We recently got our hands on the new Pixel Buds Pro and we have to say, we’re pretty impressed. These earbuds have nailed it from every angle, from the case to the fit to the sound to the features. And the best part? They’re not mega expensive!
The Pixel Buds Pro offer active noise cancellation, a larger battery, and a new shape that’s more comfortable to wear for extended periods of time. They also come with a host of features, including Google Assistant, touch controls, and multi-device support. Overall, we highly recommend these earbuds for anyone in the market for a new pair.
Key Takeaways
- The Pixel Buds Pro offer excellent sound quality and a comfortable fit.
- They come with a variety of features, including active noise cancellation and Google Assistant.
- They’re great value for anyone in the market for new earbuds.
Pixel Buds Pro Overview
Alright, let’s dive into the Pixel Buds Pro. These earbuds have nailed it from every angle, from the case to the fit to the sound to the features. The case is compact, clean, and well-made, with a satisfying magnet to open and close it. It’s IPX2 splash resistant and has both a USB-C port and wireless charging. The earbuds themselves have a new shape, mostly matte black plastic with a colored cap on the end, and they fit comfortably in your ears.
Once paired, these earbuds offer a lot of features through the Pixel Buds app. The sound quality is really good, with crisp and clear 11mm drivers and active noise cancellation that does a great job of getting rid of white noise. The transparency mode is okay, but not the best. The earbuds have touch controls on the outside for your media, and you can customize what a tap and hold on each side does in the app.
These earbuds also have multi-device support, so they can be paired to both your phone and laptop at the same time and seamlessly switch back and forth. They have a find my device feature, in-ear detection to automatically play and pause when you take them out and put them back in, and an ear tip seal check feature that recommends a different size ear tip to improve the seal if necessary.
The battery life is impressive, with seven hours of actual listening with active noise cancellation on and up to 11 hours with ANC off. Overall, the Pixel Buds Pro are easy to recommend at a price of $199.
Design and Fit
The Pixel Buds Pro have a sleek and modern design that is mostly matte black plastic with a colored cap at the end. The cap comes in either fog, coral, yellowish green, or black. The case is compact and well-made, with a satisfying magnet to open and close it. It is also IPX2 splash-resistant and has a USB-C port at the bottom, as well as wireless charging capabilities. The case fits in the coin pocket of jeans, making it easy to carry around.
Overall, the Pixel Buds Pro have a modern and comfortable design that is perfect for everyday use. The case is compact and easy to carry around, and the earbuds are comfortable to wear for extended periods.
When it comes to fit, the Pixel Buds Pro have a new shape that is more comfortable than previous models. They no longer have wing tips, which were uncomfortable for some users. Instead, they have different-sized earbud tips to ensure a comfortable fit for everyone. The buds themselves are IPX4 rated, making them sweat-proof and suitable for working out.
Sound Quality
When it comes to sound quality, we were thoroughly impressed with the Pixel Buds Pro. The 11mm drivers deliver crisp and clear audio with a strong bass that really stands out. The noise cancellation does an excellent job of getting rid of white noise, making for an immersive listening experience.
One thing we did notice is that the Pixel Buds Pro have a slightly lower overall volume than other earbuds we’ve tested. While this isn’t a major issue, we did find ourselves listening at or near max volume more often than not. It’s worth noting that the bottom 40% of the volume slider is basically useless, as it’s too low to hear anything.
The transparency mode is also a bit of a mixed bag. While it’s better than leaving the earbuds off, it still sounds somewhat muffled. We’re hoping that future firmware updates will improve this feature.
Overall, we think the sound quality on the Pixel Buds Pro is excellent, especially for the price point. The bass is strong and punchy, the audio is clear and crisp, and the noise cancellation is top-notch. If you’re looking for a pair of earbuds that deliver great sound quality, the Pixel Buds Pro are definitely worth considering.
Software and Features
Once the Pixel Buds Pro are paired up and in your ears, there are a lot of different features in here thanks to the Pixel Buds app. We’ll start with the sound. These new 11-millimeter drivers sound really, really good. Once you get a nice seal in your ear, they’re really crisp and clear. They aren’t too shrill or tinny and don’t distort very much. The noise cancellation does a great job of getting rid of white noise, and there’s basically no perceivable Bluetooth lag at all when watching videos or gaming.
