Samsung Galaxy Buds Live Wireless Earphones Mystic White (UK
Samsung Galaxy Buds Live Wireless Earphones Mystic White (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-R180NZWAEUA |
| Colour: | Mystic White |
| Batteries Included: | 1 Lithium Polymer batteries required. (included) |
| Dimensions: | 5 x 2.78 x 5.02 cm; 5.6 Grams |
| Size: | One Size |
Good sound quality and if they suit your ear shape they are as good as any. One of the few wireless earphones that I can run with and they stay in place. A bit pricey but worth it if the suit your ear.
They have great sound and pretty good bass when you set them up properly, sound is very clear with deep bass I wouldn’t expect from in ear speakers. They are not as good as over the ear speakers but that’s expected.
Noise cancelling works pretty well I can barely hear trains going past me when they are turned up.
Battery power is really good in my opinion, get plenty of hours out of them even with calls included.
I highly recommend these.
They have features like they beep if you can’t find them (always use the galaxy wearable app in conjunction with wearing them with your phone). They also connect seamlessly to my macbook and tablet.
The sound is amazing, I even have to turn it down a bit sometimes. I would recommend them to anyone.
The battery life is impressive, easily lasting through long commutes and work. The touch controls are responsive, making it easy to manage and music and podcasts. If you’re in the market for wireless earbuds that deliver exceptional sound and comfort, the Galaxy Buds Live are a solid choice.
Thank you seller for my purchase *****
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.
Over-all it is deserve what paid for.
Good battery life
Find my Buds in the galaxy wearable app…
Overall a 7/10
The sound is amazing, not the greatest noise cancelling but more than good enough for my needs.
Easy to connect & charge.
As description and months later still working properly and long battery life. Recommended 100%
Really love these, sound quality is great and battery life is excellent.
Perfect earbuds almost forgot that I wear them. Activ noise cancellation not exist. Bas is great. Overall great earbuds. Recommended.
Good quality sounds, the fit is odd but probably cause I haven’t had these type of ear phones before.
Work very well for me. A comfortable fit once you are used to them. Charge lasts long and the noise cancellation feature is great.
I use them for making calls and listening to music the sound so clear and crisp for both
There ok rubbish to link with Samsung tv connection breaks all the time but with iPhone iPad and Samsung tab s 7 they work well
Noise cancellation? If you find it let me know .. but apart from that there ok and the price is good for what you ge
I don’t workout in them so not sure if would sui
Great sound great price very pleased with well my partner is as i bought for him
One keeps falling out ny ear. I must have 2 different shaped ears cause the other one stays in perfect.
Brought for daughter’s birthday she loves them fab price and excellent quality thanxs you made her day x
As it is written on the tin, came on time and production is legit. At times it does go out of sync, and i find it difficult to control it via touches.
I use these daily, they are a great buds from Samsung who seem to never disappoint..
Good quality, easily connects and the battery life is good too.
Yes they are noise cancelling and it’s superb
The best ear plugs I’ve brought sounds excellent unlike other ones I have brought and wearing them is excellent you forget there in your ear well done to samsung
10/10
Great sound. Look good. Touch works. But if you pull a face or a grimace in the gym (I do!) and your ears move (they do!) they fall out.
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
hey don’t fit very tightly and one of mine kept falling ou
Easy to pair with my phone, easy to charge with the power share on my phone too. Great quality sound and touch control.
It’s hurting after a while so I have to relax my ear. Touch control can not be setup my self.
Bought for my wife for her birthday. She absolutely loves them, great sound and comfort.
Very good sound quality, crisp punchy sound and a surprising amount of bass (although not overpowering) which is fantastic for non in-ears which almost always have poor bass due to no ear canal isolation.
The fit is great, they don’t fall out easily, they’re comfortable and they look very nice. The battery life is also good and the case even charges wirelessly which is a decent bonus.
The noise cancellation may aswell not even exist as it won’t and can’t work without sealing your ear drums. The good thing at least is listening to music on a normal volume level drowns out most ambient noise but unlike in-ears, at low volume its almost like not wearing earphones (which is a good thing for some people).
