Customer Ratings & Reviews

To say that I was looking forward to using these buds would be an understatement. I ordered them ASAP, and then waited a couple of weeks for them to finally come in. I had read and watched some great reviews and first looks on these and I was very hopeful. There are some great things about these buds, but there were some issues that I had that ultimately had me returning them. First, the good stuff. The pairing was super simple and worked similarly to Apple's pairing across devices you are signed in to. The fit was good, it offers minimal passive noise cancellation, but I think that increased the comfort for me. Battery life was not best in class, but adequate for my usage. The case that the buds come in is one of the best and feels great. It has a nice texture which I wish more manufacturers would adopt. It also has a nice heft that makes the entire package feel substantial. The sound quality was very good for me, and this can be something that is subjective, but I've used many different earbuds/headphones and these are right up there with some of the best I've tried in sound quality. Now, the bad stuff, and the reason I ended up returning these earbuds. I kept experiencing connection issues, the sound would pop in and out on one or both buds frequently. This happened indoors with my phone sitting on and endtable less than 5ft away or even while I was using my phone in my hand. I had some occurrences when one of the buds would lose connection completely and I had to place both earbuds back in the case to get them to both connect again. The second issue I had was that both earbuds would discharge unevenly. Now, I read that Google said that this was normal since they were handing off what each bud does in order to even this out, but a couple of times one of the buds drained completely while the other still had around 30% charge. These issues persisted through a couple of resets, repairings, and firmware updates. I really wanted to keep and love these buds. The sound quality was amazing, the case and buds felt great, and the Google Assistant integration was very convenient. Unfortunately, connection issues and battery problems kept me from relying on them or choosing them first from the earbuds/headphones I have at my disposal. If they fix these issues, or if you happen on a pair that do not have these issues, then they would be great earbuds. Otherwise, I would wait it out until they figure these issues out and remedy them.

Though they aren't without their issues, the Pixel Buds have so far been my favorite wireless earbuds to use. They sound good, the charging case isn't too big, and the experience of using them is as intuitive as I've seen on Android. They do feel a little expensive for what they are, but they're still a great companion for my Pixel phone. I like how compact the charging case is. It's about the size of a pack of floss and slips easily into that tiny little jean pocket. It charges wirelessly and over USB-C and has LED indicators on both the outside of the case and inside of the lid. I have noticed some small cracks start to appear on mine, but they don't appear to be growing or affecting anything. Pairing was about as easy as it could be. Opening up the case brought up the prompt onscreen on my Pixel phone. And after pairing each time you open the case you'll get an onscreen notification showing the battery level of each bud and the case, which is nice. The sound quality is very good. Not quite as good to my ear as my Sony WF-1000XM3's, but still very clear and well balanced. Noise canceling is not included, which is a little disappointing at this price. There is a feature called Adaptive Sound that is supposed to adjust volume based on the environment, but it's just okay by comparison. I've seen stories of others having connectivity issues, but so far I haven't experienced that on mine. The touch controls work pretty well for the most part. Every now and then it does seem to mix up a press with a swipe, but overall I prefer the controls over most other earbuds I've used. Google Assistant is easy to get to with touch or voice and is much more responsive than other buds I've used, where you often have to wait a second or two before addressing it. The battery life seems to hold up to what Google lists and falls a bit short compared to others offer in similarly priced buds, but it's more than fine for my usage. Overall while I wouldn't consider these to be the 'best' wireless earbuds in this price range, I still like them more than any others I've used so far.

I've been using these headphones daily since they arrived. The look and size of these are perfect. They fit perfectly even for my small ears and have yet to hurt after prolonged use. The build quality of the headphones and case are perfect, definitely feel like $200 headphones. The battery life is great, charge rate is great, case battery life and charge speed are great. These headphones cut background noise so well that when I'm not speaking even while in public, I have been asked if I mute the call after talking. Google assistant has been absolutely amazing and checking and responding to notifications has been a breeze. I absolutely love these headphones with only a few issues that I believe may be fixable with software updates which is why I held off on reviewing for a while. Playing mobile games there is a delay in the playback for some reason. I really hope this is just a bug because I would prefer to use headphones while gaming but the delayed sound is obviously an issue. The second problem, I have had moments where the sound randomly changed to a stereo or of pitch volume/sound I'm not sure if maybe battery life was the issue in either the headphone or phone, but again I hope these are just isolated incidents caused by battery or software. I do highly recommend these headphones though, my favorite Bluetooth pair yet.

