Google Pixel Buds A Review: All About Smarts (2023)

While they haven't made it to Google I/O like some expected, the A-series Pixel Buds are now official and are the company's most affordable wireless earbuds yet.

The general idea here is to offer a cheaper version of the existing Pixel Buds 2 while retaining key features and quality. There are some downgrades to match the significantly lower price point, but they're fewer than you might expect - namely wireless charging and attention alerts.

Overall, Google has done a good job, even making small improvements here and there. The main selling point for thePixel Buds Aare all the smart features, as subpar battery life and no noise-cancelling might make you look elsewhere.

Design & Build

As you may have noticed, the Pixel Buds A look identical to thePixel Buds (2020). In fact, Google hasn't changed the design at all, so these are a budget version of the same headphones.

The only new element are two new color options: Dark Olive - which I was hoping for - and the Clearly White option, which was sent to me to test. It shares the same name as the Buds 2 but now has light gray areas on the earbuds and inside the case, rather than black.

If you've used the Pixel Buds 2 you can probably just skip to later sections of the review, but other than that these are well-designed and well-made earbuds.

They come in a small case that has a smooth matte finish. It looks and feels good, although it's oddly plain and there's not even a "G" logo in sight. All you get is a USB-C port on the bottom for charging and a hidden LED just below the lid that lights up when you open it.

The earbuds themselves are very small, and at just 5g each, they're one of the lightest pairs out there. They fit my ears well and stayed in place well. You can switch earbuds, and while there's a finned section to help with stability, it's a permanent attachment.

It's a shame because even though I use small tips, I found the fins didn't do much as they couldn't reach my larger ears. Still, I found them comfortable for a long time and, unlike some others, wasn't overly concerned about them falling out.

There is a "G" logo on the outer parts and this is where you'll find the touch controls. Here we also find the first downgrade compared to the Buds 2, since here there are no volume swipe gestures, only tapping (single, double and triple), but it works well and with good responsiveness.

Too bad you can'tto adjusttouch control, so that, for example, the left earbud can control the volume while the right takes over playback.

The last thing to mention about the design is the IPX4 water resistance, which is basic but better than nothing and should protect the Buds A from splashes or sweat.

sound quality and features

The Pixel Buds A house the same custom 12mm dynamic drivers as the Buds 2, and they use Bluetooth 5.0 for connectivity. Although there are newer versions like 5.2, I haven't had any of the drop out issues we found with the Buds 2.

At 12mm, the drivers are surprisingly large given their size, and the Buds A offer decent sound quality with clean and accurate audio in the mid and high frequency ranges.

As Lewis noted with the Buds 2, bass is absent by default, but you can toggle a bass boost option in the setting that solves this problem if you listen to a lot of bass-heavy music.

Unfortunately, they don't have active noise-cancellation (ANC), but neither do much more expensive pairs like thoseApple AirPods 2or similarly priced options like thatCambridge Audio Melomania 1andRHA TrueConnect 2.

Passive noise isolation is very good, but if ANC is a must and you can't justify the flagship prices, then check out the Huawei FreeBuds 4i or Anker Soundcore Life A2 NC.

Smarts

However, the Pixel Buds A's USP is really the array of smart features that Google offers. You won't find most of these on competitors at this price point or higher.

Much of the appeal comes from the earbuds, which support Google Assistant, so it's like having tiny smart speakers in your ears. Before I get to your options: Clever technology becomes apparent as soon as you open the case.

Fast Pair means you'll receive a pop-up notification and after a few simple on-screen steps, the Buds A will connect to your phone. I expected that with minePixel 4a 5G, but Google says it will work with any Android phone running version 6.0 or later.

Note that you can also use them with iOS or other Bluetooth devices if you want, you just need the pairing button on the back of the case.

On my Pixel phone, the Pixel Buds app is system-level, so you can get the battery life for each earbud from the drop-down bar and quickly get into all settings by tapping -- or the cog in the Bluetooth devices menu.

As mentioned, the Buds A's touch controls don't support volume movements, but you can ask the Google Assistant to turn them up or down. It's a nice touch, although I can't imagine using it in public, even if you can touch and hold the earbud instead of saying "Hey, Google."

It's just one of the many things the Google Assistant can do on the headphones, so it doesn't stop there.

One of the key features is translation, which can come in extremely handy when traveling abroad or just talking to neighbors who don't speak English. With the help of Google Translate app, it can translate 40 different languages ​​in real time.

Without someone fluent in another language to test this, Google suggested watching a video on YouTube in another language. It translated my speech with ease but, as you can see above, struggled a bit to keep up with the fast-moving Spanish. I imagine talking to someone in real life when they know they're talking to an app will yield better results.

You can also have your notifications read out to you if you want (after choosing which apps you want this feature enabled for) and it can be really handy - e.g. B. when you go shopping and your partner wants to add something to the list - but you also get unhelpful things like "Jordan sent three photos".

Adaptive Sound isn't linked to Assistant, but aims to automatically adjust the volume based on where you go while wearing the Buds A. I didn't find it to do much, but then I didn't put the buds anywhere particularly challenging when testing.

I found the in-ear detection to be more useful and reliable than many others with the same feature. Thanks to IR sensors, it knows when you remove or replace the earbuds and quickly pauses or resumes your music.

There's more as you can also use your phone to locate the Pixel Buds A if you lose them. And the good news is that if you don't like any of these features, you can probably turn them off in settings so they don't bother you anymore.

Battery life

As we found with the Pixel Buds 2, battery life remains a downside, with the Buds A able to last five hours of playback for the earbuds alone. I felt that was correct, while my colleague Lewis felt the Buds 2 ran for about three hours. But it's a long way from many competitors, with some being able to last twice as long - or even longer.

Add the charging case and you can get a total time of 24 hours, which isn't bad, but that five-hour figure won't be long enough for some users, especially if you want them to last a full long-haul flight or the like.

Fast charging helps the situation somewhat, as you can get three hours of playback from a 15-minute charge.

The case itself charges via USB-C and doesn't feature wireless charging like the Buds 2.

Preis

With the Pixel Buds 2 coming in at quite an expensive price tag of £179 / US$179, the Pixel Buds A seem very affordable indeed£99/US$99.

they wentcommercially in the USback in June and arenow available for pre-order in the UKwith the checkout page stating a delivery date of August 25th.

There are plenty of cheaper pairs of wireless earbuds out there, of course, but rarely from the big tech brands. The main contenders here that are slightly cheaper and have active noise cancellation are theHuawei FreeBuds 4iandAnker Soundcore Life A2 NC– both £79.

Check out our chartsbest wireless headphonesand thebest cheap wireless earbudsfor more options.

Verdict

Google is finally getting there with its own-brand wireless earbuds, and I think it was a wise decision to take the flagship model and ditch some of the premium features for a much more attractive price point.

After all, it worked well with the Pixel 'a' phones.

Considering the difference in price compared to the Pixel Buds 2, it's perhaps surprising how little Google has downgraded here - namely on-case wireless charging and attention alerts.

Everything else remains the same and while there are cheaper active noise-cancelling competitors out there, the Pixel Buds A offer something different and that's plenty of smart features.

Basics like in-ear detection and decent touch controls are just the start, as the Buds A also offer Adaptive Sound, Fast Pair, and support for the Google Assistant, opening up a world of possibilities from simple replies or notifications to real-time translation.

Battery life isn't great for the earbuds themselves, but the case has plenty of extra juice and fast charging to quickly top up the buds when they run low.

If the cons aren't on your must-have list, the Pixel Buds A are recommended.