Overall I highly recommend these as they’re the best pair of earphones I’ve ever owned; just please don’t buy them for noise cancellation as it’s a lie.
Good product. Did have to get my head round how they work but sound quality and nice cancelling is good. Can also hook it to my laptop.
Sound quality is very good.
Easy to set up.
You have to make sure they are firmly fitted into ears, or they will easily fall out.
I have another headphones and they had a good sound but unfortunately this one is not so good for me,sorry
Love these. Great sound, good battery life. Only thing that could be improved would be the touch sensitivity when tapping them to pause/skip. Love them though and highly recommend.
The Samsung Beans are by far the best all round earphones I’ve ever owned. For anyone that doesn’t like or can’t use in-ear/ear-canal headphones, and doesn’t require sound isolation — these are the perfect earphones. I have the smallest ear canals known to man and these are the only* good true wireless earphones that I can use. *haven’t tried the Linkbuds though.
It takes a few days to work out where the buds should sit for best comfort, security and sound. Once you realise that the buds don’t need to be jammed down your ear holes to be secure, they’re actually really comfortable and you can often forget they’re in. My ears were definitely a bit sensitive for the first few days but stick with them! I’m not sure of it’s just because of my small ears, but even when the buds aren’t jammed into my ears and feel like they’re sitting precariously — they never fall out even if I shake my head. Kinda feels like they defy the laws of physics.
Sound is actually pretty good. Bass is significantly better than most earphones of this type, but only when set to dynamic in the settings.
Volume is sufficient but could be a little better. I generally have them at half volume for comfortable listening, with things like YouTube videos and livestreams. If I’m listening to music outdoors, they need to be 75% or above if you want any immersion. Anything above 50% does cause sound leakage though, so the people around you may hear headphone noise depending on what else is going on around you.
Battery has been great. I’m a very heavy user and haven’t been caught short yet. I do however use the Sony XM4 noise cancelling headphones every now and then if I want to lock out the world for things like Netflix, so this obviously allows the Buds Live to charge while I’m using them.
Touch controls are okay. I do miss the touch point fairly often, probably 20% of the time, but I dont ever get any incorrect taps (meaning tap twice but only registers once or vice versa)
These are also great if you use headphones in bed (if you’re pillow is soft enough). You can quite easily lay on one of the earphones for a short period of time without feeling any discomfort. Long periods of time may be different though.
Noise cancelling should always be left off. It’s pointless. Does it do something? Yes a little, but not to any degree that it’s worth a reduction in battery life.
I prefer to frame these headphones as headphones that immerse the sound into your world, rather than immersing you into the sound. Not all headphones need to isolate you from the world. If you can afford to, get these and a pair of good noise cancelling over the ear headphones like Sony Xm4/5 or Bose 700 and then you’ll have the best of both worlds.
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.
Not sure how these stay in but they definitely do and I can’t say that about any other pair of in-ears I’ve had. Sound quality is good, especially for in-ears. Ok, not as good as my Sennheiser headphones but that’s not comparing like with like, and I’m really pleased with these.
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 a comparison is not an easy one.
However issues and niggles….
The earbuds themselves are lovely, fit snug for day to day stuff, not so good for vigorous movement.
Noise cancelling is great.
Sound quality is very good too.
I have had one issue of one earbud not charging in the case….they were sent for a samsung repair and all fixed, superquick.
The only main issue I have with day to day use is the touch controls. If you slightly brush your ear, taking off a scarf or similar you just fleetingly touch a bud and it stops playing, you then spend next 30 seconds touching the bud again just to get it to play. Same when wanting to purposely stop the bud, touch again for an age….you end up resorting to your phone to pause the music.
Whether all touch control are like this? Who knows? But at least with the old Raycon earbuds there’s a button, works everytime.
These are far better than I expected. I’m a bit of a bass junkie and these have excellent sound. Easy to use and battery life great.
