On Friday, we brought you our first impressions of the headphones on our website. Galaxy Buds Live from the Samsung workshop, which we received thanks to our partner Mobil Pohotovost managed to get to the editorial office two weeks before their official start of sales. I therefore took an honest look at the headphones over the weekend so that I can now give you my impressions of them. This is a really tough competitor AirPods or AirPods Pro, as the headphones many after their introduction on Wednesday at the Unpacked marked, or are they far from the quality of Apple models? I will try to answer these questions in the following lines. Headphone review Samsung Galaxy Buds Live is here.
Technical Specifications
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Galaxy Buds Live from Samsung are completely wireless headphones with a frequency range of 20 Hz to 20 Hz, sensitivity of 000 db/mW and impedanceancí 50 Ohms. The size of their transducer is 12 mm, the weight of each earphone is only 5,6 grams. Charging the headphones is solved in a completely standard way via the charging box, which also functions as their case. As for theoneactivities, this is taken care of by Bluetooth version 5.0, which makes the headphones connectable to almost everything – iOS without exception. The biggest features of the headphones include active noise cancellation, touch control and IPX2 resistance - i.e. resistance to dripping water. Of course, there is also a microphone through which you can make calls, for example. The headphones are available in three colors - specifically in bronze, black and white, with the fact that they will arrive on store shelves on August 21 of this year. Their price is 5499 crowns and you can pre-order them now.
Processing and design
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If I had to describe the design of the headphones in one word, it would be “unusual”. You would really be looking for such headphones on the market in vain. Their shape is very similar to beans, which may seem funny at first glance and I admit that I laughed at them a little at first, but in the end it is a great move - but more on that later. However, because of the special shape, their design can be described as somewhat controversial, so it is clear that it will not be for everyone. An imaginary headphone spirit that breathes on you when you look at classics like AirPods, they simply lack them for now. As for the workmanship, there is practically nothing to criticize here. Samsung has opted for plastic in the production, which does not look fancy in any way, so I believe that the durability of the headphones will not be bad at all. When examining them more closely, I did not come across anything that seemed loose or downright sloppy. This is a product where you will be looking in vain for concessions in workmanship.
Testing
And how are the headphones in terms of use? That's exactly what I tried to figure out practically the entire past weekend, during which I tested the headphones in almost all common activities. Let's start the evaluation with how they fit in the ears. As I already wrote in my first impressions, at first I thought the shape Galaxy Buds Live is quite strange and perhaps even a little incomprehensible, as it stands out significantly from practically all headphones on the current market. However, in hindsight, I have to admit that this risk is definitely worth it for Samsung. The headphones fit perfectly in your ears and don't move around in them, no matter how hard you try. I tested them with five family members, and they fit perfectly in everyone's ears. I would therefore dare to say that the incompatibility with the ears, for which they are paying the price AirPods or AirPods ProIn Galaxy Buds Live is not in danger.
In the past dozens of hours, I've been doing a variety of activities with the headphones, from classic walking, to driving (the headphones were used as hands-free), to gym workouts, to running training. In not a single case did I encounter the fact that the headphones had a tendency to fall out or I felt that they were moving in my ears. So, although the shape may seem really strange, the fact is that Samsung has chosen it brilliantly. All credit to its engineers.
The last few years have taught me to primarily use wireless headphones instead of the speaker in my iPhone for phone calls, because that way I can handle a lot of other things during calls. That's why I was very curious about how you were doing Galaxy Buds Live will handle calls. Their manufacturer states that they should be absolutely top-notch thanks to the trio of integrated calls – even supposedly the best among True Wireless headphones. I can confirm with a calm heart that the voice recording through headphones is truly first-class, but honestly I wouldn't dare to claim that there is a difference between them and, for example, classic AirPods or AirPods Pro not that significant a difference. Yes, you can hear better, but the difference is in percentage units, at least according to my estimate.
As for the battery life, according to the manufacturer, it should be around 6 hours of continuous listening, or 21 hours in combination with the charging case. These values are definitely not unrealistic, as I was able to get 6 hours of listening at medium volume. If you "shave" the headphones more, they will naturally discharge faster. However, the charging box charges them really quickly, so discharging the headphones will not be a problem. However, the overall charging seems a bit awkward to me, as it takes place via the protruding pins in the box, through which energy flows to the headphones. This solution does not look perfect to the eye, it seems quite bold to me in terms of possible damage, and I simply think that headphones selling for more than 5500 crowns deserve something cooler. Of course, even AirPods charge using the same principle, but their box doesn't explicitly admit it.
