I mentioned in the other thread that I picked up a set of Samsung's
Galaxy Buds Live. I've used them for about a week now and have to say I really like them overall. They are different from most ear buds on the market (including the galaxy buds+) in the sense that they just sit inside your ear, without a silicon seal that pushes down into the ear canal. So they are not the traditional "in-ear" type.
Sound quality is excellent. Honestly I was pretty surprised at how good these sound, clear range and lots of bass. Also a bunch of "EQ" pre-sets to chose from in the app.
ANC - Because these don't seal in your ear, they let in a lot of outside sound. If you really want ear buds that block out sound then theses are probably not your best choice. That said, the ANC actually does a really good job of blocking out low frequency background noise. I turned it on at the gym and immediately noticed that the background sound of the droning fans was gone (while voices and weights clinking was still audible).
Comfort - Putting these in "properly" is a bit of an art that takes some practice. But once they are in the are quite comfortable. I have used them for a full day of work meetings without problem. I have found that when removing the ear bud I feel some soreness at the back part of my ear as it scrapes by, I suspect the skin there will get used to it with time. I can see how these could be painful for someone with small ears though. And it's not ideal to wear them while chewing as your ears move quite a bit which can cause rubbing (I did this one the first day, listening to music while eating lunch). I haven't had any discomfort while they are in during regular day-to-day activities though (work meetings, cutting lawn, walking the dog, gym, ...).
Fit - I popped these in before going into the gym and didn't have to touch them the whole time. This includes laying on a bench, a decline bench, and exerting a lot of force lifting weights (which would push my old ear buds out of my ears). Very happy with how secure these are in my ears.
Mic so far seems quite good. I've used them for work meetings and they seem to be at least as good as my Jabra headset with the external "mic on a stick" that sits right in front of the mouth.
Controls are ok and I like that you can customize the long press (separately for left and right if you want). Some reviews complain that the touch target isn't obvious which is true, you have to touch the correct part of the bud. That took some getting used to, but I haven't had big problems with it.
Connectivity has been good. Paired easily with my two galaxy phones (S10 and Note10) and my macbook pro. It's also straightforward to switch between devices. I haven't had any sync or disconnect problems.
Look - I really like the style of these. They are minimal and do not pertrude from the ear at all. They look like jelly beans which might be a problem if my dog gets ahold of them.. but aside from that they're great
