Samsung Galaxy Buds Live Wireless TWS Review – Keep Your Bloody Eartips Out of My Private Earholes
Samsung Galaxy Buds Live: I’ve got a drawerful of wired earbuds but due to their inherent limitations (fit, isolation, bass accuracy) I virtually never listen to ‘em. However, since experiencing some nasty inner ear issues I’ve been limiting my IEM use, and when I got the chance to snap up the (nominally $150) Samsung Galaxy Buds Live for a few yen, I was intrigued enough to take the plunge.
The Samsung Galaxy Buds Live are something of a mash-up of traditional earbuds and tip-less, shallow insertion AirPod designs; the Live is intended to fire the speakers into your ear canal without plunging into it.
Build feels premium and charging case is nicely pocketable. Once you master how to insert them, fit is surprisingly stable and comfort good. Isolation, as expected, is mostly non-existent (which, depending on where you use them, may be a plus), but clarity is better than most non-intrusive earbud designs.
The included ANC is largely ineffective and best left off. I found the touch controls less finicky than other critics—there’s some latency, but they function as intended. The Wearable app provides for some useful equalizer settings (but not custom equalization); I found the default “Normal” setting to sound the best (and most energetic) for uptempo genres.
Likely because of the open-air design, soundstage is quite spacious and open, with outside-your-head width and good instrument placement. Signature is basically balanced, with some emphasis on the warm, rich-bodied midrange. Low end has some rumble but limited depth, and mid-bass lacks some texture and speed.
Compared to competitors like Klipsch, or even prior Galaxy Buds models, high end has limited extension and sparkle and some microdetail is missing; drumheads and cymbals are missing snap. However, tonality overall is pretty good and punchy and sounds more organic and much less processed and tizzy than the Buds + or Airpods; acoustic jazz sounds quite accurate and vinyl-like.
That said, the Samsung Galaxy Buds Live can’t match comparably-priced, audiophile-oriented pieces like the (quite amazin’ $150) AXS Audio or even the recent, eminently likeable ($90) Tin Buds 3, both of which have better-tamed bass and more extended high ends.
At the end of the day, the no-penetration design of the Live and the Samsung label are its main selling points, although its sound quality is better than you’d expect and you could do much worse for walking the dog, especially at the current >$70 street price.
Non-disclaimer: bought ‘em while drunk. Subsequently rationalized that I really needed them.
Specifications Samsung Galaxy Buds Live
Find them on the Samsung website!
