Samsung Galaxy Buds Live Wireless Earphones, 2 Year
Samsung Galaxy Buds Live Wireless Earphones, 2 Year Manufacturer Warranty, 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: | 160 g |
| Size: | One Size |
| Dimensions: | 9.9 x 8.6 x 4.4 cm; 160 Grams |
| Model: | F-MR180NZKAAMA |
| Colour: | Mystic Black |
| Batteries Included: | 1 Lithium Ion batteries required. (included) |
| Dimensions: | 9.9 x 8.6 x 4.4 cm; 160 Grams |
| Size: | One Size |
Was able to get it in the January sales. So it was well worth the money. The only problem with it is getting used to the touch controls everything else is nigh perfect.
I’ve bought 2 of these first one’s died on me in the washing machine (always check those pockets people) so I got a second set and they work just as well. I’ve had them for ages now and walk for miles with them so they last hours on constant I really love them even now I have got upgraded one’s I still use these.
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.
I’ve tried different ear phones and didn’t get on with them. I just so happen to purchase these for my child for Christmas and tried them and was amazed. I got them at a really good price at Christmas. When I finally got round to getting a pair for myself I saw that they were not only full price every where but being phased out.
I then bought them on the Amazon Spring Deal sale I still paid way more than I paid for my child’s pair at Christmas but soo worth it!
I purchased these buds as a replacement for my old trusty pair of non-Samsung earbuds when I lost one of the ear seals. I have to say I purchased more on price than specification and wasn’t expecting a huge amount. I have to say I was wrong, for the price they are brilliant. I have marked the sound quality and noise cancellation as 5-star, not as much because they are the best noise-cancelling earbuds out there, but because they are great at what they do without making a tight seal around my ear canal. I find them comfortable, although when walking, I have to push them back into place now and again. The best bit is that they connect to my Samsung phone every time without messing with the Bluetooth settings. I am thrilled with these earbuds. The battery life is great too.
Bought in like-new condition, specifically for use on my Samsung S20 Plus. At first, I was confused at exactly how they were supposed to fit into my ears – thank God the manual came too.
Within five minutes, I had the earphones connected to my phone and it prompted a request to download a firmware update for the earphones and a locator app. Not only that, I was also immediately welcomed to an app called “Galaxy Wearable” which offered an extensive range on how I can control my earphones, from 360 sound to blocking touches made on either of the two device’s surfaces. Very impressive.
As for the earphones, I found the sound quality great and they fit snugly into my ears. I still have to adjust some settings, should I ever play bassy music or action movies via the Dolby Audio option, but this is only me and my preference to sound. If anyone is indifferent and has no filter, then more power to you.
Unlike all other wireless earphones I ever had, these ones were built different. There are no mounted earbuds for you to affix securely into your ear canals. All there is is a tiny speaker output which is designed to allign to the opening of your ear canal.
As I find that quite innovative, since it would reduce the likelihood of wax buildup, I also find it a little concerning. Personally it gives me some anxiety as I would think the sound might be able to easily pour out from the devices and anyone within earshot might hear the stuff/music I am listening to.
On the other hand, I don’t really use these earphones when I’m around other people. Either that, or in loud public spaces where I believe whatever sound might be escaping from the earphones would likely get drowned out from the general background noise.
For context, I am an introverted and self-conscious person. If you don’t gives a rat’s backside of the sounds that might be emanating from these earphones when in use due to their design and the potential of other people hearing what you’re hearing, then by all means disregard my part which stated such.
Adult male the fitting is great. My wife and daughter have ear piercings and as a result limit the fitting. Something to consider if u have a daith ear piercing. Sounds great.
I am a devout fan of all things samsung, I love the way these earbuds fit in my ear, but the noise cancellation and overall sound quality is lacking if only it was a little bit louder it would be the best samsung earbuds in my opinion.
I have tried numerous different types and they all fall out except these Galaxy buds, they do not noise cancel anywhere near the level of my over ear headphones but that is fine as these for me are for walking to and from work so being able to be aware of my surroundings is perfect for me. I will not use these for flying as for that I do want something truly noise cancelling and these can’t offer that due to the way they sit in the ear which is probably why they actually stay in my ear and to have headphones that stay in makes a change for me.
