Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 Review: A Worthy Upgrade With One Caveat

8.6/ 10
SCORE

Google Pixel Buds Pro 2

Pros

• Smaller design
• Improved sound and noise-canceling
• Stronger Tensor A1 chip
• Excellent battery life
• Good voice-calling performance
• Hands-free Google Assistant for Android users
• Spatial audio

Cons

• Ear tips may not allow some people to get a tight seal
• No support for AptX or LDAC audio codecs for Android users
• A few features not available for Apple users

How you feel about Google’s new Pixel Buds Pro 2 will largely depend on how well they fit your ears. That’s the case for most in-ear noise-canceling buds, of course, but with the Pixel Buds Pro 2, if you don’t get a tight seal from the included ear tips, there’s a massive dip in both sound quality and noise-canceling performance. If you do get a tight seal, these buds deliver excellent sound, strong noise-muffling capabilities and a robust feature set, particularly for Android and Google Pixel phone users.

Watch this: Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 Hands-On: A Big Upgrade

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Not only are the Pixel Buds Pro 2 smaller than their predecessor but Google’s equipped them with its new Tensor A1 chip, which offers more processing power and enables its new “hands-free, eyes-free” Gemini virtual AI assistant. One thing Google didn’t improve, is the price. 

Available in four color options to match the colors of the new Pixel 9 models, the Pixel Buds Pro 2 list for $229 or $29 more than the original Pixel Buds Pro. That’s a trend in the true-wireless earbuds market as various companies’ flagship buds, like Samsung’s new Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, have gone up in price by $20 to $50 as they move to the next generation.

Read more: Best wireless earbuds of 2024

Pixel Buds Pro 2 design

I’ll get to the changes on the inside in a minute, but the biggest difference between these buds and the original Pixel Buds Pro is their design. The originals fit my ears well, but they didn’t quite work for a certain percentage of people, and Google has made them 27% smaller and 24% lighter, which you notice right away. 

They also have a built-in fin which Google calls a “twist-to-adjust stabilizer.” That fin helps lock the buds in your ears, and I was able to get a secure fit when I tried them on and shook my head around. Also, the buds don’t stick out of your ears much, which is nice. For better or worse, they still look a little like you’ve jammed Mentos candies in your ears. 

I ran into a problem with the ear tips. I liked the smaller size of the buds, but it did really change the fit for my ears. With the original Pixel Buds, the largest size of Google’s ear tips created a tight seal. That was not the case with the Pixel Buds Pro 2. The same large ear tips didn’t fit quite snugly in my ears, failing to completely block off my ear canal. That led to underwhelming sound and noise-canceling experience and a search for a new set of tips that would get me a tight seal. Luckily, I have the luxury of having a lot of ear tips on hand because of all the earbuds I review.   

Sometimes, the shape of the ear tip is a factor in getting a tight seal. The ones that come with the Pixel Buds Pro 2 are slightly conical (wider, more rounded tips tend to work better for me). I have no doubt that one of the included sizes of ear tips will fit most people just fine. There will be some folks like me who require a different, most likely larger ear tip to get a tight seal. Once I found such an ear tip, the difference was night and day. Not only did I get a tight seal, but the earbuds fit my ears even more securely; they really felt locked in, and I had no trouble running with them. 

The buds have an IP54 rating, which means they’re splashproof and dust-resistant. Their case — it’s the same size as the original Pixel Buds Pro’s case — is also splashproof and has an IPX4 rating. The one design change to the case is the addition of a little speaker next to the USB-C charging port (more on that in a minute). 

I didn’t note this in my review of the original Pixel Buds Pro, but my one gripe about the case is that it picks up stains from objects in your pocket. You can wipe those stains off with an alcohol wipe without a problem, it can initially be a little concerning when your pristine white case gets marked up. If you want to avoid any of these issues, you can buy a case for your Pixel Buds Pro’s case.   

The Pixel Buds Pro 2 have the same capacitive touch controls with swipe volume controls as the original Pixel Buds Pro, so there are no changes there. I found them responsive and easy to use. 

