Meet Samsung Galaxy Buds Live - Great TWS earbuds, ANC could be improved

We take a deeper look at Samsung's new truly wireless earphones with Active Noise Cancellation.

Samsung Galaxy Buds Live

Alongside the Note20 and Note20 Ultra's arrival last August, Samsung has also brought the new Galaxy Buds Live with Active Noise Cancellation and a bean-shaped form factor. It connects via Bluetooth 5.0 and has an IPX2 water resistance rating. 

In the Philippines, it is priced at PHP 8,990 and has been available for purchase for a while now.

Let's dive in!

Meet Samsung Galaxy Buds Live!

Box inclusions

The Samsung Galaxy Buds Live comes in a white box with branding and a render of the true wireless earbuds in front. Around the box are regulatory information and more Buds Live branding.

Inside the box are two earbuds, one charging case, extra rubber cups, and USB-A to USB-C cable. There was no documentation inside the box.

Inside the case

The charging case is made of an outer glossy white high-quality and lightweight polycarbonate material and an inner matte finish gray material. 

The top part of the outer shell has the Samsung by AKG branding. Inside the case is the aforementioned gray material along with the slots for each earbud, CPU contacts, LED notification light, and the left/right labels.

Case bottom

At the bottom of the charging case is the regulatory information in a slightly sunken round area. The charging case also supports wireless charging which means it can charge wirelessly with wireless charging pads, power banks, and reverse wireless charging compatible smartphones.

Case front and rear

In front of the charging case is the opening of the charging case and the LED notification light while at the back is the hinge and the USB Type-C port.

Earbud front and back

Each earbud is also made of the same glossy white and matte gray material as the case. On the outer side of the earbuds is the glossy white material with two microphones and one metal grill per bud.

On the inner side of the earbuds are the CPU contacts, removable cups, two types of grills, and the proximity sensor (that detects if the buds are in the ear).

What surprised us is that the bean-shaped made it easy to put on our ears and it also made it sit stable and fixed on our ears. Even if violently shake our heads, the Buds Live would stay put. We are confident that it won't fall off randomly. Just make sure you put on the proper size of the removal cup.

Spotify

Upon opening the Samsung Galaxy Buds Live, nearby recently released Galaxy smartphones will have a pop-up on their screens that prompts the user if they want to pair with the Samsung Galaxy Buds Live. This pop-up persists each time even if the Buds have been paired with the same smartphone before.

Once connected, the Samsung Galaxy Buds Live maintains a stable and clear connection with the smart device within its 10M range.

Instant pairing with Samsung Galaxy smartphones like the Z Fold2

If pairing for the first time, the initial set-up requires users to install the Galaxy Wearables app where the set-up will complete.

In the app, users can control the equalizer, customize touch controls, and activate other features like read notifications, Bixby Voice, and more.

Samsung Galaxy Wearable App

In terms of audio quality the Galaxy Buds Live sound slightly better than the previous Galaxy Buds+. It has decent clarity with an emphasis on bass that sometimes masks vocals and instruments. This means the lows and mids are good but the highs are sometimes inaudible. The sound stage isn't that large. In short, the sound quality is okay. Slightly better than our Apple AirPods Pro.

One of the highlight new features of the Galaxy Buds Live is the new Active Noise Cancellation. Each Bud is equipped with three microphones with internal hardware that support Active Noise Cancellation. Two of these microphones are beamforming while the third is an inward-facing one that picks up vibrations from the jaw bone and thus uses bone conduction signals. The Buds Live combines all the audio from all microphones and rejects the background noise.

In real life, Buds Live was able to cancel out some of the backgrounds but it struggles with wind noise. Ultimately, the Buds Live's ANC performance is okay but it isn't up to par with the Sony WF-1000XM3 and the Apple AirPods Pro. We recommend not getting the Buds Live just for this feature.

The microphone recording quality of the Galaxy Buds Live for calls is decent but we find that because there is no physical stem that places the microphones nearer the mouth area, the quality of the voice recording is good but not as great as the Apple Air Pods Pro. In fact, people who we call would notice and point out that our microphone could be better when we use the Buds Live.

Samsung Galaxy Buds Live Specs

Microphone: 6 Mics with Active Noise Cancellation

Battery: 60mAh Earbud, 472mAh Case

Sensors: Accelerometer, Gyro, Proximity, Hall, Touch, Grip and VPU

Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0

Others: IPX2 water resistance, touch controls, USB-C, Colors: Mystic Bronze, Mystic Blue, Mystic Black, Mystic White

Weight: Earbud 5.6 grams, Case 42.2 grams 

Price: PHP 8,990

Quick thoughts

Wireless PowerShare

The Samsung Galaxy Buds Live is the best sounding true wireless earbuds from the Korean giant yet. It has decent microphone performance and the bean-shaped made it easy to wear while making it sit fixed in our ears. 

Our only gripe with Buds life is that because it forgoes the tight earcups of the Buds+ that form a near-perfect seal, Buds Live's Active Noise Cancellation doesn't perform as well.

Otherwise, the Buds Live is a great addition to Samsung's ever-expanding wireless audio devices. We recommend it for people who don't mind its less than stellar Active Noise Cancellation.

What do you guys think?