Google Pixel Buds (2020) review: mic test included
Alright buds, let's talk buds. (chuckles) I had to do it, I just hadto do it, it was too easy. (futuristic music) Wireless earbuds are the pieceof tech I use only second to my phone, the absolute most. And you know the feelingof when you forget your headphones at home. It's the worst, it's like the worst. From phone calls to music,they keep me entertained and connected while on the go. And the good ones, they do it withoutfeeling like extra bulk. Now while the Google Budstwo have there flaws, there is one thing that I didn't realize that all of my other wirelessearbuds were missing. A hands free Google Assistantavailable to you at all times. Grab some popcorn, for you andme both, let's get into it. (futuristic music) Pixel Buds two are a speechbubble shaped, in ear bud, with a flexible in ear arcthing coming off the top, that are available startingtoday in clearly white for 179 dollars withalmost black, white mint, and also orange coming later, says Google. I am not sure what later meansbut hopefully they're quicker than Microsoft has been withlaunching the surface earbuds. The buds pop into the oval mattecase with a magnetic click.
And that pop of openingand closing the case. (opening and closing clicks) Like I'm a sucker for a good click, but like this is some quality click. Ooh, wow. In terms of design, these budsfeel solid, they look great, and they don't come out evenwhen taking of a sweatshirt, or biking, or dancing, or even chewing. They are truly not moving. And they are IPX4 water resistant, so you can feel safewearing them in light rain or while working out. Overall it's a huge improvementfrom the last Pixel Buds. Ya'll that cord thing. I don't have any words for that. Bad, bad, bad's the word. These buds fit reallysecurely in your ear. But, that comes with a cost. See this like, pointy, arc thing? Well, it looks like a thornand after about hour three of wearing these, it feels like a thorn. And I was wishing it was a little softer, and more of an arc, kindof like on the Galaxy buds. But let's get right into sound quality. Pixel Buds two have 12 ml drivers that provide really good audio quality. I've been jamming to everything from the pop funk of Still Woozy to the EDM of Flume andthat acoustic goodness of Ben Howard. I even sprinkled in some FrankSinatra in there and I found these buds can produce a soundmuch bigger than I expected, with good separation ofthe highs and the lows. I put together all the songsthat I've been listening to while testing these in a playlist and I'll link that down below.
But Amy Winehouse's Valerie,and more specifically the live lounge version. If you listen to the song on these buds you can really tune into the shaker at the top or that baseline, or her vocals. The point being that it doesn'tget like mushed together in this like garbled kinda mess. It keeps everything really separate. And then there's music fromlike Bleachers that is like really big and loud and thesebuds can handle that too. The only downfall tho, theydon't have that real thick bass. And there's no EQ settingsfor that in there app either. So if you're lookingfor that real big bass, this ain't it. There's also no active noise cancellation to block outside noise. For this price point that isn't a feature I totally expected. And if you've worn inear headphones before, these block out sound in the same way by physically blocking your ear canal.
The vent works really well on these though so your ear doesn't feellike it's being suctioned. There is also a featurecalled adaptive sound. Google claims the Pixel Budstwo can optimize volume levels based on the environment around you. I felt this working onmy bike rides the most. I never once had to adjust the volume no matter if more traffic was coming or I entered a quiet street. Oh I can't wait to test them against a real loud subway screach. I kinda miss that, ew. I'm like missing the soundof a screaching subway? This is reaching new levels. There are those typicalbluetooth connectivity issues. And I really hate howthis is still a problem. Like a few times my buds dropped out and then would reconnecta few seconds later, but overall I was able toleave my phone in the back of the apartment and walk freelywithout losing connection. I didn't notice a lag whenwatching videos on my phone or Macbook either, but I did notice there's this sort ofwhite noise that happens for a few seconds afteryou stop playing something. And I only heard it whenit was really quiet. But, it's there. Alright, come on down, here we go.
