Google Pixel Buds Pro  Headphones Review

The Google Pixel Buds Pro have a similar look to the Google Pixel Buds A-Series Truly Wireless, with the brand's logo embossed on the round touch surfaces. However, they're a bit bulkier and stick out of your ear quite a bit. They come in several colors: 'Bay,' 'Porcelain,' 'Charcoal,' 'Fog,' 'Coral,' and 'Lemongrass.'

They're decently comfortable for most people, lightweight, and have a good fit for small ears. However, they enter your ear canal fairly deeply, and you can accidentally register controls when placing and adjusting them in your ears. They also stick out, and users have reported the earbuds popping out of their ears. If you want something more comfortable and compact, check out their successor, the Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 Truly Wireless.

They have good touch-sensitive controls. They're easy to use and are responsive, as the controls are the same on each bud. You can also use either bud while the other charges without losing any of the controls. There are only beeps to let you know which command was registered, which can be confusing since the beeps can sound similar. That said, there isn't a voice assistant by default, and you have to map it. If you connect your buds to a device running Android 10 or newer, you can also configure Google Gemini to be your default voice assistant.

On either bud:

• Single tap: Plays and pauses audio. Also answers calls.
• Double tap: Skips to the next track. Also rejects calls.
• Triple tap: Skips to the previous track.
• Touch and hold: Cycles between ANC on, ANC off, and Transparency mode.
• Swipe forward: Raises the volume.
• Swipe backward: Lowers the volume.

These are very portable headphones, like most earbuds. They're pretty small and can easily fit into most pockets or bags without a problem.

The carrying case is small, lightweight, and certified IPX2 for resistance against minor water exposure, like splashes. There's an LED light outside the case to indicate when it's charging and another light inside the case for the buds. There's a pairing button on the back of the case, too.

The Google Buds Pro's build quality is good. The buds are mostly made of plastic and silicone but feel sturdy. They're certified IPX4 for resistance against water splashes, making them a solid choice for working out. However, the ear tips feel like they may rip with continuous use.

They're decently stable if you can get a good fit. Although they don't have stability fins, they don't move around much with casual use and will stay in place during less intense movements, like a stationary bike workout or a jog. However, they can fall out if you're using them during intense physical activity. If you have big ears, getting a good seal may also be hard, meaning they can pop out of your ears.

• Google Pixel Buds Pro headphones
• 3x ear tips
• Charging case
• Manuals

Note: A charging cable isn't included in the box.

The Google Buds Pro have a somewhat excited sound profile that boosts low-end and retains a very clear low-treble response that rolls off the very highest frequencies. It suits a variety of music genres from pop music through hip-hop, delivering ample thump to sub-bass synths, boom to kick drums, and thickened bass and de-tuned rhythm guitars in the low-mids. The treble is rather bright, bordering on harsh and piercing on cymbal hits, depending on your tastes, and lacks an airy quality.

Their companion app also offers a 5-band graphic EQ to help you adjust their sound to your liking. You can also consider selecting one of the EQ presets for a different tuning. They also sound the same regardless of whether ANC is enabled or disabled.

The Google Pixel Buds Pro's frequency response consistency is outstanding. Assuming you can get a consistent fit and the buds don't pop out of your ears, you won't experience deviations in bass and treble delivery.

These buds have excellent bass profile target compliance. The whole range is overemphasized, but they inject more deep bass thump than boom and punch. As a result, dubstep bass wobbles come across strongly in the mix. In songs like Le Départ by Adi Oasis and featuring Durand Bernarr, the relaxed bass solo and the boom of kicks sit well in the mix and punctuate the beat but don't overwhelm other high frequencies.

Their mid-range's target compliance is superb. Their mid-range follows the curve very well, apart from a very mild dip that nudges vocals and lead instruments to the back of the mix. Still, these elements are clear and detailed in mixes.

Their treble profile's target compliance is alright. Because our unit exhibits phase and frequency mismatch in this range, the stereo image can shift depending on the pitch to favor one side or the other. Generally, though, the low- and most of the mid-treble curve produces articulate vocals and bright cymbals. Depending on your preferences, this can sound harsh and piercing, though. Meanwhile, the roll-off in the higher registers robs cymbals of their full sheen and crispness.

Their peaks and dips performance indicate that the buds control their sound profile very well. The bass and mids have very subtle and wide peaks and valleys that tend to add a touch of rumble to deep bass and push up rhythm parts in the low-mids of the mix. Voices can sound a bit too intense and harsh thanks to the peaks in the high-mids that carries on into the low-treble. Our unit's L/R drivers exhibit phase and frequency mismatch alongside relatively narrow peaks and dips, so depending on the pitch, sibilants like S and T can sound rather sharp or lispy in either ear.

The Google Pixel Buds Pro's imaging performance is very good. The Google products we've tested haven't had a lot of issues when it comes to imaging, which is an indication of good quality control and ergonomics. Our unit's group delay falls below the audibility threshold across the range, resulting in tight bass and transparent treble. The L/R drivers are well-matched in amplitude and frequency but mismatched in phase response. Sounds from the high-mids and across the treble range that should be placed on the right seem more centered. This is especially noticeable in songs with spatial cues like The Eagles' Hotel California or Money by Pink Floyd. Treble sounds in songs like The Weeknd's Blinding Lights also sound louder on the left. However, imaging varies from unit to unit.

