Google Pixel Buds A-Series – Wireless Earbuds, Clearly White

Product Information

We cue up Lou Reed’s Walk On The Wild Side and that familiar bassline greets us warmly, followed by brushed snares and then Reed’s voice, intimate and clear. When used with an Android phone, tapping and holding activates Google Assistant, allowing you to issue commands and ask questions that are answered when you remove your finger. It will take a while to update our backlog of old test results, but we will update this review (and many others! This hinders the Pixel Buds as a good pair of earbuds to use with Apple devices unless you don't mind not having Siri.

I discovered this when I first started using the Pixel Buds because I was experiencing some hiccups in the audio — the solution I found online required firmware updates, but iOS users are out of luck. Voices come through sounding more or less like how they sound in real life, with a drop in overall resolution.

Since these have a relatively flat surface for you to tap on, it's easier to activate than squeezing the force sensor on an AirPod Pro stem. The large size worked better for me, but no matter the size, the Pixel Buds became uncomfortable after extended use. Google's wireless earbuds are, of course, aimed first and foremost at Google and Android phones, but they work perfectly well with iOS products, tablets, laptops and the like. Initially, the A-Series volume output was way too quiet before firmware version 233 (which we address in the next section).

The Google Pixel Buds A-Series is lightweight and comfortable, which makes it easy to wear for long periods. As far as fit's concerned, the Pixel Buds are in-ear earbuds like AirPods and AirPods Pro, but they don't stick out. While you get some of the best noise canceling on the market, the sound quality is way too bass-heavy for most listeners to enjoy.It’s a fine test of a speaker’s (or headphones’) dynamic ability, with frequent shifts in volume, but the Series-A cope well, delivering the music faithfully. Google’s latest Pixel Buds offer great sound and function for the money, particularly with Android smartphones.

Pixel Buds Pro was the first generation to introduce Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and transparency modes; in ANC mode, the Pixel Buds Pro will reduce background noise, while in transparency mode, the Pro will amplify external noises to facilitate conversations without removing the earbuds. If you could turn it up to an adequate volume, treble notes would sound too loud relative to the bass and mids.To help remind you of when you should charge your Google Pixel Buds, the buds will alert you with a low battery chime at 25%, 10%, 5%, and just before they completely run out of power. You simply open the case while it's near the device that you want to pair to, then press and hold the button on the back of the charging case until the white LED light on the front starts to pulsate.