Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 Review – 6 Months Later

by Josh Teder

It’s been 6 months since I bought the Pixel Buds Pro 2 and I’ve been impressed by them. They’re the follow-up to the Pixel Buds Pro and overall they improve upon the previous design in almost every way you could imagine.

Design and Comfort

The first highlight with these buds is their physical design and comfort. This new design is 27% smaller and 24% lighter than the Pixel Buds Pro, which to me never felt as comfortable as the A series Pixel Buds. With these, you get a similar design to the Pixel Buds A series, which barely feel like they’re in your ears. Paired with excellent noise cancellation, sound, and stellar battery life, these finally feel like a true competitor to Apple and Samsung’s buds.

Do I wish they were even thinner though? Yes. I’d still give the A series better comfort over the Pixel Buds Pro 2. I do notice parts of my ear get a bit sore after wearing them for a few hours. But everyone’s ears are different, so that might not happen to you. It’s not so sore that it’s a deal breaker, just something I noticed after heavy use.

The twist to lock design helps keep them in place even when working out. And I find this design to be more secure during workouts than my AirPods Pro 2 or my Buds 3 Pro from Samsung.

Bluetooth and Noise Cancellation

The Bluetooth connection to multiple devices has been flawless. They feature Bluetooth 5.4, low energy audio, and super wideband. The noise cancellation is supposedly two times stronger than the original Pixel Buds. And yes, it is noticeably better at taking out background noise. Part of this is likely due to Google’s new Tensor A1 chip. It’s been engineered explicitly for low latency audio processing.

Transparency mode sounds less muffled than on the previous version, especially when you’re the one speaking. Overall it sounds clear, and to me, it’s just about as good as the AirPods Pro 2. Though my voice on those sounds just still slightly a bit better, but overall these are still really impressive.

Sound Quality

Next, let’s talk about sound quality. Overall these sound excellent and pretty comparable to my AirPods Pro 2 and Buds 3 Pro, both of which sound pretty damn good. The acoustic architecture was redesigned from the ground up compared to the Pixel Buds Pro. The Buds Pro 2 have 11 mm drivers and a new high-frequency chamber for smooth treble. Compared to the previous version, they are more dynamic, have a fuller, bigger, more well-rounded sound, and have less distortion in the highs. By default, their profile is pretty flat and neutral, but you can of course crank up the bass via the EQ.

Unfortunately, though, you don’t get any options for lossless wireless audio like we’ve seen with other buds and codecs like those from Samsung, Sony, and recent headphones we’ve reviewed like the Sonos Ace.

Battery Life and Charging

Next up, let’s talk about battery life. How good is it? Excellent! These exceed the battery life of other mainstream buds like the AirPods Pro 2 and Galaxy Buds 3 Pro. Five minutes of charge gets you 1.5 hours with ANC off. Google doesn’t state how much battery you get with ANC on from a five-minute charge, but in my experience, it’s been at least 30 minutes.

Case Design and Features

The case has Qi charging as well as a USB-C port. And according to my trusty Anker 140 watt charger, charges at a rate of around 2 to 5 watts. I love this case design. It’s classic and, dare I say, iconic now. And it actually came with a few updates. One, there is now a speaker at the bottom. This not only helps you locate the Buds case when you’ve lost it around your home, but Google added in these cute little chimes for when the buds return to the case and fit properly, which is so cute, as well as chimes for when charging starts, low battery, successful pairing, and errors.

You’ll also get cleaning reminders on your Pixel device. And as someone who doesn’t clean their earbuds as often as they probably should, that is something I do appreciate.

Water Resistance

Next, let’s address water resistance. How waterproof are these? The earbuds are IP54, which means they’re protected from dust as well as water splashes from any direction but aren’t rated to survive being submerged in water. The case is IPX4 rated, which means it can resist water splashes as well. So you’re fine with having your case and buds out in the rain. These ratings are both improvements from the IPX4 and IPX2 ratings of the Pixel Buds Pro and its case.

Microphone Quality

Next, let’s talk mic quality. Here’s a test of how the mics sound in a studio environment. All right, and here’s a quick mic test. This is how the Pixel Buds Pro 2 mics sound. I’m just using the Pixel Recorder app to record their audio. And let’s go ahead and compare them to the original Pixel Buds Pro.

All right, and this is how the Pixel Buds Pro, the original ones, this is how their mics sound compared to the Pixel Buds Pro 2. Just recording this again into my Pixel 9 Pro XL’s recorder app.

All right, so this is how the Pixel Buds Pro 2, how their mics sound. I’ve got some traffic noise in the background, so you can kind of hear how well the mics are going to be able to take out the traffic if you’re walking like in a downtown environment.

All right. And this is an extreme mic test for the Pixel Buds Pro here with something really loud in the background. This is how their mics sound. Let me know what you think.

And here’s how they sound recorded from a phone call. This is how their mics sound recorded via a phone call. I’m just walking around my home right now. Let me know what you think of their mic system overall.

Software and Cross-Platform Support

How did you think they sound? I love that you not only get a full EQ but also one that you can adjust even on devices like your Windows machine or Mac, thanks to Google’s excellent web application for the Pixel Buds, which you can access by going to mypixelbuds.google.com.

I cannot emphasize enough how good of a move on Google’s part this was. It just makes it so much easier to access all of your Bud settings when not using a Pixel device. You can even update the Buds firmware from the app and adjust pretty much every setting for the Buds, even the noises the case makes.

Now, does this web app mean that you can use it with an iPhone if, for some reason, you wanted to? Google states you have to have a companion Android device to set them up initially. So you can pair them to an iPhone, but because iPhones can’t run true Chrome web apps, a limitation set by Apple, by the way, you can’t adjust the Buds settings from an iPhone.