The first pair I did have to send back as no matter what I did the right bud would not work, this second pair are absolutely perfect and were set up and working in no time. Added bonus the second time I purchased they were discounted further.
If noise cancelling is important then go for either large over ear headphones or a pair that have more of a standard in ear type so as they sit flush in the war canal rather than plonked in the ear.
I have been using these for a couple of months now. They do look very fashionable. It took while to to get the hang of how to place them properly in the ear (like the other reviewers said as well) but once it was clear the sound was good, not painful to use and stay in the ear well. The sound wasn’t great (only good) as I do love to listen to music with a good bass but these ones do not make the bass sound well enough for me.
Zoom and skype calls are great. I have been using them with 2 different devices- one older Samsung phone and another a bit newer. With the older Samsung phone, skype calls are not great as the sound breaks all the time with these buds. No problem yet with using the newer phone with these buds.
Battery life seems to be OK. I do not use them daily but around every other day for couple of hours and need to charge the whole set once a week or so.
All in all I’m happy with the purchase and the price was discounted too !
The sound is pretty good, nothing mind-blowing but definitely gets the job done. I can feel the bass thumping, and the vocals come through clear as day.
Thank you seller for my purchase *****
I’ve been using them for just under a year.
They fit comfortably into my ears, the buds last about 7hrs with continuous use and the case gives them about an extra 1 uses.
Recommended, but wait for a sale, they go below 40.
Sound quality is excellent and they are easy to use and control. They are a strange shape and fitting them in the ear is initially a tad tricky. However, once I got used to them they are very comfortable and not liable to fall out.
Wireless charging is reasonably quick and battery life is excellent. I purchased a green Samsung carry case and a cheap and cheerful mini magnetic wireless charger. Everything works well together and the Wearable App shows the charging level of each earbud and the charging case. Wireless charging also works when the earbuds are in the carry case (see photo).
I am rather chuffed
I have a Samsung phone and smartwatch that I’m perfectly happy with and I trust the brand. Still, these earbuds exceeded my expectations. The design looked a bit odd at first, but I read that they allow you to hear some noise from the surrounding environment, which was already an advantage for me as I like to be aware of what’s happening around me when I listen to music. I have to admit, when I first put them on, I put them on incorrectly. When I figured out how to wear them, I realised it’s the smartest most comfortable fit they could have come up with. The sound is of excellent quality, and the gestures are also really helpful – one tap to pause the music, two taps to switch to the next song. It also seems to be able to tell when you’re just touching them cause you’re trying to reposition them or by accident, compared to when you actually mean to tap them. They also automatically stop playing music if you take them off, and as I got the pink golden ones, they truly look like a little piece of jewelry in my ears.
Really happy with them and can’t wait to use them lots in the future!
Battery life is excellent and they are extremely comfortable to wear for long periods. The product feels very high quality and premium. As for the ANC, it genuinely doesn’t work at all that I can see so just turn it off and have even more battery life. If you get these at the price that I did they are a steal. Anything up to 50 and they are still a real bargain.
The ear buds are very good to use as the sound quality is superb
They look great, small and quite discreet, great sound. A little bit fiddly to put in at first but worth the effo
For year i have been buying cheap crap and i said i better try a good set for once. I hate having the phone to my ear when on a call. And with cheap ear buds a can’t be heard right on a call but these are as clear. Like i had my phone to my face. Set up is easy and they sit in your ear lovely i forget i have them in. On my old ones they would drive my ear mad and i could use them very long. The sound for music is brilliant. Over all i love them.
I love the sound quality of these buds!. The music sounds cleaner, Fuller, and because they’re noise cancelling you can really get into the zone.
It is a different kind of experience because you get more back ground noise but I much prefer this actually. The music seems more natural and spacious to me. Sound great. Equilisers work well.
Noise cancelling isn’t the best but it does reduce background noise. I’ll be honest, I have always found anc to be a little unpredictable and unique to individuals. I’ve also got Bose Quiet Comfort and don’t think the noise cancellation is really that great. But yes, you’re not stick a plug in your ear so don’t expect miracles. As other people noted it is nice to hear what is going on around you. Bit safer. And less awkward I find when out and about.
Noise Cancellation is not great but can block out people around you on public transport or quite a lot of road noise dissapears if you like your walks.
These sit comfortably in the ear but not in the ear canal.
