With a snugger fit and improved noise cancellation, the Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 earbuds are out to win over the Android faithful.
Truly wireless earbuds have come a long way in the last few years. They started life as the poor cousin of over-ear headphones, but wireless earbuds have improved considerably in terms of both sound quality and noise cancellation.
Decent bulky over-ear noise-cancelling headphones are still your saviour on long-haul flights, but pocketable noise-cancelling earbuds can hold their own when it comes to your daily commute or working in a noisy shared environment.
Following on from 2022’s original Google Pixel Buds Pro, Google’s new Buds Pro 2 faces some stiff competition from the likes of Bose, Samsung, Sennheiser and Sony when it comes to claiming the title of ‘AirPods for Android’ – the equivalent of the Apple AirPods Pro (2nd generation) and the new Apple AirPods 4.
Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 review
First impressions
The major design change with the Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 is the inclusion of tiny fins on the back of each earbud. They’re designed to slide into the groove of your ear when you insert an earbud and then rotate it backwards.
Google dubs the fin a “twist-to-adjust stabiliser” and it certainly goes a long way to addressing the shortcomings of the original Pixel Buds Pro when it comes to fitting and staying firmly in your ears.
Twisting the fins into place gives you a firmer fit to reduce the likelihood of dislodging the earbuds while exercising, which is always more of a challenge when wearing earbuds that don’t feature AirPods-esque stems.
The snugger fit also offers a tighter seal for noise cancellation, plus Google includes the choice of four ear tips in the box – Medium is attached by default but it’s worth experimenting with.
The earbuds are also smaller and lighter than their predecessors, which helps them stay in place.
That said, the Pixel Buds Pro 2’s awkward shape still means it’s not as simple and intuitive to insert them in your ears as it is with earbuds that feature stems.
It takes a little practice to get them sitting in the right spot for optimal sound quality and noise cancellation. I found myself fiddling with them more than other earbuds I’ve tested, which becomes frustrating.
Once they’re firmly in your ears, they’re a little less noticeable than something like Apple AirPods. Unlike Apple, you get a choice of four colours – Porcelain or Hazel if you’re looking to blend in, or else Wintergreen or Peony if you want to stand out.
Regardless of earbud colour, they all come with a white charge case which has undergone some upgrades from its predecessor.
The case is still the same size and shape, with a footprint that’s a tad larger than the AirPods Pro 2 case. It retains a USB-C charging port and Qi-certified wireless charging.
Now you can link the case with Google’s Find My Device, which is handy if you misplace it. There’s a little speaker hole at the bottom so it can alert you to its location when it slips between the couch cushions.
Google has also improved the ruggedness, with the earbuds now rated IP54 and the charging case IPX4 so they are all “sweat and water-resistant”.
Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 specs and price in Australia
| Ear coupling | Ear canal |
| Speaker | Custom-designed 11 mm dynamic speaker driver |
| Microphone | Three per earbud, with wind-blocking mesh covers |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth 5.4 Bluetooth multipoint LE Audio Super wideband |
| Noise cancellation | Active Noise Cancellation with Silent Seal 2.0 Transparency mode Conversation Detection |
| Battery | With Active Noise Cancellation off, up to 12 hours of listening time and up to 48 hours of total listening time with the charging case. With Active Noise Cancellation on, up to 8 hours of listening time and up to 30 hours of total listening time with the charging case. Five-minute charge of earbuds in the charging case delivers up to 1.5 hours of listening time with Active Noise Cancellation off. |
| Charging | USB-C Qi wireless |
| Weather resistance | Earbuds: IP54 Case: IPX4 |
| Dimensions | 22.74 x 23.08 x 17.03 mm each (with medium eartip) 49.9 x 63.3 x 25.00 mm charge case |
| Weight | 4.7 gm each (with medium eartip) 65 gm charge case (with earbuds) |
| Colours | Earbuds: Porcelain, Hazel, Wintergreen or Peony Charge case: White |
| Price (RRP) | $379 |
| Warranty | 2 years |
| Official website | Google Australia |
Features
Under the bonnet, these tiny earbuds are the first to feature Google’s Tensor A1 chip, which powers high-end, low-latency audio processing when it comes to listening to music, making calls and blocking out the outside world.
