Galaxy Buds Live now 42% off, but these Black Friday headphones deals are better

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Samsung's latest AirPods rivals are just £105 at Amazon, but you can do better than that...

Black Friday headphones deal
(Image credit: Future)

Looking for some true wireless Samsung Galaxy headphones during the Black Friday sales frenzy? The new Galaxy Buds Live (RRP £179) have dropped to £105 at Amazon – a massive £76 saving on their original launch price. It's one of the lowest prices we've seen, so if it's got to be the Buds Live, you really are getting the best deal. 

But wait, you can do much better than that. Because while the Samsungs' discount makes them a tempting proposition, they aren't the very best Black Friday headphones deal out there.

Those after excellent true wireless earbuds for the gym or running should strongly consider the heavily discounted, five-star JBL Reflect Flow for £69.99 while everyone else would find great (and cheaper) alternatives in the Award-winning £79.95 Cambridge Audio Melomania M1. Both are standout for the money and sound quality-wise more convincing alternatives to the Samsungs.

Just note that, unlike the Galaxy Buds Live, neither of those have active noise-cancellation. Desperate for ANC and have a slightly bigger budget to spend? The multi-Award-winning £149 Sony WF-1000XM3 are your best bet.

Best Black Friday headphones deals

Galaxy Buds Live

Galaxy Buds Live £179 £105 at Amazon (save £76)
This 36% off deal is only applicable for the Mystic White colourway, but if that still suits, this is a great deal on a pair of Samsung's newest (and most intriguingly shaped) Galaxy buds.

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JBL Reflect Flow  

JBL Reflect Flow £130 £69.99 at Amazon (save £60)
In our five-star review we praised the Reflect Flow's detail, musicality and strong bass depth. They also deliver a solid fit and long battery life, perfect for those evening runs. Expect up to 10 hours per charge, with an extra 20 from the case. Five stars

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Cambridge Melomania 1

Cambridge Melomania 1 £100 £79.95 at Amazon (save £20)
What Hi-Fi? Award winners, the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1s deliver one of the most detailed sound performances we’ve heard at this price point. Enough said.
What Hi-Fi? Award winner

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Sony WF-1000XM3

Sony WF-1000XM3 £230 £149 at Sevenoaks (save £81)
A new benchmark for true wireless earbuds, the WF-1000XM3s combine effective active noise-cancelling with a real sense of musicality. Our favourite truly wireless earbuds, now well and truly discounted. What Hi-Fi? Award winner

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The Samsung Galaxy Buds Live are a more competitive true wireless proposition at this price, and not bad buys at all for those who really need noise-cancelling earbuds around £100 – at this price that's a rarity. But if you can sacrifice noise-cancelling, there are better-sounding buds in the Black Friday sale.

Under intense review, we praised the Buds Live's "comfortable, clever design", "impressive bass weight" and "clear and open presentation", but they didn't wow us for timing, dynamics and the overall user experience. 

They're not short on features. You'll get active noise cancelling, Bluetooth 5.0, six hours of life at full charge (with ANC on and Bixby voice control off) with a further 15 hours provided by the carry case. Having Bixby on drops the battery life to 5.5 hours and the case to 20 hours. Alternatively, battery life can be extended to eight hours and 29 hours if you switch both noise-cancelling and Bixby off. Thanks to the USB-C quick charge support, five minutes is enough to get you around an hour’s playback too. 

MORE: 

Prefer Bose headphones? Check out the Best Bose Black Friday deals 

Looking for Sony over-ears? See the Best Black Friday Sony XM3 and XM4 deals 

Read all our Samsung Galaxy reviews

Becky Scarrott

Becky has been a full-time staff writer at What Hi-Fi? since March 2019. Prior to gaining her MA in Journalism in 2018, she freelanced as an arts critic alongside a 20-year career as a professional dancer and aerialist – any love of dance is of course tethered to a love of music. Becky has previously contributed to Stuff, FourFourTwo, This is Cabaret and The Stage. When not writing, she dances, spins in the air, drinks coffee, watches football or surfs in Cornwall with her other half – a football writer whose talent knows no bounds.