Good enough to be Android’s AirPods Pro killer?

The next generation of Google true wireless earbuds and they go “Pro” for the first time. We tested the Pixel Buds Pro for a few days and thought it would be a good idea to give some impressions of Google’s flagship buttons.

Meet the new look, same as the old look

The Google Pixel Buds Pro aren’t really reinventing the wheel, visually. These true wireless earbuds have the same round Mentos-esque look as the Pixel Buds A Series and 2020 Pixel Buds, only now missing the small wingtip studs. This means the earbuds are a little less snug in your ear, but they can also feel a little more comfortable if the old design hurt you. The Pixel Buds Pro are also available in new colors, with a light yellow lemongrass option and a pink coral, in addition to the typical Fog (white) and Charcoal (black).

The case looks almost exactly the same as that of the Pixel Buds A-series, but has some additions under the hood. For starters, it’s now IPX2 rated (the earbuds themselves are IPX4), so you don’t have to worry about opening in a rain shower. Unfortunately, that new color option doesn’t apply to the case, as it only comes in white.

Using the Pixel Buds Pro is pretty much what you’d expect from the average pair of true wireless earbuds. There are touch controls on the ear, and you can play and switch between active noise cancellation (ANC) and Transparency modes with tap or tap and hold.

Volume controls are handled by swiping forward (volume up) and backward (volume down), which is an interesting touch, but I feel a little mixed up about it. It’s nice not to have the uncomfortable sucking effect of tapping directly on something stuck in my ear when I want to change the volume. However, the touch-sensitive surface has a matte texture, which means that swiping over it can pull a bit – as these new earbuds lack the stabilizing fins of their predecessors, that’s a problem. A handful of times I’ve tried to turn up the volume, I’ve pulled the right earbud out of my ear. The Pixel Buds Pro have in-ear detection, meaning this also pauses music.

The earbuds use Bluetooth 5.0 and support the standard SBC audio codec, as well as AAC. It’s a bit of a shame that the creator of Android hasn’t bothered to add an audio codec that allows Android devices to really thrive, like aptX, but I haven’t run into any issues with latency or particularly poor connection quality. If you’re already used to a non-Hi-Res Bluetooth audio experience, this probably won’t feel any different than usual.

If you have a Pixel phone, the Google Pixel Buds app is already installed. Just head over to the connected devices page of your Settings app and you’ll have access to all the software options the Pixel Buds Pro has to offer. Anyone with a different kind of Android phone should use the Google Pixel Buds app from the Play Store. While you can use the Pixel Buds Pro with an iPhone (or an iPad), there is no dedicated app.

The features are pretty well laid out in the app (and the Pixel equivalent), but the options are definitely a bit on the sparse side. You can tweak some of the controls – adding a normal mode option is nice, rather than always being stuck between ANC and Transparency mode – but a lot of the basics are set. There’s no way to change the way you control the volume if you don’t like taking your earbuds off every once in a while.

There’s no direct equalizer or even EQ profiles, but Google has added a feature called Volume EQ, which adjusts the bass and treble output depending on how loud your earbuds are. Basically, it makes the bass and treble easier to hear when you lower the volume. There’s no way to attach this to an on-ear control, so switching back and forth requires switching apps and makes comparisons a bit tricky. So far it seems to work well enough, but the difference is quite minimal.

The Pixel Buds Pro should support Spatial audio through the app, but at the time of writing this is not available. According to Google, that will come in the fall.

Google advertises seven hours on a single charge for the Google Pixel Buds Pro with noise cancellation on. We haven’t done any in-depth battery testing yet, but based on my experience, that feels good. I definitely didn’t feel like I ran out of juice throughout the day, especially considering how much the earbuds go in and out of their charging case. With noise cancellation on, Google claims 20 hours of total playback time, which would mean about 13 hours in the charging case – again, that feels pretty accurate.

The case now also supports wireless charging, which is a nice addition.

The noise reduction is very good

Perhaps the biggest change between Google Pixel Buds Pro and the Pixel Buds A series is that Google has decided to add ANC. This feature can be hit or miss with true wireless earbuds, but it seems pretty good here. If no audio is playing there is a slight noticeable hiss but I noticed it within seconds of starting to play media.

On balance, though, the Pixel Buds Pros’ ANC seems very good so far. Low-end cushioning is certainly good enough for a bus trip or even a plane ride. You probably won’t be completely isolated from someone talking next to you, but it will make that a lot less distracting.

How do the Pixel Buds Pro sound?

Our sister site SoundGuys has in-depth test results coming up, but so far my experience is that the Google Pixel Buds deliver solid audio quality. The bass is definitely a bit more boosted than I like, but rock and pop songs sound great. Listening to a song like “I Can Fly Away” by Delicate Steve, most aspects of the song sound quite nice. The hi-hat can feel a bit penetrating at moderately high volumes, usually indicating some extra emphasis on treble. However, most of the rock songs I listened to sounded fine.

How’s the microphone?

The microphone of the Google Pixel Buds Pros is, in one word, excellent. I’ve had no problems making calls indoors, but when I listen to what it sounds like, it’s pretty clear that this isn’t a show stopper. I can’t imagine anyone will find anything worthwhile to record something like a podcast with these earbuds.

Should you buy the Google Pixel Buds Pro?

The Pixel Buds Pro feels like a good option if you’re an Android user looking for something similar to the Apple AirPods Pro – the microphone isn’t that good, but the battery life and noise cancellation are definitely quite impressive. However, the incomplete app experience so far has been pretty disappointing — even not being able to EQ the earbuds feels like a glaring omission, especially when compared to other competing products, many of which aren’t worth $199.

The Sennheiser CX Plus Truly Wireless ($179) supports aptX and can do just about everything the Pixel Buds Pro can do — minus things like Fast Pair and multipoint — all for about $80 less. The more anonymous Sony Linkbuds S ($198) cost less and offer a much more comprehensive software experience. Meanwhile, Samsung’s Galaxy Buds Pro ($199) may be just as expensive as the Pixel Buds Pro, but they remain a popular option for Android users. If ANC isn’t that important to you, the Pixel Buds A Series ($99) are also still a good option, and are significantly cheaper than the Pro model.