I've been a long time pixel buds users first generation back in 2018.
I subsequently upgraded to the pixel buds second generation
in 2020 and have used them for hundreds of hours ever since.
However, the recently launched Pixel Buds Pro with a noise canceling features
and transparency mode address two of my biggest issues and inspired me to upgrade.
With that in mind, I had to try them.
In this video, I detail my experience upgrading from the pixel buds
second generation to the pixel buds pro and explore the technology
used from a tech enthusiast point of view.
I've been a big fan of my pixel buds
second generation earphones ever since they were released.
The small form factor, the smart touch controls, plus
the seamless integration of Pixel Phone and Google assistant have been great.
However, two improvements I always wanted was the addition of noise
canceling technology and also better performance for voice calls
for everyday use for my pixel buds includes listening to music, podcasts
and YouTube videos on walks and driving,
plus all of the above while doing housework.
As the parent of two young kids in the noisy household, having the ability
to pop in some earphones and find some solitude is a boon.
However, while doing housework, I'll often be using appliances
or power tools that make a lot of noise,
and the older generation pixel buds are unusable without turning up the volume.
Too uncomfortable and potentially harmful levels for my eardrums.
When it comes to my concerns around voice calls, it's not actually the microphone
and drivers and earphones. They're an issue.
While not true IEM or in-ear monitors the pixel buds
do sit in the ear canal to a degree that blocks out a lot of external sound
when using them and speaking, it gives the user that weird
submersed effect where you can hear your own voice
resonating very deeply and more prominently.
The effect is created by your ears not being able to hear your voice externally,
but instead picking up
the sound waves through the vibrations in your jawbone and skull.
But more on that later.
With all of the above in mind, I had high hopes for the pixel buds pro.
When unboxing the pixel buds pro, you'll notice
the design of the case is very similar to the second generation earphones.
However, on closer inspection, the size of the case is ever so slightly wider.
Opening the case, the first big differences
are obvious, with earbuds themselves and the inside of the case
with the bigger, deeper receptacles
for the earbuds and the slightly different metal contacts.
There are a myriad of less obvious updates I cover off later,
plus some existing ones from the older generation of pixel buds as before.
Both earbuds have capacitive touch shells that enable you to manually control
playback and manage non-verbal interactions with Google assistant.
There's also a handy ear proximity sensor for each earbud for in-ear detection,
so you can set the audio
to play and pause automatically depending on whether they're in your ear or not.
Each earbud also features three microphones
as well as a piezoelectric voice accelerometer.
It's a combination of the microphones and the accelerometer
that facilitate the noise canceling feature and also produce
high quality audio for calls and voice commands for Google assistant.
I'll talk about this more in depth later in the video.
The voice picker voice accelerometer in conjunction with one or more
of the microphones, enables the earbuds to hear you speak clearly,
regardless of the background noise.
This is especially important considering how far the sound
has to travel from your mouth to the earbud.
The technology enables the possibility of designing
these tiny earbuds without compromising audio quality.
The piezoelectric voice accelerometer inside each earbud
picks up the vibration of the user's voice through the skull and jawbone.
The vibrations are converted into data that can be used
by the processor to electronically parse out background noise.
The end result enables high quality audio for the listener
in nearly any environment.
While I don't own the Pixel Buds series,
it's worth comparing the features to the pixel buds.
Pro main differences being shorter battery life, the missing
clever voice accelerometer technology the missing Bluetooth multipoint feature,
no noise canceling or transparency mode and no wireless charging
when it comes to using the pixel buds pro.
The first thing I noticed was that I actually find the fit
a little looser than the pixel buds second generation.
Everyone's ear is going to be different, but for me at least, I noticed that
instead of the snug
fit of the second generation pixel buds, the larger pro buds have more wiggle room.
It's not the end of the world.
And with the help of three different sized ear tips, I just found, it
took manipulating them to find a more secure position.
After finding a good position,
the next step is to run the new audio diagnostic tool.