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!
The audio quality is really good, just not initially (seemed to be about 45mins to an hour for them to bed in). To start with the treble was painful but that improved with use to a point where I really liked the sound. I sat on my bed listening to Tesseract’s Errai album. Once they bedded in the bass was punchy, the mids were warm and the high were soft but clear. Once I played with the app settings and the phones Dolby EQ I found a sound that was very much to my liking (honestly I was ready to put my aging Huawei AM61 into a drawer).
The fit is, well, it is comfortable but they don’t feel like they are secure. No amount of random head movements dislodge them. They are light weight. And generally nice to wear.
The following day I wore them on the walk to work. This was where the problem began. They leak sound, a lot. Walking along, I could hear my footsteps and traffic noise, the latter was drowning out the music. No worries, I shall enable the ANC. The bass got stronger but that was about it. I had to crank the volume up in an attempt to drown out the sounds. This highlighted that the top volume was way lower than the earphones they were to replace. But not loud enough to drown out the traffic noise.
Walking back from work I gave up with them, the wind noise was too much, again drowning out what I was listening too. My partner tried hers when she was hoovering her house and just gave up (she has yet to try the ANC for that, some people who use them report the ANC to be really good)
So I will be returning my pair. Which is a shame as these are the first buds that fit and down fall out.
My partner loves her pair. She tells me that the call clarity is great and that she got about 6 hours of music and calls on the first charge.
I am not slating these. I like my earphones to sound and behave in a particular way and these have the sound but not the rest.
Oh the touch controls are pretty good, once you have got where to tap/long press. But know that readjusting them tends to trigger them (the widget for the home screen is good for toggling touch controls on/off).
If you are watching a video, you’ll need to go to the settings and enable Game Mode or you’ll get horrendous sync issues.
I was using these with a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3, my partner is using a Samsung Galaxy A52.
Honestly, these are great but are as leaky as a set of apple earpods.
The ANC (active noise cancellation) is okay at best. It cuts out bass frequencies pretty darn well, but higher frequencies still get in due to the unintrusive fit of these buds. I mainly wear these while walking, so this is actually a major benefit for me, as I can still hear car tyre noise without hearing the rumble of engines, allowing me to stay safe. If you want absolute silence, these aren’t for you, but if you need a decent amount of awareness these are perfect.
The battery life is also okay at best. I only wear these for up to a couple of hours at a time, so I can’t comment on their endurance without the case, but you will find yourself charging these more often than the more up-market earbuds according to reviews I have seen. The active noise cancellation does drain them down pretty significantly faster (just based on me randomly checking the battery percentage, this is by no means scientific) so if you’re not bothered about it, just switch it off.
The touch controls can be hit and miss. These are my first true-wireless headphones, so I’m not well practised in these kinds of controls, but I do seem to fail regularly on the more complex gestures (mainly double-tap to skip, and usually I end up rewinding the track instead). Maybe I’m the problem, not the headphones, but this might be worth bearing in mind.
Okay, now onto the good bits.
I’m not one of those hardcore audio nerds, but these sound nice to me. My preferred sound profile is a lot more bass-heavy than most, and these definitely deliver in that respect, but unlike a lot of other headphones, the mids and highs still sound clear. They get pretty loud and also pretty quiet without compromising quality at either end, so they are super versatile.
Obviously, the key selling point of these is their design, and I really buy it. Ear fatigue isn’t a problem with these at all because of the very respectful design. Plus, they look different in a world of companies desperately trying and failing to compete with AirPods. I’m not gonna be a cringey Samsung fanboy and say these are better than AirPods because I’d be lying, but at least they look good doing it. Everyone’s ears are different so the fit will vary a lot, but there are two pairs “wing tips” included to adjust how tightly they fit in your ear.
