Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 Review: Premium Earbuds With Top Shelf Sound
Refined Design Helps The Pixel Buds Pro 2 Stand Out In A Crowded Earbud Market
| Pixel Buds Pro 2 - Available for $229 The Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 are compact, comfortable, offer excellent active noise cancellation and sound great, but they don't come cheap.
|
|||
|
|
||
With the analog headphone jack long since dead and buried, Bluetooth earbuds are almost a requirement for smartphones and even most laptops. As such, most major smartphone OEMs have their own personal audio lines, and Google is no exception. It has released myriad earbuds over the years, with the latest Pixel Buds Pro 2 launching alongside this year's Pixel 9 family. The Pixel Buds Pro 2 continue Google's tradition of spendy accessories at $229, but you do get a lot for their price tag.
Google's new Pixel Buds Pro 2 have excellent active noise cancellation, a much smaller footprint, and quality, refined audio tuning. However, you'll have the best experience when using these earbuds with Pixel phones, and audiophiles won't necessarily groove on codec support here. Still, the Pixel Buds Pro 2 could be the right earbuds for a lot of people, so read on for our deep dive evaluation.
Google Pixel Buds Pro 2: Design And Fit
With the case closed, the Pixel Buds Pro 2 are a dead ringer for the last-gen model. The smooth pill-shaped case has the same white exterior as previous Google earbuds, but the earbuds themselves come in a few different colors (our test unit is Hazel). The case has the same Bluetooth pairing button on the back, which we prefer to using the touch controls like some earbuds require. We've tested the buds on various phones, and they've been superbly reliable—no trouble connecting, no dropouts, and no distortion.The USB-C charging port is on the bottom, but you can also charge the earbuds with a wireless pad. Next to the USB is the only external change to the updated earbuds: a speaker. The case works with Google's Find My Device network. The speaker can be employed to produce a tone to help you find the earbuds. It also beeps to tell you when the case battery is low. It's a nice extra.
The case flips open easily while still remaining firmly closed when you leave it floating around in a bag It is also IPX4 rated, meaning it can survive the occasional splash. Most earbud cases don't have any protection, so this is nice to see. The earbuds are IP54, so they're resistant to both dust and moisture like other high-end earbuds. The Pixel Buds Pro 2 drop cleanly into the case, and the charging contacts are near the top of the slots, making them easy to clean.
While the case hasn't changed much, Google totally redesigned the earbuds that go inside. The last Pro buds were a bit bulky, and the lack of wings made them unstable and awkward to position. The Pixel Buds Pro 2 are significantly more compact, weighing just 4.7 grams per earbud. They're easy to insert, and the wings help them stay in place even if you're wearing them at the gym.
The Pixel Buds Pro 2 use customizable tap and swipe commands on the G logo to control playback. Swiping up and down will raise and lower volume, respectively. A single tap is play-pause, two taps triggers skip, and three taps is previous. You can press and hold the right earbud to activate voice control, while the other long-press toggles ANC. The earbuds detect taps and swipes well, but they do sometimes shift a little in your ear when you reach up to press the touchpad. That can cause a tap to be detected as a swipe, if you're not careful.
Google Pixel Buds Pro 2: Sound Quality And Features
The Pixel Buds Pro 2 focus on the experience more so than ticking spec sheet boxes. These earbuds operate over AAC with SBC as a compatibility backup—no LDAC or other hi-fi options. Bluetooth audio comes with certain limitations, as does the earbud form factor. Google equipped the Pixel Buds Pro 2 with 11mm drivers, the same size it used in the 2022 Pixel Buds Pro. There's only so much you can do with such a compact device to bring out the fine details in music.
Even with the smaller form factor and AAC audio, Pixel Buds Pro 2 sound great. We tested these earbuds with a variety of sources, both lossless and compressed, but most people stream their music from Spotify, YouTube Music, or a similar service. For this, the Pixel Buds Pro 2 perform just as well as competing high-end buds. For people who demand higher audio fidelity, larger over-ear headphones with hi-fi codec support are a better option. Audiophiles may turn up their nose at the lack of LDAC, but in practice, earbuds benefit minimally from lossless streams.
