Lighter and a Better Fit

I’ve spent many years struggling to discover a pair of buds that don’t feel like I’m sticking pebbles in my ear canals. The original large and oddly-shaped Pixel Buds Pro felt like flat antennae for my earlobes. I recently tried the Pixel Buds Pro 2, which now sports a more miniaturized design for a better form fit in my lopsided lobes. Google wants its own AirPods Pro 2 for the Pixel ecosystem, but we’ll need to give them a full test to see if that proposal rings true. 

Google’s made some big, big changes to the design of the $230 Pixel Buds Pro 2. Yes, they’re around $30 more expensive than the last version, but at the very least, they feel like very different earpieces. Each bud is lighter at 4.7 grams versus the 6.3 grams of the first-gen buds. The new buds are shrunken from the previous bulbous form factor into something that looks and feels more ergonomic, more akin to the look of the Samsung Galaxy Buds FE. The original Buds Pro came with a choice of just three tips, though Google offered me a full smorgasbord of sizes between extra large and small.

You aren’t supposed to engage the wings in your ears every time you use them. Google says you can turn them around when you’re doing anything that might jostle your head and turn them back when you want to feel comfortable. I personally thought they remained comfortably in my ears, much better, thanks to the wings. I couldn’t imagine sitting on my daily train commute without them, but I’d still prefer a pair of over-ear running earbuds for anything strenuous.

Despite their shape, there was much to like about 2022’s Pixel Buds Pro. The case was weighty and smooth with an enjoyable, snappy hinge. The company likes to think of its case as a skipping stone on a beach, but it’s still just an “egg.” The flat panel on the buds made it easy to use the tap and swipe functions to skip around on your podcasts and playlists. Google’s latest buds kept the things that worked, but the real question is how much it’s managed to improve on sound quality.

Google did not offer me the chance to do a demo with the audio on. All I have for now is Google’s promises that the new Tensor A1 chip in the buds should process audio far faster than the first-gen buds. Google claims this pair of buds with their 11mm drivers should have better bass and treble. Google also claimed its ANC now adapts to the environment much faster than before. It will also detect if you start having a conversation so that it will lower the noise cancellation for you.

The Mountain View company promises a better battery life of up to 8 hours of listening time on the buds with ANC on and up to 30 hours with the charging case. That’s 10 hours more on the case than the first Pixel Buds Pro could typically do before needing topping up. The company claims you’ll get 12 hours on the buds and up to 48 hours with the case listening without ANC.

The other big promise is that the Buds Pro 2 will work with Gemini on users’ phones. Google essentially wants the buds combined with the phone to work as an always-on AI device akin to the Humane AI pin or the Rabbit R1. Neither device has been doing well lately, partially because few consumers see the point of a slower, more finicky device when the phone can do most tasks faster.

Google told Gizmodo that the feature would require users to have a consistent, stable internet connection. Despite the Pixel’s neural processing capabilities, most AI processes will still happen on the cloud.

We’ll have to test that and more once we finally get our hands on a pair. The Pixel Buds Pro 2 come in the same color slate as the Pixel 9, including the minty Wintergreen and the ultra-pink Peony. I know which one I’d choose with how prominently those buds stick out of your ears. 

Buy Google Buds Pro 2 at Amazon

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