For a company that’s ahead of the curb when offering a refined Android experience for Pixel users, Google has been slow to move in the hyper-competitive space for truly wireless earbuds.
Attempts to distinguish the Pixel Buds from other earbuds, like the high-performance Sony WF series and Apple’s paradigm-shifting Airpods, have led Google to rely heavily on software without appropriate hardware.
That tendency has made the Pixel Buds product line fall short of the mark over the past few years. So has Google finally got things right the Pixel Buds Pro 2?
If you want a quick answer, yes. There are some faults I’d like to see addressed as the product line continues, but for the most part, it seems Google has finally started to focus more heavily on supporting Pixel products like its smartwatch (we’ll have a review of that up soon as well) and these buds.
Thee buds play are a largely iterative update over the original Pixel Buds Pro, which was released two years ago. That’s not a bad thing. I’d much rather Google truly refine the identity of these buds before the product line grows alongside the company’s Gemini AI product, which is becoming a core focus for Pixel products.
Design
The most notable thing about the design is a significant size reduction. These are 27% smaller than the original Pixel Buds Bro which makes it all the more impressive that Google managed to include the highly efficient Tensor A1 audio chip along with 11mm drivers with a new high-frequency chamber. Also under the hood are the new Bluetooth 5.4 standard, IR proximity sensors, motion-detecting accelerometers, and a 3-mic beamforming array responsible for Google’s signature Silent Seal 2.0 ANC technology.
There’s a lot of tech stuffed into these tiny earbuds.
Physically, you’ve got a very tiny wing stabiliser to help with fit and a smooth touchpad on each bud with capacitive touch controls which more or less works as you’d expect and isn’t annoyingly overly sensitive. You’ll notice these slightly textured wind-blocking mesh covers and the design also complements an active in-ear pressure relief system that dials in for better comfort over longer periods.
Out of the box, you’ve got a simple row of options (S, M, L) so you can get the best fit for your ears. As with all earbuds, fit is important as that will be one of the major factors deciding both how your music sounds, and how solid the noise cancelling is.
Google’s software attempts to further find the perfect seal as a function of how well your ear tips fit. It’s effective, but it’s also not a fast as Google would hope. Each time you shift the earbuds inside your ear, you’ll be able to notice a lag as the software works to further seal your ear from outside noise, optimising the ANC constantly.
The designers have worked in an IP54 rating for dust and water resistance, which is sufficient for runners who may want to take these to the gym. They are certainly stable enough for such an activity, although I still would view these as a lifestyle offering rather than anything better suited to active lifestyles.
Features
Like all high-end earbuds on the market, the Pixel Buds Pro 2 does much more than just play music and block as much external noise as possible.
They also feature several technological advancements that further play with things such as ANC to try and deliver a seamless lifestyle experience.
Basically, this has served two purposes in the past few years: to prevent you from having to get out your phone each and every time you need to control the earbuds and also to ensure that you don’t even need to take them out of your ears to do things like hold a conversation or power through a work call.
Google has features that speak to both purposes.
The ANC is so nuanced and detailed that the A1 audio chip is constantly working to adapt to a listener’s surroundings and situations. Much like the Sonys, they are a conversational awareness feature that can detect when you are speaking and adjust the music to facilitate a good, clear conversation. There’s also future-proofing with support for Auracast technology.
This will mean that the earbuds can connect directly to an audio stream in the immediate environment. For example, you can listen to broadcasts at a sporting game without having to struggle over the roar of the crowds.
The Pixel Buds Pro 2 are some of the only modern earbuds (that I know of) that have support for Bluetooth’s Auracast standard, but by the time it’s properly integrated into modern society I would imagine this would have to be quite standard.
Support for Bluetooth’s new Low Complexity Communication Codec is also included but, again, this is more future-proofing rather than anything relevant now. Once the technology is more common, LC3 should be a great development for anything concerned with battery life.
LC3 is able to scale from 345kbps down to 160kbps, which makes it much more powerful than standards like SBC and aptX. LC3 is the more compact Bluetooth codec to date, which will translate to prolonged battery life as it puts less pressure on the connection without compromising audio quality.
Audio
Audio quality is mostly fine but I’ve had a few moments where the volume is muted. I assume this is because the AI is over-engineered and sometimes reduces the volume in an attempt to dial in the perfect amount of ANC. It’s strange and something I’ve encountered a few times. It usually requires a few shifts of the bud in my ear before it sounds great again.
The default sound signature seems to prefer those brighter, more forward mids and highs while moving away from that overengineered low-end you’d get from so many other earbuds playing around in this price range. That positions Google quite well so Pixel users don’t need to reach for an Apple product and can stick to the Google ecosystem without putting up with inferior sound.
Even when you find the right fit, the volume isn’t nearly as loud as some other earbuds I’ve tested over the past year from the likes of Sennheiser and Sony. Some prefer this, but those who like deeply immersive, aggressively loud sounds may be a bit disappointed. However, this means you’ll find good balance even at the highest volume with the Pixel Buds Pro 2; there’s no toppling that arrangement the more you push, maintaining a very mature, rich sound at all times.
With AI powering these futuristic buds, they can adapt to the environment up to 3 million times per second. However, this doesn’t work as fast and seamlessly as Google would have hoped. If I shift the earbuds in my ear even just a few inches, I’ll actually hear Gemini’s attempt to continually optimise audio performance because it takes a short second the adjust. It can get annoying if you’re struggling to find the right fit, but noticing the calibration isn’t too big of a deal.
Battery
Google’s Tensor A1 works hard. On paper, we’ve got an 11% battery life improvement, meaning the Pixel Buds Pro 2 will last just under 8 hours on a full charge with ANC turned on. That falls short of Sony but is much more impressive than anything Apple has managed thus far. If you consider the charges held in the neat egg-shaped case, the Pixel Buds Pro 2 should easily last for around 30 hours.
Value
With Google’s AI features still rolling out, it’s not yet clear just how powerful the Pixel Buds Pro 2 will be as it climbs the ranks over the next few months. One thing that is clear, however, is that Gemini is steadily improving and it looks like Google is well on its way to becoming the leading company when it comes the consumer-facing artificial intelligence. This should keep the value of these buds high for quite awhile, and future-proof them against some stiff competition.
That said, there actually hasn’t been much competition this year. Sennheiser’s earbuds have been uninspiring. Sony has given us crickets this year, instead of playing around in the mass-market game, and I’m yet to test out Apple’s newest Airpods.
$379 is actually quite reasonable for a pair of high-end earbuds in 2024. It’s still expensive, but I feel like Google has done enough to justify the price for this one. The sound is fantastic, the design is great, the touch controls can be a bit finicky because of the size, and the battery life is superb. Throw the AI features in and it looks like the long-established market for truly wireless earbuds just took a meaningful step forward.
FOUR STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
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Price: $379