Pixel Buds Pro uses solid seal to adapt to your ear to help maximize
the amount of noise was canceled.
What's more, the built in hardware sensors measure the pressure in your ear canal
to make sure you're comfortable even during long listening sessions.
The net result is alleviating the plugged air, feeling that you can experience
using other earbuds.
The touch controls are the same as the previous generations.
Pixel buds, with one exception.
If you're not familiar with the controls, here's a quick overview of the feature.
Swipe Forward Raises the volume.
Swipe Backward Lowers the volume.
Single Tap will play or pause, audio or answer an incoming phone call.
Double Tap will skip to the next track or reject an incoming phone call.
Triple Tap or go back a track and touch and hold will activate the assistant.
The new additions to the controls exclusive to the pixel buds
pro is being able to customize the touch and hold function.
Now you can choose which air
but can control the noise canceling feature
and whether it cycles between off or transparency mode,
which I cover of more in the next section of this video.
The microphones use the same or similar beamforming technology
as the second generation pixel buds.
It's unclear from the available information,
but in theory, one
or both of the external microphones working in conjunction
with the internal microphone are being used for those interested.
The way the technology works is sampling the external sounds in the near vicinity
of your worry buds and use the data
to suppress unwanted sound before playback in the earphone drivers.
Using the new custom six core DSP or digital
signal processing audio chip that runs the Google developed AI or LIMS.
The tech cancels out the extraneous sound through a process
called destructive interference.
This is a creation of inverse sound waves, so the unwanted sound
played back simultaneously to cancel them out.
The end result is the process isolates just the music or audio
the wearer wants to hear and none of the background noise.
Using the array of microphones, transparency
mode is a feature that enables
sound to travel through the earbud, much like having open backed headphones.
Instead of having a soundproof seal to block out the errant background noise,
even with noise, canceling off
transparency mode enables external sound to be heard clearly.
This is great for environments where you still want to be able to hear
your name being called for a coffee in a café, for example.
But more specifically, transparency mode is great for phone calls.
If you've ever had to use a headset or enclosed headphones with a microphone
for a voice call, you'll know how disconcerting it
is to hear your own booming voice when you talk.
Transparency mode alleviates that by letting environmental
sounds pass through the earbuds,
as if you're having a call on your mobile phone to your ear.
It makes you feel much less self-conscious.
To achieve the effect transparency mode seems to be using an external earbud
microphone to feedforward audio through the main earbud drivers to your ear.
Essentially, it's
recording the external audio and then playing it back instantaneously.
The earbuds are still quite good at blocking out a lot of external sound,
even without noise canceling because of the close fit for the ear canal.
Using the technology to pass through the external
sound is a very clever workaround for the physical limitations.
One feature I was particularly pleased to discover
was the ability to use my second gen pixel buds with my Google TV.
It was a surprise to me when I learned about the feature
and I found it fun to pass on the knowledge ever since.
Now, with the added active noise canceling,
it further improves the experience of being able to watch TV and movies
at night without disturbing the rest of the house.
Taking this further, one new pixel buds pro feature
that really comes into its own is the Bluetooth multipoint setting.
Normally, if you want to use your Bluetooth earphones
with different devices,
you have to disconnect and reconnect them manually in the settings.
However, with multipoint settings turned on, pixel buds, pro can now
be connected to Bluetooth enabled devices at the same time.
For me, this means I can have
my earbuds connected to my phone and the TV at the same time.
Pressing pause on the Google TV and then taking a call
or watching a video on my phone seamlessly.
The earbuds will switch devices without any further interaction.
Battery life for the pixel buds pro is improved over the second generation
pixel buds.
The performance gets better when not using the noise canceling for obvious reasons.
The bigger earphone case and larger earbud design house, bigger batteries.
Even with the active noise cancelation on continually,
you'll get 11 hours of active listening
time on the buds with a total of 20 hours with noise canceling turned on.
What I can tell you from personal experience is
this seems to be consistent
with my second generation pixel buds during their lifetime.