My final positive probably won’t even apply to you, but I got these at a huge discount. Honestly, I wouldn’t buy these at full price because a little extra saving could get you a lot more headphones for your money. But, if like me you see these on sale for as little as 59 brand new, just go for it. I have friends who have bought headphones in this price range without discounts from less reputable brands, and they have been sorely disappointed. Samsung sells these for a high price because they are high-end earbuds, and you won’t replicate the effect with cheap nasty things. Just be wary of what you do pay for them.
Very important to recognise that these are OPEN earbuds, it sits just outside the ear canal, there is no spongy/rubbery ear tip that goes into the ear canal. Thus, inherently it has all the fundamental pros and cons associated with type of design. Your music will leak out and external noise will be seep in, plenty of it too. If you are looking for a earbuds that creates a seal in the ear canal, and provide maximum isolation and noise reduction, then stop reading now and go look at some other earbuds. But if like me, you can’t tolerate those in-ear earbuds, and looking for an alternative to the king of OPEN earbuds that is the Apple AirPod (regular ones, not Pro), then you are looking at potential winner here 🙂
The earbuds are made of smooth plastic with glossy finish. Looks premium. I got the mystic white, and it is two tone, white on the outside, but greyish on the inside. It is actually very slippery too. Be careful handling these when you are out and about. It is very well build, there is zero sharp edges, no creaking, no large gaps and very light too. Same high quality build applies to the charging case too and unfortunately the smooth slippery surface as well.
The fits. You got to give credit where it is due, and so, well done to Samsung R&D for being so creative, coming up such a unique “bean” design. It would have been so easy to make yet another AirPod lookalike. I have to admit, ears comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and I was skeptical that this bean shape will work well. But surprisingly, it did, well, kind of. On my right ear, the bean fit perfectly, there is some pressure, but not such that it causes any discomfort or pain, even after several hours. But on my left ear, it took me quite a long time and effort to position the earbud such that it doesn’t cause pain. I found that the wing tips needs to be precisely placed and adjusted into the “correctly” position to get the same level of comfort as my right ear. A video from Samsung on how to insert these earphone does give you a hint, but really, there is much trial and error to get it right. If between my left and right ears there seems to have different fit, I won’t be surprised that some people will find the fit to be perfect and while others might find painful. So, please buy these from somewhere with solid return/refund policiy 🙂
The sound, I am no audiophile, to me, these earbuds sounds really good, very good for OPEN earbuds. And yes, there is bass, the right amount of it. Something that often missing in most OPEN earbuds. The loudness is very good too, I have never needed to go beyond 50% volume, even when walking outdoor.
Now the ANC, lets be honest, knowing that this is an OPEN earbuds, you can’t seriously expect the ANC to be anywhere near as good as any half decent in-ear canal earbuds? Well, that’s right, ANC is next to useless. When outdoor, eg, on a busy street, definitely need to crank up the volume to drown out the external noise. I usually use these indoors and it is perfectly fine in this condition.
The app. With the galaxy wear app, you can apply various equaliser presets, on/off ANC, adjust the left/right loudness balance, switch the earbud bluetooth connection between devices, disable all touch controls (useful in certain situations), and limited touch control customization (more on this below).
Is there anything that needs improvement? Yes! The earbuds does NOT have a power-off feature. Unbelievable. The only way to turn it OFF, is to put them into the charging case. If you don’t have your case with you, too bad, the earbuds battery is just draining away, even if you are not using them. The absence of power-off feature is ridiculous, what was Samsung thinking? Another thing, there is lack of customisation on the touch controls. The only customizable touch is the “touch and hold” feature, where you have the option of either volume control or anc control or bixby control. All other touch e.g single/double/triple are not customizable. I have had cheaper wireless earbuds with more touch customisation options than this! And last complaint, you cannot buy a spare charging case. Yup, no spare case for sale, at all. Why? Samsung. Why? Considering how much the earbuds relies on the charging case, you would think it makes sense to sell some as spares, no?
All in all, I do like these Galaxy Buds Live very much. Samsung did an excellent job here, in R&D and realising a totally unique product that works well. Sure, it is not perfect and there some questionable decision about certain missing features, but that takes nothing away from the fact that this 100% represents “open earbuds redefined”. A game changer. I look forward to see what the next generation will bring.
