Google Pixel Buds Pro 2, a great improvement in comfort and battery life that brings them up to AirPods level

I have tried the Pixel Buds Pro 2, Google’s new wireless headphones, which are already among the few high-end headphones with a button design, but which have been greatly improved in terms of a more stable design and battery life compared to the previous generation.

Google is more involved in hardware than ever, and this can be seen in different product categories, including Pixel 9 phones, with one more model this year, but also a wide variety of devices.

Users have just received the Google TV Streamer, the revamped Chromecast with a new design that is no longer a dongle, but also the Google Pixel Watch 3 smartwatch, with a new larger 45 mm variant.

Now, Google has also put its own model of high-end wireless headphones on sale, the Pixel Buds Pro 2, which are priced at 249 euros. They are available in four colours: porcelain, lichen green, pastel green and pink.

They were announced in August along with the rest of the new products, but until now they could not be bought in our country.

The Pixel Buds Pro 2 are a much-needed update, as the previous high-end wireless headphones from the American brand, the Pixel Buds Pro, have been on the market for two years now.

Design: in-ear headphones have never been so comfortable

Before opening the charging case, the Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 look the same as the model from two years ago, but inside you realise that this is not the case, as Google has done a great job with the design of its wireless headphones.

But hidden inside is a completely different button design.

The Pixel Buds Pro 2 are no longer just a button attached to a pad as before, which depended entirely on this silicone piece for support, but now have a small flap that rests on the ear.

I had already tried earphones with fins, but they always seemed bulky and uncomfortable. These Pixel Buds Pro 2 have been a revelation thanks to their small fin design, as you don’t have to push the pad into your ear canal, it just sits perfectly in place.

They provide a stability and comfort that I have never found in any other headphones. I have been able to wear them for several hours at a time without the slightest discomfort.

What’s more, the headphones are considerably smaller than they were two years ago. Each earpiece measures just 22.74 x 23.08 x 17.03 millimetres, compared to 22.33 x 22.03 x 23.72 for the previous model. You can tell they’re much thinner, but they still stay in place well from the outside.

They are also lighter, at 4.7 grams per earbud, compared to 6.2 grams for the Pixel Buds Pro.

The charging case has the same oval shape as the Pixel Buds Pro model from two years ago, with a lid reminiscent of that of the AirPods. I think it’s a good move, because it’s very easy to identify and fits in well with the company’s design line.

The only difference on the outside is a small hole at the bottom, next to the charging port, which serves as an output for the speaker for the search function and to warn that they are running out of battery.
I have tried the lichen green version, which no matter how much I look at it, still looks dark grey to me, but beware: only the colour of the outside of the headphones changes, but the body is still black and the casing is white.

The colour of the white casing cannot be changed, and you should know that it gets dirty relatively easily: for example, in your jeans pocket if they fade a little.

Sound: high quality combined with better noise cancellation

In terms of sound, the Pixel Buds Pro 2 represent a leap in quality that I think substantially improves on the previous generation and puts them on a par with the best, such as the AirPods Pro 2 or the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro.

Google has used a processor from its Tensor family, the Tensor A1 model, in a headset for the first time, and as a result the company has achieved lower latency and multi-path sound processing that greatly improves quality.

The music sounds much better than in the previous generation, with deep bass and clear sound that, although it does not reach the levels of Sony’s highest range, does seem perfectly comparable to the rest of the more expensive wireless headphones on the market.
Where the improvement made possible by the Tensor A1 processor is most noticeable is in noise cancellation thanks to the incorporation of Silent Seal 2.0 technology, which Google claims is twice as good.

In my experience, I think that Google has taken a big leap forward in terms of noise cancellation in these Pixel Buds Pro 2, putting them on a par with the best brands in this respect, such as Huawei or Sony. The noise cancellation is now so good that you can be on the street at rush hour and not hear the traffic or be on a crowded train and not hear anyone.

The headphones have an ambient mode that I found to be a notable improvement over the previous generation. They allow you to have short conversations and hardly distort the sound despite the use of microphones, something that I loved and that happens in many models even in the high-end range. Of course, their in-ear format has limitations, as the sound is muffled, and I preferred to take them out if I was talking to someone for more than 30 seconds.