Of course, the software functions of the headphones and their control did not escape my testing either. In both cases, one can talk about contradictory feelings. So let's start with the software features. These are activated via the application Galaxy Buds, which can be downloaded to your iPhone from App Store completely free, with the addition of headphones taking just a few seconds. As the owner AirI'm not used to similar solutions at all, so I thought they might be a bit annoying. However, I have to admit that I would welcome some elements from the application in iOS and I wouldn't mind at all if for them Apple has created the same app as Samsung for its headphones - a kind of Watch equivalent. For example, checking the firmware of headphones gives many apple users long-term wrinkles on their foreheads, as it is not so easy for inexperienced users and, above all, sometimes it happens that the firmware cannot be "called up" and thus installed. However, thanks to the update interface in Galaxy Buds nestYeah, which just seems fine to me.
I was not offended by the equalizer in any way, through which you can fairly decently adjust the music you play. The application offers a total of six options to choose from, and the differences between them are really quite audible. You may be wondering why I am so excited about this. This is because I have already had a lot of electronics in my hands that had tons of different modes, but they were usually practically the same, and therefore you had the feeling that no matter what you turned on, you always had the same thing in your hands.
While the previous things really pleased me, the active noise cancellation (ANC), which the headphones have, no. In fact, I didn't notice almost any difference when I activated it compared to using the headphones without activating it. Yes, the headphones blocked out ambient noise quite well, but in my opinion this is mainly because they are earplugs in their shape and therefore offer passive ambient noise cancellation – ANC So you won't be able to thank me for that. AirPods Pro They definitely have the upper hand in this regard, as there is a difference between active and inactive ANC hear really enough.
I would also like to briefly evaluate the controllability of the headphones. This is solved using touches, which are set up via the application and can be adjusted really well. I admit that at first the touch control was a bit of a problem for me, because I think the delay between the touch and the action of the headphones is relatively long, so you don't really know if the touch was registered or not. However, once you get the hang of the controls, you won't have a problem. It works really reliably and it rarely happens that nestalo what you wanted to trigger with your touches. Personally, I prefer more “physical” controls like taps or presses like in AirPods or AirPods Pro, but that's probably just out of habit. Users who aren't as used to it as I am or will be Galaxy Buds Those who are using their first headphones of this type will probably be satisfied with the controls.
Sound
The alpha and omega of every headphone is undoubtedly its sound, which I tried to test in as many ways as possible – from music, to listening to spoken word, to watching movies and series, to playing games. Even now – after a good amount of hours in my ears – I would rate it the same as in my first impressions of the headphones – namely as very good. The sound quality is at a relatively high level (from the perspective of an ordinary user), as it ranges somewhere between AirPods and AirPods Pro, while it is closer to the second model. When listening to music, you don't have to worry about not enjoying your favorite songs because of poor lows or highs or lackluster and flowing mids. The fact is that the headphones are really confident in all these positions. However, the bass is a bit disappointing, as it simply isn't much, even when you "salt" it up with the equalizer.
The headphones also achieve very good results when listening to the spoken word, which sounds completely natural and clear from them - that is, of course, if it was recorded on a high-quality microphone. So, if you are a lover of podcasts or like to watch various interviews, I think you will be satisfied. The same can be said for games, as both mobile, console and computer games sound very decent in headphones. Sure, with a headset you will have more fun and it can draw you more into games, but as an "emergency" in case you don't have a headset at hand Galaxy Buds Live is more than enough. Both shooters, racing and sports games sound really good in them.
Summary
I'll be honest with you. As I wrote in my first impressions, the headphones were a bit of a laughing stock at first because of their appearance, rather than being seen as competitors for AirPods, AirPods Pro or other popular models. However, I have to admit that my first impression of them was completely wrong, as it is clear that Samsung really won with them and there are few things that could have been done better. Sure, strangely functioning ANC or charging could certainly be done differently, but in neither case are these things that would literally break the world's hearts. ANC because it is not used by all users anyway and the main thing that matters when it comes to charging is that it simply works. So if I add to that miniits shortcomings really good sound, I get headphones that you shouldn't be afraid to give a shanceven if you think about them. They are simply good, even in combination with iPhonem. When connected to Samsung smartphones, the ride will be even greater. So I can say for myself Samsung Galaxy Buds Definitely recommend Live.
14 hours after the publication of the article and no comment??
Well, yes, when you rub them 😊
Good day. You write that structurally they are plugs, but aren't they rather stones (see photos)? A worse bass component of the sound would also correspond to this...
"Where" do they actually play? That tiny frozen patch? In principle, it cannot give quality sound. I am happy with my Sony WF-1000 XM3. Today they are cheaper than this ugly shiny jewelry. Needless to say about the sound.
Peter, he really is such a hybrid - in short, something between plugs and nuts. Personally, I think they look more like a plug than a stone.
They don't fit everyone. My balls have never fit me and these headphones don't fit me very well either and sometimes they even come out. What's worse is that the bass component is completely dependent on how well the earphones block your ear canal. Then I'm crazy about the controls. It still works a little during normal activity, but switching to the next song while running is a bit of a superhuman feat. I tap correctly, but instead of two taps it registers one or quite often three.