Not Enough People Are Talking About The Google Pixel Buds' Best Feature - Especially Android Fans

ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• The Google Pixel Buds 2a are disposable for $129 successful Hazel and Iris.
• They connection an array of package features to an extended catalog of Android phones, which is their top strength.
• They do a batch of things, but nary of them peculiarly well, which is communal for midrange earbuds.

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Nothing thumps having a pocketable brace of buds that you tin easy popular successful your ear, return a telephone call, summon your digital assistant to make a market database aliases adhd an arena to your calendar, aliases simply perceive to euphony and artifact retired nan engaged situation astir you. 

Although my AirPods are my go-to mundane earbuds, I perfectly cringe anytime an Android user buys a brace of AirPods -- I go an angel losing its wings, if you will. Why salary $250 for buds to suffer entree to a agelong database of their astir useful package features? 

Also: These Google earbuds connection nan eventual listening acquisition for Android users - moreover connected non-Pixel phones

But Google's Pixel Buds 2a airs different question: do you request to bargain nan premium Pixel Buds Pro 2 erstwhile nan Buds 2a are cheaper and committedness immoderate of nan premium model's champion features? How galore Pixel Buds features are worthy an other $100? I wore nan Buds 2a for a week to find out.

Starting pinch audio, nan Buds 2a sound good. I don't person thing particularly bully aliases bad to opportunity astir their sound profile. There's noticeable bass that sometimes muddies, coming vocals, and awesome separation, but they person a overmuch narrower soundstage than nan Pixel Buds Pro 2, moreover pinch spatial audio enabled. I for illustration nan treble to beryllium brighter, and fortunately, Google offers a five-band equalizer that helped my cause. 

I won't prime up nan Buds 2a for a heavy listening session, but they do nan instrumentality for passive listening erstwhile I'm astatine nan gym aliases meandering done nan market store. Google equipped nan Buds 2a pinch nan aforesaid Tensor AI spot that powers nan earbuds' noise-canceling abilities. However, Google says nan Buds Pro 2 characteristic Silent Seal 2.0 retired of nan gate, whereas nan Buds 2a person Silent Seal 1.5.

Also: Your Google Pixel Buds conscionable sewage 4 audio upgrades for free - including a large 1 for gestures

It's difficult to quantify nan expected half-step betterment successful sound cancellation that nan Buds Pro 2 connection complete nan Buds 2a, though their lesser capacity is noticeable successful noisy environments. Aside from nan audible sound level erstwhile progressive sound cancellation (ANC) is enabled, nan Buds 2a do a good occupation astatine muffling exterior noises. 

Jada Jones/ZDNET

At nan gym, nan overhead euphony and clanking weights were an overwhelming force for nan Buds 2a's ANC. However, if you'd alternatively not usage powerful ANC, whether to debar nan clogging emotion successful your receptor aliases to enactment semi-aware of your surroundings, nan Buds 2a are a coagulated option. You tin count connected them to importantly trim sound successful your surroundings without creating a bubble of ANC astir you.

Still, nan Pixel Buds 2a's fresh is their top strength, and is nan superior logic why nan sound cancellation useful arsenic good arsenic it does. They fresh snug successful my ears, acknowledgment to nan earbuds' wingtips. They stayed successful my ears during bouts connected nan treadmill, sets of sit-ups, and a convention of at-home yoga pinch minimal adjustments.

The Buds 2a athletics an IP54 rating, making them protected from particulate and h2o splashes. So, if you stash nan earbuds successful your pocket, they should beryllium protected from lint. If you deterioration them to nan gym aliases successful ray rain, you should beryllium fine. However, nan charging lawsuit has an IPX4 rating, meaning it wasn't formally tested for particulate ingress, truthful you'll want to support its charging larboard free of dust.

Also: I'm a longtime Pixel instrumentality - but I'm skipping nan latest model, and here's why

The Buds 2a support Gemini integration, provided your smartphone natively supports it aliases tin download nan Gemini app. This characteristic connected nan Buds 2a, conscionable for illustration immoderate different earbuds pinch integer adjunct compatibility, is little awesome connected nan buds' end, since your smartphone does nan mostly of nan dense lifting. 

Still, thing I greatly admit astir nan Pixel Buds statement is that they are extensively compatible pinch Android devices, not conscionable Pixel smartphones and tablets. Older Android phones moving package arsenic precocious arsenic Android 6.0 tin entree nan Pixel Buds' in-ear Google Translate compatibility and Google Assistant features, allowing hands-free functions, specified arsenic making telephone calls, sending texts, mounting reminders, aliases checking nan weather. This backward compatibility is easy my favourite characteristic of nan caller Pixel Buds.

Jada Jones/ZDNET

Android devices moving Android 10 aliases later tin switch Google Assistant pinch Gemini to complete much analyzable tasks, specified arsenic summarizing emails from Gmail aliases creating euphony playlists. All you request to do is download nan Gemini app. For reference, nan astir caller type of Android is 16. 

To put this capacity successful perspective, Samsung's and Apple's earbud translation features are not only constricted to Galaxy and iOS devices, respectively, but besides require devices to support nan latest software. With caller AI-powered upgrades to Google Translate, a larger number of Android devices tin now maximize nan earbuds' capabilities.

ZDNET's buying advice

The Google Pixel Buds 2a are a coagulated midrange action for group who person aggregate Android devices and want a brace of earbuds that tin support their regular audio needs without breaking nan bank. If you can't warrant nan value of Google's premium earbuds, nan Buds 2a are a awesome 2nd choice.

In nan audio department, nan Buds 2a don't do thing peculiarly spectacular aliases peculiarly unspeakable -- their audio, sound cancellation, and transparency mode abilities are perfectly middle-of-the-line. The earbuds excel successful their package compatibility pinch an extended scope of Android devices, making them perfect for users pinch older Android devices, arsenic good arsenic those pinch a caller smartphone and an older tablet, aliases those pinch a Pixel phone and an Android tablet.

Still, nan Pixel Buds Pro 2 are $100 much for a reason. They present precocious features, specified arsenic speech detection, low-latency gaming mode, longer artillery life, wireless charging, beamforming microphones, and much robust proceeding protection features.