Google Pixel Buds Review - Review 2022

Google produces some excellent products, including, for example, the Chromecast streaming devices and the Pixel phone lines. The company has also put forth some clunkers like the Nexus Q media hub. On paper, the Google Pixel Buds sound like a simple, appealing ready of wireless headphones with innovative integration of Google Assistant and even Google Translate features (with the right Google phone). Alas, the design, performance, and feature implementation outcome in a product that's much closer to the Nexus Q than a Chromecast or a Pixel. And at $159, they're too expensive.

Design

With a simple design, the Pixel Buds look incredibly smooth, with round, Google 'G'-emblazoned caps reminiscent of the Google Chromecast. They're available in black, blueish, or white versions, all of which feature a black fabric-wrapped cable betwixt the earpieces. Each earpiece has two small contacts for use with the included charging example, and the back of the right earpiece is touch-sensitive for tap gestures. You can tap to play or pause music, or hold down on the right earpiece to use Google Assistant if yous're connected to an Android phone with it installed. The touch-sensitive takes upward the entire back console of the right earpiece, so it's easy to accidentally trigger it when you're adjusting the earphones or taking them out of your ears.

The Pixel Buds are actually earbuds, not in-canal earphones like the vast majority of our favorite wireless in-ear headphones. The pattern is similar to Apple AirPods, with almost circular buds with small grilles over flat extensions that, when inserted, direct sound into your ear canal. There are no silicone or cream earpieces to ensure a snug fit. The only concession to condolement is a loop formed past the cablevision. The loop fits in the curve of your ear to keep the earpiece in place, and you can button the cable into the earpiece near an inch to make the loop larger or smaller. All of this amounts to earphones that fit loosely at all-time, and don't form a seal to ensure that your ears go a consequent sound. It's a minimalist and bonny design that doesn't work well-nigh as well as the tried and truthful silicone-eartips-and-fins construction.

A vaguely square-shaped, fabric-covered charging case lets yous proceed the Pixel Buds secure and charged when not in utilise. We don't oft see charging cases like this with tethered wireless earphones; they're normally reserved for wire-free earphones like the Bose SoundSport Free and Jabra Epic Air. The instance has two recesses for the earphones, with magnets that proceed the contacts aligned when in the case. The cable wraps effectually the edge of the case, then tucks inside to close, staying shut with additional magnets. A USB-C port on the back charges the example and earphones via the included USB-A-to-USB-C charging cable.

According to Google, the Pixel Buds can last upwards to 5 hours on a charge, which is a bit low for not-wire-gratuitous earphones. However, the charging case tin can hold multiple charges for a claimed 24 hours of listening.

Google Pixel Buds

Google Assistant

The handiest attribute of the Pixel Buds is Google Assistant integration. If the continued phone has Google Banana, y'all can gear up up the Pixel Buds to give yous access to the voice banana without fifty-fifty touching your phone. Once paired and set up, all you have to exercise is tap and hold on the correct earpiece and state your command. When you lot release, Google Assistant will respond.

Google Assistant on the Pixel Buds lacks the easily-free activation using the wake phrase "OK Google," but it otherwise functions identically to Google Banana on a Google Home or Domicile Mini. Y'all can tell it to play music from a variety of sources including Google Play Music and Spotify, check your calendar, make calls, and answer questions about weather, sports, news, or general trivia. It'due south a genuinely useful assistant that doesn't accept quite the selection of third-party skills as Alexa, only is much better at treatment natural language.

Of form, it's an assistant that's on your Android phone regardless of whether you have Pixel Buds. You can use Google Banana by borer the right earpiece, or you tin just fix your phone to wake up to "OK Google," and apply everything that way. And you can use information technology with any wireless earphones or speaker, just without the tap-and-talk part of the Pixel Buds.

Google Pixel Buds

Google Translate

Besides Google Assistant, the Pixel Buds have another unique trick that sets them apart from other wireless earphones: Google Translate integration. It sounds very useful at commencement, simply its execution is then awkward that only using your phone ends up being a more compelling option. To start, the translation role only works if the Pixel Buds are paired with a Pixel or Pixel two telephone (or their plus-size versions). The other Google Assistant features volition piece of work with any paired Android phone that supports Google Assistant, but if y'all want to translate anything through the earphones you'll need a Pixel phone. This is a perplexing limitation, considering how poorly translation is integrated with the earphones.

