Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 review: great noise-cancelling from these small earbuds

When it comes to choosing the best wireless earbuds, you're literally spoilt for choice. There are an abundance of options, spanning multiple brands, be that Apple's myriad AirPods options, or from other audio-makers across a wide price bracket.  

The Pixel Buds Pro 2 update what was a successful pair of headphones for Google. Having had a couple of cracks at wireless earbuds, the Pixel Buds Pro were more fully-featured than Google's other models, importantly offering proper active noise-cancellation (ANC) – but with a design that was rather chunky.

Now Google is doubling down with the Pixel Buds Pro 2, enhancing what was great about the first Buds Pro, while making some fairly significant changes in the product's size and other key areas. Are these new earbuds worthy of accompanying your Google Pixel 9 Pro XL?

Google Pixel Buds Pro 2: Price & availability

The Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 launch at £219 ($229 / AU$379), positioned to rival the Apple AirPods Pro 2, but just a little cheaper. 

The original Pixel Buds Pro launched at £179 ($199 / AU$299), so there's been quite a jump in price. However, we know that Google discounts on a regular basis and it's likely that the Pixel Buds Pro 2 will also get discounted or reduced at some point in the future.

Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 review: What's new?

Google's positioning of the Pixel Buds Pro 2 is essentially as a replacement of the original's aspirations. However, the form of these headphones has changed significantly, as these are the smallest earbuds that Google has produced so far.

The headline figures here are a 27% reduction in size and a 24% reduction in weight (4.7g each, compared to 6.2g previously), with a new design that incorporates a stabiliser on the back to give a secure fit. It's a substantial physical change over the previous headphones, along with a new IP54 rating.

There are new internals too, with the company's Tensor A1 chip powering them, extending the battery life to 8 hours (over 7 hours previously), with the active noise-cancellation (ANC) said to be twice as effective. 

These headphones also support Gemini Live, so you can dive into a full conversation with Google's artificial intelligence (AI) assistant while you're on the move.

Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 review: Design & comfort

Reducing the size of earbuds is always welcome. I never had a problem with the size or weight of the original Pixel Buds Pro, but it's a radical change for the sequel. Google says that the designers used 45 million data points from ear scans to come up with the new shape – and the reduction in physical volume is substantial.

They still use a silicone tip style, but with the body of each headphone then sitting in your ear. The unique part of the design is a rubber stabiliser on the opposite end of each bud, which is designed to lock into your ear with a twist. It's not the first time that Google has explored this approach: the Pixel Buds (Gen 2) and Pixel Buds A-series both had a little protuberance on the top that was design to hook into your ear.

There's a choice of tip sizes and once I'd found the best size, I found them perfectly secure – even though the "stabiliser" didn't actually touch any part of my ear. I've been out running in the Pixel Buds Pro 2 and they have been perfectly secure, not to mention the IP54 rating meaning it doesn't matter if they get sweaty. 

I've found the Pixel Buds Pro 2 to be perfectly comfortable and I like that the surface dome has a slight lip as it makes them really easy to grip, so they are easy to adjust in your ear.

The included case for the Pixel Buds Pro 2 is basically the same as it was before, smooth and strokeable, just like a pebble. It's become my favourite stress toy, really, turning it through my hands when I'm thinking about the next witty thing to write about earbuds…

Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 review: Features & control

Top of the feature list is the active noise-cancellation, powered by the new Tensor A1 chip. But I'll talk about the ANC in the performance section below and skip over to Google's favourite topic of 2024: Gemini AI.

The Pixel Buds Pro 2 have access to Gemini as a voice assistant, but that's not too unusual. The Pixel Buds Pro 2 take this a step further by offering access to Gemini Live (which rolled out to all Android users this month, it was previously locked under Gemini Advanced subscription). Like Gemini Live on your smartphone, this is a back-and-forth conversation, so once you've said "Heyy Google, let's talk", you don't need to constantly use the trigger ('Hey Google') –  you just talk.

Gemini picks up where Google Assistant left off, allowing you to ask questions and speak responses, but I found the responses to be slow and often Gemini would stop listening halfway through the process, especially when trying to send messages.

