Samsung Galaxy Buds Live Wireless Earphones Mystic Black (UK
Samsung Galaxy Buds Live Wireless Earphones Mystic Black (UK Version)
Pair with compatible devices. At a touch
You’re more in control than ever before – in fact, you don’t even need to use your phone. Just give your Bluetooth wireless earphones a tap to play, pause and skip to the next track. Put Galaxy Buds Live earphones in pairing mode near a PC using Windows 10 Swift Pair⁴ and get your best work done.
⁴Compatible with PCs running Windows 10 April 2018 update or newer.
| Weight: | 5.6 g |
| Size: | One Size |
| Dimensions: | 5 x 2.78 x 5.02 cm; 5.6 Grams |
| Model: | SM-R180NZKAEUA |
| Colour: | Mystic Black |
| Batteries Included: | 1 Lithium Polymer batteries required. (included) |
| Dimensions: | 5 x 2.78 x 5.02 cm; 5.6 Grams |
| Size: | One Size |
I didn’t realise how much volume my old ear buds had lost until I bought these. It took a few attempts to get them in comfortably but once I’d sussed that, the sound is crystal clear and really comfortable, with great noise cancelling.
Very easy to set up and buds are lightweight; portable and stylish. They come with a little charging carry case, allowing them to be kept safe when not in use.
I predominantly use these when at the gym, and are durable enough for when I’m running. They don’t hurt my ears, unless I wear them for prolonged hours without a rest.
Battery is long-lasting, when compared to my previous wireless earphones.
Samsung have done it again!
They don’t actually fit in the ear but I soon got use to the feel of them. They work well with my other devices and I’ve had no problems with them.
It is safe to say that the extra 9 spent on purchasing these was definitely worthwhile!
Despite not having the gummy cushioning which he is used to, the sound quality from these is second to none!
For my brother who always wears his earbuds to say that it was loud and he had to turn the volume down means that the quality of these are amazing!
Have recommended these to family and friends.
Oh, also the battery life is pretty good. You can watch more than 2 films with no breaks. I tend to forget that I am wearing these.
Connection is also stable and fast!
Sound quality is amazing too unless you are looking for a generous amount of bass.
I was pretty sceptical at first but they turned out to be way above my expectations. If you are not into in-ears like me and want to get bluetooth earphones, this is the best one.10/10
The fitment is where problems can occur. I found a way to fit the buds into the ear, that both seems secure and the sound is actually as good as my Galaxy Buds Plus, while being open. To aid fitment I bought a pack anti-slip covers from a third part sellers. I experimented with the original tips (both sizes) and the anti-slip covers with also come in two sizes and various colours. In the anti-slip covers worked for me. It takes a while and a lot experimenting to find the near perfect fit.
The noise cancelling function is practically useless considering they are open earbuds, just increasing the bass. It probably wastes battery. The ‘relieve pressure with ambient sound’ function within the Labs menu gives the same bass boost too.
At the price I paid (under 50), these genuine buds are a bargain and I am glad I bought them.
It is very good indoors. Perfect if you have people to listen to at the same time. For example this would be perfect at an office.
However, outside this product has a lower performance due to the lack of noise cancellation.
The noise cancellation on it is nothing more than a boost of the bass.
It is not effective on any way from the moment you’re outside.
Indoors it is not useful on crowded environment like pubs, cafes.
On public transports you have to have the volume very high to be able to hear some bass or to hide the external noise.
Such a shame as they would have been pretty good otherwise.
Can hurt when put in the wrong way.
I didn’t get 2 different shape wingtips for some reason only the big one although they feel comfy enough for me without the wingtips.
Sound quality isn’t the most amazing but it’s still quite good quality imo only worth it when on a deal with this sort of quality.
This is definitely amazing for my ears as I have small ear canal and buds tend to not fit in there without either extreme pain or them popping out.
Also I love that these don’t have a feeling of pressure in your ear that I hate.
I’m really pleased with them and they fit me fine. Easy to use recharge and carry around.
My and my partner found these to have a warmer sound with very nice bass despite being cheaper.
I personally wanted for these to also have a good microphone as my partner calls me hands free a lot.
