Samsung Galaxy Buds Live

(no review flare so w/e)

I am writing this review to help people who are considering buying buds live and want more information on their pros and cons:)

So, a few months ago I decided I want to get a pair of wireless earbuds because I was getting into working out again and wired earphones just weren't doing it for me anymore. But because I have been an avid user of all kinds of samsung products for almost 10 years now I decided it was really convenient for me to buy their own buds (smoother connectivity and all that).

I ruled out the other models mainly because my ears are incredibly sensitive and small so as a result, 98% of all in-ear buds would cause unbearable pain after like 10 minutes of wearing them. I ended up buying the black beans for about 110USD if we convert from my local currency, which I know is a bit overpriced but whatever.

Before I say anything else, I have to say that my main point of comparison TWS buds are the second-gen airpods, which I used for about 2 months before I sold them due to the ear pain they caused.

Case & Fit: First things first, the case is solid, dense and the hinge has little to no give to it. The magnets that hold the buds are strong enough to hold them in upside down. As far as the fit goes, I would rate it a solid 8/10 despite my tiny ears. There definitely is a learning curve to how you position and insert them in your ear, but once you figure it out they are not going anywhere, no matter how vigorously you shake your head (trust me, i have tested this thoroughly).

Comfort: My first impressions on comfort... weren't great. They started hurting my ears after about 30 minutes of wearing them. However, I kept using them because I thought my ears would get used to them. I was right. After about a total 10-15 hours of use I noticed a stark difference in comfort. I could now wear them for almost 2 hours without pain, and it's only gotten better since. I am finally at the point where I can wear them for extremely long amounts of time with zero discomfort. Conclusion: For me at least, there was a significant adaptation period after which the buds were much more comfortable to wear.

Sound quality: I was genuinely surprised by how good the sound was considering the buds live use a design that does not seal off in the ear canal. They can get considerably louder than the second-gen airpods, there is however noticeable distortion and tinniness at that level(you wont be using the at that volume tho). The bass is deep, rich and full with the highs following the same quality, the mids are average and ever-so-slightly lacking compared to the other frequency ranges. That however can be adjusted for with the equalizer presets in the Galaxy Wear app.

Active Noise Cancelling: The ANC, compared to other aspects of the beans is uhh... "struggling" . That, however is expected because the earphones cannot seal off your ear canal to achieve optimal ANC. It does fine with constant, deep rumbling or hissing noises such as fans or computers, but it still doesn't give you the same completely-shut-off-the-outside-world kinda experience that in-ear buds or earphones give you. It also takes a good chunk out of the battery life. Overall, not so good.

Battery Life: The battery life is good and by a rough approximation, the buds alone run out in 6 to 6 and a half hours from full, about 5 if the ANC is on for the whole time. The case gives you another 8-9 hours of juice by my estimates. By no means are these numbers top-class, but I would say they are "pretty good". As far as charging the case itself goes, I use an original Samsung fast charger with an output of 30W, (i am not at all sure as to how much of that power the case can actually use for charging) and that fully charges it in about 1-1:30 hours.

Connectivity, Integration and UX: After initial setup, the buds connect in about 3 seconds after taking them out of the case, I have had no reliability or audio quality issues whatsoever and the Galaxy Wearable app does a good job of giving you a fairly wide range of customization and control such as EQ presets, the Find My Earbuds feature, software updates (hasn't been one in months from what I've heard lmao) and customizing the functions of the touch controls. Speaking of the touch controls, I've found them a bit iffy. It is pretty often that I tap the buds once and a triple-tap gets picked up, or I triple-tap, but it gets read as a double-tap. Oh, and God forbid you have even the tiniest bit of sweat or water on your fingertips, which royally screws with the controls. Other than that one detail, the overall User Experience that these earbuds offer is pretty solid.

Conclusion (TL;DR): To summarize, I was pleasantly surprised with almost all aspects of the Buds Live. Build quality is really nice. Once your ears get used to their shape, and you get used to putting them in, comfort and fit is great. Sound quality is really solid and and gets even better with the EQ. Battery life and case rechargeability is above average to good, and the general UX feels quite polished and seamlessly integrated. Main drawbacks are the poor ANC, which is expected, and the almost annoyingly unreliable touch controls.

Rating: 8/10