The Galaxy Buds Live aren't only Samsung's best wireless earbuds yet – they might just be the most repairable such gadget released to date. That's according to electronics repair experts over at iFixit, whose newly published Galaxy Buds Live teardown reveals that Samsung has once again gotten cleverer with its design, consequently adding to the repairability of its next-generation wearable. More specifically, iFixit rated the Galaxy Buds Live as an 8 out of 10 on its repairability scale.
On a mildly amusing side note, the teardown revealed these are actually internally marked as “bean left” and “bean right” in reference to their shape. The same company awarded the Galaxy Buds+ with a 7, whereas the original Galaxy Buds were given a 6 last year. For added context, even the first-generation earbuds were deemed “surprisingly repairable” relative to their extremely portable form factor, which just further strengthens Samsung's claim to being a pioneering force in the wearable industry.
This is something that cannot be stressed enough seeing how the only other major player in the segment, Apple, has been consistently putting out completely irreparable devices for years now. Literally every iteration of AirPods to date were an outright zero out of ten in iFixit's teardowns.
Samsung's product design once again got smarter and more repair-friendly
The Galaxy Buds Live hence continue Samsung's tradition of leading in True Wireless Stereo (TWC) repairability. They do so thanks to a multitude of factors, including a complete elimination of glue in favor of clips for holding their enclosures in place.
There's still some adhesive used for keeping the internal components in place, but iFixit reports its application was approached sparingly and deliberately enough to allow the sealant be reused during reassembly. Combined with highly modular boards, conventional batteries, and industry-standard bolts, the Galaxy Buds Live are an impressively happy marriage of portability and servicability, the teardown concludes.