Google’s AirPods competitor is finally ready. The Pixel Buds are true wireless earbuds that aim to be all things to all people with a hybrid design that’s neither fully open nor isolating.
The £179 earphones are Google’s second attempt at Bluetooth earbuds, the first being not great. The new version dispense with the wire and adopt a tried-and-tested approach: earbuds that slot into a small and pocketable case.
The buds are small and low-profile, similar in size to Samsung’s excellent Galaxy Buds+. They have a white touch-sensitive disc on the outside, with a small embossed G logo in the middle, and have both a traditional silicone ear tip and a silicone stabiliser wing to hold them in place.
Unlike most earbuds with a silicone ear tip they don’t create the “plugged in” feeling, as they have vents in the body that equalise the pressure between your ear canal and the outside world for a more comfortable experience. Apple’s AirPods Pro do something similar.
That means you get the benefit of the silicone ear tip, namely better sound quality and a more stable fit, but without the downsides. At least in theory.
Putting them in is a simple: insert and twist until the wing holds them securely in place wedged against the inside of your ear. They are very stable and don’t protrude very far, fitting easily under hats (or masks).
They were comfortable for me for up to an hour, before the wing dug into my ears enough to force me to take a break. Others who wore them found them comfortable for much longer.
Specifications
Water resistance: IPX4
Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0, SBC, AAC
Battery life: 5 hours listening, up to 24 hours with case
Earbud dimensions: 20.5 x 19.5 x 18.2mm
Earbud weight: 5.3g
Driver size: 12mm
Charging case dimensions: 47 x 63 x 25mm
Charging case weight: 56.1g
Case charging: USB-C, Qi wireless charging
Case and battery
The case is one of the best. The earbuds clip in place via magnets and the lid shuts with a satisfying snap. It has both USB-C and Qi wireless charging, and can charge the earbuds up to 3.8 times.
They last for just shy of five hours of continuous listening on a full charge, which combined with additional charges from the case adds up to 24 hours of playback. A 10-minute quick charge in the case adds up to two hours of listening.
The earbuds discharge at different rates, dynamically swapping which one is in direct connection to your phone to even out power consumption. The battery only lasts 2.5 hours if used for calls.
Sustainability
Google does not provide an estimate for the expected number of full charge cycles from the Pixel Buds’ batteries, which is typically 500 while maintaining at least 80% capacity. Like the majority of true wireless earbuds, the Pixel Buds are not repairable making them ultimately disposable. Out of warranty replacements earbuds or cases are available at a cost of £65 each, while eartips cost £8 for three sets.
The case is made with some post-consumer recycled plastic, part of Google’s commitment to including recycled materials in all its products launching from 2022. Google will recycle all Pixel devices free of charge, including the Pixel Buds.
Connectivity and controls
The Pixel Buds support Google’s Fast Pair with Android devices. Open the case for the first time, or press the button on the bottom of the case if pairing with another device, place them near a phone and watch for an on-screen popup. That’s it. Microsoft’s Surface Buds support a similar function, with both Android phones and Windows PCs, as do Apple’s AirPods with the iPhone.
The Pixel Buds are standard Bluetooth 5 earbuds, however, and will pair just fine manually with most devices, including iPhones, iPads, Macs, PCs etc. They connect to only one device at a time, but you can switch between devices without having to manually disconnect them first.
Connection to a OnePlus 8 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro and several Windows 10 laptops was rock solid. But given the Covid-19 situation in the UK, I could not test them in congested areas.
The controls are some of the very best, balancing sensitivity and prevention of accidental activation better than any other touch-control earbuds I’ve tested. Swipe forward or backwards to adjust volume. Tap once to pause or play, twice and thrice to skip forward or back a track, tap and hold to talk to Google Assistant or hear your notifications. Take an earbud out and the music pauses, resuming on reinsertion.
Sound
The Pixel Buds are unique in that they blend the bass and full sound of a set of silicone tip earbuds with the open air awareness of earbuds such as the AirPods and Surface Earbuds.