I have had these ear buds for over 1 month and am happy with the purchase. I waited to purchase them until the Oh so Orange version came out. I wanted them to match my Pixel 4XL. I know, first world problems. These ear buds have a nice feel in my ears. I can wear them for extended periods of time and there is no discomfort. They are so light and comfortable that I forget I have them in. The materials seem to be high quality. I can get about 5 hours of continuous listening with these ear buds. The buds recharge every time I put them back in the little carrying case. The case also has a satisfying magnetic snap when it closes. The sound is good although there are times, I wish they had more base. I am getting used to the touch controls but find myself stopping my music because I touch them. Overall, these ear buds have been a good purchase.

Have been waiting to get these since they were launched in the Google Event in October. Now that I have them they are not disappointing in any way. They sound better than I expected and have a great seal and fit in the ears. Google assistant makes it even better to use them. Battery life could have been better but no complaints. Overall a great product and great integration with Pixel devices.

Great product! Amazing sound quality! Connects to any device! And ive used it on 1 charge for close to a week! Highly reccomend!

Very comfortable and I love the Google assistant. I don't even have to touch my phone. I put my finger on it and say "call dominos Pizza" and it calls the nearest dominos Pizza lol. Sound quality on calls is great. If this is primarily for listening to music there's not enough bass so I wouldn't so much recommend it as a music listening accessory but for phone calls I love it.

it is difficult to describe how well it works. you may have more audio quality with a Sony 1000m3 but without a doubt for the day to day you will be more practical with this phone. very comfortable the controls are very intuitive. the Google assistant works amazingly well. the reading of notifications with the set was unbelievable.

I wanted to love these but they fall short of the competition. For starters, you CANNOT connect to two devices at the same time. For some, this may not seem like a big deal. But if you're using these while working at a desk, this is VERY annoying. If I need to take a video meeting or webinar, etc., I cannot also connect to my phone so I have no idea if a phone call is coming through while I'm on the pc audio. When I'm done with the meeting, etc., I must remember to drop the pc connection and enable the phone connection so I don't miss a call. And so on, back and forth. This is extra annoying because other earbuds (Jabra 75t) do this seamlessly. I'm beyond disappointed that Google chose to disregard this feature. The positive - they work well and these earbuds are much more comfortable for me than any other earbuds I've tried and they stay put while exercising. I have not had connection issues but I've only used them at home because of stupid COVID.

Love how they fit perfectly in my ears and sound great. I had also tried many other once my Anker, Sony, Beats, Jaybird and this has the best sound. I can say that after using them for 6-8 hours a day they never hurt my ears like the other once. And I like how simple the pairing is with my Google Pixel 5, so I bought another pair for my wife to go with her Pixel 5

I have attached these earbuds to three separate cell phones and a laptop to test it's connectivity, no problems from any device. Easy to connect to any device with Bluetooth connection, but easiest was with the Pixel brand Phones. Touch gestures makes it easy to change songs, pick-up calls or just ask Google for the weather. Sounds are amazing, but allows for passive sounds just in case you are a jogger. Charge has held 2 days without plugging in the built in case charger. Highly recommend these for their price and quality.

I have a small chubby ears and it's difficult to find ear buds that fit well without trying to pop out and without hurting. I tried the Galaxy Buds Live before these because I had heard how comfortable they were, I couldn't wear them for more than 10 minutes before they started hurting. I can wear these a lot longer specially if I don't place them all the way in, the wing sticking out. If I do need them while being active I put them all the way in and they stay put, I can go about 45 min before my ear hurting. I reposition them and go another 45 min. The sound is good but I did like the buds live better. That being said I needed something comfortable not something that sounded the best, but the quality is there none the less.

I'm a supporter of google, but these really disappointed me. I had waited since finding out that Google was going to release their own wireless earphones, I knew that their first roll out of them had problems, so I waited until the blue ones were available which was when they announced that they weren't going to have any more problems. They were wrong. Sometimes one earphone shuts off or doesn't connect. It has good sound quality, but it doesn't make up for that problem and the problem of having to adjust it from falling quite often. I hope their next version will be better and will make up for these since they are not reliable. They are cute though!

Worked well for a while. Just recently started to act funny. Battery only lasting short amount of time and going from 50% to 0% in a matter of under 5 minutes. Quite a premium for only 2 years of useful life.