Sound/bass is very good. I listen a lot to audible and they work a treat.
I’d recommend these.
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
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.
These earbuds are OK they are different compared to my MIFO 05 which has a lot more bass.
Good battery life
Find my Buds in the galaxy wearable app…
Overall a 7/10
After 2 years my first pair finally died, this is my second pair, I have never had a pair of headphones last this long and work this well in every aspec
Saw a couple of reviews where they weren’t given the best scores but as they were 60% off thought it was worth the risk.
The sound is amazing, not the greatest noise cancelling but more than good enough for my needs.
Easy to connect & charge.
I live my galaxy ear buds. These are my second pair as I sadly lost my last ones when in hospital. Connected via blue tooth immediately to my galaxy flip ohine, unlike cheaper brands. Good sound quality and I find them really discreet and comfortable to wear.
It’s has a long lasting battery. it’s wireless charging and it’s cancel noise I don’t see anything wrong with it it’s the best earbuds I’ve ever purchased
These are so comfortable and a perfect fit for my ears and they don’t go inside, which I hate and why I bought in the first place. The sound is great although noise cancelling is not existent. This doesn’t bother me at all but might bother others. These are the 2nd pair I’ve bought following my lovely teenager ‘borrowing’ my previous pair and losing one!
Good earphones for price don’t need to buy the latest very expensive ones. These do the same thing
The sound quality of the earbuds are nice. It’s not amazing, it is just standard. I preferred the sound on the “dynamic” setting, it felt like the sound was more in depth and gave a more 3 dimensional sound. There are different settings too like extra bass or a setting for more melody.
The noice cancelling isn’t too good. Since it doesn’t have the cushion thing for the ears the sound comes in and out more freely so I can hear outside noises more than other noise cancelling earbuds/haedphones. It doesn’t mean that the earbuds are completely bad, because it does very well as well. It’s just that compared to the ones that I’ve used before it doesn’t do as well.
The battery life is long lasting. Both the earbuds and the case itself lasts long. The lights show green, amber and red. Green means it is well charged and red is nearly dying. The battery life is great.
Overall the earbuds are nice. If you have a Samsung then I recommend this and if you are looking for a 100% noise cancelling earbuds then I do not recommend this.
The sound quality on these earbuds are great, and the open ear design made me a bit cautious about buying them first but they haven’t slipped out of my ear or gotten loose at all.
Noise cancelling isn’t the best, as expected with the design of the earbuds, but it’s not a deal breaker and is still sufficient depending on your environment.
I haven’t had them for too long, but the battery life seems to be pretty good so far, it has last a whole week so far without me needing to charge it, though it depends on how much you use it.
– At first I struggled with getting them to fit in my ears because I wasn’t putting them in right but once I got my head around them I can put them in with the perfect fit each time.
– the two supplied wingtips didn’t fit my ears very well, there are plenty of third party wingtips on the market that come in a multitude of differing sizes and I made some that are perfect for me so problem solved.
So with that out of the way here’s my review:
– The price is good for what you’re getting, if you can get them on a deal even better but they’re generally avaliable for around 70, yes you can get cheaper alternatives but they won’t be as good and they’re easily as good alternatives in their RRP (around 120?).
– The noise cancelling isn’t great, I question why you would buy open earphone if you’re looking for noise cancelling, seems like you’re not helping yourself in that situation. This was one of the seeling points for me, I can still hear the world around me while also listening to music that nobody else can hear.
– The sound quality is actually very good, that said you have to get the fit right to hear these earphone perform at their true potential. If you own a pair and the sound isn’t great it’s because you haven’t got them in right: wiggle them a bit, take them out and reinsert them, try the other size wingtips and if that fails look for more wingtips that fit your ears properly.
– they’re a comfort set of earphones, I wear mine all day at work and don’t feel any discomfort. This, again, is based on the wingtips, if you have a set in that are too large you will feel pain after an hour or so, you really do have to get the right sized wingtips to fully appreciate these earphones.
– They’re pretty attractive looking earphones, I really like the bean design. They’ve got a nice shine to them, the case is nice and compact, the beans aren’t massive so they almost disappear into you ear, overall a really cool bit of design by Samsung.
