Review: Pixel Buds Pro

Buying the Pixel Buds Pro was decided from the start, and its release was completely expected.

Because the first-gen and second-gen Pixel Buds had no noise cancelling and mediocre battery life, they looked like half-finished products in every way. So I bought the Pixel Buds Pro not long after it came out. Worth mentioning: I bought it through Wellbot, and it was actually $50 off at launch — a pretty big discount.

My expectations for the Pixel Buds Pro were simple: the noise cancelling just had to work, and it must not do what the previous Pixel Buds did, where one ear’s battery suddenly died. When it arrived, the box was smaller too — no idea if that’s to go along with the so-called “environmental friendliness.”

The buds look basically the same as the previous generation, just a bit bigger, so the old cases don’t fit. There was a firmware update right out of the box, and after that it was mostly good to go. I’ve used them for about half a year now, so here’s how it feels:

• Noise cancelling is the main selling point, but it feels average — about the same as the Nothing Ear 1 I had before. Middle of the pack, no magic tech.
• Fit is basically identical to the previous generation. The buds look longer, but once they’re in, it’s the same.
• Battery life is clearly better, but the case’s own battery capacity seems smaller. A common situation: buds at full charge, case dead.
• The case supports wireless charging, same as before. Great.
• The companion app has more features, but the old free-form EQ adjustment is gone. It was added back later, but you can only adjust within presets.
• Never had connection drops. Honestly, I never had them on the previous generation either — maybe I’m just lucky.
• The mic is better, but in wind noise you still can’t hear anything. Worse than the Nothing Ear 1.
• It’s supposed to support “spatial audio,” but that only started rolling out in January, so we’ll see then.
• NOMAD made a dedicated case for it. Works well, fits perfectly, worth recommending.

All in all, the Pixel Buds Pro feels more like a refinement of the previous generation: adding what was missing, fixing what was broken, especially noise cancelling and battery life. But even so, it only reaches the bare minimum passing level of most TWS earbuds in China — the kind where you take a manufacturer’s reference design and change the shell. Not to mention there’s still no LDAC support or anything like that. Maybe its biggest advantage is just the “firstborn child” level of system integration.

If you like that “native, first-party, original” state, go ahead and buy it. Otherwise, wouldn’t that money be better spent on a Redmi Dot Klee edition?