Unfortunately I can almost never hear her or understand her due to the microphone being EXTREMELY poor. Unlike Sony linkbuds.
Her wired headphones for 15 pounds that she bought 2 years ago sound better on our calls, unfortunately.
But that is my ONLY complaint. I’d buy these for myself if I could.
They fit perfectly into my ears and I have ear piercings. Very comfortable to wear.
Thank you
Downside is this reduces physical noise reduction.
Sound really good.
Not so great in noisy places.
The sound is amazing, not the greatest noise cancelling but more than good enough for my needs.
Easy to connect & charge.
Connect wirelessly to your phone. Long battery life.
Sound quality is also very good
Really happy with the sound quality of these buds. I had some problems ordering initially but on the third attempt it all worked out.
This it’s just as described, really enjoyed this item, took a bit of getting used to, to position in my ears but once I watched a video, it was smooth sailing.
Really good product especially for the price bought some for my partner she loved them so I got some really good
Really love the design once u realise which wat to put the in ratherly come out. Battery life is good and good discounted price
Absolutely brilliant. No complaints. Great sound, really good noise cancelling.
Absolutely brilliant.. love them.. so comfortable you can wear them all day long
Well worth the money
For anyone that has a Samsung phone and or watch and likes music then these are a must.
Very comfortable, easy to put in, amazing sound and great battery life
Having tried other earbuds, these Samsung Ear Buds Are Excellent. The Sound Quality Is Superb As The Noise Cancelling Aspect. Well Worth The Money In My Opinion.
Bought these so I could wear them MTB cycling and still hear outside.
Sound quality
Didn’t expect much because they don’t have the rubber seals but they shocked me how good they are. They have bass. I thought they would sound tinny but they don’t, they sound like sealed ear buds. Girlfriend has the air pods without the rubber seal and we both prefer these.
Comfort
Crazy comfortable. You literally forget you are wearing them. They do move slightly in my ears but I’ve never been scared of one falling out. I have to fish them out my ears.
Noise isolation
Pretty much non existent. Wore them around the city and they let everything through. Every car, bus, truck or train that goes by you will hear and it drowns the music out. Struggled to hear them on the bus. Windy days over power them too. Probably not for you if you need to block outside noises.
Use case
These are excellent for around the house or an office. Incredibly comfortable for long periods. You can hear someone talking to you. If you want headphones that you can hear the outside world these are fantastic. I wear them when out mountain biking where there is no noise to block out and I can still hear if someone talks to me or the noises on the bike. Stay clear if commuting or inside vehicles.
Using with a pixel 6. Just need the Samsung wear app
Great bit of kit, Great sounds, super easy to use and set up, comfortable to wea
I bought this from Amzon almost one month ago and write this after testing properly really work awesome and great sound and ANC love this product.
100% happy customer I brought them as a gift for my older brother he was over the moon with them they was really easy to connect to your phone the sound is amazing so he tells me comes with charging case which ear buds go on when not in use or need charging
Impressive sound quality for the size.
Comfortable.
Would recommend to a friend.
They came very fast have great noise quality and noise cancelling and do fall out while running as I have experienced so far overall it is great product for a decent price
Earbuds are overall good but Bluetooth range seems to be lacking with skips and stutters when you move away from your device but also when walking with your phone in your pocket.
Many people will say the ANC is poor and it isn’t great but it seems to work best with low frequency noise such as on an aeroplane, mowing the lawn or vacuuming.
I’ll be keeping mine as I paid only 50 in July 2022 and the sound quality surpasses my frustration with sometimes glitchy Bluetooth behaviour.
Wearing them like this gets uncomfortable after an hour or so, so wearing them while at work or at the gym ends up with them being distracting as they get more and more uncomfortable.
But they look good, the carry case is slick, you can use it as a hands free for makin calls, the battery life is decent and the case charges them too.
It’s worth for it’s price. I like it. It’s suits with my ears. For few days I felt pain, but later adjusted with it and now feels comfortable. Even I forgot It’s in my ears.
Quality sound a little sore on the ears but with them not going inside my ears I’m having far fewer problems than I did before. Much better base than my last ones
Amazing sound, easy to fit and great design. Battery life is as stated, quick charging via case is also very good.
