Galaxy Buds Live vs Galaxy Buds Plus!
Galaxy Buds Live vs Galaxy Buds Plus!
And today we are here to do a comparison between the Samsung Galaxy Buds Live versus the Samsung Galaxy Buds plus Now, before we go any further land for full disclosure, because I like having transparency and honesty with my readers.
So first and foremost, the biggest thing let's get that out of the way is gonna be the main difference in design. So that's sort of like the elephant in the room here. So one of these, the Galaxy Buds plus is a standard true wireless earbud design, where it's got the rubber or silicone ear tip that goes straight into your ear and creates a seal, so it closes you off from external noise. As far as the Galaxy Buds Live, they're more of an open ear design where they sort of just kinda fit snugly in your ear, it kinda places a driver sort of facing into your ear canal, but it still allows plenty of external noise to come in. So you still maintain situational and ambient awareness. So that is a very fundamental difference between both of these earbuds. So I am sort of biased as far as this is concerned because I am not a big fan of open ear design type earbud. Whether it be something similar to Apple's original Airpods,things of that nature, that's not something that really strikes my fancy per SE. Now we all have our own personal preferences. Some people like grape soda,some people like orange soda. So it's just, is what it is. I personally prefer the standard style earbuds similar to the Galaxy Buds plus. So as far as design and on a personal level, I prefer that. So that's why for me, that's what gets the win here, but it really comes down to what you need and what you personally prefer. So as far as design choice, it's really just gonna come down to your own personal needs.
Now, secondly, let's move into the price. So as far as the Galaxy Buds Live, they come in at 169.99 with the Galaxy Buds plus coming in right now at 139.99. So they've got a bit about $30 worth of a price difference. So nothing too crazy, but it is understandable being that the Galaxy Buds Live do have active noise cancellation. So that is probably the reason with that price increase. So if you're just looking to save a few bucks, then the win is gonna go to the Galaxy Buds plus. And then that's gonna bring us over to the mics and the call quality. So both of these are still featuring a triple mic setup. So they do a very good job of picking up your voice, they do a pretty good job of blocking out back noise. But let me go ahead and play you some call quality samples here, both in a quiet environment and one with simulated crowd noise and this way you can be the judge for yourself. All right.
So now let's transition over to the battery life of these earbuds. So with the Galaxy Buds Live, they're gonna give you eight hours worth of playback time with the active noise cancellation turned off and then they're gonna give you around five or six hours with the ANC turned on, along with an additional21 hours in the case. When it comes to the Galaxy Buds+, they're gonna give you somewhere around 11 to 12 hours with the ambient turned off and somewhere around eight hours with the ambient turned on with an additional 11 hours in the case. So if you're gonna judge these just based on sheer playback time, then obviously the winner would be the Galaxy Buds+, but for me personally, I think overall has to come into play here with the case included and recharges available. So for me personally,the Galaxy Buds Live, they're gonna take the winin the battery department because overall they seem to be giving you just a slight edge over the Galaxy Buds+ in total battery life.
So now let's move over to the active noise cancellation and ambient sound. So as far as the Galaxy Buds+, they do not have active noise cancellation whatsoever, but they do have one of the best implementations of an ambient sound type feature. So even just out of the box, when you just activated by itself, it's very good, it picks up a lot of the external noise going on around you, and it sounds pretty good overall. And when you get into the Galaxy Buds+ app, you actually have the ability to adjust the volume level of that ambient sound. And if you go into the little Labs tab in there, you can actually activate a fourth level, which really pumps up the volume and gives you almost mutant-like hearing. But you have to be careful with that because it will pick up loud noises and pump them straight into your ears, so be careful with that function. Now, as far as the Galaxy Buds Live, you've got a natural ambient sound because they don't actually seal all the way inside your ear, but you do have active noise cancellation and that ANC actually does work. It will block out a bunch of the low frequency noise in your area. But, this kind of caught me by surprise. If you did in the menus of the Galaxy Buds Live app, you will find a setting that is ambient sound. They called it something like pressure relief, but if you click that on, you'll notice that it will activate microphones and actually create an ambient sound on top of the natural ambient sound. It's a bit weird, but it is there. So this is why I would give the win to the Galaxy Buds Live because not only do they give you active noise cancellation, they're giving you ambient awareness as well.
Now, next up let's move into the volume. So as far as volume is concerned, the Galaxy Buds+ give you plenty of that. For me, comfortable listening is anywhere like 70 to 80% volume and that's mostly based on the fact that they create a complete seal in my ears, so I don't have to listen to them at full volume to be able to really hear like the detail in my music, or if I'm watching videos, I don't have to really get them all the way super, super loud. Now, when it comes to the Galaxy Buds Live, they are 100% definitely louder in sheer volume overall. So with these, when Iwas doing the testing, I got them, you know, 75%, 80%, when I got to about 85%, it was already getting too loud for me and I was getting very uncomfortable, put them up to 90%, that's where I stopped and I still had two more volume clicks left to go. So if you're a volume junkie or somebody who may be hard of hearing, they're gonna have you covered as far as the sheer volume is concerned. So as far as volume, the win here is gonna go to the Galaxy Buds Live. So now that's gonna bring us over to the sound quality. So as far as both of these earbuds in relation to each other, they sort of have a very different type of sound signature, at least to my ears. Where the Galaxy Buds Live, are gonna give you a warmer,richer type of sound, whereas the Galaxy Buds+ are tuned closer to the Harman curve, a sound signature that is less offensive to most people. So it's more balanced, not so bass heavy where the Galaxy Buds live aremuch, much more bass heavy, and that's sort of the main difference between the two, as far as that goes. Now for me personally, as far as just sheer sound quality is concerned, I most definitely prefer the Galaxy Buds+ over the Galaxy Buds Live.
Now, that also has a bit to do with the fact that they seal in my ear and they create a more quiet environment, and that allows me to hearmore detail and clarity in the music that the GalaxyBuds Live simply can't match. So it's not, I'm not saying that they don't have trouble, but it's mostly concentrated in the base and in the mids. So if you're okay with that type of sound, then probably that's gonna be the better choice for you. But for me personally, I'm definitely gonna roll for sound quality with the Galaxy Buds+ here.
So as far as these two earbuds are concerned, these are really products that are sort of designed for two separate people. So some people do prefer that open ear type design, where they can hear everything going on around them and they don't like having those ear tips stuck into your ears, totally fine. I'm not that person. I'm the person who likes having the ear tips and having that total seal, so I can really enjoy my music. So it's for two separate types of people. So what it all really comes down to is what you personally prefer. What is the type of product that best works for you. Now, if you're interested in reading all of my thoughts and initial impressions on the Galaxy Buds Live,check out the article.
Thanku so much and have a great day…!