Edit 25Oct21: After spending more time with these, here is a couple of new observations,
1) the bluetooth range is not great. In a small two storey 3 bed house, the bluetooth connection unable to cope between the two farthest points in the house.
2) due to lack of OFF function, the earbuds battery discharges at a rate of 12% per hour when outside of the charging case without any media playing.
Edit 06Nov2021:
Had these more than a month now, almost daily either listening to radio broadcast, or music via spotify or watching videos on netflix/prime/disney+, I have made a couple of new observations,
1) sound profile, especially the bass output, the “openess” of sound stage and dynamic response, seems to be greatly improve, if the ANC feature is enabled OR if the “Relieve pressure with ambient sound” feature is enabled (found in Earbud setting->Labs section of Samsung Wear app). Strange that we have to enable one of those features just to get a “better” sound.
2) The “Relieve pressure with ambient sound” feature causes a strange occasionally problem where the sound will fade out (soften) for a second or two, then goes back to normal. This only happens when I am watching videos on Prime Video. And only seems to be occur on specific points in certain videos. When the problem starts to manifest, I rewind the video and the problem reoccur at the exact same point. And if I turn OFF and then turn ON the “Relieve pressure” feature, and rerun the video, the problem goes away. It is as if the “Relieve pressure” feature is responding to certain audio mix coming from the video and glitches out. And it continues to glitch, until the “Relieve pressure” feature gets reset by toggling it OFF and then ON again. And why only Prime Video? I never encountered any issues on other video streaming service, e.g iPlayer, Netflix, Disney, etc.
Definitely something “buggy” going on with these earbuds. The significant improvement in sound with the ANC or the “Relieve pressure”, makes it impossible to go back to the “normal” sound without these features. But both features have downsides. For sure, I will never use ANC, solely because it is ineffective and reduces battery life. And so, I am forced to use the “Relieve pressure” feature, and avoid Prime Video 🙁
While non of these new observations is a deal breaker, I am slightly disappointed that it escapes Samsung QA. Also I hope it is something that Samsung is aware of, and even better if it something they can fix via software update.
Edit 13Nov2021:
Finally worked out why the sound was fading in and out! Nothing to do with the earbuds. It was the Dolby Atmos feature on my Samsung Tablet. Disabled the Dolby Atmos on the tablet and the sound is perfect now!
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.
Would highly recommend!
It hurts when used for a long time.
Pro’s:
Great sound quality
Lovely fit without being invasive like some earphones
Wireless charging
Price (at circa 80)
Excellent for phone calls.
Bluetooth Connection
Controls easy to use
Cons:
Noise cancellation is at best poor
Not sure of there suitability for sport due to fit and IP rating
Firstly i own and have owned multiple sets of headphones from Earfun, Bose, Jabra to name a few. For this review i am comparing the Samsungs to the Bose QC 35 Mk2 and the Jabra active 65T, both of which i use regularly.
Right of the bat if noise cancellation is a priority look elsewhere, at best the ANC on the Samsungs is marginal and at worst virtually non existent. The fit, i think will also divide opinion. Personally i love the fit on these earphones, they sit in the outer ear and rest there without needing to be squeezed into the ear canal. Initially i found it unsettling but have worn them for a while on walks they stay in place just fine, i am not convinced this would be the case however if you want them for rigourous exercise.
Sound quality is excellent, i would say overall it is smooth which is great for both music and podcasts, they are not the most detailed of earphones but strike a good balance and they would be easy to use for long listening periods. They are much better than the Jabra 65T, to be honest there is no contest and only slightly behind the Bose QC35 which in itself is excellent given the price point.
This sound quality extends to calls where people could hear me clearly and i had no trouble using them for extended conference calls.
Onto their weaknesses, ANC is poor and i think a lot of this is down to the fit and there shape both the Bose and Jabra i mention are better here by some margin even though the Jabra’s dont have ANC, just their tight fit blocks out more noise. For ANC the Bose are clear winners. At their full price i would probably mark the Samsung’s down for this but at 80 there are many more positives than negatives.