The Google Pixel Buds Pro don't have a very immersive passive soundstage, which is normal for in-ear headphones. Their design completely bypasses your outer ear, which causes sound to seem like it's coming from inside your head instead of speakers in the room around you. Since they have a closed-back design, their soundstage doesn't sound very open or spacious compared to open-back headphones.

These buds are compatible with Google's Spatial Audio, which enables surround sound for a more immersive audio experience. At the moment, this feature is only available via Google Pixel phones. They also support head tracking on Google Pixel 6 phones or newer. This feature adjusts the virtual soundstage as you move your head around. Both features can be switched on and off separately in the app.

The Google Pixel Buds Pro's weighted harmonic distortion performance is great. All frequencies fall within good levels at regular and high volumes, resulting in clear and pure audio reproduction.

These are the settings used to test these buds; our results are only valid in this configuration.

They have an impressive noise isolation performance. Their ANC blocks out the low rumbles of bus and plane engines very effectively. They can also tackle office chatter and the hum of computer fans very well, making them a versatile choice for everyday use.

These buds do an excellent job of blocking out external noise in common scenarios. They attenuate well against the rumble of airplane engines, as well as the chit-chat and chair-scraping heard in office environments. They perform equally well in busy streets, too, where they effectively block out the sound of car honks and oncoming traffic.

Wind noise differs from other sounds as it directly interacts with the ANC microphones. This leads to a loud, jarring noise as the ANC system is countering a sound that isn't reaching your ear. Unfortunately, these buds struggle with wind noise as they lack a wind reduction feature, so you'll want to avoid using the ANC in windy environments if you find this noise irritating.

The Google Pixel Buds Pro's leakage performance is great. Leakage is mostly concentrated in the treble range and sounds thin. If you're using these headphones in a moderately noisy environment like an office, it's unlikely that others around you will hear it.

The integrated mic's recording quality is disappointing. The mic quality is better than what's reflected in the score. However, its real-life performance is similar to the recorded speech audio file. Your voice has little bass and sounds bright. Sibilants like S and T sounds are piercing. However, you'll still be understandable.

These buds support Bluetooth Super Wideband on the Google Pixel 8 and Google Pixel 8 Pro. The manufacturer advertises that it improves the clarity of speech by doubling the bandwidth for voices. However, we aren't able to currently test this.

The mic's noise-handling performance is poor. It struggles to separate your voice from ambient noise, so if you have to make an important call, it's best to do so from somewhere quiet.

These headphones have a wind-blocking mesh filter. It can help reduce wind noise, but your voice can sound more scratchy since the filter still lets in some wind.

Their battery performance is okay. The manufacturer advertises them to have a continuous playback time of seven hours with their ANC on, and we measured a little more than that. The battery life varies depending on use, however. Their carrying case supplies an additional 1.8 charges if needed, and you can use one bud while the other charges. That said, they don't have any power-saving features like an auto-off timer.

The Google Pixel Buds app is good. Once you've updated to firmware 5.9, you can access a Conversation Detection feature that automatically switches the headphones to Transparency mode when it hears you conversing. Also, the Hearing Wellness feature monitors the decibel level of your audio to let you know if your exposure to loud media crosses the recommended threshold. There are reports of some additional features to improve phone call quality and reduce latency with Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro phones, though we aren't able to verify them at this time.

Previous firmware versions have provided access to a 5-band graphic EQ and presets to help you customize their sound. There's also a Volume EQ feature, which acts more like a night mode, equalizing the bass and treble range when the headphones reach a high volume. It can be handy if the volume varies depending on the content you're listening to. Additional features include turning on/off multipoint connection, audio switching, and in-ear detection. You can also remap the touch and hold command, use the ear tip seal check, and find your buds.

When you connect these headphones to your Google Pixel phone, you can access HD Audio AAC On/Off, allowing you to use AAC codec (which is Apple's default codec) instead of SBC codec (which is the default codec for most devices) for a better audio experience. You can also access Spatial Audio, a feature that enables surround sound.

Unlike most other headphones, they don't come with a charging cable for the case, so you must buy this separately. That said, they charge via a standard USB-C cable, so you might already have one lying around.

The Google Pixel Buds have satisfactory Bluetooth connectivity. You can connect them with up to two devices at a time, which is nice if you want to stay connected to your smartphone and PC simultaneously. They also support Google Fast Pair, making connecting your device to supported devices easy.

Unfortunately, they have high latency on PCs, which creates a noticeable delay between your audio and video. There's been user discussion regarding a 0.5 to one-second delay in audio when using these buds, so we wanted to check if the delay was still present on a Google Pixel 5 or Samsung S10e smartphone. Using the game Subway Surfer, we noticed significant delays on both devices. Keep in mind that some apps and devices compensate for latency, though.

The Google Pixel Buds Pro can only connect to PCs using Bluetooth.

These headphones come with a small charging case similar in design to the Google Pixel Buds A-Series Truly Wireless. It has a USB-C port for recharging it and supports Qi wireless charging.