amazon Samsung Galaxy Buds Live reviews
The Samsung Unpacked 2020 event has brought users a lot of new products, in which the focus is Galaxy Note20 / Note20 Ultra. But to me, two products that confirm its position as the pioneer of the Korean electronics company are the Galaxy Z Fold 2 folding screen smartphone with a lot of finishing points for a product with many defects. Galaxy Fold; and Galaxy Buds Live, a pair of headphones with a unique design, similar to 2 small and cute red beans.
The point that I’ve been impressed with the moment I took the Galaxy Buds Live out of that box is that the charging box of these pair of headphones is really small. This is a huge advantage for other True Wireless headphones on the market, and it’s easier to put in your pocket without being uncomfortable.
Despite having a very small charging box, Buds Live still retains a pretty good usage time, from 6-8 hours independently and 21 – 29 hours while using and charging depending on the number of features, especially. active noise cancellation. In fact, the average time I have is about 23-24 hours, not the market leader because there are headphones that have reached the threshold of 30-40 hours but have helped users no longer worry.
Besides, when run out of battery, you can also charge wirelessly through the power sharing feature of new generation Galaxy smartphones. The charging speed is much slower than the wired charger, which is just a temporary solution before we find a place to fully charge it.
The most special feature of this pair of headphones, you probably already know, that is its very special design. On the market today, two types of small earphones that are Ear-bud and In-ear, one form is worn outside with circular shape and the other has sound tube to go deep into the user’s ear cavity. These ‘pea’ earphones are not completely in any way, not as tight as the In-ear but still deeper than the Ear-buds.
The Galaxy Buds Live is water resistant, but only as low as IPX2, while a pair of headphones designed for sports typically must have IPX4 or higher and even IPX7 for swimming. During my time using the Buds Live I also tried to exercise, and of course I could not have any problems, but if I go to rain or fall in a puddle, it will be another problem.
The outside of the headset is very polished, even if you forget the mirror at home you can take these headphones out to see! The ‘mystic bronze’ color is, in fact, admittedly very ‘cool’ and charming, perhaps more suitable for women than men.
One downside of the sleek design is that the headset is easy to get dirty with fingerprints, especially when the outside is the touch surface to control music, call virtual assistant, requiring users to clean regularly to hygiene. Unlike the glossy exterior, the inside of the headset is covered with a soft plastic layer to grip the user’s ears more firmly.
So how to wear this pair of headphones? Buds Live will be worn slightly on the outer ear like ear-buds, but there is a protrusion at the top to ‘tuck’ into the crease of the ear. In the box, the company has provided a pair of rubber pads with a larger size in case the default padding is too small.
It must be said that this wearing feels quite ‘strange’, dividing the pressure into many parts of the ear, so it is not partly pressed, very gentle. The weakness of course is that the headset is only one size, so I wear it comfortably and tight, hard to fall does not mean you will have the same experience. For some people with defects, the folds of the ears are shallow, or even without creases, they will not be able to wear these Buds Live.
As you can also guess, Buds Live is not tightly attached to the user’s inner ear canal, so the passive soundproofing is not good, if not almost zero. When you put on the headset, all outside sounds can get in. Fortunately, the headset is quite flat with the user’s ear, so it is not caught by the wind, creating unpleasant buzzing when going on the street.
No worries, is active noise canceling that ANC rescues? As analyzed in the comparison between the Sony WF1000XM3 and Apple AirPods Pro, the ANC noise-canceling technology to work effectively must have the premise of good passive noise cancellation, its job is to ‘cut’ away the noise can be penetrated without the physical design, rather than ‘resists’ all outside noise.
Therefore, the active noise canceling of Galaxy Buds Live is much weaker than those of In-ear headphones, even those that are ‘slightly open’ like Apple AirPods Pro. When going on the street, constant, unchanging noises such as the sound of cars running, the wind noise will be ‘softened’ a little, so you don’t have to turn up the volume too high compared to when listening at home. On the contrary, most sudden sounds can be passed through, which is something we have to accept only.
The pair of headphones launched by technology firms, in general, will have more features attached than pure sound, Buds Live is no exception. Through the Galaxy Wear software, we have the following additional features:
– Adjust the touch press and hold, default is to turn on and off active noise canceling. We can switch to the volume adjustment, but that’s a bit inconvenient, if there is a swipe up and down feature to do this, it will be better.
