Great price; strong battery life; small; low profile design; handy touch controls; good sound quality; compact charging case with Qi support

Active noise canceling not as powerful as expected; comfort and fit could be hit or miss,

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;

The Samsung Galaxy Buds Live are good – but not great – true wireless earbuds. They have a number of neat features and offer a combined 28-hour battery life, but their sound isn’t amazing, and the noise cancellation has a lot of room for improvement. They’re certainly unique, but those interested in high-end sound quality and excellent ANC over a conversation-starting design should look elsewhere.

Surprisingly good fit; Extra helping of bass; Combined 20-hour battery life; ;

Middling sound quality; Poor noise cancellation; Low IP rating

The Galaxy Buds Live are an interesting set of true wireless earbuds, featuring an atypical bean-shape design. On paper spec sheet is impressive and matches, if not beats, their main AirPod competition. But sadly, they still fail to fully deliver in one crucial area: audio.

Comfortable fit; Improved audio quality on previous gen’ ; Decent battery life;

Lack detail on complex genres ; ANC isn’t terribly effective;

Say what you will about Samsung's Galaxy Buds Live bean-shaped design -- yes, they're affectionately known as the Beans -- but they might just be the most innovative new true wireless earbuds of the year. Available in three colors: mystic white, black and bronze, they certainly look flashy, with a chrome-like finish that you can see your reflection in.

They may look like chrome kidney beans, but the $170 Galaxy Buds Live have an ergonomic fit and mostly perform very well.

Unique, eye-catching design; Comfortable ergonomic fit; Compact charging case with wireless charging; Open sound with good bass and detail; Good noise reduction when making calls; IPX2 water-resistant;

Noise canceling is comparatively mild; Open design lets some ambient sound in; Little bit of distortion at high volume;

Samsung deserves credit for taking the risk on a weird new design with the Buds Live, not least because for the most part these deliver on their promise. They’re extremely comfortable, surprisingly stable, and honestly after a while you do sort of forget the whole beans bit.

Good audio quality; Active noise cancellation; Very comfortable;

Bad touch controls; No passive noise blocking; ANC is limited;

Not bad comfortable but not good for booking out background noise

Fantastic quality sound, fit, colour and look

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

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.