As such you get a good-sounding, full experience, excellent for everyday listening with reasonable bass and good separation of instruments and tones. They sound good with most music genres, producing fairly balanced sound that’s crisp when needed, with punchy bass and mids. They lack really deep bass, sounding a bit flat with Lindsey Stirling’s Crystallize, and lack a bit of subtlety for orchestral music.
They sound on-par with Samsung’s Galaxy Buds+, but don’t quite reach the sonic highs of Sony’s (RRP) £220 WF-1000XM3.
One thing they lack is any form of sound isolation. The vents that avoid the plugged-in feeling let in sound, which is excellent for awareness out on the street, but not for blocking out those around you. I could clearly hear someone in another room on the phone or a plane flying overhead. They are slightly better than the AirPods and Surface Earbuds, but not much, and aren’t anywhere close to the AirPods Pro which have similar vents but also noise cancelling.
Call quality was good on both ends, coming across loud and clear in quiet spaces. But the lack of isolation let sound in on my side and the other end of the call could clearly hear background noise.
Google Assistant
It wouldn’t be a Google product without some sort of fancy Assistant integration. The Pixel Buds get the standard Assistant functions available with many other headphones, including the ability to read out your notifications, the time and alerts, plus tap and hold to talk to Assistant.
But the Pixel Buds can also listen out for the “Hey, Google” wakeword, similar to Google’s smart speakers. This works well but I prefer to keep Assistant at a button press.
Google Translate is the standout feature, which uses the app on your phone to translate your speech and others’ into and out of your language. For instance, you can speak in English and the phone will translate it out loud into German, while doing the reverse into your ears. Not a feature I could thoroughly test in lockdown, but an extension of an existing function of the Google Translate app that does work well.
Observations
The tones for indicating when connections are made and other events are very pleasant.
I fear the smooth white case will look dirty pretty fast, going into and out of jeans pockets.
No latency or lipsync issues were seen with video, but they were significant with games.
Price
The Google Pixel Buds cost £179 in white. A black version will be available at a later date.
For comparison, Apple AirPods have an RRP of £159, the AirPods Pro cost £249, the Samsung Galaxy Buds+ cost £159, Microsoft’s Surface Earbuds cost £199.99, the Jabra Elite 75t cost £169.99, the Libratone Track Air+ cost £179, the Sony WF-1000XM3 cost £169 and the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 cost £279.
Verdict
The second-generation Google Pixel Buds are a significant improvement on the first with a fairly unique combination of an open-air-like fit with the full sound that requires a silicone ear tip.
The combination will please those that hate the “plugged in” feeling of traditional earbuds, but don’t like the fit of Apple’s AirPods or Microsoft’s Surface Earbuds. Once in the Pixel Buds aren’t going to fall out.
The sound is good, the touch controls are best in class and the battery life matches or betters rivals. Fast pairing is great, so is the optional Google Assistant integration. The earbuds are low-profile in your ear and the case is pocketable too. But they don’t offer much in the way of noise isolation, don’t have active noise cancellation and the stabiliser wing cannot be adjusted, meaning they weren’t comfortable for more than an hour at a time for me. They’re also more expensive than my current top standard true wireless earbuds, the £159 or less Galaxy Buds+.
The Pixel Buds are a good set of true wireless earbuds that offer a fit and sound combination that is a little different from the rest.
Pros: small, stable, open fit with eartip, good sound, good case, solid battery life, great gestures, Fast Pair, Google Assistant, USB-C, wireless charging, AAC
Cons: not much sound isolation, no noise cancelling, can’t connect to two devices at the same time, no aptX, stabiliser wing not adjustable
Other reviews
Galaxy Buds+ review: Samsung’s AirPods killers are now for everyone
Jabra Elite 75t review: small and long lasting AirPod beaters
Libratone Track Air+ review: the noise-cancelling AirPods Apple won’t give you
Sony WF-1000XM3 review: updated noise-cancelling earbuds sound great
Best true wireless earbuds 2019: AirPods, Samsung, Jabra and Anker compared and ranked
