Samsung Galaxy Buds Live True Wireless Earbuds (Geek Squad Refurbished) Expired

Buds+ are better then live, imo

I got this at a deal with my S20 FE. I spent quite a bit of time on youtube researching before I broke the shrink-wrap, on the fence whether I should sell or keep. I own more TWS earbuds than I should (easily a dozen), ranging from a $20 "value" pair to Sony WF1000-XM3s. The reviews on these seemed more polarizing than any other non-AirPod earbuds, and ultimately the curiosity took over and I gave it a spin.

I am glad that I did, and now I use this pair more than any other I own. BUT, this is definitely NOT for everyone and for every situation. Here are my thoughts:

- This is the only pair I own that I could probably keep on my ear the entire day (if I had to). The feeling of something resting on the curves of our outer ear is far less annoying than having your ears plugged.
- I get near-aural transparency to my surroundings. You can replicate the Buds Live "experience" by taking your finger and resting it on the fold of your outer ear leading to your ear canal but without sealing it (i.e. leave a gap). You might be surprised how little this affects what you hear. Obviously, this would be the experience without any sound from the buds, unless you have magic fingers. The point is that you start from a very different baseline as far as how much access you have available to your surroundings.
- If the "listening experience" is your #1 priority, this is not the pair to get. You can easily get a better sounding true wireless for under $50 - in fact, I'd go even far as under $30. This has more to do with the sound isolation factor than anything.
- With that said, these don't sound bad by any means. Bass is surprisingly present, clarity is better than most. For listening to podcasts, especially, these are pretty great.
- Active noise-cancelling... is almost completely useless. When I saw reviewers claiming that they could hardly tell between ANC on/off before trying myself, I thought they were stupid. Well, call me stupid. ANY silicone-tipped earbuds would be a better choice for blocking external noise.
- The mics on these are top-notch - I think this is one point where there's virtually a universal agreement.

So, at this point, you might be wondering why I'm using these so much despite many caveats I've listed. Here's why: think of a movie scene where you hear the dialogue and environment, but with strong background music. That's what this pair brings to your daily life. And as far as I know, it's the best pair in existence in delivering that.

I'll wrap up with two real-life scenarios in which I really appreciated having these:

1) In a virtual conference call in my basement office. With my full headset or other TWS earbuds, my daughter could sneak down here and I wouldn't know until she showed up on my webcam view. With these on, I can hear the door creak open and the footsteps - so I can excuse myself for a moment, mute myself, and scream "I SAID I AM IN A MEETINGGGG!!!!!" - before she gets halfway down. Cherry on top is that the mics on these are so good, I've permanently switched over to them from my over-ear headsets.

2) My wife fully expects that I be able to hear her calling for me as long as we're both in the house, regardless of acoustic attenuation associated with things like walls, physical distance, and silicone ear tips designed for maximum sound isolation plugging my ear canals. With these, even with music playing, I am usually able to hear my (mast)her and not have to answer confounding questions such as "why were you listening to music when I was calling for you?" (BTW, the correct answer is "I'm sorry").

One last thought - some may argue environmental sound pass-through feature would deliver these same benefits without sacrificing the ability to switch over to sound isolation or even active noise-cancelling. Well, I own a couple of TWS earbuds with this feature (Jabra 65t Active and Sony WF1000-XM3), and.. while they are similar on paper, they are VERY different in practice. The Buds Live are simply the natural sound you hear, just a bit less of it. Pass-through features are more accurately "amplified pickup from external mics" and immediately noticeable and distracting. There's just no way I'd have that on for any extended period of time.

Ugh thats a great deal. I want them but don't need em though😭