Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 Review

The newest Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 earbuds are an impressive improvement over the beloved previous generation.

Sound Quality

Using a curated, genre-spanning playlist, our experts listened while working, commuting, and more to assess sound quality.

The Pro 2 earbuds have a rich, clean sound that allows you to experience the texture of each instrument and voice while enjoying their combined efforts. The mix is solid, but we enjoyed the robust bass tones the most. Its strong presence demands attention without stomping on the higher frequencies. The mids are bouncy and vibrant, and the treble tones are clear and detailed, creating a delightful result that makes you want to dance.

The full mids and strong lows create an impact that works well with emotive R&B and Hip Hop. In MAVI's “The Giver,” the piano is a warm and rich accompaniment to rhythmic lyrics and silky layers of background vocals. The drums maintain a punchy presence over the lower, sustained bass tones and deep synths. The bass is exceptionally warm and punchy with a silky smooth sheen, enhancing favorite songs, whether classical, hard rock, or bass-heavy EDM.

The mids are full and developed, with an impressive range of tones and textures. Instruments sound realistic and true to their natural timbre, with enough clarity and detail to separate them. In “Helplessly Hoping” by Crosby, Stills, and Nash, the powerful vocals and exquisite harmonies from 0:13 to 0:45 stun.

The treble frequencies deliver a clean, crisp sound with a remarkably natural quality. The guitar solo in Led Zeppelin's “Stairway to Heaven” is striking, with the guitarist's powerful high notes cutting through the smashing cymbals.

More emphasis could help the high notes sparkle, and consistency is a problem. In older recordings, the high notes can sharpen at higher volumes, and some clarity is lost, with high notes feeling masked behind the mids and lows. In “It Ain't No Fun to Me” by Al Green, the vocals seem veiled behind the percussion and bass.

The Pro 2 earbuds deliver across all volume levels, maintaining excellent clarity even at the highest settings. And they can get loud. Some testers listened a few clicks above the midline, as lower levels feel too quiet.

Soundstage

It's hard for earbuds to create the sense that music emanates from around you rather than inside your head. The best allow you to place instruments in space and give them room to resonate.

The Pixel Buds Pro 2 give music space to shine. They create a soaring stage with an exceptional stereo spread for an immersive experience. It's better, larger, and more nuanced than previous versions. All that space makes finding and following an instrument or vocal riff easy. In Rush's “The Spirit of Radio,” the lyrics from 0:41 to 0:55 stand impressively apart from the dynamic bass lines, intricate guitar work, and complex rhythms.

One tester describes listening to “Ivy” by Leon Bridges as “open and expansive.” Bridge's vocals remain clear and centered amidst the mellow, warm instrumentals, especially when his voice layers in velvety harmonies. At the 1:53 mark, the sound springs to life as lower bass tones grow beneath swirling vocals and the mellow warmth of the banjo and guitars. The clear separation between instruments lets you appreciate each texture, providing remarkable clarity in the harmony of the whole. These earbuds truly whisk you away.

We used the Brüel & Kjaer Type 5128 Head Simulator and SoundCheck software to plot the Pixel Buds Pro 2 frequency response curve. Then we compared it to our GearLab House Curve.

The most notable differences from the original Pixel are slightly less emphasized bass tones below 75 Hertz (Hz) and a slight peak shift in the boundary between the mid and treble frequencies. The highest frequencies also follow our curve closer than the original. The result is an earbud that sounds somewhat better.

Comfort and Fit

The Pixel Buds Pro 2 are comfortable and secure. Google has shaved 0.03 ounces — moving from 0.22 oz to 0.17 oz — off the original and offered a far more comfortable and lightweight version. The shape slides seamlessly into ear contours, feeling unobtrusive and breathable.

A smooth, non-tacky matte finish makes these earbuds soft and easy to grip. They feel clean and smooth, even when sweaty. They never cause ear fatigue, even after hours of wear. Four round silicone ear tip sizes and the app's Eartip Seal Check feature make finding a good fit easier. This feature helps find the best ear tip fit instead of settling for good enough.