– The battery life is good, as I said I wear mine all day at work, pop them back in their case at night and they’re good to go for a other day. I generally charge the case once a week, on exceptional weeks twice but I charge them at night when I charge my phone so it’s not something that has ever been an inconvenience.
– They fit very securely once you’ve got the right sized wingtips: if the wingtips are too small they will fall out your ear as you move around, if they’re too large the beans might just spontaneously pop out of your ears. I honestly can overstate how important it is get the right sized wingtips, they’re the lynch pin of the whole package so if you’re having any fit, comfort or sound issues get some new wingtips.
– The supplied accessories are pretty good, the materials the wingtips are made out of is stiff enough to hold it’s shape but not so stiff that there isn’t a little give in it. Evidently the two different sized wingtips are fine for most people, but if you’re like me and have funny sized ears then you will need to find some alternatives, take heart though, there are plenty out there, there are also anti-slip sleeves and wingtips with the sleeves built in so you should be able to find some that fit and feel right for you.
If you’ve bought every variation of wingtip including the ones with the built-in anti slip sleeves and if you still can’t get the fit and feel right here’s what I did:
Step 1: buy an aftermarket pair that I knew beforehand would be too large.
Step 2: push some blue tack into the part of the ear that the wingtips go in to making an exact replica of the shape then carefully remove from the ear.
Step 3: gently stick the wingtips to the bottom of the bluetack making sure not to deform it.
Step 4: carefully cut around the bluetack with a modeling scalpel to replicate the shape (go bigger with the cuts rather than smaller as you can fine tune later if they’re sightly oversized).
Step 5: use a super fine grit disposable nail file to round off the edges, clean up the cut areas and fine tune the fit.
Step 6: enjoy the comfort, listen to some music and pat yourself on the back for a job well done.
Hey presto you got yourself a pair of wingtips that are a perfect fit for your ears only, from start to finish this whole process took me about 20 minutes to do both sides, it required minimal tools and effort, any one could do it, all you need is:
– wingtips to cut down (I suggest buying a pair made out of good quality silicone rather than cutting up the rubber ones that come included with your buds, to be fair this is more to do with fact i would rather have all the original accessories fully intact but if that’s not an issue for you then don’t worry about buying aftermarket ones)
– modelling scalpel with a fresh blade (if you have a Stanley knife or super sharp knife you could try using that but I would personally go with modelling scalpel for more precise cutting and ease of use)
– bluetack/white tack/modelling clay/moldable ear plugs, really anything you can comfortably press into the part of your ear the wingtips go in and will retain it’s shape when you remove it.
– fine grit disposable nail file/super fine grit sanding pad/wet and dry paper, make sure you go with 1000 plus grit, you don’t want to tear the living daylights out of your wingtips or sand off too much too quickly so the higher grit the better really, remember you can’t sand the material back on.
Final thoughts: I fell in love with my little ear beans, it took a couple of months but once I understood them and made the right sized wingtips I couldn’t be happier. If you’re looking for open earphones these are a strong contender, if you have small ear canals and struggle with in ear earphone these are well worth consideration.
Summary: Really good all round.
Details
Don’t go for low rating. I think it must be apple fan boys down voting this one. These are really good AKG in ear buds. The design is unconventional but the fit is perfect for me. Every ear is different but it works.
The sound is clear and deep. I listen to deep bass and pod casts alike and all is good so far. Noise cancellation is decent for the price (don’t expect Bose level 5x the price). I will update once I try in noisy environment like plane or train.
The settings are good if you want to switch between clear voice and clear music.
I’m overall happy with the quality and price.
They could have cut down on packaging a bit but that doesn’t affect the quality so 5* from me.
Vigorous shaking won’t dislodge them as all and unlike those earbuds with the stem, the is nothing sticking out your ears to get caught in your coat, hood or anything else brushing by your ear. This means you don’t get the usual fall out of the airpod copy designs.
Sound wise is excellent. Not up to the same standard as true in ear earbuds due to the lack of isolation, but still excellent with good range of bass. I’ve had Huawei freebuds, aftershocks as well as a few others and these blow then out the water in terms of sound and bass.
Also note that these are not isolating, you will hear the outside world. I personally prefer that so I can hear people talking and other things such as train announcements. Further the noise cancelling, it’s so subtle due to the design of the earbuds, you might as well save the battery.
