Samsung Galaxy Buds Live

The Galaxy Buds Live are Samsung’s latest Android challenger in the true wireless earbud market.

They differentiate themselves in a competitive space with a top-notch specs sheet and a unique bean-shaped design.

In many ways they deliver on their opening promise, offering decent battery life, an ergonomic fit plus the added bonus of wireless charging. Audio quality is also a step up on the Galaxy Buds Plus. But a few small flaws stop them from matching the performance of rivals such as the Technics EAH-AZ70W and Sony WF-1000XM3.

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Samsung Galaxy Buds Live design — Sport an untraditional ‘bean’ look

The Galaxy Buds Live have an atypical design compared to most traditional true wireless earbuds. They come in a shiny rounded pebble case and look like kidney beans. According to Samsung the shape is designed to ergonomically sit in people’s ears, providing a rock solid fit and seal without the need for “intrusive tips”.

With real world use there’s truth to that claim. The buds fit neatly into my ears and remained firmly in place during a run and while doing a quick high-intensity interval training (HIIT) session, something I wouldn’t expect from a set without tips. The only downside was the seal wasn’t airtight.

The IPX2 water resistance rating is lower than most competing true wireless earbuds, which left me concerned about using them as my primary set of gym or running headphones. If that’s what you’re after and you have more cash at your disposal, the Jaybird Vista or Jabra Elite 75T are great options. If money’s tight, the Edifier TWS6 are a solid choice, though they’re not quite as rugged.

Outside of this, the earbuds feel well made and are comfortable to wear thanks to their lightweight design. The only other minor niggle I have is that, like nearly all the true wireless I test, their capacitive touch controls can be finicky to use.

They let you pause/skip tracks, activate Bixby and turn ANC on/off using various combinations of taps. And for basic stuff they’re fine: a single tap will pause/play incoming audio, while a long press will toggle ANC on/off. But using them out and about and the Galaxy Buds Live would regularly misinterpret inputs, particularly when running.

Features — Solid spec sheet, but ANC is not up there with the best

Thankfully they make up for this by offering solid battery life and call quality. The buds are quoted as offering 21 hours listening time – six hours from the buds with ANC on 15 hours worth of juice in the case. With real world use I got around 5-6 hours listening off a single charge with ANC on, which matches most competing sets on the market. The addition of wireless charging also makes topping up the case fairly easy with a compatible charging pad.

Mic quality is one area the Galaxy Buds Live perform well at. The earbuds feature three built-in mics and a Voice Pickup Unit. Taking calls next to a busy road and the person on the other end of the line could clearly understand what I was saying.

Signal stability and ANC performance are a touch behind the competition, though. While I’ve not had the chance to test the Bluetooth 5.0 connection in busy signal areas such as Waterloo and King’s Cross, I’ve experienced a couple more intermittent drop outs than I’d expect from a set at this price.

On paper Samsung claims the Galaxy Buds Live can reduce background noise to levels under 700Hz, which should make it difficult for the hustle and bustle of the morning commute and general office noise to intrude.

However, I didn’t find the ANC terribly effective. The lack of an airtight seal meant background noise still crept in. Switching it on and off and I genuinely struggled to notice a difference in background noise levels. People looking for solid ANC will be better off with the Sony WF-1000XM3.

Samsung Galaxy Buds Live performance — Improved sound but still work to do

Sound quality is an area Samsung headphones have always struggled in, despite their ownership of heavyweight audio brand AKG.

Past Samsung true wireless, like the Galaxy Buds Plus, offered good enough sound for casual listeners, but never matched more established brands. On paper the Galaxy Buds Live fix these issues with support for the Samsung Scalable Codec. It aims to improve quality and stability by adjusting the bitrate of audio based on the Bluetooth connection strength.

The work has definitely paid off as the Galaxy Buds Live offer better audio than their predecessors, and manage to match the performance of the AirPods Pro.

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The low end is more powerful than the AirPods and, while it’s a little flabbier than I’d like, when coupled with crisp highs it makes simpler music genres sound good. The sound works particularly well with bass-heavy rock, metal and pop tracks; with mid-heavy metal guitar parts pleasingly free of the nasally quality you can hear on other wireless earbuds. For casual listeners the Galaxy Buds Live offer an easy, inoffensive sound.

But at this price there are significantly better sounding true wireless sets. The Galaxy Buds Live aren’t as detailed as other premium options, and this is a combination of the slightly flabby bass and under-represented mids. For basic compositions the issue isn’t all too noticeable, but jump to complex prog, post-rock and classical arrangements and you’ll struggle to identify the more subtle parts.

They also lack dynamism. This is particularly noticeable when listening to swooping post rock and classical crescendos, which lack the swell you’ll get on the Technics.

Should you buy the Galaxy Buds Live?

If you’re one of the multitude of people that doesn’t like in-ear tips, but fancies the freedom of true-wireless, the Galaxy Buds are one of a select few options on the market. And for casual music listeners, they’re more than good enough to meet your needs.

They rival the AirPods Pro in audio quality, have a lengthy battery life and comfortable tip-free design. They lack a little quality in terms of sound and ANC to be up there with the best.

Gym goers will be disappointed with the IPX2 rating, and if you’re a serious music fan, the Technics EAH-AZ70W and Sony WF-1000XM3 offer better sound quality and ANC.

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