Google Pixel Buds Professional 2
MSRP $229.00
“With a smaller form, improved ANC, and significantly better sound high quality, the Pixel Buds Professional 2 are an enormous improve.”
Execs
- Extremely mild and comfortable
- Stellar noise canceling
- Nice sound high quality
- Enjoyable Google Gemini integration
Cons
- No hi-res codecs
- Restricted spatial audio
Google’s Pixel Buds Professional 2 earbuds are smaller, lighter, and have higher battery life than their predecessors. They’re additionally powered by a brand new mind: the Tensor A1 chip. Whereas these are praiseworthy enhancements, the second-gen Execs are additionally $29 costlier, narrowing the value hole that made the first-gen Execs so enticing.
For most folk, the largest distinction between the Pixel Buds Pro and the Buds Professional 2 can be their measurement, weight, and form. Google says the brand new buds are 27% smaller and 24% lighter, and there’s no query about it — they really feel tiny. Nearly disconcertingly so.
Maybe it’s as a result of after a decade of reviewing these units, I’m used to cramming objects the scale of unshelled almonds into my ears. The Buds Professional 2 are so small and lightweight, that they simply didn’t really feel securely seated. And but, they have been — a incontrovertible fact that my Google Pixel 7 Pro confirmed via its built-in match take a look at.
Now that I’m used to them, I feel they’re essentially the most snug closed-style earbuds I’ve ever worn.
By the best way, we classify earbuds as “closed” once they use silicone tricks to seal your ear canal, e.g., the AirPods Pro. We are saying “semi-open” once they don’t use silicone, just like the AirPods line, and “open-ear” once they don’t sit instantly in entrance of the ear canal, just like the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds.
The default medium eartips labored simply nice for me, however fortunately, Google contains three different sizes (XS, S, L) to enhance the probabilities you’ll get a superb match too. That’s a small however vital distinction: the Pixel Buds Professional solely got here with two further sizes.
What you don’t get are totally different sizes of stability wings. Just like the Pixel Buds 2 and A-Series, the small, crescent-shaped silicone protrusion is constructed into the buds and isn’t replaceable.
And as with the Pixel Buds Professional, there’s no USB-C charging cable within the field. You possible have a number of these already. However should you don’t, the Buds Professional 2’s case has wi-fi charging. At a minimal, you may have the ability to flip your telephone round and use reverse charging — or battery sharing, to make use of Google’s lingo.
Talking of the case, it’s almost equivalent to the earlier mannequin. It’s barely thicker, and there’s now a tiny speaker opening on the underside close to the charging port for suggestions tones and taking part in finding sounds for the Discover My Gadget perform. Oh, and right here’s one thing I seen instantly: the Buds Professional 2 are approach simpler to take away from their case than the earlier model. They sit taller of their charging nooks and their mushroom-like form is simpler to grip than the Buds Professional’s seamless profile.
I used to be mildly involved that the Buds Professional 2’s smaller measurement may make it more durable to make use of the contact controls, however it hasn’t been an issue. The faucet gestures are simple to make use of (I stay an enormous fan of the swipe-based quantity management), regardless that you continue to can’t customise them. All the fundamental features are supported (playback, observe skipping, name administration, and voice assistant entry), however there’s nonetheless no strategy to mute your self whereas on a name. Google hopefully will add this on the following model.
You continue to get put on sensors, which do an admirable job of pausing/resuming audio if you take away or reinsert an earbud.
If there’s one factor that basically units the Pixel Buds Professional 2 aside from their predecessors, it’s their skill to entry Google’s Gemini AI hands-free, even when your telephone’s locked and in your pocket. If you happen to join Gemini Advanced, you can too do real-time conversations through Gemini Live. Sadly, Gemini Superior isn’t obtainable in my location but, so I couldn’t take a look at that half out, however common Gemini interactions through “Hey, Google,” labored seamlessly.
I gained’t do a deep dive into every little thing Gemini can do, however I’ll say this: I’m glad you possibly can double-tap the earbuds to cease Gemini in its tracks — a few of its responses might be long-winded.
Google says that because of the Tensor A1 chip, the Buds Professional 2’s ANC is “twice as robust” as that of their predecessors. I couldn’t measure that declare, however after utilizing them in a wide range of noisy situations, I’m inclined to agree. It’s most noticeable in mid-to-high frequencies. In my evaluate of the first-gen Execs, I famous that they didn’t cancel these kind of sounds in addition to the first-gen AirPods Professional. Remarkably, the ANC on the Buds Professional 2 isn’t simply higher than the firts-gen AirPods Professional — it’s higher than the AirPods Professional 2, and it’s solely fractionally much less potent than the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds, which I at the moment think about to be the leaders for ANC on wireless earbuds.
Every little thing from the droning noise of air conditioners and vacuums to the unpredictable racket of site visitors and building was pleasantly diminished to a stage that both disappeared totally or was gentle sufficient to not trouble me. However right here’s a (ahem) tip: The match take a look at within the Pixel Buds app could point out that you’ve got a superb seal, however it shouldn’t be taken as gospel. Utilizing the medium ideas, ANC was noticeably higher. However it wasn’t till I put in the massive ideas that the Buds Professional 2 confirmed me their full potential.
Dialog detection — a function that was added to the Buds Professional in 2023 — works brilliantly on the Buds Professional 2. Simply begin speaking if you’re in ANC mode and the buds shift easily into transparency mode whereas concurrently pausing your media. Shortly after it detects you’re accomplished chatting, it switches again to ANC and resumes no matter you have been listening to.