Day 5: Range is very good, through 2 brick walls i got over 30 ft.
No ear pain after finding my fitting method (as above) and they are very secure, i highly recommend you play with how to fit and dont stick to the tutorial.
Sound quality is also much better now i have my sweet spot, definitely sound like any wired high quality ear phones.
Overall, I would highly recommend these at the price I paid for them (69.99 with a 20 promo voucher making them 49.99.) At RRP, I may be inclined to look elsewhere, however at the reduced price, they are a steal.
I’d recommend paying a little more and buy the pro version or the other version of the buds. I’d suggest to stay away from the live version there’re not as good as the other versions
I bought these when Samsung were offering money off so good price.
Noise reduction is good as is sound quality.
For working out they do sometimes come loose in your ear and need a bit of push back in.
Prolonged use can be uncomfortable but overall I like them and they work easily with other samsung products and my garmin watch.
The noise cancelling does not seem to make any difference to me, I did not notice any less noise with it on. I did however notice that the sound was better with it turned on, better bass and a clearer sound. So no complaints there from me, I am not really bothered about noise cancelling in any case.
-The sound quality is good.
-Comfortable to wear
-Good for calls
-I dropped one of mine in the sink fully submerged in water but once it was fully dry it played just as normal.
-After first setup they connect/disconnect to device easily
Cons:
-If you’re looking for full ANC these aren’t for you. Without the silicon seal at the ear you’ll always hear a bit of traffic outside.
-In the same sense the allowing ambient noise to be aware of your surroundings doesn’t properly work without a full silicon seal.
-A personal preference for me , I don’t get the same secure feeling that they wont fall out that I get with other earbuds. I know they wont as I’ve made countless attempts as an experiment before I used them at the gym but I like the reassurance.
In the diagrams and videos youre advised not to wear the buds without wingtips otherwise its supposed to be quite painful.
I found it to be the opposite! Using the wing tips and trying different sizes, they were all very painful. So i tried without, and it was actually a lot better and LESS painful. They fitted better and didnt pop out.
Im not confident to go out wearing these while walking though.
The sound quality is still really good, i think the pros do tip the scale very slightly with that but its a very subtle difference.
Noise cancellation wise i have to disagree with some other reviews, i actually thought it was quite good once youve got the buds securely on. Just make sure that youve turn the noise cancellation on, its not automatic. Ive found putting the wearable widget on my phones homescreen helps with turning the different audio settings on and off.
In conclusion, was the buds live as good as i had hoped? Sadly, no. I can see why they dropped this design when they introduced the buds pro. But i can see why some people may prefer them, based on the structure of their ears.
– Excellent sound quality for a non-sealed fit, with a surprising amount of bass and good volume.
– Solid connectivity to my iPhone XR.
– App is compatible with iOS so you can adjust sound profile (with EQ presets) and get firmware updates.
– Relatively low profile, don’t stick out of your ears too much, don’t interfere with caps/beanies.
– Wing tips ensure secure fit, never had them fall out, even when used on a run.
THE BAD
– If you have small ears like me, you may experience pain after about 30/40 minutes wearing these where the wing tip presses against the upper part of your concha. This experience will be highly variable between individuals so you’ll just need to try them to find out if it’s a problem for you. For me these are just a little too uncomfortable to perform as a daily driver earbud I can leave in for a few hours while out and about and forget about. Unfortunately I’ve missed the return window but will be selling these as the fit just doesn’t work for me unfortunately.
– Noise cancellation is weak, but you can’t expect much from this open design. I actually found if you have them seated properly it does make a difference to reducing any low level droning noises when I’m in the office.
CONCLUSION
As with many earbuds, these are excellent as long as the fit suits your ears AND you are looking for an open design. I liked everything about them but just couldn’t tolerate the fit. You may fare better though!
Only downside is the ANC is pretty much imperceptible, as you would expect given they are not in-ear, but not a factor for me personally.
They integrate well with my Samsung Galaxy A52s and have no perceptible audio lag when watching videos but as always YMMV depending on device. Recommended.
So I just bought these and I have been blown away by them.
Firstly the size, smaller than I’d thought they’d be which is a plus!
I’ve included a pic with a 1 coin to try give scale. Also with my Bose for the same reason.