Gaming mode to reduce latency with power. I can tell the difference, although small, it is also important in games that need sound for fast manipulation.
– Feature to read smartphone notifications on headphones, support some default applications such as call, calendar notification, alarm.
– Find my earbuds ‘Find my earbuds’ feature, when activated, Buds Live will call ‘chip chip’ like birds for users to locate them anywhere in the house, similar to calling on a smartphone to have it ring while searching.
The Galaxy Buds Live’s wearable not only affects the sound insulation but also the sound quality. Before using this pair of headphones, I guess that its sound quality will be very thin, lack of bass and a lot of mids (vocalist’s voice) due to the open way of wearing. But when used in practice, the opposite has happened, it seems that Samsung has also tried to ‘compensate’ so the Buds Live has quite a thick sound quality. After the initial surprise, I suddenly felt a bit ‘lost’ when going into each sound strip, then this pair of headphones had defects to say.
The bass is not lacking at all, especially when the EQ Bass Boost and Dynamic 2 modes. The amount is enough, but I am not satisfied with the expression of the bass of the Buds Live, when most of the bass is mid-bass, clustered at 1 point and feels a bit ‘suffocated’. Toto’s Africa song is a good example, with the first drum sounds in the song being visible in front of the listener, but seeming to hit only one frequency without the ‘layers’, very little sub-bass. On the plus side, those who prefer having as much bass as possible for Dance / Pop / RnB tracks won’t have to worry about Buds Live missing this range.
Not only the bass range, but the Buds Live mid-range is also influenced a lot from whether users use EQ or not. By default, the vocalist’s voice through the expression of these headphones is slightly backwards, but if you use EQ Clear or Dynamic, this part will be pushed forward, the singer is standing right next to him. The weak point of the mid-range is that the detail is not high, accompanied by a slight ‘wine’. Singer Alison Krauss in the song Let Me Touch You For Awhile is quite thin, as if divided into 2 halves, it feels a bit ‘electronic’ and somewhat unnatural.
High sound range does not leave much impression when listening, simply because this is a strip with a lighter volume than the bass and mids. Lack of prominence but I am not too complaining about the expression of this tonal range, fulfilling my responsibility of keeping the sound quality from being too closed and dark, and not too bright to create annoying glare.
Personality imperfection
When talking about ‘headphones with active noise cancellation’, the first two things that users will think of are noise resistance and sound quality. Galaxy Buds Live due to a different design from the rest of the World of headphones makes both of these two elements not reaching a certain ‘maturity’, so I can hardly say this is a good product for price of more than $150 that users have to spend.
On the contrary, it must be said, besides the lack of perfection of the Galaxy Buds Live, there are its charms, from unique colors, comfortable wearing feeling or neat and handy of the charging box. I hope Samsung will find a way to overcome the shortcomings of the Galaxy Buds Live to create a unique but comprehensive pair of headphones, worth buying, as it did with the Galaxy Fold and Z Fold 2.
Advantages
– Extremely eye-catching design, mysterious bronze color is quite ‘unique’
– Comfortable wearing feeling, not easy to slip out
– Good usage time, up to 29 hours at most
– Many ancillary features from the Galaxy Wear software
Defect
– The shell is easy to stick to dirty, need to clean regularly
– Poor sound insulation, both passive and active
– Low water resistance, only at IPX2
– Sound quality is ‘opaque’, lack of detail in the middle range
– The bass has a lot of volume but the expression is not good
where can you get a Samsung Galaxy Buds Live online
Samsung Galaxy Buds Live, True Wireless Earbuds w/Active Noise Cancelling (Wireless Charging Case Included), Mystic Black (US Version): Buy it now
Samsung Galaxy Buds Live ANC TWS Open Type Wireless Bluetooth 5.0 Earbuds for iOS & Android, 12mm Drivers, International Model – SM-R180 (Fast Wireless Charging Pad Bundle, Mystic Bronze): Buy it now
Samsung Galaxy Buds Live, Wireless Earbuds w/Active Noise Cancelling (Blue): Buy it now
