Pixel Buds Pro 2: my hands-on review

Two years after debuting the Pixel Buds Pro, the 2nd Gen version is here. While on the surface they look the same, there’s some updates and improvements here. For starters, they are smaller and lighter which should make the fit more comfortable, and they bring back the stabilizing silicone fin for secure support. What else is new?

I got a pre-release set of Peony Pink Pixel Buds Pro 2 from Google and while the company did gift them to me in advance of their public launch to allow me time to test them, the company has not asked for nor received permission to have any input into this review and I got to test them out as I wanted. You can consider these thoughts my own.

In this review I’ll take a look at what’s new including the addition of AI-powered assistant Gemini Live, how the other new features work, how they sound and if I can recommend Pixel Buds Pro 2, for you.

What’s new with Pixel Buds Pro 2?

The bold new colour aside, Pixel Buds Pro 2 look similar to the previous version, but when you hold one of the new Buds next to the Gen 1, you can see the difference. Officially these are 27% smaller and 24% lighter, but what will that mean for you? I found they felt far less fat and bulky in my ears, making them extremely comfortable. The smaller size does make them perhaps a little fiddlier to grip and place, but you should get used to this fairly quickly.

Watch my full hands-on review of Pixel Buds Pro 2

Fit and feel

After dumping it from the Gen 1 Buds Pro, Google has brought back the silicone fin found in the original Pixel Buds in the new design. This time it’s less a hook and more of a small silicone ridge.

It’s barely noticeable but does provide some additional grip on the buds, helping them feel more secure in the ear.

I found these are the most comfortable ear buds I’ve tried in a long long time; I completely forget I’m wearing them after just minutes, and I can wear them longer than pretty much every other earbud. The fit is so perfectly seamless that it’s easy to forget you’re wearing them, and that’s saying a lot when it comes to earbuds. Most earbuds are far too large; designed to hold larger sound drivers and bigger batteries. Here Google has put fit and comfort above and succeeds in making these extremely wearable.

The pebble shaped case is touchably smooth and soft and slides easily into pocket or purse. It has this matte softness that just makes you want to hold it and play with it, kind of like you might do with a smooth river stone.

The buds themselves keep the similarly nature-inspired feel with perfectly rounded edges, and sit very flush with the ear.

Set up

Setting up the Pixel Buds Pro was easy, and I tried it on both the Pixel 9 smartphone and the Apple iPhone 15. The buds will link automatically to a Pixel phone using Fast Pair and you’ll be connected without much work from you; just open the lid and watch for the light on the case to flash, then you’ll see a pop up on your screen.

On an iPhone, you need to push the small pairing button on the back of the charging case and wait for a light to flash. Then go to your phone’s Bluetooth settings and tap to connect.

Can I use Pixel Buds Pro with Apple iPhone?

One of the first questions I get asked with Pixel Buds is if they work with Apple phones and the answer is YES—I’ve been using mine for the last year with an iPhone and actually think they are far superior to AirPods. While Google has obviously created these for use with its Pixel phones (like the new Pixel 9 which I just reviewed), and other Android phones, Pixel Buds Pro do work as a standard Bluetooth earbud for other Bluetooth devices, including iOS, tablets, and laptops. If you use this with a non-Android device you won’t get access to the Pixel Buds App for additional control and settings.

Pixel Buds app

Let’s see what you get with that app:

The Google Pixel Buds app lets you manage and set up your Pixel Buds Pro on Android 6.0+ devices. You can use the app to do things like:

● Check battery levels: See the battery levels of your
earbuds and case
● Control features: Control features like Adaptive Sound,
in-ear detection, find device, digital assistant, and spoken
notifications
● Learn touch controls: Learn how to use touch controls on
your Pixel Buds
● Ring your earbuds: Ring your earbuds to help you find
them
● Get tips and support

Noise Cancellation and Transparency Mode

Pixel Buds Pro 2 keep Noise Cancellation and Transparency Mode which is becoming more standard these days. Noise cancellation of course will block out extraneous sound, while transparency mode will let you keep an ear out for the doorbell or your boss calling for you.

The Noise cancellation works incredibly well, and the Ambient Mode is among the best I’ve tried; it sounds completely natural; as if you’re not wearing any earbuds, and there’s none of that hollow tinniness or echo that you get using Transparency Mode on a lot of other earbuds and headphones.

Sound & Call quality

Now is a good time to talk sound quality. From the beginning I’ve been impressed by Pixel Buds audio quality. They sound just as good as a much more expensive pair and really seem like they’re punching well above their weight. I listened to a variety of music and audio during my week or so with the buds before their public launch. I found that the earbuds are extremely well balanced and have an incredibly rich sound overall.

Music sounds amazing on Pixel Buds Pro 2. The bass is subtle but vibrant, the vocals are clear, and there’s lot of fine details in the sound. I’ve had a pair of Pixel Buds as my go-to headphones since the first version was launched because they’re the best, and these continue the high quality audio tradition and seem to even add a little bit more too.

When it came to phone or video calls, the Pixel Buds Pro 2 were similarly great. Audio sounded clear and it seems like background noise is minimized.

Listening to podcasts, the speech quality is clear and accurate and really top notch.

One thing I did notice during my testing is that if I would pinch the buds in order to twist them and get a better fit, sometimes there would be almost a squeaking or a chirp noise in my ear that sounded a bit like low-grade feedback. It was only when I would grasp them more firmly and twist and it never happened at any other time, and to that end it was extremely intermittent. I’m not sure if this is some kind of pre-release issue that I’m experiencing, so I reached out to ask Google.