Summary:
I doubt at the price point of 80 these can be bettered for sound quality, fit, finish and convenience, i am really impressed. For this review i am using them with a galaxy S20 and you need to download the wearable app to fully utilise the settings and capabilities. For now i will be using the Jabra active 65T for my running and the Samsungs for pretty much everything else. Ultimately in this test the best headphones are the Bose QC35 MK2 but these cost me 280 so is hardly a fair comparison but when ANC is important (travelling, flights etc) i will be using these.
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.
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.
Great sound quality but noise cancellation isn’t anywhere close to the over the ear ones, so don’t recommend these if that’s what you are looking for.
She is not into techy things in any shape or form but she has never left these alone for over a week now and loves them. Even our daughters are impressed at the fit in the ear. Both have Apple versions which they claim are not as good.
The buds fit well into my smallish ears and haven’t dropped out yet. They do take some getting used to so persevere if you can. I changed the fitted rubber bits so have the smaller one on one side and bigger on the other which works for me as due to a past ear injury I found the pressure built up more in one ear when wearing for hours and this helped. You can adjust a setting in the app as well. Callers can hear me well even if I have a beanie on covering my ears and I can hear them as well too. Outside noises do intrude but you can still hear your music/callers. I have had music playing low and spoken to people whilst on the phone and in person for shirt periods and can hear both ok.
The downsides…the mic picks up every external noise which is where the noise cancellation comes in…however mine only really seems to work when people call me…the noise reduces for them not me..! When the equaliser is on dynamic mode, callers hear everything (nc is on), the external noise lessens when you switch to normal or different modes. I havent seen much difference at my end.
Tapping the buds to skip tracks etc take a lot of getting used to and can be frustrating at times as you have to tap in the right spot, I swear mine moves at will lol.
The buds come in a neat case which holds its charge well. The battery on the buds drains quicker if noise cancellation & dynamic mode is on but the case fast charges so you can go several hours without plugging into the grid. It uses the newer USB-C cable and charges from the back of the newer Samsung S10 upwards phones (wireless power sharing).
The app is simple enough to use and controls all the settings for the buds. There is a basic tutorial on the app on how to use it and you can also set a routine on there eg ‘at xx time if connected by Bluetooth play Spotify tracklist…’
Overall I’m very happy with my purchase.
PS the ones I received were genuine Samsung so no issues registering them on my account.
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.
I managed to get these on Black Friday sale for 199 and was over the moon, however after unboxing these, I read a 1 Star review stating these might be fake? I took to the Samsung website to see if like the reviewer mine too failed to register, which they did…
I immediately took to Amazon support who said they were genuine, so I decided to check with Samsung support and after speaking to them also confirmed the product was genuine, however, they were EU versions so can’t be registered on the UK account (1Y warranty is still valid though).
The Galaxy Bud Live’s link up to my Galaxy S9 and all the apps it should and deliver good sound and fit very comfortably. One thing which threw me off to start was the included rubber attachments which go over the top of the charging connectors are actually the small and large fittings pushed into one (these pull apart from one another I later found out after erasing my fingertips trying to push them on)
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.
My Sony 1000xm3’s are Bluetooth, and they work flawlessly on Windows 10 with good audio quality. These? Not at all.
They are clearly designed for mobile phones in mind as even on my non-Samsung phone the latency was far improved (but not the best).
If you do not plan to use these with a Windows PC (I haven’t got a Mac to test it on) then these are a great buy. The noise cancelling is good and the sound quality is also good. I also feel like I could go all day with these in my ears, which is why I wanted a different Bluetooth solution for my PC as my ears get sweaty with over-ears headphones.
Thing is, I love wireless, and prefer buds that rest in my ears rather than be wedged in my ear canal. It’s a shame that Samsung haven’t created a good PC implementation as I would have definitely kept these and marked the review as 5* as they tick all the other boxes.