The new Google Pixel Buds Pro BT (Bluetooth), ANC (Noise Cancelling) earphones are not only great value at $299 but are among the sweetest sounding we have heard, putting many more expensive buds to shame. Colours Charcoal, Fog and Lemongrass.
We cannot objectively test the Frequency response of in-ear earphones. We use a series of test tracks that exercise bass, mid and treble. Our opinion – it has a neutral sound signature (good) that can handle heaps of bass and bright vocals well.
We use Fail (below expectations), Pass (meets expectations) and Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader) against many of the items below. We occasionally give a Pass(able) rating that is not as good as it should be and a Pass ‘+’ rating to show it is good but does not quite make it to Exceed.
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It is Google Style – a white ceramic-looking USB-C/Qi charge case (with a reset button) and mid-height-profile buds. It comes with S/M/L ear tips (11/12/13mm), and the App has a seal test to help you select the best fit.
It is a closed-back design yet has vents to help widen the soundstage.
The buds fit well and stay in your ear despite having no wing tips. Google has sensors that actively measure the ear canal pressure and can vent that if necessary. We tested with eight hours of continuous use – and got to 7.6 hours before it needed a charge. These are among the more comfortable we have tested, although at 6.2g each, they are a fraction heavier than the competitors.
They are IPX4 sweat-resistant, but the lack of stability fins means it is best not to use them in physical sports.
Battery life is over 7/20-hours (buds/case) ANC On and 11/31 ANC off. USB-C charge time is less than 80 minutes (5V/1A/5W) and about 120 minutes on Qi. Five minutes gives about an hour of listening time.
It has large 11mm drivers that produce lots of well-controlled bass, flat mids and treble at relatively low distortion rates. The neutral sound signature can be controlled by a full EQ that downloads the settings to the buds.
Out of the box, we tested with several genres, and while it is pretty good, the EQ makes a huge difference. You can select from Default, Heavy Bass, Light Bass, Balanced (mid-recessed), vocal boost, and Clarity (1-4kHz boost). Or adjust the EQ’s low bass (<40Hz), Mid, Treble and Upper Treble. Excellent, and the EQ is the secret sauce that makes these better performers than most competitors.
Like all closed-back buds, the sound stage is just within your head, but Dolby Atmos content expands that with 3D spatial and 2D horizontal sound object placement.
It has volume EQ that adjusts the sound depending on sound levels – it works well at lower volumes.
These are fine for video lip sync at <200ms but forget gaming.
It supports multi-point pairing and fast pairing, and mono listening.
But it only supports SBC and AAC (no aptX), which may be a deal breaker to an audiophile. That is logical, as the Pixel 6 and 7 don’t have a Qualcomm SoC and aptX support.
It has a BT Find my Buds feature.
The ANC mixes passive (correct fit) and active noise cancelling. The fit right (ear seal check) will block deep rumble and general chatter. There is little noise leakage.
It picks up the surroundings quite well using its external mics and allows you to converse without removing them.
It has average call quality and limited noise cancellation, but overall, it is acceptable for most and-free use.
If you use one bud, you lose the phone controls.
Naturally, it has Google Assistant and is always in listening mode.
Transcribe mode lets you hear 80+ spoken translated languages in the buds and a transcript on the phone.
Right in-ear detection for single-bud use.
Google has finally got the formula right – decent ANC, great music quality, long battery life, excellent comfort and style. It now has competitive $299 earphones.
My daily drive is the $399 Sennheiser Momentum 3 Sennheiser True Wireless Momentum 3 BT/ANC earphones (review and update) (mainly for music quality). While the Google Pixel Buds Pro is tempting, the Momentums is worth the extra $100 investment.
BTW the Sony WF-1000XM4 are remarkable BT, ANC earphones (long-term review) at $389 is very good but lacks Qualcomm aptX codecs.
If you compare them to the following, it meets or exceeds these excellent buds.
I would insist on Qualcomm aptX codecs (Sennheiser and Jabra).
Features: 85 – has it all except Qualcomm, aptX
Value: 95 – in the zone and presents excellent value
Performance: 90 – good battery life, fast and Qi charge, and a good sound signature
Ease of Use: 85 – needs some setup, and the App can be a little daunting
Design: 85 – typical Google style
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