It really works very well. However should you take heed to comedy podcasts and tend to chuckle out loud, be ready for some false positives. (Which may have occurred to me quite a lot of instances.) Needless to say that is for fast interactions, not lengthy conversations the place you stay silent as you take heed to another person discuss.
I’m a bit dissatisfied Google didn’t embrace the reverse of dialog detection: loud noise detection, which flips you from transparency to ANC when it detects doubtlessly harmful loud sounds. Apple and Bose provide this on their flagship earbuds, and given the computational audio prowess of the Buds Professional 2’s Tensor A1 chip, it looks like it could be an apparent inclusion.
Transparency mode itself feels unchanged to me — which is to say it really works very well. You may hear the skin world with glorious readability and your voice will sound clear. Nevertheless, as with the first-gen Buds, the Buds Professional 2 fall simply shy of delivering the AirPods Professional’s magical feeling of not carrying earbuds in any respect.
The Pixel Buds Professional 2 sound terrific. A lot better than the first-gen (which I assumed have been already fairly good) and approach higher than the AirPods Pro. There’s extra element, and higher readability all through, and bass response is extra sturdy. And that was my take utilizing the default EQ setting proper out of the field. Google permits you to tweak it with a number of presets and a simplified equalizer, which helps you to combine your individual EQ formulation and save them for future use.
They sound remarkably much like the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro 3 when each buds are linked to a Pixel telephone. Nevertheless, Google’s refusal to incorporate high-quality Bluetooth codecs places the Pixel Buds Professional 2 at an obstacle in comparison with the Galaxy Buds Professional 3 when each are used with a Samsung Galaxy telephone. Galaxy Buds and Galaxy telephones talk through Samsung’s Seamless Codec (SSC), which might protect extra element from lossless audio sources. If you happen to’re a Spotify listener, it gained’t make a lot of a distinction as a result of its lossy stream high quality. However with Apple Music, Tidal, or Amazon Music (plus a quiet place for listening), the Galaxy Buds Professional 3 sound higher, one thing that Galaxy telephone homeowners might want to remember should you’re contemplating each merchandise.
If the Pixel Buds Professional 2 have been merely average-sounding, I wouldn’t even carry this up. However when a set of earbuds sounds nearly as good because the Pixel Buds Professional 2, I can’t assist however marvel how significantly better they’d sound with slightly assist from hi-res codecs.
On a associated word, the Pixel Buds Professional 2 additionally lack help for Bluetooth LE Audio, which implies you possibly can’t use them with Auracast. For now, that’s unlikely to matter. However as extra public locations start to supply Auracast broadcasts (e.g. airport terminals, gyms, and film theaters), Google’s lack of future-proofing could really feel shortsighted (particularly when Samsung has already embraced it.)
The Buds Professional 2 work with spatial audio and head monitoring. Kind of. Google added it to pick out Pixel telephones and the Pixel Buds Professional through a software program replace in 2023. Disappointingly, it stays restricted to only a handful of video streaming apps like Netflix and Disney+, which provide 5.1-channel soundtracks. Not that I think about spatial audio to be a requirement on a good set of earbuds, nor do I essentially assume that spatial audio sounds higher than stereo. Nevertheless, I do assume that should you provide it as a function, it ought to work with every kind of media, not simply films or TV exhibits with multichannel soundtracks.
When the first-gen Buds Professional have been launched, spatial audio was in its infancy. In the present day, it’s mainstream, and Google must do higher.
Nonetheless, for what it’s designed to do, it really works properly, offering a better sense of immersion when watching movies in your telephone. I attempted it with films like The Matrix on Netflix, and Iron Man 3 on Disney+ and it performs the identical virtual home theater trick that Apple does with its AirPods when watching choose content material on iPhones, iPads, or the Apple TV 4K. They’re not equivalent, nevertheless. Apple’s head-tracking is extra refined and seamless, whereas the Pixel Buds Professional 2 can really feel notchy and abrupt as you flip your head.
Making calls on the Pixel Buds Professional 2 can be good for you and your callers. Shifting to transparency mode permits you to hear your voice naturally, thus lowering fatigue. The environmental noise-canceling algorithms do a wonderful job of maintaining background sounds at bay, although at instances, they could be a tad too aggressive and find yourself scrambling your voice when your setting is very loud.
I attempted utilizing Google’s Clear Calling function, which supposedly improves each your voice readability and that of your caller, however I can’t say that my few take a look at calls demonstrated this functionality.
The brand new Pixel Buds Professional provide a big bump in battery life regardless of their smaller measurement. The primary-gen delivered a claimed seven hours of playtime with ANC on, and a complete of 20 hours if you included the case. The second-gen buds can now get eight hours per cost (a modest enchancment), however the case’s capability has been drastically elevated: whole playtime is now 30 hours.
Nevertheless, for individuals who like to attend till the final minute to cost, the largest enchancment could be the addition of a quick-charge perform. Fifteen minutes within the case will now prolong playtime by as much as three hours.
My comparatively quick 5 days with the Pixel Buds Professional 2 wasn’t sufficient to push the bounds on endurance, however up to now, Google’s numbers appear correct.
All in all, the Google Pixel Buds Professional 2 are glorious wi-fi earbuds. If you happen to’re a Google Pixel telephone consumer, they’re the apparent alternative, particularly if you would like simple voice entry to Google Gemini/Gemini Reside. For some people, the improved consolation provided by their tiny measurement can be definitely worth the worth of admission, however everybody will profit from their excellent noise cancellation, transparency, and sound high quality.
I nonetheless assume there’s room for enchancment. The spatial audio function is simply too restricted and Google’s engineers ought to search for methods to additional enhance name readability. However these are small issues; should you’re leaning towards shopping for the Pixel Buds Professional 2, they shouldn’t get in your approach.
