page.
You are welcome
TLDR: Galaxy Buds Live are an interesting experiment in open-fit earbuds that ultimately comes off as a bit too strange in comfort & fit to achieve full-functionality. Might be better off to just wear a regular in-canal TWS earbuds more loosely to achieve a similar experience.
A bit late to the party, but here are my thoughts..
Sound Signature The audio experience is very friendly to the ears. I'm no sound expert, but I'd say that the Galaxy Buds Live give more emphasis to bass rather than the higher frequency ranges, but manages to bring the mids rather clearly across too. Sound reproduction & quality is definitely the highlight of the Buds Live
Compared to the OG Galaxy Buds which I also have prior, it's definitely more thumpy & bassy in its sound signature. This is most evident when using Wavelet, where AutoEQ will heavily deemphasize the bass portions to restore a more neutral response.
Controls & App The touch controls are quite a disappointment however, it's rather inconsistent & can feel delayed. The Buds Live only respond to quite a small area near the upper "bulb" & even then, it may fail to respond within reasonable expectation.
The proximity sensor seems to be the culprit here. If it thinks it's not in your ear when it is, the touches don't really respond. Fastest (& most troublesome) fix I have was to reinsert the buds in the ear again
The Galaxy Wearable app is also a puzzling disappointment. Comparing the UI between the OG Galaxy Buds. The UI is decidedly more spartan when connected to the Buds Live where the EQ is hidden in the Earbuds Setting submenu rather than displayed as a dial on the main page.
More disappointingly, we still cannot configure the single, double, triple tap functions separate from touch-and-hold, which really adds to the likelihood of mis-taps.
ANC To put it bluntly, there might as well be none. I have no idea if the sound cue for its activation & deactivation is common across Samsung Buds, but environmental noise leakage into the ears is practically unchanged with or without ANC. All it does is eat battery life. This is sorta expected with its inherent open-fit design, but still disappointing nonetheless
Maybe you will get an reduction in noise for a very specific frequency, but that hum is still there, its pitch merely differed if you really strain to hear for it.
Comfort & Fit This is the part for me personally, where the value proposition of these buds dip significantly.
One common thread among many reviews is that the Buds Live are extremely lightweight & comfortable to wear. But I find that most reviews neglect to mention how they are wearing it.
Samsung actually has a rather narrowly-defined way of the correct fit. Simplest I can put it would be that the 2 outer microphone holes need to be exposed & not obscured by your ear. However, you can actually stuff it quite deeply down your ear canal in a bid to have a better "fit" for sound quality & security
For the first few days of ownership, I actually had no idea having the lower bulb of the Buds Live into the ear canal was actually an incorrect fit despite it being quite comfortable in that position. The realization only came during an inadvertent call where the opposite end complained of call muffling.
Worse yet, in the Wearable app tutorial, the animations were pretty unclear about this. Only Samsung YouTube videos show their proper fit & warning about call quality reduction with an incorrect wear. Using a mirror to check if the 2 mics are exposed as required is the easiest but also tedious way to see if each wear is a proper fit.
But this also brings another issue. The proper wear is way too precarious in my experience for comfort. The Buds Live in this intended position feels like it's hanging on a tightrope; the sensation being akin to forceps gently prying your ear open from your ear canal to your concha, which is an extremely strange feeling to say the least. With the Buds Live being an unique design, there aren't much aftermarket tips & solutions for this too.
But the worst is yet to come even after all of the above. Ultimately, everything else is affected as even a slight change in fit and position can alter your sound response & call functionality.
It really doesn't matter how good the buds sound or handle calls because it's highly dependent on how you're wearing it & it's way too easy to wear it "incorrectly" without any good indication otherwise w/o a mirror.
It's always a guessing game on whether your calls will be non-ideal, your music source being bad or just you're wearing it wrongly and there's nothing wrong with the source or the call itself.
Ultimately, the Buds Live can be best described by myself as tiny speakers that hang precariously outside the ears rather than TWS earbuds. While I enjoyed the sound that it brought, it was almost too easy to wear it "incorrectly" & suffer a worse experience needlessly. A more loosely worn in-canal TWS earbuds more or less replicates the same experience as the Buds Live.
Thanks for reading if you made it all the way & I hope you have a nice day!