Samsung Galaxy Buds Live truely wireless ANC earbuds review
The Galaxy Buds Live provide a great all-round package, at a reasonable price, in a unique design.
Debuted at Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked 2020 last week that saw the release of the Galaxy Note 20, the Buds Live give us two great true wireless earbud options from Samsung.
The unique ergonomic design with a glossy outer and matte inner shell is unlike any other earbuds we’ve seen. With stemmed AirPods and rounded buds being 99% of the shapes commonly seen, it’s nice to seen something fresh standout. IPX2 will protect your buds against a small amount of water and sweat.
They’ll fit snuggly in most listeners ears, with two tip size options and provide an open fit similar to the AirPods non-Pro. The lack of a stem makes these barely visible front on and will keep these from getting caught in clothes. While the Buds Live feature active noise cancellation that’ll drown out low-end hums, the lack of an in-ear design still lets in plenty of noise such as voices or aeroplane engines, unlike the AirPods Pro or Sony WF-1000XM3. Despite having no ANC, the Samsung Galaxy Buds+ do a better job of cancelling noise due to their in-ear design.
Sound quality is excellent, with help from AKG providing the innards to make these little buds produce a powerful clean sound from the 12mm speaker and bass duct to give a good amount of low end.
A very impressive battery life will keep these Buds running with ANC or Bixby voice wake-up on for 6 hours out of the case, plus 21 hours in the case. Turn ANC and Bixby off for 8 hours on a single charge, plus 29 hours in the case. 5 minutes of charging will result in one hour of listening. The small clamshell charging case charges via USB-C or wireless charging.
The Galaxy Buds Live have 3 built-in mics for clear calls and do an excellent job of picking up your voice while cancelling out surrounding noise. Connectivity is strong with no lag, while Samsung’s tech gives you quick pairing and seemless switching between connected devices. Hands free Bixby is also present… if for some reason you wanted to use Bixby. Touch controls are the same as the Buds+, with a single tap to pause, double tap to skip, triple tap for previous track and customizable long press.
Samsung Galaxy Buds Live are the real deal, nailing every detail bar true noise cancellation. If you want to block out all exterior noise, you’ll want to look elsewhere.
Samsung Galaxy Buds Live are $169.99 and come in Mystic Black, Mystic Bronze and Mystic White.
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