Samsung Galaxy Buds Live earbuds review: Are these pricey Bluetooth beans worth it?

Galaxy Buds Review Source: Windows Cardinal

Have you lot ever sat down and wondered "what if headphones, were beans?" Well, apparently Samsung did when it came upwards with the Galaxy Buds Alive.

The Milky way Buds Live are Samsung'southward electric current flagship Bluetooth earbuds product, sitting in opposition to Apple's iconic Airpods. The Galaxy Buds traverse this odd trend with a completely unlike ready of pattern principles, with earbuds that are supposedly designed to anchor against the grooves of your ear, rather than sit down in your ear canal.

I picked up these headphones a short while ago, and while there'south a lot to love, they've also bean a petty frustrating.

Jez and the beanstalk

Galaxy Buds Live Se

Samsung Galaxy Buds Live

$170

Bottom line: While these beany boys sport great sound and features, their physical design is crucially lacking in the ergonomics department.

Pros:

Groovy sound
Impressive active dissonance canceling
Solid configurable options and app features
Good battery life

Cons:

They're just uncomfortable
Call quality is awful

What I dear about the Samsung Galaxy Buds Live

Galaxy Buds Review Source: Windows Central

This is the first pair of "loftier-end" earbuds I've always owned. Upwards until now, I was using the wired 3.5mm headphones that came with the HP Aristocracy x3 (RIP Windows phone). But since moving to the Samsung Galaxy Note twenty Ultra, I've had to come up to terms with the fact that 3.5mm on mobile is practically expressionless. I thought if I was going to accept this new-fangled 3.5mm-less world, I might equally well attempt to spring in at the deep end.

Category	Spec
Speaker	one-manner, 12mm commuter
Mics	3 Mics (2 Outer, 1 Inner)
Battery	5-8 hours on earbuds, up to 29 hours recharge time with case
Features	EQ tuning, on-ear capacitive controls, active noise cancellation
Connectivity	Bluetooth, wireless charging, USB-C charging

The Galaxy Buds Live are not inexpensive beans, starting at $170 in the Us, with a range of three colors. I opted for "Mystic Black," since I'thousand nowhere near cool enough to rock some of the more than eye-catching colors. Going from pure looks alone, though, the earbuds are rather gorgeous, unique in blueprint with a overnice metal stop.

I find them to be far less ridiculous-looking than the cigarette-hanging-from-your-ear style pioneered by Apple's Airpods, looking more alike to those old-school Bluetooth headsets that were popular in the Blackberry era. Admitting far, far more modernized.

The kidney bean-shaped buds are designed to fit into your ear and then sort of "lock" into the folds while producing the tiny speaker grill into your ear canal. I'll go into some detail most how they fit shortly, simply once y'all get information technology right, they sound incredible, and the active noise cancellation (ANC) works as well as whatever over-ear solution I've experienced.

It's frankly wizardry that earbuds then small can achieve a soundscape so detailed.

The ANC is dependent on getting the earbuds to fit properly, and once you've figured it out, all those irritating background noises will be canceled out. I often slumber with a fan running, since all the electronics in my room makes for a toasty climate, fifty-fifty in winter. The Galaxy Buds Live ANC totally nullifies the racket from that, making bedtime beats all the more pleasant.

Speaking of pleasant, the sound reproduction on these earbuds is first-class. They perhaps don't sound every bit rich equally some other headphones I've used, notably, total-size over-ear solutions like the Marshalll Monitor II, which I currently regard as a peak canis familiaris out of all the headsets I've used for the pure audio experience. Where the Galaxy Buds Live does excel particularly well, though, is in separation. It's frankly wizardry that earbuds so small tin achieve a soundscape and then detailed and delicate, making you lot feel surrounded in the music.

Then why do I nevertheless have a hard time recommending them?

What sucks almost the Samsung Milky way Buds Alive

I feel conflicted about these beans. While I enjoy the wireless convenience, the fast wireless charging, and the great sound quality, the design feels half-baked.

Whether you like the blueprint of the Apple tree Airpods or not, they're at least obvious nigh how to put them in and don't really need a full-diddled video tutorial on how to wear them. A tutorial that, well, simply didn't work for me. It's near as if everybody has different ears or something, isn't information technology?

Samsung says you're meant to button the top part of the earbuds forwards, simply when I do that, they don't experience secure, and also audio worse. ANC stops working properly likewise, if I try to wear them as Samsung recommends, regardless of what size safety wingtip I put on them. The most comfortable way I've found to clothing them, that besides maximizes audio quality, is literally how Samsung tells y'all how not to wear them in their own video. 🤷‍♂️ And fifty-fifty then, over long periods of time, I've establish them to be uncomfortable to keep in. These ear beans are merely not very ergonomic, at to the lowest degree on my ears. Do you lot really want to take chances $170 to find out if the Galaxy Buds are compatible with your ear shape?

The Galaxy Buds Alive can be used on basically any device with Bluetooth, just on mobile phones, you get some added configurations. Some of these configs are pretty important since they permit you to disable the ANC, or disable the on-ear touch-sensitive controls. If you're wearing them while lying downwardly, or dozing on a long-haul plane flight, you lot may want to turn off the touch features to cease them misfiring unintentionally. Sadly, the app doesn't save the settings onto the earbuds, which is a bit of a shame, simply maybe a niche gripe.

My final complaint is the call quality on these things. The Galaxy Buds Live earbuds have 2 separate channels for stereo media playback and calls, equally you lot might expect. The quality of the calls channel is significantly lower than that of the music channel, and quieter too. Fifty-fifty if you have music completely turned off, it tin exist an unpleasant feel using the telephone call function on these earbuds, but they're passable in a compression. If y'all're hunting for one of the best headphones for Skype or Zoom for working from home, these probably aren't it.

Should you buy the Samsung Milky way Buds Live?

Galaxy Buds Review Source: Windows Fundamental

Should you buy these crazy ear beans? Given how much trouble I've had figuring out how to wear them in a comfortable style, while also maximizing the audio reproduction, I'm not sure I would recommend them at this toll betoken. Not being able to know for sure whether these quirky beans volition fit comfortably in your ear makes purchasing them a bit of a gamble. Yous can always send them back, I guess. And I'k sure they're truly amazing when worn by people who have ears they seem to actually be designed for.

Despite the issues I've had wearing them, I do personally enjoy them overall and do non regret my purchase. The lack of ergonomic attention in their design, even so, makes me reluctant to recommend them to others.

Ear beans

Galaxy Buds Live Se

Samsung Milky way Buds Alive

Earbuds that hate some ears.

If you have the perfect ears for the Milky way Buds Live earbuds, you'll have a truly magical time with this product. If your ears aren't to Samsung's standards, though, you may be in for a lot of frustration and discomfort.

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