Samsung Galaxy Buds Live vs Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus - Better bud battle - Android

In a Samsung versus Samsung showdown, we only know one thing for certain — Samsung will come out on top. Its two latest pairs of truly wireless earbuds may share a name, but they couldn’t be further apart. Let’s pit the Samsung Galaxy Buds Live vs the Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus to see which headset emerges victorious.

Designs that are far apart on the family tree

If someone put these two pairs of earbuds in your hand, you’d think they were from completely different worlds. The Galaxy Buds Plus looks like a familiar pair of comfortable wireless earbuds — and they are. They rock a glossy finish with rubber ear tips and wings that keep them locked comfortably in your ears.

On the other hand, the Galaxy Buds Live look like they belong in chili or a stew. There’s no way around the fact that they look just like beans, especially in the bronze finish. The Buds Live eschew rubber ear tips too — instead snuggling in place held only by your ear canal, and a small wing tip that presses into your outer ear. On the outside, the Galaxy Buds Live are shiny like the Buds Plus, but the inside has a matte texture instead.

The Galaxy Buds Live are comfortable for unsealed earbuds, but the Galaxy Buds Plus are more stable and fit a wider variety of ear shapes.

Both pairs of true wireless earbuds feature onboard touch controls that may be remapped in the Galaxy Buds and Galaxy Wearable apps, available on iOS and Android respectively. The touch panels are clearly defined on the Galaxy Buds Plus, but only the upper half of the Galaxy Buds Live are touch-sensitive.

For an open-type fit, the Galaxy Buds Live work rather well — and are certainly more comfortable than the AirPods. We’re not comparing apples to beans today, though, and the Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus are more comfortable and offer a more stable fit than their sibling headset.

It’s easy to give the edge to the Galaxy Buds Plus as the interchangeable tips allow for a customizable fit. The one-size-fits-all design of the Buds Live simply doesn’t work when you don’t have one-size-fits-all ears.

Charging cases that look different, but work the same

The earbuds themselves may look like opposites, but the charging cases are akin to one another. If you opt for the Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus, you’ll see a familiar pill-shaped design that rolls over from the original Galaxy Buds. However, the Galaxy Buds Live adopts a jewelry box design that’s a more squared off.

Outside of the size and shape, the cases are very much the same. Both rely on magnets to lock your Buds in place, and they support USB-C charging along with Samsung’s Wireless PowerShare. That means you can easily charge with the included cable or juice up with the power of your Samsung Galaxy device. Non-Samsung smartphone users can still take advantage of wireless charging with any Qi-compatible mat.

Samsung Galaxy Buds Live vs Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus: Battle of the batteries

Before we place one pair above the other, it’s fair to say that neither pair struggles with battery life. The Galaxy Beans — sorry, Buds Live — managed 5 hours, 15 minutes of battery life with noise-cancelling enabled. This is above average for noise-cancelling true wireless earphones, and expected for true wireless earbuds generally. Our testing managed two and a half cycles with the charging case, which is more than enough to get you through a week of commuting.

If the Galaxy Buds Live battery life is just average, then the Buds Plus should be called the Superbuds. We managed an impressive 11 hours, 45 minutes of playtime, and the case only provides one additional charge. Still, it adds up to nearly a full day of listening.

Both cases can fast-charge their respective earbuds. The Galaxy Buds Live require just five minutes of charging for one hour of playback. The Galaxy Buds Plus are a little more efficient because the earbuds only require three minutes in the case for one hour of playback.

Connection quality and Bluetooth codec support is identical

As another way to remind you that they’re — in fact — siblings, the Samsung Galaxy Buds Live and Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus share identical connection technologies. As true wireless earbuds, they both use Bluetooth to stay connected, supporting up to the 5.0 firmware. They also support the Samsung Scalable Codec, which is great news for Galaxy smartphone owners.

Both pairs even support the AAC codec, so iPhone users can stream high-quality audio; though, it’s a disappointment for other Android adoptees. Worse, neither pair supports Bluetooth multipoint connectivity. Rather than connecting to two devices at once, you must manually switch from one device to another. This is easy to do with Windows and Android devices, thanks to Microsoft Swift Pair. Instead of disconnecting from your Android smartphone, and then connecting to a laptop, you can simply force a connection through your laptop’s Bluetooth menu.

See also: Headphones updates limited to certain phones — a cheap move by smartphone makers

The Samsung Galaxy Wearables app is yet another draw between the two siblings. It supports the same Spotify integrations (Android exclusive) along with the same ambient sound settings and game mode profile too. If it sounds like both pairs are nearly the same, it’s finally time to see where they differ.

Galaxy Buds Plus win the sound quality battle