They fit easily and immediately feel snug, I doubt they’d fall out even during exercise.
The connect to the phone quickly, the app is intuitive.
I have bought an impact case for the charging case which I highly recommend as not only does this offer protection but also makes them easy to keep close by even if you don’t have a pocket as the clip attaches to belt loop, band, bag etc.
I’ve just tested on a phone call whilst walking outside my mum said she could hear me fine.
I’ve used whilt using my vacuum cleaner, I couldn’t hear it. Leaving the podcast I was listening to Crystal clear.
At this price it’s a no brainer.
I highly recommend.
I (apparently) have small ears and I find I can’t get the fit right and my ears will start to ache after a while (probably due to not fitting right).
The noise cancelling is pretty bad. I can still hear everything with them in but I have read elsewhere if you don’t have them in right that could be the cause.
That said, once they’re in I don’t find they fall out so I’d feel comfortable jogging with them.
I guess if you don’t want to pay *too* much then these are okay.
These earbuds were recently on offer so I decided to get them and I’m so glad I did as they fit perfectly and do not fall out – even during workouts.
Pairing
Pairing with my iPhone was simple.. once I downloaded the Galaxy Buds app from the App Store.
Sound quality
The sound quality is excellent although the noise cancellation feature is not as effective as the AirPod. It’s still ok though.
Call quality is really good too. I tested this by leaving a voice message with the earbuds and without. There was very little difference in the sound quality when the messages were played back. Very impressive!
The App
I like that you can view the battery info for the buds and the charging case, in the App. You can also adjust the Equaliser and change the touch controls settings.
Comfort
These earbuds are very comfortable to wear.. so much so that I fell asleep without realising I still had them on.
Overall, I am really pleased with my Galaxy earbuds live, and would definitely recommend it. 5 stars!
Not only is it because of the open ear design but it is also because they are so light. I can wear it for hours on end with no problem. They were the only one in the market that are open ended and offer ANC. Yes, the ANC is not that great but I think I can deal with that because of the great quality of sounds and the comfortable. If comfort is important to you, and you can’t deal with the ear tips like me these are your best option out there. I really hope Samsung release another generation of this open ended design and improves the noise cancelling.
Also, I use this as someone who is in the IOS ecosystem and I had no problem with these. There is a galaxy buds app which lets you customise sound.
Also a note, this does not have true multipoint however, it can be paired to multiple devices and then you can switch between devices relatively easily without having to pair and unpair every time.
What I will say for anyone considering these is to first think about your use. I mostly use earphones for commuting and the gym, while using bigger overear headphone for home and plane travel.
For commuting the buds live have been good, the sound quality is decent with plenty of equaliser options via the Samsung Wear app. The fact they don’t completely seal in the ear means you can hear the outside world better which is useful (and safer) when commuting.
For the gym I haven’t found them great. First reason is they move around a little when working out and need constant adjusting. Second is that because they don’t create a seal in your ear, loud gym can almost completely drown out your music. Several times I was forced to have my volume almost maxed out just to hear my own music clearly. Not an issue I had with my original buds.
So if you don’t need to block out the outside world these are a good option. If you do, and want Samsung, I would recommend the buds+ or pro.
Day 1: Brought these yesterday and received today along with my new s21+
I had to buy these as with this iteration of the smart phone Samsung have decided NOT to include a regular 3.5 headphone connection (Not kool Samsung)
Oh well, I hated wires anyways but I’ve tried a few different wireless headsets with my previous Galaxy s9 phone and tbh I had to send them all back.
I fiest went through my cheap and cheerful stage of spending between 15-50 and then when all of the ones I tried had some deal breaking negatives I decided that you do indeed get what you pay for, and I for one am cursed with quality taste…
I then tries some lg tone, sony xm3 and none would take calls very well, even the 200+ sony microphone was really bad which was annoying as for the music they sounded great.
Day one of these Galaxy Buds live has been a pleasure and I’m kinda surprised as I was expecting, well a bit less tbf
As I took them out the box I thought they looked well made and better than the screen shot, not gonna lie ,I was pessimistic because I thought they looked a bit like a hearing aid but to be fair they look pretty kool.
