As soon as Apple released the AirPods, many assumed that buying headphones from traditional headphone makers would yield better results. In fact, the AirPods proved to be very successful — and this move seems to have motivated others to make similar products. For example, Google, which not long ago launched the new Google Pixel Buds alongside its Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL smartphones.
In typical Google fashion, however, the Google Pixel Buds are a little smarter than your average earbuds. They have Google Assistant integrated, meaning that you can ask Assistant about your upcoming events, the weather, and even translate via voice through the Google Translate app.You may be wondering, how the Google Pixel Buds perform? And are they worth the $159? Read thoroughly to find out.
Sound and performance
Now, these are made to wrap around the neck — but they’re only connected through a single cable, so for the sake of battery size (not life) they may as well be true wireless headphones. Considering that, the battery life is actually quite good — far better than most other true wireless headphones on the market. The Google Pixel Buds offer five hours of use on a charge, and the charging case will offer four full charges — bringing the grand total of hours in use to 25 hours if both the buds and the case are charged at the start of the day.
These earbuds are also kind of different in a special way. Instead of creating a seal in your ear canal, these headphones sit gently in your ear canal — which can sometimes present some issues with things like bass response. That didn’t seem to be the case here, which means that the sound quality remains well and is actually surprising. The headphones offer somewhat of a bass boost that helped things like kick drums and bass guitars really shine here.The high-end is relatively detailed and bright, but it would’ve been better with a little bit more of it. It’s definitely there — but it could be more boosted than it is.
Design
The first thing you’ll notice about the Google Pixel Buds is their design — and that’s because they’re pretty unique. The buds themselves are round with a protrusion on the front — which is what you’ll insert into your ear. Instead of ear hooks to keep the buds nice and comfortably in your ear, the headphones feature a braided nylon cord that’s looped around to form an infinitely adjustable ear hook, which we really liked.
It’s definitely a unique design and one that doesn’t show up anywhere else — at least in my opinion. The headphones aren’t necessarily “sleek” — more fun and interesting. Perhaps the only downside to the whole design is that the braided nylon can get caught on a collar pretty easy — resulting in an earbud sometimes being pulled out. To fix this, you have to wrap the earbuds around the ear and you’ll be ready.
You’ll have to take a few minutes to learn other controls, but thankfully they’re pretty easy to get the hang of. Tap the right earbud to play or pause audio or answer a call, and double tap to get “updates from Google Assistant,” which basically consist of a rundown of notifications and the time. You can also swipe forward and back on the touchpad to turn the volume up or down. It does not seem as though there are controls to skip forward or back, so if you skip songs a lot that could get a little frustrating. All in all, I really like the design of the Google Pixel Buds. They’re very unique — but that’s not a bad thing by any means, and while they aren’t as sleek as other headphones, they still have a lot going for them.
Google Assistant
Ever since the release of Google’s personal assistant, the company hasn’t stopped adding new features to it ever since. The idea behind it is to create a similar version of the well known “Siri” and “Alexa” by Apple and Amazon. It turned out to be a good one, expectedly, and we could already see the perfect results in Google’s smartphones – Pixel, Pixel XL and II. You can ask it questions, set up appointments, arrangements plans or even make calls all by using your voice. This feature is perfect if you are on-the-go or if you are driving and your attention should be focused on a more important thing than your phone.
Perhaps the most anticipated feature that Google Assistant can help with here is translation and navigation. It’s actually pretty good — though as is often the case with these things, it’s not perfect. To use translation, you’ll simply ask Assistant to help you speak another language, and it will then open up Google Translate on your phone. Hand your phone to the other party, trigger Assistant again, and say what you want to communicate, after which Assistant will translate it and speak the translated version through the speaker on your phone. The other person then hits a button in the Translate app, start speaking, and Assistant will say the translated version back to you through the Pixel Buds.It will be great for people who travel a lot or don’t know any languages.
