I've been spending more than a month comparing and contrasting the Apple AirPods to the new
Google Pixel Buds, so in this video I'm going to take you through how the AirPods compare
to the Pixel Buds: their similarities, differences, and which pair of earbuds perform better in
certain situations.
So let's dive in and first let's talk about how these pairs of earbuds are similar to
each other.
Both are wireless earbuds that connect through Bluetooth to various devices like your phone
tablet computer or even your smartwatch.
The main device they're designed to pair with though is of course your phone and both have
a quick pair feature which quickly pairs the buds to a device and then you see the battery
status of them appear on the screen.
Both the AirPods and the Pixel Buds allow you to listen to music and media with just
one bud in your ear and when you want to pause that media you can just tap and gesture or
you can just remove the bud and that will pause your media because both of these earbuds
actually have in-ear detection.
Both buds are housed in a really nice charging case that is similar in size and should be
easy to slip in your pocket.
Both cases also have an Indicator light that will turn in amber color letting you know
that the case needs to be charged.
Both cases also feature a Bluetooth connection button on the back to easily pair the buds
to a new device.
The battery life for them is also similar.
The case holds 24 hours of charge and the earbuds themselves hold 5 hours of charge
for media playback.
Both also have a quick charge feature where you can place the buds in the case for 10
to 15 minutes and you'll get about two to three hours of listening time and around one
hour of talk time on them.
Another thing in common with both sets of earbuds is they offer a feature called hands-free
assistant activation, and this is actually one of the first differences we should talk
about between both sets of earbuds and that's because they run different smart assistants.
So for the Pixel Buds the Google Assistant runs on thePixel Buds and Siri runs on the
AirPods.
With them, you can do things like play your music and podcasts, read text messages, and
notifications, tell you the weather and set reminders etc.
We've actually done a video on all the things you can do with the Google Assistant, which
I'll have linked here in this video and in the description below if you want to learn
more.
And when we do something on Siri that I'll link here when that's available.
Now another major difference between these two pairs of earbuds has to do with their
design.
The regular AirPods are an open ear design meaning they rest just outside of your ear
canal.
The Pixel Buds on the other hand feature an in-ear design, so they rest closer to your
eardrums and they have tips that help seal your ear canal.
Though don't worry, they also include a spatial vent that eliminates any feeling of your ears
being plugged.
The Pixel Buds also include different tip sizes as well as feature a stabilizing arc
that helps hold the buds in place.
And overall, I found them quite comfortable.
Now, if you do decide to wear them for hours on end, you may feel some soreness in your
ear with the Pixel Buds when compared to the AirPods.
The AirPods are earbuds I can just leave this in my ear all day and my ear is not going
to feel any discomfort at all.
I mean, these are like earbuds that you you know, they're there, but they're very like
minimal in terms of impact in how you feel them.
But on the flip side though because of that they're easier to knock out of your ear, especially
with that stem design that Apple implemented with the AirPods.
Now the different fit also plays a part in how these earbuds sound.
Both sound clear and overall good, although I would say that I do prefer the sound of
the Pixel Buds and that's mainly because of that passive noise cancellation that they
feature that allows them to produce more base which in turn just gives them a bit of a fuller
sound in my opinion.
Now another area where these earbuds differ from each other is with gesture controls.
For the AirPods, you have a single double-tap gesture that you can map to do different things
on the right versus the left earbud in the settings for them on an Apple device.
The Pixel Buds on the other hand have a more extensive set of touch gestures.
To tap once to play and pause media, double tap to skip forward, and triple tap to skip
backward, tap and hold for the Google Assistant, swipe forward to turn the volume up, and swipe
back for volume down.
They've worked consistently for me and in my experience, they are far superior to the
experience you get with the AirPods and lucky enough for those of you out there who want
to use them with an iPhone, all of the touch gesture controls will work when using an iPhone
except for triggering an assistant.
Another main difference between the two I should point out involves call quality with
their microphones.
The AirPods in my experience have a much better sound from their mics thanks to their stems
which stick out closer to your mouth.
Here's an example.
Alright, so here's a quick test of how they Pixel Buds second generation released in 2020
sound when recording them through QuickTime on my iMac, all right and here's how the AirPods
just the regular AirPods second generation, this is how they sound when you record them
through a quick time on an iMac.
All right, let's cover a few more differences.
The Pixel Buds are water and sweat resistant where the AirPods are not.
The charging ports on the cases are different, the Pixel Buds use USB-C while the AirPods
use Apple's proprietary lightning connector, Also while I found both to be generally reliable
in my testing I do have to say that the AirPods are pretty much flawless with their connection.
I haven't had a single hiccup when using them either with an Android or my Apple devices
compared to the Pixel Buds, which I have run into a couple blips here and there.
Now the last difference between them is color and price.
The Pixel Buds come in a variety of fun colors, like clearly white, oh, so orange, quite meant,
and almost black.
The AirPods come in just standard white.
The Google Pixel Buds retail for $179 US dollars whereas the Apple AirPods start at a slightly
cheaper price at $159 US dollars, but that version has a case that is not compatible
with wireless charging.
So you'll need to spend $199 US dollars for the AirPods that have the wireless charging
case.
All right, so now let's talk about recommendations.
After spending a considerable amount of time with both pairs of earbuds, here are my thoughts.
Overall in terms of listening to music and media, I think the Google Pixel Buds actually
give you a superior experience especially when you factor in their touch gesture controls.
Now where the Apple AirPods really shine are with video and phone calls, they're just gonna
have a more stable connection and their mics are just way better thanks to that STEM tip
design Apple gave the AirPods and in terms of comfort the AirPods also went out there
as well since there's nothing that's sticking that far into your ear they're going to be
more comfortable to wear over long periods of time.
My recommendation would be to go for the Pixel Buds if you already have an Android device
and if you have an Apple device, either go with the AirPods, or the AirPods Pro if you
want a better sound and noise cancellation, although the AirPods Pro are not nearly as
comfortable as the AirPods or the Pixel Buds in my experience.
Plus you'll still get the benefit of being able to see the battery level and using Siri
as the smart assistant.
However, if you don't care about any of that stuff then I'd say you could certainly go
with the Pixel Buds as long as you have an Android device line around that you can use
to initially set them up and install subsequent firmware updates.
They've worked just as well on my iPhone as on my Pixel and they're the buds that I typically
pick up when going out for a walk or run because I much prefer their sound passive noise cancellation
and gesture controls over the AirPods.
All right, well that's it for our comparison between the Pixel Buds and the AirPods.
I hope you found this video helpful and informative and if you did and liked it, make sure you
hit that thumbs up button below and subscribe to the channel to see more comparison videos
like this one as well as other videos on Apple and Google products.
Well, that'll do it for me.
For 6 Months Later, I'm Josh Teder, thanks for watching.