Google’s got a brand new pair of wireless buds available to buy. But are they better than Apple’s AirPods Pro? Let’s take a look at some Google Pixel Buds Pro reviews and find out…
To say Google has a chequered history with headphones would be the understatement of the century. Its first proper wireless earbuds, the Pixel Buds, were utter garbage. Its Pixel Buds 2 were slightly better but were plagued by connectivity issues. The Pixel Buds A-Series, arguably its best headphones to date, were much improved. But all bets were off when it came to Google’s premium buds, the Google Pixel Buds Pro.
Basically, ahead of the Google Pixel Buds Pro’s release, no one knew what to expect. Google’s long-standing issues with quality control know no bounds, so there was no guarantee that its most expensive and feature-rich headphones to date would even work when you unboxed them. And in a market with brands like Bose, Apple, and Samsung, you really cannot get away with this kind of thing.
But, as you’ll see below, Google has finally redeemed itself. The Google Pixel Buds Pro aren’t just serviceable, they’re actually really very good, scoring mostly positive reviews across the board. But before we get to the reviews, let’s first take a look at what new features you’ll find inside the Google Pixel Buds Pro, as well as the specifications and things like battery life – all of which are very important when considering headphones, after all.
Google Pixel Buds Pro Features & What’s New
Google has always liked to make a big song and dance about all the fancy stuff its Pixel Buds can do. 2017’s Pixel Buds were marketed as a pair of earbuds that not only played music (albeit terribly) but could also translate multiple different languages in real-time (again, it did this terribly too). They also ran Google Assistant too, of course.
With the Pixel Buds Pro, you get things like active noise cancellation (ANC) out of the box, Google Assistant built-in, and Google’s Fast Pair for Android which allows for super-quick pairing with your phone. The Pixel Buds Pro runs Bluetooth 5 and the following Bluetooth codecs: AAC and SBC.
Again, this is fine but some additional advanced codecs would have been nice given the price tag for these earbuds.
Internally, the Pixel Buds Pro run custom 11-millimeter drivers tuned by Google’s audio team. The sound they create, while not market-leading nor as impressive as Sony’s WF-1000XM4 buds, is really rather impressive, especially since this is Google we’re talking about here – it is NOT great with this kind of thing usually. Guess The Big G finally invested in some decent audio engineers.
With ANC, it’s a similar story: the active noise cancellation is perfectly adequate but it lacks the finesse you’ll find with products from Bose and Sony. But the important thing here is that ANC is present, it works great, and there are no issues with it. Plus, Google’s Pixel Buds Pro is quite a bit cheaper than anything you’ll get from Bose and Sony too, so that’s definitely a pro for these earbuds.
And lastly, the design. Google has always been good at designing headphones, save for its first pair – they were just terrible. The Pixel Buds A-Series was great and the Pixel Buds Pro follow along in their footsteps, looking smart, futuristic, and perfectly machined. The buds themselves also fit extremely snuggly in your ear canal too, making them not only comfortable to wear but also improving the overall sound experience too.
Google Pixel Buds Pro Specs
- Connectivity: Bluetooth 5, SBC, AAC
- Battery life: seven hours (ANC) plus up to 20 hours with case
- Case dimensions and weight: 63.2 x 50 x 25mm; 50g
- Earbud dimensions and weight: 23.7 x 22 x 22.3mm; 6.2g each
- Water resistance: earbuds IPX4 (splash); case IPX2
- Driver size: 11mm
- Case charging: USB-C, Qi wireless
Google Pixel Buds Pro Battery Life
With battery life, you’re looking at seven hours of playback with ANC activated. The Pixel Buds Pro case, however, brings with it an additional 20 hours’ worth of charge. If you run out of juice mid-way through the day, a quick five-minute blast in the charging case is enough to add in a couple of hours of listening time.
Is this any good? Well, it’s better than Apple’s AirPods Pro – they’ll only do five hours with ANC. But, again, it falls short of Sony’s superior WF-1000XM4 buds which will do eight hours of playback with ANC activated. Still, this is an impressive accomplishment for Google. Apple’s AirPods Pro are, arguably, its closest rival, so beating them in the battery department is yet another solid pro for these headphones.
Google Pixel Buds Pro Reviews
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Are The Google Pixel Buds Pro Worth It?
If you’re looking for a pair of great-sounding ANC earbuds that come with a raft of nifty features like Fast Pairing and Google Assistant, as well as a cool design and a reasonable price tag, it is hard not to like what Google has done with its Pixel Buds Pro headphones. They’re priced right, they sound decent, and they have IPX4 water resistance.
Add in good battery life, solid design, and excellent battery life and I’d argue that Google’s Pixel Buds Pro – for the price point – is very much worth a buy in 2022. Even more so if you run an Android phone. If you’re an iPhone user, I’d give them a miss and pick up a pair of Apple’s AirPods Pro for the best overall seamless integration or, if you want the best of the best in all regards, Sony’s WF-1000XM4 buds.
