Google - Pixel Buds True Wireless In-Ear Headphones - Clearly White

My pair just got to me last week as my birthday present. I am glad that I waited for this generation to come out. Originally I was going to buy the last edition. I haven't used to translate feature yet.

After a couple of weeks with these buds, I'll say that I'm slightly disappointed based on the pre release advertising. The good: -Fit. They are light, and after finding the right rubber tip, twisting them into your ear makes for a very secure, comfortable fit. During a 2 hour bike ride there were times I had to feel that they were still in my ear. -Touch controls. As long as you hit the spot without being able to see your ears and it works great. Combined with this is removing one earbud pauses whatever you're listening to. Battery life: Unless you're running a marathon, a 2-3 hour workout and they still have at least 50% battery. -Assistant integration is good. The bad: -BT connectivity isn't the best. When I have my phone in an armband on the upper arm, the connection breaks up very badly. Seems like it needs line of sight to keep connected reliably. -Volume needs to be stronger at max. When turned all the way up, they put out nice sound, but with surrounding noise, they aren't loud enough. So this defeats the whole adaptive sound thing, if the max isn't loud enough. -Only way to turn them off is to put them in the case, or turn BT off on the device. Not a big deal, but in the occasional time you need to turn them off while not having the case, the only option is to turn off BT on the phone. A bit weird. I'll probably keep them, but I would like to try the Jabra Elite Active 75's.

So I bought the pixel buds 2 to test out the premium earphone market during this COVID era. Disclaimer: I also bought the Samsung galaxy buds+ as I was torn between the 2. I tested out the Samsung buds+ first, and hence my pixel review will be in comparison with SB+. To be frank SB+ was the first premium earphones I ever had and I was honestly surprised by the quality and clarity. 1. The pixel buds are good, do not get me wrong. But the features are lacking, to be frank. The auto ambient sound that was supposed to be the next-gen awesome thing is nice to have but it can be a bit slow to work. For example I was on a train and while the train is in motion, it took around 10-15 seconds for the ambient feature to kick in. I wished the buds had an option like the SB+ to turn it on/off. The only way I could drown out the train noise was to increase the volume, which kind of beats the purpose of the feature. 2. The fit is a bit awkward. I switched out all the earbud tips to have a good fit as recommended by multiple online providers but for some reason nothing seemed to be 'Oh this is perfect fit for me!' kind of experience. The right bud kept sticking out after 20 mins in my ear. 3. The call quality is good/fantastic which is something I have wanted for the million of zoom calls that we have in this COVID era. Please note the SB+ was good approximately 85-90% of the time and then I would have the stuck in the washer machine sound. Hence in my humble opinion I would hold on ordering these at least for now. I may get a lot of hate for this post but I wished someone would have told me this before I bought these.

The bad: These earbuds are not powerful. You could set them to max volume and you can barely drown out most stuff. The lack of sound isolation is to blame, but that is just the "missing feature". The great: When set up with a compatible device (I use a GOOGLE pixel 3a) the controls, when mastered, make these very convenient. I have to work in a clean room with latex gloves on, so these controls have been quite nice. I can turn up the volume with a quick swipe to ignore a coworker, and with the tap of a button I can pause my music to listen to my boss chew me out! The software has a convenient status report so you know exactly the charge on each of the 3 batteries.

Now, I've been using the pixel buds for about a week or so now and I thoroughly enjoy them. I have issues keeping earbuds in my ear and also having them feel comfortable at the same time, over long periods of time they tend to irritate my ear canal and I just need to take them out less than half an hour after having them however with the pixel buds I do not feel like that. I can easily wear the earbuds for one or two hours without feeling the need to take them out due to irritation of my ears at all. The sound quality is nothing to boast about however they do sound rather good and get decently loud. The touch controls are intuitive and extremely responsive to touch, I rarely have any issues with incorrect touch inputs. If you have any android phone with android 6 or greater these are the earbuds to get.

This is my first foray into the higher budgeted ear buds. I have a pixel phone and the integration was instant. The comfort level of these earbuds is top notch. Make sure to try the different sized tips included, I didn't realize the difference that made in sound quality. The gesture touch is very handy and responsive. No EQ but I imagine Google will push one out in a future firmware update.

Better then my airpods gen 2! Lots of great functions you can control on either headphone. As a cable installer constantly being in different positions, I have not had one fall out or be a problem. Doesn't work with my older iPhone or ipad. so make sure your Bluetooth is on the newer side.

Android has a true competitor to air pods. The whole package feels premium, they are comfortable, and they sound great. I listen at medium to lower volumes so battery life has been great. Touch controls are intuitive and google assistant in your ear is awesome.