Upgraded sound quality and noise canceling

Google says the buds, equipped with Bluetooth 5.4, have better sound and noise cancellation, along with improved voice-calling performance and noise reduction during calls. I did notice a significant upgrade in sound quality and noise-canceling performance, and the upgrades in voice-calling performance are more nuanced.

Google’s new Tensor A1 chip and updated algorithms make a lot of the performance upgrades possible. There’s also a hardware upgrade that’s seemingly a big factor in the sound quality improvements. These have 11mm drivers like the originals, Google says there’s an upgraded acoustic architecture with a new high-frequency chamber for smoother treble.

The added detail is what jumped out at me. Compared to the original Pixel Buds Pro, there’s more depth and richness to the sound with better overall definition and extension. The earbuds sound more accurate (natural) and the sound doesn’t get stuck inside your head, which is another way of saying they have an amply wide soundstage.

I listened to a wide variety of music tracks, and came away feeling the sound measures up well to what you get with most of the top earbuds out there, including the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, which have their own driver and processor upgrades. The Pixel Buds Pro 2’s bass is powerful without sounding boomy, there’s good stereo separation (you can distinctly hear each instrument in more complicated tracks) and a nice clarity to the treble. I didn’t experience any listening fatigue either.      

Spatial audio with head tracking returns too, but note that it only works with the Pixel Tablet and the latest Pixel phones, starting with the Pixel 6 — and not Pixel A-Series phones.

For Android users who want to tweak the sound, you get some preset EQ settings along with a full customizable EQ options to adjust the sound profile a bit. I mainly kept the EQ at the default setting because it sounded fine to me. 

You get three microphones in each earbud with some mesh covering that helps cut down on wind noise. Google says the Pixel Buds Pro 2’s upgraded adaptive noise canceling is twice what it was and covers a wider range of frequencies than that of the original Pixel Buds Pro. Again, how tight a seal you get will dramatically impact noise-canceling performance. When I got a tight seal, I was impressed with the noise-canceling performance. Riding the New York City subway and walking the streets of New York, I thought the noise-canceling worked as well as the AirPods Pro 2’s noise canceling. It really cut down on a lot of unwanted noise and not only lower-frequency noise but some in the midrange (people’s voices) and higher-frequencies, which are harder to suppress. 

I also thought the transparency mode, which lets ambient sound into the buds, sounded quite natural with virtually no audible hiss. It seemed very good.

Pixel Buds Pro 2 voice-calling performance evaluation

I thought the voice-calling performance of the original Pixel Buds Pro was pretty good and the voice-calling performance of the Pixel Buds Pro 2 is a little better, though maybe not quite as good as what you get with Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 3 Pro. In my test calls in the noisy streets of New York, the buds generally did a good job eliminating background noise while picking up my voice well (Google markets the buds’ voice-calling prowess as “Clear Calling”). Callers said my voice sounded slightly clearer with the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, and they said they heard a touch less background noise. 

Performance does seem to improve a bit when using a Pixel phone and Clear Calling is activated in the settings. “When a Pixel user with a Pixel 7 or later makes a phone call, the incoming audio (from the other person) is denoised and enhanced by Clear Calling on the phone,” Google says. “If the same user is also using Pixel Buds Pro 2, then the outgoing audio (Pixel user’s speech) is also denoised and enhanced by algorithms on the buds. This means that, when used together, you get a fully denoised and speech-enhanced audio experience.”

Stem-style earbuds like the AirPods Pro 2 and Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, which allow the buds’ microphones to be aimed and positioned a little closer to your mouth, tend to deliver slightly better voice-calling performance. As Google tinkers with its algorithms, I suspect the Pixel Buds Pro 2’s voice-calling performance may improve slightly. For now it seems quite good, but not best-in-class.   

Robust feature set, strong battery life

As you should expect from earbuds in this price range, the Pixel Buds Pro 2 have ear-detection sensors, which means your music will pause when you take the buds out of your ears and resume playback when you put them back in. There’s multipoint Bluetooth pairing and automatic switching between Android devices on your Google account. Also, the buds support the new Find My Device network and have a little speaker on the bottom of their charging case next to the USB-C port that emits a ringtone to help you find the case if it’s hiding somewhere.

