Google Pixel Buds A-Series
The Google Pixel Buds A-Series are a pleasant surprise. They pack nearly all the same features as the Google Pixel Buds 2 that we saw in 2020, but at a lower price and with a few improvements that Google based on reviewers’ feedback.
The result is an overall better-sounding pair of true wireless earbuds with a longer battery life that feel more fitting of their lower price compared to the competition.
Now, to get to the lower price Google chopped out a few features like wireless charging and the swipe controls on the buds that could raise or lower the volume – which is admittedly a minor inconvenience – but, with Google Assistant built-in, all you need to do is ask Google to do it for you.
We’ve only had them for a few days and are hard at work putting them through their paces, but so far these buds feel like a substantial improvement on the originals.
Price and release date
The Google Pixel Buds A-Series are available to buy now for $99 / £99.99 (about AU$130), making them far cheaper than the previous Pixel Buds 2 that cost $179 / £179 / AU$279.
Design
If you’re just looking at the exterior of the Google Pixel Buds Series-A, you won’t see a huge difference compared to their predecessors: these are still completely wireless earbuds that have an almost space-age aesthetic to them.
The case itself is super smooth and egg-shaped, and it fits perfectly in your hand or pocket. The buds, meanwhile, are incredibly small and stay in your ears with the help of a little nub-like protrusion that rests inside the outer ear. How comfortable you find the nub will depend on your ears, but thanks to the addition of a new stabilizer fin we did find that they stayed in our ears a bit better than the Pixel Buds 2 we reviewed last year.
That said, they are still a bit uncomfortable to wear for extended periods of time. To stay in your ears, they need a certain amount of tension or pushback against the outer ear. And rather than use something like foam eartips – like we’ve seen on the Sony WF-1000XM4 – the Google Pixel Buds A-Series use generic silicone tips that aren’t as comfortable.
Besides the new stabilizer toward the back of the earbuds, the new Pixel Buds also have a vent in them that helps relieve pressure build-up inside the ear. It’s a minor change, but one that you will find helpful – especially if you’re sensitive to pressure.
To control the earbuds, all you have to do is tap on the side. One tap plays and pauses music; two taps will skip to the next song; and three taps will rewind. You can also press and hold to summon Google Assistant if you’re paired with an Android device. Unfortunately there’s no way to raise or lower the volume using touch gestures on the Pixel Buds Series-A, but having Google Assistant on-board mostly works to circumvent this issue.
The larger problem with the earbuds is the lack of noise reduction or outright active noise cancellation technology. You can find that in the similarly priced Amazon Echo Buds (2nd Gen) that were released earlier this year as well as on the new Sony WF-1000XM4, which are some of the best true wireless earbuds on the market. Google does offer ambient noise reduction when you’re on a phone call – but you’ll still hear a lot of ambient noise on your end when you’re listening to music or watching a movie.
Performance
The A-Series have pretty much all the features that we saw from the Google Pixel Buds 2 – i.e. hands-free access to Google Assistant, real-time translation, and an IPX4 water-resistance rating that makes them sweat-resistant.
Admittedly, we weren’t expecting much of a difference in performance considering that the design of earbuds haven’t really changed that much. We were wrong. Thanks to some new tuning, the Google Pixel Buds Series-A have much better bass response, which makes them a real step up in terms of sound quality from the Google Pixel Buds 2.
Listening to various genres of music you’ll hear the bass come through loud and clear – especially if you’re a fan of EDM, rap or hip-hop. The EDM classic Ghosts N Stuff by Deadmau5 sounds rightfully bassy with the Google Pixel Buds Series-A, and while the mids and highs never quite shimmer, the low-end is a definite step up from the previous model.
Turning to rock and pop, you’ll hear more of the same – Dreams by Fleetwood Mac has a distinctive emphasis on the bass and a good mid-range performance with Stevie Nicks’ voice, but there’s a lack of detail in the highs. Thankfully, they have a larger-than-expected soundstage that helps them give a fuller presentation to a lot of your favorite songs.
Overall, the sound quality is much, much better than before, but there’s still some room to grow. They can still be a bit fatiguing to listen to for long periods of time – and we only liked listening to them in short bursts for that reason – but we didn’t have nearly as much to critique with these as we had with the Google Pixel Buds 2.
While the Buds don’t feature any sort of active noise cancellation, they do have one trick up their sleeve that many other earbuds don’t – and that’s the ability to raise the volume based on how much ambient noise is in the background. For example, if you’re on a crowded bus, the earbuds will hear all that background noise and then increase the volume of the music. In practice it won’t be as good as blocking out the noise, but it is a neat feature that will prevent you from reaching into your pocket to adjust the volume every time you go from a crowded area into a place with less ambient noise.
In terms of battery life, the Google Pixel Buds A-Series offer a bit of an improvement. According to Google, you’re looking at five hours of listening time and up to two-and-a-half hours of talk time, as opposed to the three hours of listening time that we got from the Google Pixel Buds 2. We’ll still need to put them through a few recharge cycles ourselves to see how this number holds up, but it is very promising.
Inside the case you’ll get another 19 hours of battery life for a total of 24 hours and the earbuds support fast charging, so that 15 minutes in the charging case can deliver up to three hours of listening time.
Early verdict
We’ll need to spend more time with them to accurately assess all the improvements and modifications Google made to the new Pixel Buds design, but largely we’re walking away much more impressed than we were with the Pixel Buds 2. These sound better and last longer than the Pixel Buds 2, and they’re significantly cheaper, too. That makes them a much better value for the money, and helps to make up for the fact that they lack key features like active noise cancellation that you can find on newer earbuds like the Amazon Echo Buds (2nd Gen) and Sony WF-1000XM4.
- Need some new 'buds? Check out our guide to the best earbuds
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