What you knew I wouldabsolutely be doing today, and that's a mic test. Today's contenders, wehave the Airpod Pro's, we have the Galaxy Buds Plus, we have the Jabra Elite 75Ts, and then of course theGoogle Pixel Buds two. We're starting with the gold standard of headphone microphones, andthose are the Airpod Pro's. And next we have the Galaxy Buds Plus. The first generationof these was not so hot in the microphone department, but they definitely uppedtheir game in the second gen. Alright, coming to you live, from the Pixel Buds two, here we are. This is this is the uh,this is uh, this is the uh, this is how they should sound. How do they sound? Alright, these are the Jabra 75Ts, they also came out thisyear and there known to have really great sound quality. But how does there mic sound? Can you hear me? Although you can here me really clearly on the Pixel Buds two, they definitely sound the most compressed out of all of these. And I think the Airpod Prosremain the gold standard. The Pixel Bud 2's chargevia USB-C or wirelessly, and Google claims the budscan get around five hours of music listening time and two point five hours of talk time on a single charge. In my use with adaptive sound turned on and lots of music playback,and of course lots of hands free Google Assistant use,
I was averaging closer tolike three point five hours off a full charge, which is definitely on the lower end of battery life. Compared to the Jabra 75T's that get around seven point five hours, and especially comparedto the Galaxy Buds Plus that boast a whopping 11hours of battery life. The Pixel Buds Case getsyou another 24 hours of listening time and around12 hours of talk time. And a ten minute chargein the case will give you about two hours ofadditional listening time. Pixel Buds have there ownapp that is very minimal, and it includes a find yourdevice feature, adaptive sound, in ear detection toggles,and touch control settings. Play pause with a single tap,double tap to skip a track, triple tap to go to the previous track, and then my favoritegesture is swiping forward to raise the volume and back to lower. I know that my co-worker ChrisWelch found these controls to be a little finicky. I mean you really have to nailthe placement of your finger. But it wasn't an issue forme and I just love being able to control the volume so easily without having to touch my phone. Which brings me to why thesebuds are really important. Cut the music, cut the music.
Friends, we have to talk about two things. Number one, how wellthese work with Android, and number two, how friggin incredible it is to have Google Assistant always at your beckoning call. First things first, pairing. Setting these buds up on anAndroid device is so easy. As soon as you open the casea prop pops up that walks you through pairing, naming,and even downloading their app. The whole process took me under a minute, and it's a total breeze. And second, coming froma Google connected world I already live in, I'm so use to just shoutingcommands to the assistant without having to touch anything. So on the go I was setting alarms, answering text messages, changing the song, changing the playlist, even turning on my lightswhile I was on my bike rolling up to my house, allwithout touching a single thing. Now there are other headphonesthat allow you to hold down a button or click a button toaccess the Google Assistant, but with these you justsay the magic command and the headphones respond. With the Pixel Buds two,Google is finally improving the hardware enough that youenjoy using the software. Yo again I gotta say it, R.I.P that cord. Thanks god, see you never. Now these do feelsomewhat first gen to me. I mean this thorn, it's a killer. The battery life, it's a killer. But, those are all problemsthat a next generation can fix, and I think Google isfinally on to something with these Pixel Buds. It's good while it lasted.
And that pop of openingand closing the case. (opening and closing clicks) Like I'm a sucker for a good click, but like this is some quality click. Ooh, wow. In terms of design, these budsfeel solid, they look great, and they don't come out evenwhen taking of a sweatshirt, or biking, or dancing, or even chewing. They are truly not moving. And they are IPX4 water resistant, so you can feel safewearing them in light rain or while working out. Overall it's a huge improvementfrom the last Pixel Buds. Ya'll that cord thing. I don't have any words for that. Bad, bad, bad's the word. These buds fit reallysecurely in your ear. But, that comes with a cost. See this like, pointy, arc thing? Well, it looks like a thornand after about hour three of wearing these, it feels like a thorn. And I was wishing it was a little softer, and more of an arc, kindof like on the Galaxy buds. But let's get right into sound quality. Pixel Buds two have 12 ml drivers that provide really good audio quality. I've been jamming to everything from the pop funk of Still Woozy to the EDM of Flume andthat acoustic goodness of Ben Howard. I even sprinkled in some FrankSinatra in there and I found these buds can produce a soundmuch bigger than I expected, with good separation ofthe highs and the lows. I put together all the songsthat I've been listening to while testing these in a playlist and I'll link that down below.
But Amy Winehouse's Valerie,and more specifically the live lounge version. If you listen to the song on these buds you can really tune into the shaker at the top or that baseline, or her vocals. The point being that it doesn'tget like mushed together in this like garbled kinda mess. It keeps everything really separate. And then there's music fromlike Bleachers that is like really big and loud and thesebuds can handle that too. The only downfall tho, theydon't have that real thick bass. And there's no EQ settingsfor that in there app either. So if you're lookingfor that real big bass, this ain't it. There's also no active noise cancellation to block outside noise. For this price point that isn't a feature I totally expected. And if you've worn inear headphones before, these block out sound in the same way by physically blocking your ear canal.