Stability

These are some of the most stable earbuds we've tested. A small wing on the side opposite the ear tip slides neatly behind the small ridge above your earlobe. The wings wedge the buds in place, and the compact and lightweight design prevents significant pressure. We wore them at the gym and on runs worry-free. The airy feel can give the impression of reduced stability, but this is a testament to their incredible comfort, not a stability concern.

The buds are rated IP54, an upgrade from the original IPX4. The first digit relates to the ability to resist dust, and the second to water resistance. These earbuds can handle water splashes and gracefully manage sweaty workouts.

Noise Cancellation

The Pixel Buds Pro 2 earbuds aren't a top-performing active noise cancelling (ANC) earbud, but they still impress. They improve on the first generation by reducing some bass and low mid-range frequencies by 5 to 15 decibels.

These buds minimize distractions to let you focus, but they fall short of creating the world-quieting of leading ANC earbuds. They physically block sounds, which works best for higher frequencies, and actively cancel out lower-frequency sounds.

We can test the effectiveness of both mechanisms using SoundCheck software and the Brüel & Kjaer Type 5128 Head Simulator. They quiet mid- and bass-range frequencies by at least 20 decibels and over 30 in a few ranges. In the treble range, where passive isolation does more work, they lower sounds by at least 15 decibels.

You can switch to transparency mode with a tap, bringing sound in around the noise-isolating seal. However, transparency doesn't work that well, creating a fan-like humming. Therefore, we didn't like the Conversation Detection mode since it turned on transparency mode every time we muttered to ourselves.

Ease of Use

We love the straightforward Pixel Pro's ease of use. Android users can download the Google Pixel Buds app to customize the earbuds. However, the buds' ease of use suffers because the app is unavailable on Apple devices, so you'll lose many features. The earbuds pair easily with Apple devices, and the factory settings sound so good that you might not miss the adjustability.

Touch controls on the buds include tapping once to play or pause music, and answer or end calls. Swiping left and right adjusts the volume, and holding either earbud button activates/deactivates noise cancellation. You can chat directly with Google Assistant, send texts, or request real-time language translations.

App Features

The Pixel Buds app gives more control. You can adjust the frequency response curve with five default settings or manually adjust the frequency bands. There's also a spatial audio and head-tracking setting for a more immersive experience.

The app helps you locate lost earbuds and turn active noise cancellation and transparency mode on/off. Multipoint connectivity lets you move between devices, and a conversation detection feature stops the music and shifts to transparency mode when it detects a voice nearby.

Connectivity

We didn't have issues connecting to the Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 or maintaining that connection as they switched between devices and put the earbuds in and out of their ears. Online reviews report similar results.

Battery Life

In our tests, the earbuds played for 10 hours straight at 75% of their max volume without the Active Noise Cancelation (ANC) running.

While impressive, it's not as long as the 12 hours Google claims or the 11 hours of the first generation. Still, it should get you through most days. The case offers three more charges. Five minutes inside the case provides 1.5 more hours.

Call Quality

We recorded females and males reading a script and played each through our head simulator (the Brüel and Kjaer 5128-B). We repeated the test in silence, with office sounds, and sounds from a subway platform.

These buds handle phone calls well in quiet settings, but their performance falters as ambient noises increase. With the subway sounds in the background, they lower the volume of surrounding sounds, but voices sound tinny, with an echo and distance. The woman's voice is understandable, but you have to concentrate.

With office sounds, voices are impressively clear, virtually eliminating the ambient sounds and transmitting voices with little distortion. With no background noise, voices come through loud and clear.

Should You Buy the Google Pixel Buds Pro 2?

If you're a devoted Android user, these earbuds are impressive. Their comfortable fit, seamless user experience, solid battery life, and sparkling audio quality are undeniable. However, you won't have much control if you pair with Apple. They will sound wonderful, but you won't have access to customizable features. If you want the best active noise cancellation on the market, these are good, but aren't the best.

What Other Earbuds Should You Consider?