They auto magically started to pair with my phone and I didn’t have to touch a button before hand which was also very nice.
After they paired they opened some software on the phone and it had the usual stuff and also a equaliser so I didn’t need to pair it with my laptop to adjust it etc.
Took a few calls and they couldn’t tell I was using a headset and to me the call was perfectly clear.
Listen to some tunes and they also sounded great.
So overall to keep it short and sweet, they work well, your get great call quality and enough bass and mids for the best mid range wireless headphones for the price.
I would recommend it thus far.
If anything changes I will update this post.
Noise cancellation isn’t really helpful with these, since the wingtip is designed the way it is, there is room for audio bleed, which means there’s room for incoming noise. Luckily, the microphones try to do a good job blocking it out but being on such a low frequency for noise cancellation, they’re not the best option.
Sound quality and volume is phenomenal. I’m really impressed by them, no matter the volume, they sound very crisp, has a decent bass and well-strung audio thanks to AKG drivers. If you’re looking for sound quality at a reasonable price, these are good.
For working out, they’re really good. I can go on a run and I don’t have to worry about them falling out, albeit, there’s a chance that they might due to the fit. The fit isn’t for everyone, so be wary of that, comfort is another thing when working out. They feel light once they’re there, you might even forget, which isn’t necessarily a good thing!
I have a replacement being delivered today, so I will soon know if my buds are faulty, or if it’s just a poor product.
Update:
So, I’ve received my replacement and can confirm that the first set were faulty. After 2 days of using these out and about, I have no complaints. Sound is clear and loud enough. Buds fit nicely with the larger wingtips, although they do feel like they’re falling out at times. However, when I go to adjust it, they feel secure in my ear. My only complaint is the touch point is a bit suspect. Sometimes the slightest touch stops your music, and other times, it takes multiple taps before there’s any action. Battery life seems good.
I’m happy with this purchase. A lot of other buyers seemed to have the same problems I was experiencing, therefore I guess Samsung made some bad batches. I would recommend these though.
Based on the shape of these, since they don’t fit into your ear canal but sit over it, I thought I’d take a chance on these and they are fab! They fit so well, it’s actually hard to remove them, rather than the issue of moving your head to look at something and your bud popping out.
The sound is really good, Bluetooth connection seems very stable and the case is tiny and light.
Well worth every penny I spent on them.
These tick all those boxes.
The sound is a bit like open-backed headphones compared to the accurate and isolated IEMs. As a result the buds live have weaker bass and a less balanced sound. But they do sound good for a non-sealed earphone.
The case and the buds are nicely finished and look very neat.
The sound cancelling is apparent but does not remove all external sound. Also because it is active sound cancelling it does not prevent transmission of noise from drilling, driving, or similar. No problem for me, some ambient noise transmission is what I want from these.
I have found them comfortable. And I have found their fit and sound better than AirPods that I have tried.
On an iPhone these seem to work fine.
The touch zones are sensitive when inserting them: I stop and start music playing a lot where positioning them.
Once they’re in place they seem secure. I have had no concerns about them falling out.
Moans? Well, the rubber grommets for the ‘wings’ are a pain to fit. The isolation is limited. The bass is a bit light.
Update: the ANC wasn’t working for the first few days or I just completely didn’t notice it. Now it works fine. It still isn’t great but doesn’t quite a bit. Mostly low frequency noise so you could still hear people around you.
An iPhone XS Max for personal stuff and apple earpods for that. Then in 2020 I bought a Galaxy Note Lite as a replacement for the dreadful A20 that work provided (kept me sane in lockdown!). I have struggled to find the perfect earpods/headphones to go with the Samsung, but after 2 months of ownership the buds live are really appreciated.
Whats good:
The app works really well and conects to galaxy phone in an instant.
Call quality is really good, mics very sensitive (sometimes in an open plan if others are on same call a little too sensitive).
I love the noice cancelling. It’s not really cancelling and I can’t compare with other headphones, but it give a really nice feeling of serenity as it takes the distracting edge off the outside world. But you can still have a conversation with the feature on.
The fit is perfect for me, different to apple earpods, but just as comfy and they stay in well.
The bad bits:
Sound quality is pretty good, but side by side apple are better, a bit.