Google's default EQ options should please just about everyone. The audio is clear and crisp across the entire spectrum. As you'd expect for earbuds, though, the lows lack oomph. We also noted some distortion in the mids when cranking the volume up. However, you'll reach the limits of ear health (which is tracked by the earbuds and accessible in the settings) before the Pixel Buds Pro 2 start to sound fuzzy.
Pairing the earbuds is a snap, and they support multipoint for easy switching between devices. Even if you've never used it with a particular Android device, Google's Fast Pair should remember the Pixel Buds Pro 2 for even easier setup. There's a full Pixel Bud app you can install, but most modern Android phones can access all the Pixel Buds Pro 2 features in the system Bluetooth settings. You'll need a Pixel phone to take advantage of spatial audio and head tracking, but neither one is a must-have feature for most folks.
Google says it designed a new chip to power the Pixel Buds Pro 2, known as the Tensor A1. The chip allows for faster audio processing to improve audio and noise canceling. The last gen Pixel Buds Pro already offered solid ANC, but the Pixel Buds Pro 2 are better. They effectively block out most sounds, especially the drone of a crowd or street noise. While there is a small impact on sound quality with ANC enabled, it's not as noticeable as some earbuds. Google's ANC is almost at the level of Sony or Bose. Passthrough audio is also fantastic. It's clear and loud—you can easily carry on a conversation with audio transparency enabled on the Pixel Buds Pro 2.
Taking calls on the Pixel Buds Pro 2 is also impressive thanks to the A1 chip. Callers had no trouble hearing us, and their audio was crystal clear. The earbuds also support Clear Calling, which uses AI to reduce background noise. However, Clear Calling is another Pixel exclusive that only works when paired to a Pixel 7 or newer. We tested this with both Google and non-Google phones—both worked fine, but if you compare side-by-side, Clear Calling makes noisy calls slightly easier to hear.
Past Google earbuds have included Assistant, but the Pixel Buds Pro 2 feature Gemini. After triggering voice control (long-press on the right bud by default), you can ask questions, play music, and even generate blocks of text with the generative AI bot that it will read to you via the earbuds. The latter doesn't make a lot of sense with earbuds—Gemini can just keep talking and talking even after simple queries—but all the basics work fine. Gemini is, however, much more open ended than Assistant, and that can make it more likely to get confused and reject commands.
Google promises eight hours of playback with ANC and 12 hours without. We've been seeing longevity right in that range, which is somewhat higher than other high-end earbuds. The charging case adds roughly three more charge cycles to the earbuds. For casual listening, these buds might only need a recharge once per week. Even if you're constantly listening to something, you can go a few days without plugging in these buds.
Google Pixel Buds Pro 2: Our Final Analysis
People who have hopped on the Pixel bandwagon are lucky to have the Pixel Buds Pro 2 now as an option. They're on the expensive side, but they offer a compelling premium audio option to match the AirPods Pro. They're compact, comfortable, and have solid battery life. While they don't support lossless media codecs, audio reproduction is overall very good as long, as you don't demand the thumpiest bass.Google's noise canceling tech has improved over the years and is now almost on par with the market leaders. The Pixel Buds Pro 2 can block out the world effectively without significantly affecting the way your tunes sound. Passthrough audio is also crisp and clear. Likewise, phone calls work great, particularly if used with a Pixel phone.
Google made a big deal of Gemini integration, which is not surprising given the company's single-minded focus on generative AI these days. Gemini is a fine virtual assistant in the same way Google Assistant was, but many of the bot's advanced features don't make a ton of sense with earbuds. Still, if you want to have Gemini recite detailed answers to your questions, the Pixel Buds Pro 2 can do that.
The Pixel Buds Pro 2 have both Clear Calling and spatial audio when connected to Pixel phones, but it's not a deal breaker to lose those with other phones. The Buds Pro 2 could still be the right earbuds for use with other Android phones on the basis of their great fit, ANC and audio fidelity. Most recent Android phones also have native settings support for these buds, so you don't even have to install an app to control them.
The $229 price tag will scare some people away, but good earbuds are often worth it. Apple's comparable AirPods Pro are $250, and the Sony XM5s are $300. The Pixel Buds Pro 2 are fine at MSRP, but they're a killer deal if you can catch them on sale. Google had been selling the buds for $199 this past holiday season, which would make them hard to pass up, if you can find them at that price again.