I also tried the Pixel Buds Pro 2 for calls with very good results, both in terms of the clear sound that reached me and the other person thanks to its 3 microphones per earpiece.

Application and connectivity: Gemini Live’s AI still has a lot of room for improvement

Google develops the Android operating system and that knowledge and mastery of the software shows in the control of the headset software.

The Pixel Buds Pro 2 are managed from the Pixel Buds application, which works perfectly and with which it is possible to carry out the usual controls on headphones: sound equalisation, noise cancellation, change of touch controls and display of the battery levels of the headphones and the charging case.

Despite the small surface area of the headphones, the touch controls work quite well for pausing the music, adjusting the volume up or down, or activating noise cancellation or transparent mode. Of course, if you have long hair, this can affect the accuracy, and even I had a few problems – at the moment it’s taking me longer to get a haircut.

But there is also a feature called Digital Assistant, which is Google’s way of demonstrating its heavy investment in artificial intelligence, so you can interact with generative AI directly from your headphones via Gemini Live.

Gemini Live is basically a version of the regular Google Assistant, powered by the same generative AI as popular tools like ChatGPT, so it’s able to give you a lot more information and more ideas for the things you ask it.

I really liked the feature that reads your notifications to you via AI, so you don’t have to stop and look at your phone when you get a short chat message, but I think Gemini Live is still a long way from being an all-purpose assistant.

Firstly, because I had a lot of trouble getting it to understand my voice commands correctly, something I thought had been overcome (spoiler: no). Secondly, although it integrates with external apps and you can tell it to send a WhatsApp message to one of your contacts, it takes so long and you end up starting so many times that it doesn’t make sense to do it by voice when you have your hands free.

Finally, just to highlight one detail that shows that Google still has a lot of work to do on Gemini Live to make it a definitive product: it is not even consistent with the voices and accents it uses. For example, in the middle of the same query, I noticed that sometimes it spoke to me in Spanish from Spain and sometimes in Spanish from Latin America, without any explanation.

One new piece of software that I liked was Find My Device, which uses the Pixel Buds Pro 2’s speakers to play a (rather loud) ringtone when you can’t find them to help you find the charging cradle. The headphones also play a sound to help you find them if you’ve dropped them under the sofa, although this function already existed and the sound is quite weak.

As for the rest, Google has included the latest connectivity in these Pixel Buds Pro 2, with Bluetooth 5.4, LE audio and super-wideband or ultra-wideband to locate and connect them from a distance.

Battery: the Pixel Buds Pro 2 have extended battery life and will never let you down

Although the charging case of the original Pixel Buds Pro was not the most compact, one of my main complaints about that device was that its battery was not better, but it is clear that Google has upped its game.

The Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 come in a case of the same size and take advantage of this to significantly improve battery life, which once again seems to be due to the Tensor A1 chip developed by the American company, but could also be due to the smaller size of the headphones.

With noise cancellation turned off, the Pixel Buds Pro 2 can last up to 48 hours with the charging case and 12 hours with the headphones, well above the 31 hours with the case and 11 hours with the headphones of their predecessors.

The use of active noise cancellation reduces this to 30 hours with the case and 8 hours with the headphones, enough for a day’s work, compared to 20 hours with the case and 7 hours with the headphones of the original Pixel Buds Pro.

I only had to charge them once during a week of intensive use, probably because I tend to use the noise cancellation feature a lot. Personally, I thought it was great and more than enough in terms of battery life.

I think this is a very important step forward for Google, and I think it puts them on a par with the big brands in wireless headphones, where they have fallen behind.

In summary: are the Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 worth it?

The Pixel Buds Pro 2 have become one of the best wireless headphones on the market today, but also one of the only ones left, along with Sony’s high-end range, and it seems more than clear to me that they are a big improvement over the previous generation in almost every respect.

Their design with small fins gives them a stability and comfort that I had not imagined in this format, which I think can overcome the resistance of many users who cannot get used to them, so I strongly recommend trying them, although their price of 249 euros is not one of the cheapest you will find.

If you’re willing to pay the price, I doubt you’ll be disappointed. The Tensor A1 chip works wonders in terms of sound quality and, above all, it’s a big step forward in terms of noise cancellation and battery life, so after years of trying, I think I can safely say that Google has finally managed to launch one of the best high-end headphones with these Pixel Buds Pro 2.