My only gripes are the touch controls are limited, the magnet to hold them in the case is weak and you can’t connect to 2 devices at the same time (multi point connection). You have to disconnect from 1 device and then connect to the other. However, I am happy to sacrifice those for the comfort and sound quality I get.
The sound is great and the bass is nice, it blocks out all surrounding sounds which is good the only annoyance is the fact that if my phone is not in my hand while using the buds the sound jumps/stutters/cuts out, its so annoying, can somebody please help me with a solution, I dont know if I have a bad batch or if this is the norm for these earbuds? but I can’t be carrying the phone in my hand like it’s a damn baby who doesn’t want to be put down.
Nice sound quality that has a decent sound stage and you can hear music and podcasts over the sound of pretty busy traffic and pedestrians. It’s pretty comfortable so you can wear it for hours on end and despite the weird design they don’t look weird nor do they protrude from your ears but nor do they fall out even if you jog with them. I’ve literally tilted my head 180 degrees and they stayed in.
Lastly you don’t stick these rights into your ear canal which is great as I do not like those ear buds and am hoping there are more alternatives like the galaxy ear buds coming in this space as the apple airpods are expensive.
I’ve also used them in light rain and they were fine.
The battery life has been fine and the charge case is really small so easy to put in your pocket
Lastly it was super easy to pair with my pixel. I haven’t used the app as I don’t want to sign my life away to Samsung with all the permissionns6 they want but it of the box is fine as is.
Cons:
The noise cancelling is non existent and basically false marketing. I don’t mind as I want to still hear my surroundings for safety as I walk but also be able to hear my audio content but they should not be advertising it as noise cancelling, as it makes no difference.
Overall I recommend if you want a decent pair of non apple earbuds with good sound quality that won’t break the bank and that you can wear hours on end without discomfort.
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. (edit – does actually increase base. Brings alot of the lows and middles ‘forward’ to mask more outside noise, increasing bass quality. Have started using for music occasionally)
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I then considered the Pixel Buds Live, but got scared off by the reviews on major connectivity issues. So I opted for the Galaxy Buds Live.
So far, I’ve used them a lot. There have been since interference issues with the Bluetooth, but only on occasion, and nowhere near as bad as the Jabra. I’d say the Jabras glitched every 2-4 minutes. These glitch maybe once every 40 minutes, and only in a minor way (no complete gaps in music). I’ve worked out too that there are interference hotspots in my garden that should be avoided.
What I love is the ease of interface with the Galaxy Wearable app, the battery life is good enough for my purposes, the sound quality is excellent (much better than the Jabra) – but the comfort and for is by far the best thing. I barely know they’re in!
I’ve taken then to the gym, out cycling, mowing the lawn… I’ve never felt they were slipping out or were hurting my ears. It’s also worth noting that you can hear your music well while still being aware of the traffic – important when running it cycling.
Note though that the noise cancelling is rubbish – don’t expect much from that. But that wasn’t important to me.
So, I’m super pleased and would recommend them highly.
Some years back I spoiled myself with a lovely set of B&O H9i headphones, lovely pair of quality noise cancelling headphones if you have around 300 to blow, I snagged mine on sale when they first came out, I think they’ll set you back about 280 now, well worth every penny in my opinion . Anyway, back to what I bought today and you want to know more about.
Let’s talk about the new Samsung Galaxy Buds Live. OK ok… I’m not one to join the “gotta have the latest in technology” hype but I did. I’ve been wanting a set of ear buds for some time that are easy to connect, wireless and came within a fraction to the sound quality of my fancy pancy B&O headsets without the cumbersome problem of toting around a full headset. Let’s face it, my handbag is already big enough to carry the kitchen sink so to find another one that could accommodate my headphones too will just give hubby something else to moan about, this is where this little gems come into the picture. Let’s talk about the pros and cons shall we? After all that’s what you want to know instead of me harping on about my martial problems.
Just so you know what I’m hooking these things up to for ease and sound quality, I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus and hubby has a Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus, he has to have a better gadget than me even though he has no idea how the damn thing works, I have to help him set everything up on it… Grrr
Connection.:
Blow me down! Flaming easy as pie but make sure you have the “wearable” app installed if you don’t already, I have a Samsung watch already connected so all I did was made sure the app was updated. Open and close the tiny charging case and va-la, it’s connected 10-10 for connecting. Once connected via Bluetooth re-connecting is way too simple, just open the case and they automatically connect, ready to use and play my music where I left off. If hubby can connect these without my help then they are dead easy to set-up!
