An ingenious design that should inspire some imitators, but sound quality needs to catch up

Surprisingly comfortable; Solid battery life; They have ANC

Sound basic next to the best rivals

The Samsung Galaxy Buds Live don’t take the route of most other true wireless earphones. They are weird and a bit wonderful, with far better comfort than you’d expect from a couple of pieces of hard plastic you shove in your ears. Samsung clearly did some homework on the inside of our ears. We just wish they sounded a bit better than they do. The Samsung Galaxy Buds Live don’t have the refinement and insight we are after at £170. Our ears aren't offended, but yours have a right to be demanding at this price.

Surprisingly comfortable; Solid battery life; They have ANC;

Sound basic next to the best rivals;

Surprisingly comfortable; Solid battery life; They have ANC;

Sound basic next to the best rivals;

While the clever new design proves a hit, the Galaxy Buds Live are severely let down by ineffective ANC

Stylish; unobtrusive design; Comfortable fit; Decent bass reproduction

Ineffective noise-cancellation; Restrictive touch controls; Only IPX2 rated

The Samsung Galaxy Buds Live boasts of an unmistakable design that proves to be surprisingly comfortable while offering good audio quality supplemented by decent active noise cancellation.

Eye-catchingly unique design

Controls mostly can’t be customised

Have had previous models and these seem to last longer and are much more comfortable to wear

Fantastic quality sound, fit, colour and look

Samsung braved uncharted territory with the Galaxy Buds Live, at a time when everyone is following Apple's lead....

Bluetooth 5.0; AAC and Samsung scalable codec Wireless and fast charging (USB-C) Unique design, stable fit App available on iOS and Android Good microphone quality

Just okay noise cancelling Only IPX2 water-resistance Mediocre sound quality

Connectivity with Samsung devices, touch controls and wireless charging capabilities are great. However I find the buds don't fit well in your ear and become painful to wear for extended durations. If worn the way the instructions say, the sound quality is not great. The active noise cancelling makes no noticeable difference. I would skip these and buy a pair of buds of the type designed to fit in your ear.

Works great, has decent range, gets a good 4/5hrs full blast calls are clear on my end