I decided to do a comparison between the newer updated Anker Liberty Neo vs Samsung Galaxy Buds. There is a lot to like about both of these products, and I wanted to share the differences in case someone was trying to make a choice between them. I have used both and found they both have their merits.
Anker Liberty Neo vs Galaxy Buds
Price
First I want to mention the price. The Upgraded Anker Liberty NEO which I am reviewing seem to run between $32.99 and $45 on Amazon and Newegg. This is much cheaper than the Samsung Galaxy buds which I paid $110 for at Costco. So that’s a big plus for Anker, but they are missing some features of the Galaxy buds.
Size comparison
Here they are the Anker Liberty Neo vs Galaxy buds side by side in their case. As you can see the case for the Anker Liberty Neo’s are a little wider than the Galaxy Buds. Both cases have a charge indicator. Although I do prefer the 3 LEDs on the Anker Liberty Neo’s as opposed to the single LED on the Samsung Galaxy Buds.
That picture seems to make the Anker case look a lot larger and it doesn’t really feel that noticeable when switching from carrying one or the other for me. The biggest difference for me is the back of the case. Here you can see the charger. the Galaxy buds use a USB-C charger while the Anker Liberty Neo use the older Micro-USB. For me the Galaxy buds win this as I prefer the USB-C charger, Plus the Galaxy Buds have wireless charging which the Anker does not.
When looking at the buds themselves, The Anker Liberty Neos seem to be a little longer. I found both of them very comfortable and had no issues wearing them all day. But I do think the Anker Liberty Neo stick out of the ear and may be a bit more noticeable.
Push button vs Touch Sensor
Here is a win for the Samsung Galaxy buds. They use a touch sensor for connecting to a call, playing and pausing tracks etc. The Anker Liberty use a push button. The small issue with the anker is you have to actually push the button and it does push the earbud into your ear a little each time. With the samsung you can be a little more gentle. The Samsung also wins for an extra feature in that you can turn the volume up and down from the earbud. With the Anker Liberty Neo you have to use the volume on your phone or device.
Sound Quality
This is a judgement call as they both sound good. My daughter, my son and myself all tried them out swapping back and forth and it ended up being 2 – 1. With the Anker Liberty Neo getting 2 votes and the Samsung the 1. I was one who liked the Anker a little better. They seemed to be very clear and I preferred the Bass on the Anker. This is not to say the Samsung sound bad. I should mention the Samsung does come with an app that give you some basic equalizer type setting changes. So you can play with the settings on the Samsung to adjust them a little.
Microphone
I used both of the Samsung Buds and Anker Liberty multiple times during conference calls with no issues. I had asked the far end how i sound and everyone said good and they both seemed fine. So basically this was a tie.
Bluetooth.
Both the Anker Liberty and Galaxy Buds use the newer Bluetooth 5.0 . They connected easily to both my iPhone 11 and Android phone. (Although with the Apple I did not install the Galaxy App which i did see was available). Take them out of the case and they just show up as available in your Bluetooth menu. They are super easy to set up.
As for Bluetooth distance they both die at the exact same spot when walking away from my phone. I was able to leave my phone upstairs and walk downstairs to the other end of the house when both started breaking up. This would be a tie for me.
Battery Life
The Samsung wins here as they advertise 6 hours of battery life and I was able to get about 7 hours out of them. The Anker advertises 5 hours of battery life and I was able to get a little over 6 hours. This was not a very scientific method. I just timed using them each on separate days during my work. I pretty much listened to music or was on a conference call, and maybe just a little bit of silence time. The downside is neither gave me 8 hours which is what I really want. Both cases charge the earbuds so I could have popped them back into the case and charged them between calls or when taking a break from music. They both have a fast charge type feature.
Connect to two devices.
I had assumed that I might be able to have the earbuds connected to two devices at once. With both the Anker Liberty Neo and the Samsung galaxy Buds I had to connect to one device at a time. So if I wanted to use them on my laptop I would have to disconnect them on my phone. This is not a hard process, but is annoying. I could leave them paired to both, but not two active connections. With my Bluetooth Over the ear headset I can have it connected to both my Laptop and also my phone at the same time. For a work from home situation this is much more enjoyable then having to swap back and forth. Just something to think about if you are specifically looking for that feature.
Summary:
[Pro’s and Con’s Chart]
So who won the Anker Liberty Neo vs Galaxy Buds Shootout? The Galaxy Buds sounded great and had some great features, I like the touch sensor on the end of them better than the Anker push button. I also like that I can use the earbuds to turn the volume up and down on the Galaxy buds. They also have a feature to let in more ambient noise if you use the App. Plus they use USB-C and the case has wireless charging. The Galaxy Buds are a great earbud and I think fairly priced for the extra features.
But the Anker Liberty Neo were also great. They are rated at IPX7 for water which I did not test yet. (I saw the Galaxy listed as IPX2⁴ .) They also appear to be able to get a total of 20 hours of playtime if you include the case charging, while the Galaxy Buds is 6 hours +7hours for the case. They are also comfortable and had great sound.
The winner? Overall I would say if you factor in the price and do not need the extra features of the Galaxy Buds, then its hard to beat the Anker Liberty Neo and they would win. At $32.99 if you find them on sale they are a great deal. I still like my Galaxy buds and do enjoy some of their features. So you really cant go wrong either way. It just depends how deep your pockets are. If you need the USB-C and the wireless charging I would go with the Galaxy Buds. (I did not test the Wireless charging on the Galaxy buds yet, and will update this once I do. )
But If you want to see more on these Anker Liberty Neo earbuds, here is a LINK to a full review I did on them. You can find them on Amazon or Newegg. The ones I reviewed said Upgraded Model in the description. It looks like the previous version had less battery life but the “Upgraded Version” was an improved model with the same name.