In my more limited time with the pixel buds pro,
I can say I've noticed that I've had to charge them less often, but
will continue to monitor their performance and trust Google's own marketing.
Charging is managed via a usb-c compatible power
supply or wirelessly using QI charging capability.
I personally use my pixel stand charger and a little idiosyncratic touch
which amuses me.
You have to turn the case upside down to make it work.
It's not the end of the world,
but just a minor quirk esthetically if you care about the details.
Just like the pixel phones, you can quick charge the pixel buds.
Pro 50 minute charging earbuds in the charging case delivers
up to 3 hours of listening time or an estimated 2 hours of talk time.
A five minute charge of the earbuds and the charging case delivers
up to one hour of listening time and 50 minutes of talk time.
General sound
reproduction, to my untrained eye, is as great if I had any complaints.
It's probably a little too much bass for me personally, and it would be nice
to be able to tweak the equalizer settings just like a Google home speaker.
Unfortunately, there are no manual x controls.
I found the noise canceling works perfectly for me but can be in
various noisy environments and all of the distractions were effectively removed.
Like all similar implementations of the technology, it works very
well at canceling out the low
repetitive frequencies such as airplane, cabin, noise, or fans.
Where it struggles a little more is higher, less
predictable frequencies such as people's voices.
Even then, the high frequency sounds a muted, much less noticeable
than not using the noise canceling feature in my own day to day use.
I was able to listen to music and podcasts in more situations than before, such
as cleaning my cars with the pressure washer
and washing the dishes and still clearly hear the audio
when using transparency mode.
Exterior noises sound artificial due to the feedforward microphones
and drivers channeling sound from outside to your ear canal.
There's a very subtle but perceptible hiss when you're not playing audio
like you're listening to your surroundings through a headset microphone.
However, most of the time
you'll be playing music or podcasts, so it's not a big issue.
Having said that, the difference between using transparency mode
and not using transparency mode is noticeable.
The feature is definitely a welcome addition
for those situations where you need to be more aware of your surroundings.
When it comes to touch controls, I do happen to find them
a little less responsive than my second gen pixel buds.
My impression is the sensor
area has been reduced to accommodate the new microphones.
As a habitual user of second gen pixel buds,
I now find myself tapping more than once on numerous occasions to compensate.
When I miss.
It's a minor issue which after prolonged use I'll get used to it.
When used for calling the people I speak to say my voice is clear
and has minimal background noise, even in slightly busier locations.
The combination of the microphones and the voice accelerometer do that
jobs admirably.
I'm confident I don't have to abandon the earphones, even for important calls.
I was keen to find out how the new earphones did
with some of Google's other related features too.
I perform some cursory tests of the live translation features from my pixel six pro
using the earphones.
Teething issues aside with some dialect challenges.
A mistranslation. It works.
There's a noticeable
delay between the text generated and repeating it back as audio in my ear,
but that's probably more to do with the software rather than hardware.
The final note on using the pixel buds pro is the comfort.
I actually find the slightly looser
fit better for long term use than the second gen pixel buds.
Usually after a few hours I notice my ears can get a little sore
and experienced some relief taking them out.
The pixel buds pro are much more comfortable after prolonged use.
The different ear tips should help all users find a good fit.
But the biggest size of the pros and the different way they sit in your ear
definitely lend themselves to better comfort.
I'm a big fan of the Pixel Buds
Pro and I was already a big fan of the second generation pixel buds.
And I'm pleased to find that the pro version really is an upgrade.
The noise canceling and transparency features are the highlights,
but the longer battery life and improved comfort are also well received.
I'm also pleased with the inclusion of the multipoint Bluetooth
for my own setup, which provides even more convenience.
I would like more control over the equalizer settings and while follow me
Q feels like a handy feature to have manual control would be much better,
especially as creating the best audio experience can be very subjective.
Overall, if you're looking to upgrade from the second generation pixel buds
or from the Pixel Buds series, I'd definitely recommend the Pixel Buds Pro.
Thank you for watching.
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