Bluetooth range is less than apple, if wandering round my average size 3 bed house the apple earpods stay connected if phone is left in another room. The buds live start losing connection once you get more than one room away.
Thats about it. I really like them and for 100 are great value, would buy again tomorrow if I lost them.
These buds come in a cute case that charges the buds when you put them back inside and the case is chargeable as it itself has a small battery inside it with small light that shows up red yellow or green depending of its state of charge, just to note you only get the necessary cable used to charge the case but no charger, I use a laptop USB port to charge mine this takes around two hours or so to full capacity.
I really like these buds and recommend them as they look really good and fit well and don’t fall out easily. The sound is adjustable for the different settings in the app that I use on my Galaxy M31 (Wear), these change with the setting selected, This has no adjustable bands to change the sound at frequency level or range eg 20hz to 20000hz. The buds sound good anyhow and this does not change my opinion about them and would recommend them for use out and about when walking or on a bus, just don’t expect them to block out all sound from around you. Overall I really like them and am happy to recommend them and have a good battery life and look cool in either bronze or black!!.
Wasn’t thrilled overall with the purchase, but I was glad I paid a lot less than the regular pricing and, again, they could perform just fine. However, just got a new phone today, a Samsung this time with Bluetooth 5.0, but a very budget device (we’re not going anywhere, why spend 1K?). Connection was an absolute breeze, all automatic, very Apple-ish, and then there’s the sound quality; when connected to a good modern device, it is brilliant. Really great. I don’t know if they’d preform as well with a modern Bluetooth 5.0+ non-Samsung device, but with this budget Samsung they’re practically faultless.
Before today I would have awarded two stars, but now they’re an easy five. It’s also nice listening to music without sticking anything in my ear canals. I’ve not used the noise cancellation, but why they’re on a device that doesn’t isolate you like in-ear earphones is beyond me. The only nit-picking issue I have are the two sets of little wings which you swap around to adjust the fit; the small ones are a little too small for them to stay safely in my ears, the large a little too large which make my ears ache a little after an hour (first world problems). In short, just make sure you buy at the right time.
IN CONCLUSION – A good pair of buds if you want great sound and volume. Well worth the 119 I paid for them. If you want noise cancellation, simply put, look elsewhere, because these fail miserably.
Both earbuds have great quality sound but deliver the sound differently.
Plus is more like a gadget.
Live is like mini speakers that sit in your ear. At the end of the day both earbuds deliver great quality sounds
PLUS:
PROS
Bionic Hearing. (the ambient feature is nothing short of incredible)
Battery Life
Fits pretty much everyone’s ear.
Good resistance to moisture.
CONS
Max volume is not high enough.
Silicone inear. (Ear wax issues)
LIVE:
PROS
No Silicone in ear. (eliminates ear wax issues)
Max volume is pretty much the same as the plus but the treble and bass is much punchier.
(Brings the music to life in my opinion)
Unique design (shaped like beans)
CONS
No ambient sound feature.
Active noise cancelling is dismal.
Battery is about 6 hours depending on how they are maintained could be less.
Water or moisture would damage them as they aren’t very resistant.
My personal preference are the bud lives.
I have had both earbuds. I have returned my plus to get one of these because of the drop in price. 179 down to 129 which is the price I got them for here on amazon.
Hope this helped.
UPDATE – Unfortunately I ended up returning these as there was an issue eith the volume. In the end I could hardly hear my music at all. Thankfully I was issued a refund by Amazon.
Been wearing them for about half a week now, the comfy-ness is the one thing that’s getting me down about the product at this point, since the design isn’t exactly traditional (lying on your ear, rather than in your ear). So it’s been hurting my ear cartilage, but I’m banking on that my ears will eventually get used to them. The pain is slowly depleting – if there was a feature rating for comfy-ness, I’d rate it a 3 star (but that’s probably because of my own ear shape/size). This’ll be different for everyone, and will depend on your ears. They do come with a different pair of larger bands (I’m gonna call them that) to fit ears more appropriately, but yeah they were too big for me, but it’s a nice option.
Loving my beans currently!
