For Samsung credit, the worst thing about the new Galaxy Buds Live is its name.
Here at Mashable, we fell in love with the “Galaxy Beans”, as they were originally called, when this code call gave the impression of the first leaks last July. It’s fun, it’s catchy, it’s descriptive and it’s captivating like hell. Then, of course, Samsung opted for the annoying nickname Galaxy Buds Live, possibly for the consistency of the logo.
Now that I have made this complaint, I can tell you that Samsung’s noise-cancelling reaction to the AirPods Pro surely has the influence to take Apple. Bean-shaped headphones don’t give everything you need (including a main promotion point), yet they have enough basics and more, all at a less expensive value than Apple’s flagship hearing aids, which even iPhone owners give them a serious look.
Buds Live has many bells and hisses to play, but none of them would matter if the sound quality of the headphones did not justify the price. That’s the challenge I found with LG’s Tone Free headphones that went on sale before this summer. But I am pleased to announce that this is not a challenge for Buds Live.
Samsung has combined a 12mm speaker with a visual bass conduit and small ventilation to make some of the most productive wireless headphones I’ve used over the past year. It didn’t take me long to figure that out either. While wearing Buds Live, the first song on which my Spotify combined the classic Beastie Boys “No Sleep Till Brooklyn”, and immediately, the flying bass could have punched me in the face. It hit a lot harder than I expected, even in a song I’ve heard a million times.
The overall intensity point of the Buds Live sound is impressive. I’ve spent a lot of time listening to music with a pretty super-ear headset, and the quality hole between them and Buds Live is much smaller than with wireless headphones.
Sturgill Simpson’s “Remember to Breathe” overlays a lot of rough noises and grungy on a sublime bass line with a crispy percussion; all Buds Live stand out beautifully.
If, for some reason, you are not satisfied with the default audio output, the other meaningful app (known as Galaxy Wearable on Android and Galaxy Buds on iOS) gives you intelligent control over the sound and operation of Buds Live. In the app, locate a drum point indicator, an active noise cancellation transfer, an equalizer with six other sound presets, and a handful of functions you can play with. For example, you can turn on voice dictation for push notifications or force your headphones to make a loud noise with the app’s “Find My Earbuds” feature.
Perhaps most important of these is the ability to customize the service as if it were a long effort in the headphones. One tap and hold down a moment can turn ANC on or off, generate a voice assistant, set the volume or even release Spotify on Android. This Spotify shortcut doesn’t work on iPhones, but the rest of the fast moves do.
The only genuine features that iPhone users will lose are the ability to read notifications aloud and this convenient Spotify shortcut. There is also another advantage for Android users: an option to reduce audio latency in mobile games.
By the way, Buds Live has a fairly popular set of touch controls. In addition to the long tension discussed above, users can press once to suspect the final playback, press twice to advance a track, and press 3 times to rewind. Dual will also answer or end phone calls.
Speaking of phone calls, there are 3 handsets on the headset and a “voice-taking unit” that Samsung promises to eliminate external noise if you call someone from a noisy environment. This feature received the seal of approval from my father, who said I couldn’t hear the noise around me (my air conditioning noisy and noisy and ESPN at a volume too high) and that I created especially for testing purposes.
Now that we’ve established that Buds Live sounds good, it’s time to tackle their design. The code call “Beans” was appropriate given its apparent bean-shaped form factor, with rounded edges around it. Unlike the maximum wireless headphones, Buds Live doesn’t have an outstanding point that you want to insert into your ear. Instead, place the total grain in the ear, first hitting the bottom appearance. There are small rubber tips on the inner top to hold them in place.
Against all odds, it works. The Galaxy Buds Live naturally adapted to my ears and never threatened to fall despite their lack of less pronounced physical anchor points. I never had to take care of them at all. In fact, they’re so sure that cutting them was a little harder than placing them. They come with various sizes for rubber wing tips, but the default was best for me.
Unfortunately, a smart “fit” does not translate into “comfort”.
There is only one explanation why I would not promptly present the Galaxy Buds Live to someone who is in the wireless headphone market, and this has to do with long-term ear comfort. Like I said, they fit well in the ear. However, the fact that you get stuck a giant piece of plastic in your ear without almost no silicone or rubber insulation means Buds Live may not be to everyone’s liking.
The inner skin of my ear is delicate and there have been some cases where I was a little comfortable to the touch after dressing up with Buds Live for a few hours. I wouldn’t call it an acute or debilitating pain, but it was enough for me to feel the desire to take breaks from time to time. Perhaps a silicone coating similar to that of the AirPods Pro would have helped, but Samsung deserves to have absolutely redesigned the Buds Live.
However, a small advantage is that they absorb much less earwax than general wireless headphones. They are also very simple to clean, as there are many small openings to worry about.
Other than that, the other disorders I have with Buds Live are relatively minor. Active noise cancellation is low, as again, there is no physical component to help isolate noise. Samsung’s promo point is that Buds Live intentionally lets in noise so you don’t miss what you want to hear. But, in practice, I’ve heard more from the outside than I was sometimes looking for.
My music or podcasts have never been surpassed by the ambient noise around me, which is an advantage. But, to be perfectly honest, there have been some occasions when I turned on and turned off a noise NA around me and noticed a slight difference. The Buds Live ANC is not or is broken, but it may be much more effective.
Finally, I would point out that the battery life of the charging case is not that of its kind. Buds Live, in themselves, have a rating of between five and 8 hours of listening depending on whether you turn on the ANC or voice activation for Samsung’s Bixby virtual assistant, which is pretty good! That’s more than the five hours of indexed listening for AirPods Pro.
That said, Samsung claims that it will have between 20 and 30 hours of battery life if the charging case is taken into account. Again, it’s pretty consistent with the AirPods Pro, but I found that I had to plug in the case (via USB-C) once too much in my trial period. It doesn’t even come close to being a deciding factor. However, it is rarely as long as the Skullcandy Push Ultra battery life of $99, which can exceed 30 hours considering the case.
Aside from the small concerns, Samsung’s new attempt to compete with AirPods’ diversity is largely successful. Galaxy Buds Live might seem strange at first, but there’s a crazy approach. They have a firmer ear compatibility than you imagine, the feeling of hard plastic opposite the skin can become a nuisance after a few hours.
Most importantly, those are some of the most productive wireless headphones in their value range. The audio profile in comparison is more favorable to a large pair of super-ear headphones than I expected thanks to the deep, blunt bass. I would call it a more complete sound than normal AirPods, which are worth a similar way. And for $80 less than AirPods Pro with a comparable set of features, Buds Live is a bargain.
Even if active noise cancellation isn’t there yet, Samsung may nevertheless have discovered a form of wireless headset that it may depend on for the future. Our suggestion: at least name the next style of Samsung Galaxy Beans. That’s what other people want.