Like the previous model, the case has wireless charging, and the rated battery life for these buds is quite good — Google says you can get up to 12 hours with noise canceling off at moderate levels and up to 8 hours with noise canceling on.   

A key feature worth mentioning is Conversation Detect (you have to activate it in the settings), which Google says uses AI to tell when you start speaking and will pause the audio and switch the buds to transparency mode so you can have a conversation. Your music and noise canceling will then kick back on when the conversation ends. Sony was the first to have this feature, and Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 and Samsung’s Galaxy Buds Pro 2 and 3 also have a variation of it.

Like their predecessor, these have hands-free Google Assistant, which you can access by saying “Hey, Google” or “OK, Google” without touching your buds. The buds can also be used to access its new Gemini Live AI feature by saying “Let’s talk” after saying the assistant wake command. I’m still testing this feature, and so far, it’s been a little inconsistent, but it gives the Google Assistant experience a more conversational, interactive feel and allows you to get advanced search results read back to you through the buds.  

Once again, Google has stuck with AAC and SBC has the two audio codecs supported. Some folks were disappointed that the original Pixel Buds Pro didn’t support LDAC or AptX. Honestly, the lack of additional codec support shouldn’t be a dealbreaker. It’s hard to tell the difference between AAC and AptX (or LDAC) even if you have a music streaming service like Qobuz or Tidal that offers high-resolution audio. 

Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 final thoughts

It’s a little disappointing that the Pixel Buds Pro 2 cost $29 more than than their predecessor, but, as I said, we’re seeing that same price inflation with other recent flagship earbuds like Sony’s WF-1000XM5 and Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 3 Pro. Apple has priced its AirPods Pro at $249 for a while, though the AirPods Pro 2 do sell for closer to $180 at Amazon.  

I appreciate the smaller design, an upgrade that should address the fit issues many folks with smaller ears had with the original Buds Pro’s design. These more compact buds might not fit some ears as well as the originals. In my case, I was able to resolve my fit issue with different ear tips. I wouldn’t fault buyers for returning the buds if they fail to get a perfect fit and don’t want to go to the trouble of searching for a more suitable pair of ear tips for their ears. It’s a shame more earbuds manufacturers don’t include a wider range of ear tips with their buds (I’m still waiting for Apple to include a pair of XL tips with the AirPods Pro 2). 

If you can get a tight seal, the Pixel Buds Pro 2 are excellent earbuds. Apple users are better off with the AirPods Pro 2, and Samsung Galaxy device owners should probably opt for the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro. Despite their higher price, they’re certainly worth strong consideration from Pixel device users and Android users in general, particularly when they’re discounted.

Pixel Buds Pro key specs

• Sweat and water resistance: IP54 (buds), IPX4 (case)
• Bluetooth 5.4 with LE Audio
• Tensor A1 processor
• Custom-designed 11mm dynamic speaker driver
• Active noise cancellation with Silent Seal 2.0
• Transparency mode
• Active in-ear pressure relief
• Conversation detection
• Ringtone speaker in case for Find My Device
• Voice accelerometer
• Three microphones (wind-blocking mesh covers)
• Capacitive touch (tap and swipe) sensors for music, calls and voice assistant controls
• IR proximity sensor for in-ear detection to play and pause automatically
• Motion-detecting accelerometer and gyroscope
• Hall Effect sensor for case open and close detection
• USB-C and Qi-certified wireless charging
• Battery life up to 12 hours with ANC off (additional 36 hours in charging case), 8 hours with ANC on (additional 22 hours in charging case)
• 5-minute charge of earbuds gets 1.5 hours of listening time (with ANC off)
• Colors: porcelain, hazel, wintergreen and peony
• Weight of each earbud: 4.7 grams (with medium ear tip)
• Charging case: 65 grams (with earbuds)
• Price: $229