ANC:
Open the “Wearable” app and sound adjustment is there for you to fiddle with, although basic it’s effective enough. This is where you’ll also find the elusive ANC. With noise cancelling there’s only a slight change, no where near my B&O ability to drown out my husbands voice along with the mutts constant barking but at least with these I’ll hear the lorry bearing down on me when I’m out and about walking so that’s a plus! Thanks Samsung, you may save my life with a less than effective ANC in the real world. On the other hand they were OK for drowning out common noise, simple background noise, telly and normal talking at higher volumes. With that said you’ll never get a good noise cancelling with ear buds, only a good quality headset will deliver on that so I give these a 8-10 for ANC for earbuds and not comparing them to headphones
Design:
Cute tiny things, very discreet and strangely comfortable to wear for long periods. I have the bronze colour and hubby has the black ones, lovely colour choices and look expensive. Matching cases too but I think the buds weigh more than the cheap feeling plastic case. I was surprised at the size of the damn case! Hell! Have Samsung no idea how big my bag is? I’ll loose the thing with one toss in my bag. Saying that it’s a perfect size to slip in your jeans pocket but if your like me and have added a stone or two since lockdown then you’re wearing joggers or leggings with no pockets, so I guess it’s back to trusty Amazon to search for a protection case with a hook thingy attachment and to protect the cheap feeling case itself. I’m giving a 10-10 for the earbuds but a 5-10 for the case, for the price we paid I would have expected a bit better quality case.
Sound:
I’m quite impressed with the sound banging out of these. They don’t sound “tinny”. Bass is good. Again compared to my B&O’s they come close, they are AKG’s with that said. Strong enough bass, loud enough and just a little distortion at high volume but nothing to bitch about. For earbuds I’m impressed. I use to love the Apple wired earpods, nothing held a candle to them but with Apples wireless ones, I always thought people looked silly having a white tube hanging from their lugs so they didn’t interest me. Samsung have up their game with these. I’m loving the sound quality with a wide range of genres of music I’m listening to.
Sound 9-10
Phone Calls:
Made a few calls using the earbuds. Seamless call connection and they sound perfect. I can’t tell the difference with sound quality between using just your phone or if you’re speaking through the earbuds. Well done Samsung on that! I’ve said “OK Google” whilst listening to music and she popped up ready to complete my request so no problem there.
10-10 for calls and speaker/ mic quality
Overall I’m impressed! Are they worth the full price I paid of 179? Probably not but as I’m not just paying for the earbuds, I’m paying for research, the materials, everyone involved in production, updates, delivering and so on, I get the price so I guess it’s fair and they are 40 cheaper than Apple’s earpods. I would expect to pay around 140-160, the lower price being on sale and the higher price being at full price. I was happy to fork over my hard earned brass at 179. so I’ll quit my bitching on that subject. Seeing I’ve been working the entire time during lockdown and haven’t been able to go anywhere to spend my money, I spoiled myself with these. I’ll let you decide.
Would I recommend them? Probably but with so many choices of earbuds I think it’s a personal preference. Why didn’t I choose B&O earbuds you ask? Price… These were about half the cost with probably the same sound quality. Again with all said these are earbuds so the sound quality will never match headphones but come damn close. I’m satisfied with my purchase. I think they are great to use with my phone and are low profile so I don’t look stupid or rude in public wearing them.
I’ll give these a 9-10 as the case let’s them down.
One last thing, if you’ve opened “developer options” on your Samsung phone as I’ve done, turn it off as it affects the volume output. I was a bit upset that the output of sound was about 2/3 of hubby’s. I paired my buds up to his phone and realised it was my phone, switched off developer options and I now received full volume. If you have no idea what I’m talking about then don’t worry, your volume should be fine.
Update: After reading reviews about a “fake” products being received I want to assure you that mine are 100% genuine as I had to register them on the Samsung website in order to receive my free charging pad. I’m wondering if they are ordering from the “other” sellers listed below Amazon’s bit?
Still enjoying my earbuds… drowning out the barking mutts and hubby moaning that’s there’s only re-runs on telly!