Introducing, the brand new Galaxy Buds Live. It’s commonly referred to as the Galaxy Beans because – let’s be honest here, the name Galaxy Beans has a better ring than Galaxy Buds Live.
Naming scheme aside, this is a highly polarizing pair of true wireless earbuds – and this is our review of it after using it for more than 3 weeks. We took so long because we want to let the wave of initial impressions pass by and review it objectively.
Design
Let’s start with the design. The Samsung Galaxy Buds Live is all about its design and I highly commend Samsung for not giving in and creating an Apple AirPods ripoff like any other brands are doing. But, having a new design doesn’t mean it’s good.
You see, the Galaxy Buds Live is the first of its design, and it’s the first generation of its kind. Remember the time when AirPods first came out and people didn’t immediately know how to wear it? The Buds Live is going through that exact situation now – brand new design where it’s not a widely-recognized design and that’s why many people don’t immediately know how to wear it.
Granted, Samsung has published an official “how to wear” video. The general rule of thumb is simple – place the bottom part inside the ear first, then fit the top inside the ear, and adjust the position. Getting a good fit is important as it heavily affects the sound quality.
My complaint here is that the Buds Live are very slippery and the Galaxy Buds Live has slipped off my fingers multiple times while wearing it. Greasy and oily fingers are the Galaxy Buds Live’s nemesis.
Fit & comfort
I think this is highly polarizing. The Galaxy Buds Live tries to be the one-design-fits-all shape and size but with a very minimal amount of leeway. If you have smaller ears, it could become an uncomfortable fit.
By default, the small little wingtip is installed, which is essentially is just a lip around the charging pins. Samsung included another pair of wingtips which is larger and circular in shape, which offers more leverage on the ear so that it won’t fall off. That makes the overall Galaxy Buds Live size larger, and once again – those with smaller ears will have an issue.
So, I would highly suggest you to try it out before purchasing the Galaxy Buds Live, but then comes the hygiene problem because of how the Galaxy Buds Live is constructed. It’s going into your ear canal and ear wax will definitely get stuck on the speaker port.
For me personally, either wingtip sizes fit my ear perfectly fine. And truth be told, the Galaxy Buds Live feel weightless in my ears. I once forgot that I was wearing it and left it in my ears for an hour or so, and then I adjusted the volume on my desktop without realizing that I’m actually playing music from my phone.
Features
So moving on to the features – the Galaxy Buds Live has touch panels. There is one on each side, and they work magnificently well. It can also be customized in the Galaxy Wearables app, by the way.
Speaking of the Galaxy Wearables app, I’m sure you’re here to know about one feature only – ANC. I’m sorry Samsung, the ANC here doesn’t work as expected. I think Samsung should rename ANC to something else instead, since even their own website stated that the Galaxy Buds Live is meant to “reduce background noises without missing what’s important, like voices and announcements”. It also claims to have “UL Verification for cutting background noise by up to 97% in low-frequency bands”.
Sound quality
By default, the Galaxy Buds Live already sounds good. It’s an open-back style of earphone which I personally prefer, actually. I just don’t like something stuck into my ear hole.
I listened to a lot of classical music, and a lot of rock this time around, and also some of my usual electronic music. Overall, the highs, lows, and mids are fantastic. The bass is especially good since Samsung added a bass port – which is surprising in terms of engineering. This is a small pair of earbuds after all.
One thing I realized is that turning on ANC actually made it sound a lot better. And so, I ended up turning on ANC all the time even though it doesn’t cancel off all the other noise. There are also a total of 6 preset EQs in the Samsung Wearables app.
Battery life
It’s… I’d say the battery life is okay considering its size. In a quiet room, at a comfortable listening volume with ANC turned off, it lasts for about 5 hours or so – which is comparable to other true wireless earbuds/earphones. However, once we start turning on ANC and turn up the volume, the battery life is severely affected.
The listening volume here varies greatly depending on the environment because again, it’s an open-back earphone.
The charging case can also provide about 3 more extra charges, so ideally it’ll be up to about 20 hours of listening.
And speaking of the charging case, why are both the Mystic White and Mystic Black in a glossy finish? Having a glossy finish means the case makes it a fingerprint magnet that’s slippery and also scratched up easily. Just make them all in matte.
Moreover, I think the Buds Live themselves should’ve been matte as well. They’re tiny and the glossy finish just makes them too difficult to handle.
Should you buy the Samsung Galaxy Buds Live?
That depends on you. I’d say for the price of RM699, it’s expensive. Also, the Buds Live is going through some “early adopter” phase here. There are subjective issues like not knowing how to wear, having an uncomfortable fit, all that jazz.
Still, we really do commend Samsung for using an entirely new design and not copying other designs in the market. It sounds good when worn correctly, but there are obvious flaws with the Galaxy Buds Live as it is still a first-gen product.
If you don’t want the new design, then fret not – Samsung still sells the more-traditionally-shaped Galaxy Buds+ at RM599.
Like our Facebook Page here at NasiLemakTech.com for more news and in-depth reviews! Also, join our Facebook Group for insightful information and memes!
Subscribe to our YouTube channel too!
