AirPods Pro or Galaxy Buds Live? How to choose the best earbuds

The AirPods Pro are great wireless earbuds, but they cost $250. The Samsung Galaxy Buds Live are a lot cheaper at $170. I've tried both of them, I'm gonna tell you which one is best. [MUSIC] All these wireless earbuds have many of the same features. They both have active noise cancellation, and they both offer a completely wire free design. So I'm going to compare them on everything from battery life. To design, how they feel in the air and of course sound quality. So let's get started. [MUSIC] I wanna start with arguably the most important feature of any wireless earbud. And that is Course this sound quality. If you've watched any of my previous comparisons talking about the outputs Pro, then you will know that I think that they have a fairly neutral sound profile. It is balanced for music, podcasts and calls. And they sound pretty good, but they don't sound as dynamic as some other peers out there. And the Samsung Galaxy buds live sound a lot more punchy. Have a lot more dynamism especially on default settings. Now you can change that sound profile within the galaxy wearable app to a number of different presets whether you prefer it a little bit more basic and a little bit more soft. I think the sound quality on both of these buds is good, but if you want the punchy sound out of the box, With really clean needs troubles and a good bass response, although depending on the fit of your ear, which I will talk about in a little bit, then I think the galaxy buds live give you a much more pleasant experience straight out of the box if you don't want to tweak any settings With that said the airports for do have what's called an adaptive equalizer that's changing the sound based on a number of different variables, including the shape of your ear. So it is doing a lot of work behind the scenes but for people like me that like to tweak it Quite enough, the applets pro are also gonna be getting a spatial audio upgrade when iOS 14 rolls around. So that's something I'm really looking forward to seeing if it does make a significant difference to sound quality. The outputs pro because they sit more firmly inside your ear canal with interchangeable tips. Create more of a seal. So the active noise cancellation is incredibly effective at blocking out so much of the external world. The Galaxy buds live have an open design so that means that they're not sitting directly in your ear canal with a seal like the airport's Pro. Now the real use case for ANC is really things like commuting Playing travel, working from home over the past few months, like you might be as well. There aren't that many opportunities to create a really loud environment that kind of simulates being on a plane or being on the bus. So I decided to go into my bathroom. Pretend I'm doing my morning commute turning on the urban. That can make it as noisy and as constant white noise as possible and see which one sounded the best in terms of blocking out the noise. And yeah, this one was a no brainer. The Air pod pro did a much better job of active noise cancellation, than the Galaxy buds live because of the design and it was just overall much more effective. So if ANC is a priority for you You're probably gonna wanna choose the Airports Pro. The Airports pro also have a transparency mode that helps you hear more of your surroundings. While the open design of the galaxy buds naturally lets a more sound even when you have active noise cancellation turned on. Cool quality is a big important factor. I've tested both of these earbuds on several calls, I did Zoom and Hangouts. Both worked really well seamless connection with the computer. The microphone sounded good. And I could hear the callers really well. No dropouts great, no complaints there. I then did a number of calls with both of the air pod pro and the galaxy buds one after the other. For the recipient, the Galaxy buds were much better at drowning out a noisy environment when I was on a phone call. Enough of me describing what they sound like. Take a listen to the microphones for yourself. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. Also, you can use either galaxy buds live or air pods per independently for phone calls, whichever side you like, They'll both work. [MUSIC] Let's talk about how they actually fit in the air because for me that's such an important part of longevity and how long I'm able to wear a pair of earbuds in terms of comfort levels. This one is gonna be so dependent on the shape of your ear. And for me I have incredibly tiny is I've always found it a struggle to get to small enough a tip for the airport's PR to create a really really tight seal and for them to stay in and be super comfortable for long. Wear. But the galaxy belts live and not that much better for extended wear for tiny is like mine, so they might not feel super comfortable for me for anything longer than a three hour listening session. But for you, this might be completely different. So, your mileage will vary. All I can say is, what works for me will be completely different for you depending on the shape of your ear. I really like that the Galaxy Buds Live, are way more discreet than the AirPods Pro. Yes, they come in a number of different colors, the mystic bronze, black and white And the outputs Pro is simply in white. That's not exactly what I mean about being discreet. They blend in a little bit more with my hair color with the bronze look, but it's not just that it's because they don't have any pot that really sticks out. It means that I can put my head down completely They don't get in the way when I'm brushing it out of my face when I'm working out, or even when I'm changing my sweater in the middle of the day while listening to music, but there is one way to show you how these earbuds stay in my ears, even in the middle of a workout without me having to go and do a workout. And that's. Is the head back test [SOUND] [LAUGH] [SOUND]. [MUSIC] [SOUND] [LAUGH] They don't fall out but they do get a little loose. That is my ears. I'm so dizzy I can't put them was perfect in the right way. All right, a galaxy buds live [MUSIC] Okay. [BLANK_AUDIO] Didn't fall out. As for things like sweat resistance and how they feel when working out? Well, let me tell you again this is going to differ a lot depending on person to person. I'll tell you the IP ratings of them first. The Galaxy buds live A rated IP x two so they are splash resistant to some degree, whereas the outputs per IP x four so they are more splash and water resistant. If you're a sweaty person like me when you work out that is You might probably wanna think about going for the AirPods Pro. Now, I haven't done a full water test on these yet, but I think that the outputs pro are gonna be a little bit more sweat resistant because of that