Touch Controls

Touch controls are built in to Pixel Buds Pro 2 and they’re super responsive. Swiping front to back on the buds adjusts volume and touching and holding the buds will swap between Noice Cancelling and Transparency.

Spatial Audio & Head Tracking

Another feature that’s becoming more common in more advanced earbuds and headphones are spatial audio and head tracking. In the Pixel Buds Pro 2, they kind of work hand in hand but you can choose to only enable one or the other or both if you want.

Spatial audio is a pretty cool feature that allows music to seem like it’s coming from all around you. The sound of instruments and voices is placed so that it seems like it’s coming from all around you, not just being piped into your ear canal. It kind of mimics the effect of a multi-speaker surround sound setup.

Head tracking on the other hand is another neat effect that essentially keeps the audio sounding like it’s coming from in front of you, so as if you were watching TV, but if you turned your head to the right you would hear the sound more clearly with your right ear. And then if you twist your head back around to the left, the sound follows your movement. Head Tracking is possibly most noticeable watching movies and TV shows on your phone, and you can use it now with streaming services such as HBO Max and Netflix Premium.

Gemini & Gemini Live

This year Google has been all about Gemini its new artificial intelligence assistant. Gemini as a service, which is very similar to chat GPT, allows you to ask questions and make requests using AI. For the most part this is a written interface where you type a request in. The next level of that is known as Gemini Live. Gemini Live allows you to carry on a more natural conversation verbally with the Gemini assistant. I’ve been trying it out over the last couple of months and have found it extremely helpful, very intelligent and it works surprisingly well.

Gemini Live does require a Gemini Advanced subscription, but it essentially lets you invoke the assistant to carry on a conversation and throw multiple requests at Gemini that it can answer quite easily.

Technically Gemini is different from the Google Assistant…and obviously it has a different name, but strictly speaking, Google has engineered Gemini in the earbuds to be invoked by using the Google assistant name. I have to say I’m getting a little confused by the branding differences between Gemini and Google assistant and would love some clarity about whether these two assistants are definitely going to be separate entities going forward or if they will eventually merge into one.

As it is, if I want help from Gemini while wearing the Buds Pro 2 I say, ‘Hey Google, let’s talk’… and it will summon the Gemini Live assistant for me.

I asked it to help me brainstorm ideas for new reviews, for weather info and for it to list upcoming holidays.

It can even do something as complex as take a photo of a recipe, then you can put the phone away and ask Gemini or Google what the ingredients are.

While Gemini Live does use my Pixel 9 smartphone as its base, you can shut the phone off or put it away and still make your requests; as long as the phone is nearby.

Battery Life & Charging

Google has essentially kept the battery life on these the same as the previous generation. It appears it’s trying to squeeze out an extra hour or so from the buds, but for the most part the specs on listening time are largely holding steady; you’ll get about eight hours in the buds and about 30 in the case. Technically speaking that’s actually pretty good, and considering that Google shrunk the design by one-third, in favour of comfort— and still managed to hold the battery life steady— that’s actually kind of remarkable.

The Buds Pro 2 will charge with a wired USB-C connection or wireless charging. Fast charging is also packed in: charge for 15 minutes to quickly grab up to three hours of extra battery life.

Comfortable for Sleeping?

Unlike 95% of earbuds out there these are comfortable and soft enough to sleep in, even for side sleepers. Google’s shrinking of the size and weight have made these an even better option for sleepers and laying on them doesn’t trigger the touch controls.

Multiple connections

You can connect Pixel Buds Pro to multiple devices like phones, tablets and computers, and Google calls this Audio Switch (Formerly Multipoint). There’s no need to click into Bluetooth menus, and Multipoint connectivity lets you automatically switch between compatible devices including Android, iOS, tablets, and laptops.

I can confirm this works amazingly well, even between both the Pixel 9 and Apple iPhone 15; the signal stayed connected to both simultaneously, making it easy to answer work and personal calls. You do have to toggle this feature on first in the Pixel Buds app on a Pixel phone.

Overall Review: Google Pixel Buds 2

Overall I’m incredibly impressed by the way Google is able to keep improving and innovating with these earbuds. Let’s go over the pros and cons…

When it comes to the Pros… the fit, design and comfort are even better than the original Pros way outdo any close competitor. The sound quality is fantastic, the bass is solid and the overall sound is so well balanced.

Noise cancellation and Transparency mode work super well and transparency mode in particular lets you let that audio in without the annoying hum or hollowness .
It’s also good to see popular features like multiple device connections, translation, and in-ear detection are still packed into these tiny buds. The touch controls work well, and in-all they are a joy to wear and use.

Downsides? Honestly I’m struggling to find any issues with these or valid complaints. Yes things I could complain about are that Google did not improve the battery life, but given the substantial size shrinkage, I’d say it could be forgiven.

There was also that weird intermittent squeak when I adjusted, but it seems to have disappeared for now.

I can definitely recommend Google Pixel Buds Pro to you —especially for Pixel Phone users and yes, even for iPhone owners.

The Buds Pro 2 have gotten a slight price increase from the original Buds Pro; Now selling for $229US/$299CAD and you can get them from Google’s website and from Amazon.

And Buds Pro 2 are made to work perfectly with Pixel phones, so you should check out my hands on review of the Google pixel 9 smart phone. Or see why my favourite fitness and activity tracking device is the new Pixel Watch 3.. right now.

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