Google Pixel Buds Pro Are Still Worth the Money
Google released the Pixel Buds Pro last year, but the company is still heavily promoting its wireless earbuds, which offer active noise cancellation, sweat and water resistance, and touch controls that make it easy to pop them in and control your music effortlessly. opening your phone.
A year ago, Google made a lot of noise about the release of the Pixel Buds Pro, and while it might be tempting to ignore these headphones in favor of something newer, I wouldn’t write them off so quickly. These are still great headphones and after spending the last few days with them I have a lot of good things to offer.
Comfort
First, let’s talk about one of the most important things to consider when choosing a pair of wireless headphones, or any headphones for that matter: comfort. Comfort is one of the biggest issues many headphones face. I love my AirPods Pro, but they aren’t as comfortable for long periods of time. On the other hand, the Pixel Buds Pro are extremely comfortable, and after wearing them for a long time with every use, I’m happy to report that the comfort doesn’t fade over time.
While the AirPods Pro made my ears hurt after four to five hours, the Pixel Buds Pro made my ears feel completely fine. It’s also not a pass to Apple. AirPods are great headphones. But the Pixel Buds Pro seem to fit the shape of my ears better.
Sound quality
Google designed the Pixel Buds Pro to feature Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) as well as water and sweat resistance with an IPX4 rating. And the ANC works very well here. I tried it out in a busy lobby while getting my oil changed earlier this week and was able to completely tune out the rest of the world while listening to music.
I also tested it with an audiobook and was able to clearly hear what was going on without being drowned out by the real world. Unlike adaptive audio, which adjusts the volume of your headphones based on external noise, the ANC displayed here cancels it out completely, allowing you to listen at different volumes without overloading your ears. This is a good option that allows you to easily listen to music in crowded places without worrying about damaging your ears with music that is too loud.
Overall sound quality is excellent, easily comparable to some more expensive options. Google has done a good job of integrating ANC with the rest of the features, and honestly, I’m blown away by how pleasant the Pixel Buds Pro were to use after the disappointment of the Pixel Buds A.
Touch control
Another nice feature of the Pixel Buds Pro is the touch controls, which allow you to perform various actions by swiping or tapping. You can easily swipe forward or backward to change the volume of the headphones, which I found very useful during calls and listening to music where the volume can sometimes fluctuate due to other factors.
When paired with a smartphone like the Pixel 8 Pro , you can also take full advantage of Transparency Mode and Google Assistant. It was easy to bring up anything in Google Assistant by simply saying “Hey Google” any time I needed to use it.
However, the only downside to touch controls is that you can’t do much to customize the controls themselves, which seems like a missed opportunity, especially considering how customizable Android is in general. The basic setup options come down to in-ear detection, choosing a specific earbud to use with Google Assistant, and the ability to determine which listening modes you want to switch with the earbud.
The Pixel Buds app extends your control by allowing you to switch to Normal mode as one of the built-in listening modes found on the Pixel Buds Pro themselves. The app is also worth downloading as it gives you access to the Find My Device features built into the Pixel Buds Pro, allowing you to easily find each individual earbud if you’ve lost it somewhere around the house. Since its release, Google has also updated the app to include a regular equalizer along with the volume equalizer that was offered at release.
Developing buds
Overall, the Google Pixel Buds Pro have turned out to be quite a set of headphones. The sound quality is good, providing a good listening experience for movies, TV shows, YouTube videos, music and audiobooks. Podcasts also seem crisp and clear, and to be honest, I haven’t had any complaints about the headphones so far, other than how little additional interaction they allow with the iPhone. Sure, they connect easily to iPhone and Apple products, but if you want the extra features found in the Pixel Buds app, you’re out of luck. This isn’t surprising since Apple did the same thing with its own AirPods, but it does mean the Pixel Buds Pro won’t be a full replacement for the AirPods Pro if you’re using an iPhone.
However, if you want to get into the technical details, the Pixel Buds Pro don’t support aptx, which is a much better codec on Android devices. It defaults to AAC or SBS instead, which is an interesting choice considering they’re primarily aimed at Android owners. While the lack of aptx won’t be a big problem, the codecs you choose may provide some inconsistent latency that ruins video and audio on certain devices. I haven’t encountered this myself, but it’s an issue others have reported with the Pixel Buds Pro in the past and something you should be aware of when purchasing.
Overall, the Pixel Buds Pro seem like solid headphones, and they’re one of the best options if you’re looking for something that will be comfortable for hours on end and provide reliable audio quality. But if you’re not using an Android phone, I’d recommend using something like the AirPods Pro instead, as they provide more features for iPhones and non-Android devices.
Pros:
- Excellent sound quality
- Very comfortable for hours on end
- Durable design that fits well with most devices.
Minuses:
- The lack of aptx means some latency issues on some devices.
- Could play better on non-Android devices.