higher rating that said, I have done an incredibly sweaty hit workouts, high impact, interval training, whatever it stands for, involves a lot of high intensity training I have worn both of these earbuds for this particular workout and I found that the galaxy buds live actually stain a little bit better overall, I've never found the episodes to be particularly good for things like running from my particular shape. They do tend to fall out just a little bit so I have to keep going. Pushing him in. The galaxy Bob Flybe did a better job of staying in overall. Although when I got really sweaty towards the end of the workout, I did feel them starting to slip. And when I took them out of the long term sweat resistance is going to be interesting. Testing One, two tests so I will report back over the next couple of months if anything changes. [MUSIC]. Okay, let's touch on all of the other smart features and controls that You get so the galaxy buds live have a touch panel on either but that you can use to change tracks, skip back and forth to start your voice assistant. All of that stuff. You can customize the commands on each of the earbuds now in the galaxy wearable app, which is on iOS and Android, you can change those settings regardless of the ecosystem. You're using. If you put the airpods pro on Android, you can't change those default settings of the stem and tap controls without first changing it on an iOS device. It's just something to bear in mind, If you're using airpods pro on Android. As soon as you open the case in both of the earbuds, it pops up with a nice Animation on either of your respective devices. If you're using the Galaxy buds on a Samsung Galaxy device or on the air pods on an iPhone has a nice little interface looks strikingly similar. [MUSIC] These buds don't have a physical button to change the volume like on other ear buds you might be familiar with such as the Powerbeats Pro. Instead, you can change the volume with the touch panel on the Galaxy buds live by changing that within the app. So you can set left and right to volume up and volume down, with a long press on the airport's Pro. You can't change the stem to do any of that volume control. Instead, you'll have to use your voice through Siri. Both of them also have a find by buds feature, but the airport's pro actually show you the last location of the AirPods pro on a math when you open the find my app. And the galaxy bugs live. Just play some chipping noises. So it's only really useful if you lose them in say, handbag or backpack or around the house, you won't be able to locate them on a map. Just one thing to note about the codecs that these earbuds use Galaxy buds live use SBC, AAC, or Samsung's proprietary codec but you really get the best sound experience with that proprietary codec when you are listening on a galaxy device. Also on Android when you are using the buds live is a lab section in the galaxy wearable app. Now there's a toggle to make it to go into a games mode to reduce audio latency, And there's also a setting to help relieve pressure on the air if you aren't using ANC. Now both of these buds have offered rock solid connectivity to the devices that I've tested them on. I've tested both on Android and both on iOS and I haven't experienced any significant dropouts. That are worth noting at all. [MUSIC]. All right, let's talk battery life, so important for wireless earbuds cuz especially if you're working from home, you want things to last as long as possible. So fortunately the battery life in both of these is good although, it is going to depend on how you're listening in terms of if you have active noise cancellation turned on or off. And also as I've discovered the age of the wearables themselves, so by that, I mean I've had these episodes peripheral close to a year. At the start when I was first using them I was getting very, very close and almost sometimes exceeding the corded battery life. Apple says which is around four and a half to five hours with active noise cancellation turned on. Now it is closer to three and a half to four hours of battery life. With ANC turned on the Galaxy buds live Samsung claims it will get you six hours with ANC turned on an eight hours with ANC turned off I did do a test with active noise cancellation and it didn't last me as long as they claimed only five hours and ten minutes so something to bear in mind if you're thinking about which buds are going to be the best for battery life Both of the charging cases also give the bugs some extra battery life as you would expect. The outputs per have around 24 hours of total charge, whereas the galaxy buds live are up to 29 hours although that is going to depend on In whether or not you are using active noise cancellation, lightening on the iPad Pro versus USBC on the Galaxy buds live. Both of them do have wireless charging by defaults and if you have a Galaxy phones, you can charge the galaxy buds live. Or the airports for from the back of your device. So sneaky little tip there. [MUSIC] Now it comes down to the decision about which wireless earbud I would choose And which one is right for you? Now normally, this is a fairly easy decision because one clearly outshines the other. But in this instance, they actually have kind of different use cases. And I'm going to recommend both of them but for different applications You might be thinking, hey, Lexi, that's a bit of a cop out like you can't choose both. Well, I can, and I'll tell you why because the air pod pro pretty clearly have better active noise cancellation. So if you're traveling or doing anything where you really need active noise cancellation, then just get the air pod pro. It is a lot better than what is offered on the Galaxy buds live. That said, These might end up being more comfortable for prolonged wear for you and the galaxy buds live also sound a lot better straight out of the box. The open design also means that you don't need a transparency mode to letting sound from the outside world for things like personal safety, or if the doorbell rings or if you have a crying baby that you need to attend to. You don't need to have any transparency mode active They'll just let in enough sound to be able to hear what's going on on your surroundings, even if you have active noise cancellation turned on. That being said, it also is going to come down to which ecosystem you're using. Obviously the airport's pro works really seamlessly with iOS and then give you the best experience. The Galaxy buds live work best on a galaxy device and on Android. So that's also another deciding factor. I really like both of these earbuds and if I'm choosing one for listening to music, probably I'm going to choose the galaxy buds live. But if I want to have the immersive active noise cancellation experience, I'm probably going to choose the inputs pro