To translate a conversation, tap and hold on the right earpiece and say "Translate a conversation in (linguistic communication)." This opens the Google Interpret app on your phone to the audio translation mode. After this, concord the right earpiece and speak, and your phone volition speak the translated phrase. The stock Google Translate voice volition serve as your translator, putting your words into your language of choice.

Google Pixel Buds To hear the other side of the conversation in your language, the speaker must press the microphone button on the app under the language to be translated. This is where the organization becomes extremely awkward. Y'all press the earbud and speak, y'all get translated. The other speaker presses your phone and speaks, and they go translated. And you go back and along, pressing your respective device as you lot talk.

Google Translate has an automatic chat translation feature. By pressing the microphone icon in the middle of the app, between the microphone icons for the ii languages to be translated, the app will first listening for spoken communication in both languages and translate them on the fly. The problem is that this style is disabled with the Pixel Buds. If a headset is connected, y'all can't have automatic translation. Both parties need to hold down the earbud or 1 of the icons on the phone when they speak.

This isn't only very awkward, information technology completely negates whatsoever usefulness the Pixel Buds might offering in translating what yous say. They don't listen to what you're saying unless you hold them, then you can't but get translated on the wing as y'all talk. And when you practice speak, the translation goes through the phone speaker anyway, so you don't even get the choice to hear or read the translation and attempt to say it yourself as office of the conversation. And none of this integration explains why the Pixel Buds could perchance crave a Pixel or Pixel two telephone to office instead of whatsoever other Android telephone that can run the Google Translate app. The only possible do good the Pixel Buds offer when translating is that you can put your finger on the earbud instead of your phone screen. Everything else is identical to or restricted in comparison with using simply your phone, or your telephone and whatever other wireless earphones.

Functioning

Despite bad-mannered blueprint and strange feature implementation, the Pixel Buds put out some pretty solid, bass-forward audio. Unfortunately, the higher frequencies aren't sculpted plenty for a balanced sound, and the unsealed earbud design gives near music a slightly hollow event.

To the Buds' credit, they handle deep bass pretty well. The bass synth and kicking drum in our low-end test track, The Knife's "Silent Shout," have plenty of resonance without distorting at maximum book. They won't rattle your head and don't border on unsafe with the volume cranked upward, but it'southward an appreciable amount of low frequency response.

The upright bass in Miles Davis' "So What" has plenty of low-finish response to give information technology a full, resonant sound, and the pianoforte sounds suitably brilliant to stand out in the mix. The strings don't have much high frequency clarity to requite them texture, though, and the horns lack a loftier-finish edge to ascertain them against the other instruments.

Schaffer the Darklord'southward "The Other Devil" is a drums-heavy nerdcore hip-hop rail that farther demonstrates the Pixel Buds' very bass-heavy remainder. The backbeat gets so much low frequency presence that it stands out in the mix confronting STD'south vocals, both the naturally spoken and artificially pitched-up lines. The drums become significant emphasis in the lows and low-mids, which makes them settle alongside Schaffer's lower voice. The higher frequencies aren't equally sculpted as they should be to balance out the bass, so Schaffer'due south pitched-up voice on the track sounds softer than his normal phonation and the drums, and that lack of treble makes his normal voice sound a bit less natural and textured than it should. Be wary if you desire to listen to rap and prefer the rhymes over the drums.

Conclusion

Near everything almost the Google Pixel buds sounds really interesting. Wireless headphones with a minimalist blueprint, Google Banana and Google Translate integration, and a bombardment-equipped charging case. Unfortunately, what is highly-seasoned on paper doesn't work in execution hither, with uncomfortable earpieces, a lack of high frequency sculpting, and bad-mannered, redundant voice assistant and translation features. None of the smart, unique aspects of the Pixel Buds piece of work well enough to justify using them over just using the same apps on your Android phone, and their sound performance falls well short of what you should expect from a $150 pair of not-wire-gratis earphones.

While none of them work with Google Banana or Google Translate in quite the aforementioned way (though Google Assistant will nonetheless talk to yous through your headphones' audio on all of them), the similarly priced Jaybird X3 and the Shure SE215 Wireless feel and sound much better than the Pixel Buds. And if you want to go completely wire-free and keep a charging case, the JLab Epic Air also offers superior audio performance and sealed in-ear fit.