The vent works really well on these though so your ear doesn't feellike it's being suctioned. There is also a featurecalled adaptive sound. Google claims the Pixel Budstwo can optimize volume levels based on the environment around you. I felt this working onmy bike rides the most. I never once had to adjust the volume no matter if more traffic was coming or I entered a quiet street. Oh I can't wait to test them against a real loud subway screach. I kinda miss that, ew. I'm like missing the soundof a screaching subway? This is reaching new levels. There are those typicalbluetooth connectivity issues. And I really hate howthis is still a problem. Like a few times my buds dropped out and then would reconnecta few seconds later, but overall I was able toleave my phone in the back of the apartment and walk freelywithout losing connection. I didn't notice a lag whenwatching videos on my phone or Macbook either, but I did notice there's this sort ofwhite noise that happens for a few seconds afteryou stop playing something. And I only heard it whenit was really quiet. But, it's there. Alright, come on down, here we go.
What you knew I wouldabsolutely be doing today, and that's a mic test. Today's contenders, wehave the Airpod Pro's, we have the Galaxy Buds Plus, we have the Jabra Elite 75Ts, and then of course theGoogle Pixel Buds two. We're starting with the gold standard of headphone microphones, andthose are the Airpod Pro's. And next we have the Galaxy Buds Plus. The first generationof these was not so hot in the microphone department, but they definitely uppedtheir game in the second gen. Alright, coming to you live, from the Pixel Buds two, here we are. This is this is the uh,this is uh, this is the uh, this is how they should sound. How do they sound? Alright, these are the Jabra 75Ts, they also came out thisyear and there known to have really great sound quality. But how does there mic sound? Can you hear me? Although you can here me really clearly on the Pixel Buds two, they definitely sound the most compressed out of all of these. And I think the Airpod Prosremain the gold standard. The Pixel Bud 2's chargevia USB-C or wirelessly, and Google claims the budscan get around five hours of music listening time and two point five hours of talk time on a single charge. In my use with adaptive sound turned on and lots of music playback,and of course lots of hands free Google Assistant use,
I was averaging closer tolike three point five hours off a full charge, which is definitely on the lower end of battery life. Compared to the Jabra 75T's that get around seven point five hours, and especially comparedto the Galaxy Buds Plus that boast a whopping 11hours of battery life. The Pixel Buds Case getsyou another 24 hours of listening time and around12 hours of talk time. And a ten minute chargein the case will give you about two hours ofadditional listening time. Pixel Buds have there ownapp that is very minimal, and it includes a find yourdevice feature, adaptive sound, in ear detection toggles,and touch control settings. Play pause with a single tap,double tap to skip a track, triple tap to go to the previous track, and then my favoritegesture is swiping forward to raise the volume and back to lower. I know that my co-worker ChrisWelch found these controls to be a little finicky. I mean you really have to nailthe placement of your finger. But it wasn't an issue forme and I just love being able to control the volume so easily without having to touch my phone. Which brings me to why thesebuds are really important. Cut the music, cut the music.
Friends, we have to talk about two things. Number one, how wellthese work with Android, and number two, how friggin incredible it is to have Google Assistant always at your beckoning call. First things first, pairing. Setting these buds up on anAndroid device is so easy. As soon as you open the casea prop pops up that walks you through pairing, naming,and even downloading their app. The whole process took me under a minute, and it's a total breeze. And second, coming froma Google connected world I already live in, I'm so use to just shoutingcommands to the assistant without having to touch anything. So on the go I was setting alarms, answering text messages, changing the song, changing the playlist, even turning on my lightswhile I was on my bike rolling up to my house, allwithout touching a single thing. Now there are other headphonesthat allow you to hold down a button or click a button toaccess the Google Assistant, but with these you justsay the magic command and the headphones respond. With the Pixel Buds two,Google is finally improving the hardware enough that youenjoy using the software. Yo again I gotta say it, R.I.P that cord. Thanks god, see you never. Now these do feelsomewhat first gen to me. I mean this thorn, it's a killer. The battery life, it's a killer. But, those are all problemsthat a next generation can fix, and I think Google isfinally on to something with these Pixel Buds. It's good while it lasted.
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