The sound quality is amazing. The battery is really good last up to 3 hours per charge and it only takes up to 10 minutes to recharge. Great product recommend to anyone that needs wireless headphones.

Amazing sound quality. Bought these to use with my Pixel, pleasantly surprised with the sound. Very comfortable and they actually sound better than the AirPods Pro I had with my iPhone.

PROS: - Recent firmware update fixes a lot of previous issues (connection/battery/etc) - So many features; most optional, all work well - Good, clean audio playback for music and phone calls - The case is amazing. Small, comfortable in hand, just a delight - Touch controls that actually work and make sense! (and easily turn off if/when you need to) - battery life is not top of it’s class but it is in line with the average and 10min quick charge gives you 2 hours of playback. I tested this personally and it was accurate - comfortable long term wear - an app that actually works and one stop shop for feature controls - quick connect to android devices - Google assistant available by touch OR voice - using google translate you can have conversations in another language with ease - better look that airpods CONS: - Occasional connection issues, mostly fixed with updates. Nothing worse than what I get with other BT devices at this point. After 3 days of excessive use they barely lost connection about two times, always in the same spot of my house due to interference in that room. - battery life is standard, but 5 hours can drain quickly on long trips. Galaxy buds claim closer to 11 hours on one charge but pixel buds can give you 2 hours with just 10 min of charging - No noise canceling but most low noises are blocked out naturally OVERALL/TL;DR: I really tested every aspect of these buds trying to find some faults and issues but it seems google has thought of almost everything after some needed updates. As a person who really likes options and control over those options, I like that just about every feature has the option to be turned off if you don’t like or want it. This means you can customize the buds to your needs and turn off anything you don’t like. For android users, these buds are so much more than headphones to play music or make phone calls. With google assistant turned on (which can be audible triggered or simply touch triggered) you can get notifications from your phone read out to you AND respond to texts or google hangouts (while it’s still alive) or other apps, hear your emails, and just about any app notification you want but, you guessed it, you can turn on or off which apps you want to hear notifications from based on your needs. You can also do all the basic assistant commands like control your smart home devices, or ask questions, play youtube/spotify content, anything you would do with your assistant on your phone is now available in your buds. Along with the buds, the app is great and the case is small, sturdy and just a joy to hold. It’s the new fidget spinner for me. It fits nicely in the small pocket in jeans which prevents it from rubbing on keys or phones and holds extra battery juice to top up your buds when needed, and oh yeah, also has wireless charging for quick and easy recharges. You can’t go wrong with these buds; a lot of complaints were made early, especially with connection issues but recent updates have brought more features and fixes. When I tried to cause bad connections or drop outs, I could not get them to fail, even in some pretty aggressive testing. WHAT'S IN THE BOX/FIRST IMPRESSION: When you open your new pixel buds, you get the case, the buds, some extra sizes for the ear tips, a charging cable (USB-C) and a quick start guide. The packaging is what you expect from google and everything feels clean and sleek. As soon as you hold the case in your hand you understand why everyone is raving about it. It’s close in size to the airpods case, a little smaller than the galaxy “pill” case and considerably smaller than lower cost brands. It almost looks like a flattened egg. The top flips in such a satisfying way and the buds are held with a magnet so strong that shaking the open case as rough as I could did not make them fall out. With the buds still in the case, I flipped it open and my android phone (samsung) immediately recognized the buds and asked me to pair them and prompted me to download the pixel buds app which you definitely want to do to get the most out of these headphones. After pairing I slipped them on to test them out. Once I tried the buds on I could tell I needed to try a different size and found that one ear is smaller than the other, so give those other sizes a try, it helps with sound quality and comfort. Now, about comfort, I have not found any type of in-ear wearing device that I would call comfortable, but these are better than some others that i’ve worn and I was able to wear these for at least 2 to 3 hours straight before I started to get itchy or a slight swollen feeling. In my book that counts as above average comfort. With the buds properly fitted and the walk through done on the app, I started to play some music (afterall, that’s what I want headphones for right?). I tested out some of the usual music I use to test audio quality and felt, for the most part, they sounded pretty good. Google recently added a base boost option in the app and that definitely helped fill the low end that was missing and overall the quality is plenty good that the average user won’t have any complaints. I couldn’t turn them up to 100% without damaging my ears but they did hover around 70 to 80% when I was in a noisy area. While listening to music, I