Speaking of browsers, if you’ve never used the Opera browser before, they sponsored today’s video. You should definitely take their updated one for a spin. Inspired by minimalist Nordic design, Opera has dynamic themes you can set that change the look, sound, and feel of your browser.

Tab islands automatically group related tabs together when you open links from the same page, or you organize tabs manually by context. You can collapse these islands to save space and expand them when needed. The split screen feature lets you view two pages simultaneously. Just drag one tab next to another for instant side-by-side comparison. No need for multiple browser windows.

For those who juggle between many tabs like myself, Opera’s tab traces feature makes navigating dozens of open tabs much more intuitive. The darker the underscore, the more recently you visited that tab.

The standout feature of this browser for me has to be its floating music player, which you won’t find on other mainstream browsers. You can detach the music player completely and position it anywhere on your screen, even outside the browser itself.

Opera also includes Arya, a built-in AI tool that’s just a keyboard shortcut away. You can generate images based on a single prompt, or you can upload an image and get more information about it from Arya. You can try these features for yourself by downloading Opera today by using the link in the description. And best of all, it’s free.

Special Features: Gemini and Spatial Audio

Now, let’s go through some features I haven’t found myself using much with these buds. First is talking to Gemini. Overall, Gemini is fine, but on a pair of buds, I’ve mainly been using it to play music, which at first I thought was slower than how long the Google Assistant took, but no, it’s actually a bit faster at playing music and now works with Spotify, though still not with Apple Music. And I haven’t used the talk to Gemini feature all that much. Though I do like that all you have to do is say the trigger word and “let’s talk.” That’s a really great way to integrate the feature with the buds.

Another feature I haven’t used much is spatial audio. The way spatial audio works with the Pixel Buds isn’t exactly the same as it does with the AirPods, which is the device that really popularized this feature. Not all audio coming from your Pixel will cause the head tracking feature to kick in, where the sound sounds like it’s coming from your phone in the way that it does on an iPhone. Also, there’s no support for Dolby Atmos music via Apple Music on a Pixel device to the Pixel Buds Pro 2.

Now, this probably isn’t a huge deal for most Pixel users. I’m not sure how many of them actually subscribe to Apple Music. But if you do have a Pixel or you’ve got these buds, let me know what music service you’re primarily using with them in the comments.

Where spatial audio will come in is more when you’re watching a show or movie mixed in 5.1 surround sound or Dolby Atmos. It works whether you watch the content on your phone or if you have a Google TV streamer, which we have a review coming out shortly on. So make sure you’re subscribed if you want to see that.

But I don’t know, with Google’s spatial audio, I’ve tried this now with multiple Pixel devices and the Google TV streamer. I just don’t notice that much of a difference with spatial audio with these buds like I do with Apple’s devices. Apple’s implementation just feels way more dynamic and noticeable. The Pixel Buds Pro 2 are much more subtle, which some people may like, but I don’t know, it hasn’t been something that I’ve really been impressed by.

Find My Device

Now, if you happen to lose earbuds, they do have a Find My Device feature. Thankfully, I didn’t have to use that feature, but it’s good to have, and it’s been improved now that the case has a speaker, which is much louder than a sound being emitted from the buds themselves. The only thing I wish Google would also have is a precision find feature like Apple has.

Downsides

Now, let’s talk about downsides. Wind noise when walking is more noticeable and annoying on these buds than the ones from Apple and Samsung. While Google did put in a wind screen to help try and block out that wind noise, it doesn’t seem to be enough.

Another downside I’ve encountered is when you have them paired to multiple devices. Like with AirPods and Galaxy Buds, the Pixel Buds Pro 2 have an auto switch feature which will switch audio between Pixel and other Android devices as you use them. It’s when you pair a Google and non-Google device like a Mac that’s where I notice auto switch won’t always turn on.

Recommendation

So, do I recommend getting a pair of the Pixel Buds Pro 2? Absolutely! I think these are a really fantastic set of buds when you add everything together. They have class-leading battery life, an excellent design, transparency mode, sound quality, case design, and overall feel like a true competitor to the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro and AirPods Pro 2.

Who should pick up a pair? Well, obviously Pixel owners or even Samsung owners if you like the design of these better than the Buds 3 Pro. All of their features will work with your Samsung device, while the same cannot be said for Samsung’s buds, like their Samsung seamless codec, gaming mode, and a few other features being exclusive to Samsung devices.

Now, if you have an iPhone, there’s nothing the Pixel Buds Pro 2 can do that really outshines the AirPods Pro 2 or would make it worth getting them over the AirPods.

Comparison with Other Models

Another question that you might have when looking at these is how do they compare to the Pixel Buds A series? The Pixel Buds A series are really if you just need a pair of wireless earbuds that won’t break the bank, but you don’t want better battery life, noise cancellation, sound quality, wireless charging, or multi-point connectivity. Also, you can’t control the volume via swipes like you can on the Pixel Buds Pro 2. The rest of the gestures like play, pause, skipping tracks, answering calls, etc., are all the same. For most people, the Pixel Buds Pro 2 are just going to be the better all-around set of earbuds.

Pricing and Conclusion

The Pixel Buds Pro 2 retail for $229 and come in a variety of fun colors, though they often go on sale. And you can use the purchase links in the description and pinned comment to check their current price and get links to multiple retailers. And you can see all of the products we recommend at any time by visiting 6months.net/shop. And be sure to check out our new homepage where I post not only new content but updates and news about the products and companies we cover.

For more reviews and videos on Google devices, you can get to those by clicking here. And to see more videos on earbuds, headphones, and speakers, you can get to those by clicking here. For 6 Months Later, I’m Josh Teder. Thanks for watching.