Every pair of noise-cancelling earbuds shall have a transparency mode at least seems like they all should. These Pixel Buds Pro have transparency mode built-in, and it’s okay. It’s going to let in sound from the microphones and pump in your ambient noise so you can hear what’s around you, but it’s not the best. The Pixel Buds real advantage to me is still definitely the software and all the features that are built-in.
We still love having Google Assistant like a hold away or a tap away anytime we want to ask a question. We literally just hold it down and say, “How tall is the Taj Mahal?” It’s like a superpower. We can just start opening light shades and turning on smart lamps and things, and just yeah, assistant everywhere is great. In the Pixel Buds app, in the settings, you can customize what a tap and hold on each side does. So right now, we have the right side hold to trigger the assistant, but the left side hole toggles between noise cancellation and transparency mode.
Basically, every pair of earbuds nowadays also has some sort of touch controls on the outside for your media. These are no different. It’s touch once to play, touch two times to skip forward, three times to go back. The one thing we couldn’t quite get to work as smoothly as we’d like is swiping to change volume. These just aren’t a big enough surface for us to like reliably get a good swipe in. We kept trying to do it, but this was like the most inconsistent thing for us. Basically, we just ended up like wobbling it around in our ear. It works sometimes, but again, it’s not a big surface. So what we ended up doing is we just end up reaching in our pocket and blindly like changing the volume on the volume rocker on the phone in our pocket, which turned out to actually be totally fine as long as our phone was on us.
And there’s a bunch of other features too. Multi-device support, so these buds are paired to both our phone and our laptop at the same time and seamlessly switch back and forth as advertised, no problem. They have a find my device feature in case they get lost. They have in-ear detection to automatically play and pause when you take them out and put them back in. They even have this ear tip seal check feature, which analyzes how well the microphones are actually canceling out sound for you, and if it’s not working so well, it can recommend a different size ear tip to improve the seal. It’s smart. The only thing missing might be the like adaptive sound feature, which listens to your environment and then automatically bumps up the volume when your environment gets louder. We didn’t really use that very much, but we noticed it wasn’t here, so that isn’t in the Pixel Buds Pro, but it’s also apparently coming. Other than that, it’s not really missing anything. These have every feature that we’re used to having with earbuds.
Battery Life:
One of the biggest improvements in the Pixel Buds Pro is the battery life. With active noise cancellation turned on, you can expect to get around seven hours of listening time. This is a significant increase from the previous generation of Pixel Buds. If you turn off active noise cancellation, you can get up to 11 hours of listening time.
The case also has a larger battery, which means you can get multiple charges before needing to recharge the case itself. In total, you can get up to 21 hours of listening time with active noise cancellation turned on and up to 34 hours with it turned off.
Charging the case is easy, as it comes with a USB-C port at the bottom. You can also charge it wirelessly using any Qi wireless charger. If your phone supports power sharing, you can even charge the case using the back of your phone.
Overall, the battery life on the Pixel Buds Pro is impressive and should last you through multiple listening sessions without needing to recharge.
Final Verdict
So, after spending some time with the Pixel Buds Pro, we can confidently say that these earbuds have nailed it from every angle. From the case to the fit to the sound to the features, these earbuds are a complete package.
The case is compact, well-made, and has a satisfying magnetic closure. It is also IPX2 splash-resistant and supports wireless charging. The earbuds themselves are comfortable and come in a new shape that is mostly matte black plastic. They are IPX4 rated, making them sweat-proof for workouts.
When it comes to sound quality, the Pixel Buds Pro deliver crisp and clear audio with strong bass and minimal distortion. The noise cancellation is also impressive, effectively getting rid of white noise. The only downside is that the earbuds have a slightly lower overall volume than other earbuds we have tested.
The software and features are where the Pixel Buds Pro truly shine. With Google Assistant just a tap away, you can ask questions and control your smart home devices with ease. The touch controls are intuitive, and the earbuds seamlessly switch between devices. The ear tip seal check feature is also a nice touch, analyzing how well the microphones are canceling out sound and recommending a different size ear tip if needed.
Overall, for a price of $199, the Pixel Buds Pro are an easy recommendation. They have everything you would want in a pair of earbuds, from great sound quality to useful features, and are a significant improvement over their predecessor. So, if you’re looking for a new pair of earbuds, we suggest you give these a try.