The Tensor A1 chip doubles the effectiveness of the noise reduction compared to the original Pixel Buds Pro, while new dynamic drivers boost the sound quality.
The processing power supports Spatial Audio with head tracking, when connected to a Pixel Tablet and or Pixel 6 or newer Google smartphone (excluding the Pixel A-series).
The Tensor A1 chip’s power efficiency also helps extend the battery life, providing up to 8 hours of listening time with active noise cancellation, and another 30 hours of juice in the charging case.
You’ve also got the advantage of Bluetooth multipoint, which makes it easy to jump between different devices without needing to continually re-pair. It might sound like an unnecessary luxury but, once you’ve experienced it – such as working on your notebook with your smartphone sitting beside it – you’ll be reluctant to go back.
As you’d expect, the Pixel Buds Pro 2 earbuds support a wide range of customisable tap and swipe controls, along with the ability to summon Google Assistant or switch to Google’s new Gemini voice assistant (still summoned with “Hey Google”).
Switching from Gemini to Google Assistant currently means sacrificing a few features like access routines and translating conversations in real-time.
New with the Buds Pro 2 is Conversation Detection when talking to real people, which is disabled by default. It pauses your music and engages Transparency mode when you start speaking, but not when someone starts speaking to you.
It’s a little different to Apple’s Conversation Awareness, which turns down your music but doesn’t pause it.
You’d obviously be reluctant to enable Conversation Detection if, like me, you tend to talk to yourself a lot – a side effect of working from home for 20 years. It is however handy if you’re working around other people although, if someone starts speaking to you first, you need to quickly slip in an “uh huh” so Conversation Detection kicks in and you can hear them clearly.
Google still falls short of Apple when it comes to hearing assistance tools such as Conservation Boost, which makes it easier to pick out voices in a noisy environment. You’ll find similar features in some Android-friendly earbuds like the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro.
Considering that Conservation Boost is basically a processing-intensive version of Transparency mode, hopefully the Tensor A1 chip will support it in a future firmware update.
Quality
When it comes to music quality, the Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 certainly hold their own, even if they aren’t best-in-class for earbuds. Audiophiles will be disappointed by the lack of support for hi-res and lossless audio codecs.
Put to the test, the Pixel Buds Pro 2’s music is full-bodied, even a tad bass-heavy, but still clear and balanced – with a 5-band graphic equaliser and a few presets at your disposal.
The sound is pretty natural on the Default preset, with a wide soundstage, closer to the trademark neutral sound of Apple earbuds than the typical warm and bass-heavy Sony sound. It’s worth experimenting with the Balanced and Clarity presets.
When it comes to noise-cancelling, performance is respectable when put to the test in a range of scenarios, from working in a busy room to standing alongside an exhaust fan and sitting in the next room from a brick saw.
The noise cancellation effectiveness still falls a little short of the AirPods Pro (2nd generation) and the top-shelf Sennheiser Momentum range, but not enough to complain about unless you’re comparing them side by side
Rotating the Google earbuds backwards in your ears to engage the fin helps with passive noise cancellation, although it can be tricky to get the buds in the perfect position.
Transparency mode is excellent, sounding completely natural rather than providing tinny audio that sounds like it’s been processed while passing through the earbuds.
Who is the Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 for?
The Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 earbuds are great all-rounders for Android fans looking for the benefit of active noise cancellation.
It’s a shame Google can’t make the most of its AI prowess by including Conservation Boost, the lack of which might steer some people towards something like the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro.
If you’ve got deep pockets and an ear for quality then an extra $120 on the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 might be a worthwhile investment, especially if you’d take advantage of the high-end audio codecs missing on the Google Pixel Buds Pro 2.
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