You should charge the Galaxy Buds Live properly to minimize the degradation of battery capacity.
This Galaxy Buds Live guide explains the 3 ways to charge Galaxy Buds Live battery: USB cable charging, wireless charging, and wireless PowerShare (charging with a Galaxy phone), and how to use them properly.
Galaxy Buds Buds Live (and other Galaxy Buds, including Galaxy Buds, Buds+, and Buds Pro) can only be charged by the charging case when you put the buds in the case. So, in this guide, when we say “charge Galaxy Buds Live battery”, we are referring to charging the Galaxy Buds Live charging case.
As the charging method for all Galaxy Buds is similar, this guide applies to other Galaxy Buds, including Galaxy Buds, Galaxy Buds+, Galaxy Buds Pro, and Galaxy Buds 2.
What are the 3 methods to charge Galaxy Buds Live battery?
You can charge Galaxy Buds Live battery (charging case) with 3 different methods:
- USB cable charging. You can charge the charging case with a normal USB wall charger, or the USB port on your PC.
- Wireless charging. You can put the charging case on the wireless charging pad to charge it.
- Wireless PowerShare. You can your Samsung Galaxy phones to charge the Galaxy Buds live.
We will explore them one by one.
Please note, the buds can only be charged by the case when it is positioned properly in the charging case. There is no way to charge the buds directly without the charging case.
If you want to check the battery level of the earbuds or the charging case, please check this guide. You can also use a widget on Android devices to check the battery level of both the charging case and earbuds.
How to charge Galaxy Buds Live through a USB cable?
To charge the buds with a USB cable, you may follow these steps.
Step 1: Make sure the buds are positioned properly in the case
The buds can only be changed if they are positioned properly in the case.
So, before connecting the charger, you should open the case and check the position of the buds, as shown below.
The metal charging contacts on the buds should align with the corresponding contacts in the charging case.
Step 2: Close the charging case
If the charging case is open, then the buds will NOT be charged.
So, if you need to charge the buds and the charging case simultaneously, then you must close the charging case, as shown in the picture below.
Anyway, you just remember to close the case when charging.
Step 3: Connect the USB cable to the USB-C port on the charging case
On the back of the charging case, you can find the USB-C charging port.
You can use a USB-C to USB-C cable, or a USB-A to USB-C cable, depending on the USB port type on the charger.
In the box of the Galaxy Buds Live, there is a USB-C (to USB-C) cable.
Step 4: Connect the USB cable to the charger
You need to plug the other end of the USB cable into the charger (or the USB port on your PC).
If you are using a USB-C cable, you can even connect it to Samsung Galaxy phones with a USB-C port (e.g., Galaxy S21) and use them as a wall charger to charge Galaxy Buds Live.
Step 5: Power on the wall charger
If you are using a normal wall charger, you can now plug the charger into an electric socket, or turn on the power.
Step 6: Wait
It will take about 2-3 hours to fully charge the charging case and the buds.
The LED in the front of the charging case will change from red to green when it is fully charged.
Of course, if you need to use the buds, you can remove the buds and charge the charging case only.
Step 7: Disconnect from the charger
Once the charging case is fully charged, it is recommended to disconnect it from the charger.
You can first unplug the USB cable from the charging case and then unplug the charger from the electric socket.
How to charge Galaxy Buds Live with a wireless charger?
You can also use any Qi-certified wireless charger to charge Galaxy Buds Live charging case. Most of the current wireless chargers in the market support Qi standard.
The steps are similar to those using a USB charger explained earlier.
When you put the charging case on the wireless charging pad, you should try to put it near the centre of the charging pad to get the highest charging speed (and efficiency), as shown below.
The charging time for Galaxy Buds Live charging case with the buds inside is about 3-4 hours.
Samsung also allows you to use some Galaxy phones to charge the charging case wirelessly (without using a USB-C cable). This feature is named Wireless PowerShare.
Wireless PowerShare was first introduced in Galaxy S10. All subsequent models of Galaxy S and Note phones support this feature.
The detailed steps of using wireless PowerShare to charge Galaxy Buds are explained in this guide.
Please note, you cannot use wireless PowerShare if the battery of the phone is lower than 30%. You can raise this limit, but not lower it.
Because wireless PowerShare uses wireless charging to charge the buds (and the case), you should place the charging case near the centre of the wireless charging coils of the phone. For all Galaxy phones, the wireless charging oil is located near the centre of the back (e.g, on Galaxy S21, Galaxy S20, and Galaxy S10).
Normally, the charging speed of wireless PowerShare is noticeably slower than using a normal wireless charger. The charging time is about 4-5 hours to charge the case (with buds) from 0 to 100%.
Of course, you seldom use wireless PowerShare to fully charge the case. Most owners use it to “top up” the battery so that they can use the buds for a few additional hours.
What is the battery life of Galaxy Buds Live?
The battery life of Galaxy Buds Live is comparable to other flagship wireless earbuds (e.g., AirPods Pro, Sony WF-1000XM3, Jabra Elite Sports), in the market.
The exact battery life depends on whether you turn on active noise cancelling (ANC) and Bixby Voice wakeup for the buds.
If both ANC and Bixby Voice wake-up are on
If both ANC and Bixby Voice wake-up are on, you will get about 5.5 hours of music play time from the buds. The charging case will provide additional 14.5 hours. So, the total play time is about 20 hours when both ANC and Bixby Voice wake-up are activated.
In this scenario, the talk time will be about 4.5 hours for the buds, and the charging case offers additional 12.5 hours. So the total talk time is about 17 hours when ANC is activated.
If ANC or Bixby Voice wake-up is on
If you activate either ANC or Bixby Voice wake-up (but not both), the buds will deliver a play time of about 6 hours. The charging case offers additional 15 hours. So the total play time is about 21 hours when you activate either ANC or Bixby Voice wake-up.
The talk time is not affected by Bixby Voice. So, if you enable ANC, the talk time will be similar to the previous scenario. If you did not enable ANC, then the talk time will be similar to the following scenario.
If both ANC and Bixby Voice wake-up are off
If you turn off both ANC and Bixby Voice wake-up, you can get about 8 hours play time from the buds, and additional 21 hours from the charging case. So, the total play time is about 29 hours when both ANC and Bixby Voice wake-up are deactivated.
In this scenario, the talk time of the buds is about 5.5 hours, The charging case offers an additional 13.5 hours talk time. So, the total talk time is about 19 hours when ANC is turned off.
What is the charging time for Galaxy Buds Live (charging case with buds)?
The actual charging time depends on the charger used and the ambient conditions.
As mentioned earlier, the typical charging time (from 0-100%) for Galaxy Buds Live (charging case with buds) is:
- 2-3 hours if you use a standard USB wall charger.
- 3-4 hours if you use a 7.5W Qi wireless charger.
- 4-5 hours if you use wireless Powershare on Galaxy S20/S21.
Please note, the buds themselves normally can be charged in about 1~1.5 hours when placed properly in the charging case.
Do you have any questions on charging Galaxy Buds Live battery?
If you have any questions or need help to charge Galaxy Buds Live battery, you may let us know in the comment box below.
The community will help you.
You may check Headphone 101 for detailed explanations of headphone technologies and terms.
For Bluetooth headphone guides, please check the Bluetooth headphones section.
Sports headphones section is dedicated to guides on sports headphones.
Active noise-cancelling headphone guides can be found in the Noise-canceling headphones section.
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