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Wireless Earbuds

Samsung Galaxy Buds Live vs Jabra Elite 85t

Samsung Galaxy Buds Live

Samsung Galaxy Buds Live

268 reviews

View Product Details

Jabra Elite 85t

Jabra Elite 85t

157 reviews

View Product Details

Great open, airy sound with punchy bass

12mm drivers and big bass port provide good detail in mids and highs

Compact form factor

Can be used with iOS and Android devices

Memory foam tips from third-party sellers can provide a better seal

Great sound quality

Comfortable fit

Effective ANC

Physical buttons instead of touch controls

Find My Jabra feature

Not as effective active noise cancellation as other true wireless earbuds

Silicone tips may not provide a secure fit

May not be suitable for those who need strong noise cancelling capabilities

Not the best choice if sound quality is the priority

Feedback from wind can be an issue

Hissing noises in left earbud reported by some users

Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy Buds Live are a great choice for those looking for an open, airy sound with punchy bass. They have 12mm drivers and a big bass port, providing good detail in the mids and highs. However, their active noise cancellation is not as effective as other true wireless earbuds on the market, so they may not be the best choice for those who need strong noise cancelling capabilities. Additionally, some users may find that the silicone tips don't provide a secure fit and that memory foam tips from third-party sellers may be necessary to get a better seal.

Verdict

The Jabra Elite 85t are a great pair of earbuds for those looking for physical buttons instead of touch controls. They provide good sound quality and comfort, and have an effective ANC that can handle most environments. However, some users have reported issues with feedback from wind and hissing noises in the left earbud. Additionally, they may not be the best choice if sound quality is the priority.

Reviews by Topic

Our analysis shows how reviewers feel about different topics. Please note these are not full reviews.

Fit

An unconventional design turns out to be a winner

If you’re worried about bass, don’t be. So long as they’re in your ears right, the Buds Live can kick out plenty of oomph on the bottom end. These sound excellent and just what I’d hoped for considering the $170 price.

Negative

Great, with some quirks if your primary usage is for home office.

The lows are almost not present - this is the single biggest thing to baffle me after having read in many places that they have some "punch" to them. These buds have almost no low-end, regardless of how you configure the Jabra sound profile in the companion app, and regardless of any other EQ you can adjust from your phone (if that's the source of your music). Tl;dr - don't buy these if your primary use is going to be listening to music. They're probably good for something like podcasts if you're doing listening-only, primarily

Bluetooth Connectivity

youtube

Galaxy Buds Live review: Finally, something different

They come in three color options, Mystic White, Black, and the bronze I have here that looks pretty sharp and I gotta say is a little bit flashy. They...

Positive

Awesome Quality, But the Firmware Isn't There

Common fixes like turning on and off Bluetooth, unpairing the earbuds, and putting them into their case have no effect. The truly aggravating thing is that many of the troubleshooting suggestions I see involve pressing both buttons on the earbuds - but the left earbud is not connected, so it doesn't work! Each time I've eventually restored connection, but always just by messing around for ages and then finding they suddenly work again, so I don't have an effective workaround. It's quite frustrating, and given that I have similar problems with the 75ts I suspect that I didn't just get unlucky. It's a shame too because this is a very high-quality product with great sound for the price, and we badly need good alternatives to the Apples and Samsungs of the world

Comfort

youtube

Samsung Galaxy Buds LIVE Review

I actually like it a lot and leave it on. Connection has been solid. I did notice when watching YouTube, the video will sort of stutter behind for a s...

Positive

Buggy behavior harms what should be outstanding earbuds

Clarity with high-bitrate audio is outstanding, and I'd call their overall character "balanced." These don't punch hard on the low end, but they don't really need to for my taste. They provide a level of detail that my cheaper true wireless buds absolutely do not. -They're small and light, which makes them comfortable

Noise Cancellation

youtube

Galaxy Buds LIVE Honest Review after 1 Month of Use!

The Buds Plus didn't have active noise cancellation, but the sealed design meant that they were passive and that worked really well, so with that I re...

Negative

Close yet so far..

the ANC mode is incredible, you don’t feel or get the sense like you ears are in a vacuum like how the AirPods Pro’s or even the Bose and Sony make your ears feel. It does an excellent job balancing that out, but also is fantastic at blocking out noise. Even in my semi truck which is older, so it rattles and creaks etc, none of the noises could be heard

Sound Quality

I got my first set last month, the Soundcore life notes and there ahhh ok. Sound and fit could be better for $49.99.

Positive

reddit.com/r/HeadphoneAdvice

Touch/swipe controls vs. Physical buttons on headphones?

After using them with extremely lackluster (and frustrating) results, I returned them and decided to spend some time researching the latest and greatest ear buds available in the market. This search showed me that almost every big brand, house hold name has opted for for touch capabilities for their latest earbuds over physical buttons. The only pair I could find that still use physical buttons were the Jabra Elite 85T, which don't sound nearly as good as the Bose (in my opinion) and have a huge issue with feedback from wind if you are outside.

Negative

reddit.com/r/HeadphoneAdvice

Battery Life

No noise cancelling, have connection issues, sound mediocre

the good thing is the battery life is good, not the best, but good for most. around 6 - 8 hours without noise cancelling on. The connection however, is not good. a lot of the time it has syncing issues when connected to my windows computer, usually put them back in case would solve the problem, this problem is quite frequent that it would annoy you quite a bit

Some good things, some not so much

App doesn’t consistently show the correct battery level when using one bud at a time. If I’m using the left ear bud, when battery level gets low, I get notification in my ear to “recharge now”, but app shows the bud is at 86%. I tried putting the left bud back in the case (the right one is already in there), then take the left bud back out again. The app still shows it at 86% and it still tells me to “recharge now”

Durability

Nice try, Samsung

I'll start off by saying I'm a huge fan of Samsung products. I've been using their Galaxy phones since the S5, we have their fridge, and now this ear bud. But I gotta say, Samsung should stick with their phones and other products because these earbuds doesn't really stand up against other name brands and some of the even knock-off, low-budget earbuds. I can say a lot more bad than good stuff about them so I'll try to break it down

Quick Appreciation Post, Thanks Jabra!

These headphones have been through with me a lot. i.e. transiting in wet weather, going to the gym 5 days a week, training in rain or shine for a marathon, and completing even completing a sweaty marathon in these earbuds

Positive

reddit.com/r/Jabra

Price Point

Worth the money

I'm new to wireless earbuds and just wanted something affordable and only cared about two primary features: using one bud at a time and comfortable in the ear for hours. I first tried the Sony WF-C500 because they were cheap. They fit in the ears well and could be used one at a time, but the sound quality was so bad that using them for music was pointless, and even podcasts were hard to hear clearly. I decided to get these Galaxy Buds Live to see if they were worth the extra cost and

Good, but expensive.

I'm just not happy about the price point versus what you get. I would guess that Jabra is making at least $100 profit on each one they sell, probably a good bit more. I understand about the R&D that goes into the product, but given the volume of sales, they are making a killing. And yes, I contributed to their profits

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