received a hangouts message and was happily surprised to hear the hangouts notification tone followed by a prompt from the google assistant telling me who sent the message and how I could listen and respond. Which brings me to the features. FEATURES AND EXTRAS: Like I said, when I received a google hangouts message (or text message) the buds would notify me and tell me how to hear the message and respond, but what was really nice is if I ignored that prompt and the sender proceeded to send 5 more messages, she mentioned she would be quiet now and just play the notification chime. In other words, the assistant knew she had already explained to me what I could do and didn’t continue to interrupt my music explaining it. That’s a level of intelligence that you don’t find everywhere. When I did choose to reply, I would record my reply, she read it back to me and sent it off. This ended up allowing me to carry on a text conversation with my friend without ever taking out my phone AND still listening to my music. Now, maybe you read that and thought, “that’s stupid, I don’t want that interruption all the time,” well that’s fine, just turn it off in the app. While you're in the app, check out the other features available. You can turn on adaptive sound which will adjust the volume automatically if you go to a louder or quieter room or turn on the (currently experimental) attention alerts that will lower your volume and chime if the buds hear a crying baby, emergency sirens or barking dog; all of which have their own on/off option. I turned on barking dog because my dog barks allllllll the time and noticed it would work better when he was very close to me barking but hit or miss at a distance. As I said, this is still a beta feature they are testing so expect that to get better in time as well. That said, it’s a nice option to have, especially if you’re walking on the street and need to be alert. I don’t have a busy street or a baby so I couldn’t test the other two options. Other notable features include in-ear detection to play/pause when you remove a bud, an option to find your missing buds with either location information or by playing a tone through the buds, a sharing mode which lets you share one bud with a ...bud..dy and gives you both separate volume controls, and lastly a quick guide reminder of the touch controls if you forget what does what. You can also find firmware update info and other important help and device info in the app. As far as touch controls go, I have to say, they work really well and seem to be easy to learn. One tap to play/pause just seems right, swiping forward and back for volume makes sense etc. It’s easy to learn and, unlike other buds I have with touch control, I haven’t had a lot of issues with accidental touch while making minor fit adjustments. If you do have issues, turn touch controls off in the app or better yet, just ask the assistant to turn them off. These buds are packed with features and they actually work as intended and can be controlled rather easily. LAST THOUGHTS: I admit, I am a bit of a google fan, but not so much that I can’t admit when google gets it wrong (it happens...sometimes too much), maybe one would argue the first attempt at pixel buds would be a good example of missing the mark, but these pixel buds 2nd gen are not one of those mistakes. It seems google worked hard to address issues and concerns and although they had a rough start out the gate, some firmware updates have fixed a lot of issues and turned these buds into major contenders to the big names from apple and samsung and have a unique look that some don’t like, some do, and others don’t care. Personally, I think they do look a bit like a mentos mint but I also don’t think that’s bad. I got green...oh sorry, google calls the color “quite mint” and so I just tell people they’re spearmint mentos and embrace it. Hey, anything that isn’t a white twig hanging out of your ear is a win. If you have an android phone and use the google assistant already and enjoy google products, you will not be disappointed in these earbuds. Maybe if you bought them on release day you would have complaints but all the recent updates have turned these buds into Apple killers. Long live android! ….oh and iphone users who don’t like airpods, these buds work for you too, just less features I believe, sorry I can’t tell you more, I don’t have an iphone to test on. Would recommend, if you’re on the fence, buy em.

I bought these after months and months of trying to decide what wireless earbuds to go with my Pixel 4XL. I decided to pull the trigger and buy these ones, after I purchased them I noticed that they would cut out intermittently and I figured it was my movement or just interface with the Bluetooth. Fast forward to the last two weeks, The left ear bud decided to not connect at all unless I reinstall the app but it only last one video with no touch controls and stops afterwards. Maybe it's just this set but I'm disappointed that it would cost so much and not work properly.

These are a awesome pair of earbuds. I genuinely love the Google assistant integration and the aesthetics and they sound good. What truly kills my Google experience is the amount of random drop outs, disconnects, and how stupid quick the battery drops in charge. I will be returning these but if Google can fix these in the future I will buy them again.

I bought these three weeks ago but returned them due to all the cut out issues. They appeared to be resolved according to various sites so I bought it again. After it updated, all issues were resolved. The quality is amazing and I love the assistant integration.