Hope this helps 🙂
The fit was strange at first — I felt that they might fall out at any moment. Turns out, I was slightly incorrectly inserting them — I needed to place the bottom portion more pointing towards the head — I don’t want to say push them in, because they DON’T enter ear canal, but the bottom should be slightly ’tilted’ towards the ear canal. And possibly, rotated forward, slightly. Suddenly the fit became snug and absolutely secure. Also, the sound became a lot more defined.
The sound overall on these is magnificent. I can’t believe certain frequency levels. I don’t use Noise Cancelling on the daily basis, because I end up leaving these in my ears for most of the day, and still want to hear other people. But when I am in a noisy office and want to enjoy my music better, I turn on the cancelling and it becomes quite amazing.
The battery life is fine and wonderful. The responsiveness of the touch is high, albeit delayed by about half second. I love how they start (connect) immediately to my phone and sense the music signal.
I highly recommend checking out the Galaxy Wearable app, and notice the Find My Buds option. This came in handy the other night, when I dropped one at night in a dark grassy spot. I didn’t know about the feature, and went home to wait for the next day daylight to search the area. I couldn’t find it at all, even in the daylight. I opened the app, and saw that the buds were both connected, so I knew it’s nearby. Then I saw the Find My Buds feature, and I made this bud beep. It sounded like birds chirping, and I found it in a matter of a few seconds. Amazing.
The 2 super minor gripes I have with these:
The case is lovely but I would prefer a more ductile feel as to what side to open it from. I often open it with one hand, while walking the dog, and I would love to be able to find which side of the 4 sided box to pry open with the finger — it feels perfectly symmetrical and I can’t tell without looking how to open it.
The start/stop touch is sensitive, so I end up pausing music often when I slightly push the bud into my ear, or adjust it. I don’t need to do it often, and I know I can adjust it by holding it on the sides, but still, a quick push sometimes is all I need, but it stops the music. It would be absolutely cool to be able to reprogramme the touches, not only the touch-hold abilities.
These 2 minor gripes are nothing to worry about though — these buds worth every penny, for me.
* Unique design. Since no part of them enters your ear canal, they’re incredibly comfortable to wear for long periods of time, and there’s no chance of them causing an earwax build-up like traditional earbuds might.
* Sound quality. I’m by no means an audiophile, but I listen to a lot of electronic music with them and they sound better than any other earphones/earbuds I’ve tried.
Neutrals:
* Battery life. Samsung claim that these have a 7.5-hour battery life with ANC turned off, and that a 5 minute top-up in their case adds an extra hour of battery life, both of which I’ve found to be true. This will be enough for most people, however it’s a shame that they don’t have the 11-hour battery life that the less expensive Buds+ have.
Negatives:
* Noise cancellation. As many reviewers have pointed out, these are not the earbuds for you if noise cancellation is a priority. I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with Samsung’s ANC technology, their open design just means they naturally let in more of the sound of your surroundings than traditional earbuds do.
* Lack of aptX support. Only owners of modern Samsung smartphones will be able to take advantage of the Buds Live’s SSC (Samsung Scalable Codec) support (which is also a requirement for their ‘Gaming mode’ feature). Users without one of these Samsung smartphones won’t have comparable connection quality due to their lack of support for the more universally supported aptX codec.
Notes:
* If the conchae of your ears are larger than those of the people in the Buds Live promotional pics (like mine are), or you’re just generally struggling to find the right fit for them in your ear, then I would definitely recommend calling Samsung’s customer service team and asking for a pair of Buds Live Sleeves (seen in my photo), which they will send to you for free. The sleeves have meant I’ve gone from only getting a good fit some of the time to getting the perfect fit virtually every time.
* If you’re using these with a Windows PC, I’d recommend installing Tim Schneeberger’s open source unofficial Galaxy Buds Manager, which allows you to customise things like the Bud’s touch controls from your PC rather than having to do it through your phone.
BUT
They can only connect to one device at a time, this is very poor and requires an urgent update from Samsung. With working from home I need to be connected to both PC & Phone, no can do with these. I have a 30 pair which can!! SORT IT OUT SAMSUNG!
THAT is Samsung I bought 3 times and that it 😉 ( unless u make buds that would allow to talk to dead people , I want to ask my Grandma where she hid her Diamonds