Gemini is also unable to launch apps like Spotify, so it's actually less useful than the old Google Assistant when it comes to music – especially for earbuds. If Spotify is playing it will let you skip tracks and pause, but you can't ask for a different artist or playlist.

Speaking of control, the Pixel Buds app (which is seamlessly integrated if you have a Pixel phone) allows you to customise what a press and hold does – it's either launch the digital assistant or switch noise control mode.

Otherwise the controls are conventional, but with forward and backward swipes to turn the volume up and down – which is appreciated. I did struggle with these a little when I had sweaty hands due to exercising, but I personally find Google's tap system simpler than the pinches on headphones like the Nothing Ear or Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro 3. 

Each earbud and the case are now part of the Find My Device network, with each part able to play a sound to help you find them. They also support Bluetooth multipoint, offer conversation detection to pause the music and switch to transparency mode when you start talking, which is great when ordering a coffee on your commute.

Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 review: Performance

There are 11mm drivers in the Pixel Buds Pro 2, with Google saying that there's a new acoustic architecture, including a high-frequency chamber to boost treble. I found the Pixel Buds Pro 2 to sound great out of the box with a rich bassy nature, surprising given the compact size on offer. There's a five-channel equaliser (EQ) to adjust to your preferences, with a range of presets available too.

I also found music to be wonderfully clear, with the Pixel Buds Pro 2 able to deliver a thicker bassline on demand without stomping over the rest of the track. Google has separated the processing path so that music is handled separately from the ANC processing, to ensure that one isn't impacting the other.

Noise-cancelling ability is a big part of what I look for in the best ANC headphones. I'd sacrifice absolute sonic performance for better ANC. I want the backdrop to my music to be silence. In this regard, the Pixel Buds Pro 2 deliver on that promise of better ANC than their forebears. I found the Pixel Buds Pro 2 to effectively reduce road noise to almost nothing, but it's done without putting any essence of pressure into your ear, so it's just a blanket of silence.

They also support spatial audio. While there is some spatial audio music out there, I've found it to be inconsistent – but for movies it's great. I fired up Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes on Disney+ and found spatial audio to make a huge difference to how immersive the movie sounded. Pair that with the ANC and that train ride just got so much better.

The downside is that Google still doesn't support common Bluetooth codecs for higher-quality audio. There's no LDAC or aptX support here, so if you're pursuing the best quality Bluetooth audio, you might be better with Sony's WF-1000XM5 or Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 – but you'll pay more for it.

I also found conversations to be nice and clear: even when in noisy environments, callers commented that they could hear what I was saying, but were aware that there was noise in the background. But I did find a voice delay when starting or answering a call, where the other person couldn't hear me for a couple of seconds. Hopefully that'll be fixed in a future software update. 

Google delivers on the battery life too, with that 8-hour promise being a realistic figure with ANC on. That extends to 30 hours including the case. What's impressive is that these diminutive headphones deliver that much battery life from such a small body. Charging is via the USB-C on the case, or there's Qi wireless charging too.

Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 review: Verdict

When it comes to choosing a pair of headphones or earbuds, it's important to decide what matters to you the most. The Pixel Buds Pro 2 are a natural choice for someone deeply into the Google system, especially if you want to take that Gemini Live experience on the move. Beyond that, the seamless experience with the best Android phones – especially the likes of the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold – makes these a natural choice.

But while the performance is good and the active noise-cancelling (ANC) is excellent, these headphones fall into the space between the truly high-end, while being undercut on price by some excellent alternatives. Like Apple's AirPods they are good all-rounders, but their real strength is positioning within Google's ecosystem – so, Pixel fans, say hello to your new earbuds. 

Also consider

If you like what the Google Pixel Buds 2 Pro offer but think they are too expensive, then you might consider the Nothing Ear, which are much cheaper yet offer good performance and ANC, but lack the Gemini Live experience.

Alternatively, if the price doesn't worry you, then you might want to consider the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds, which deliver excellent audio and ANC. 

Finally, it's hard to go wrong with the Sony WF-1000XM5, which offer a great all-round experience and are generally considered to be some of the best earbuds you can buy. They're a little older, thus their price has dropped from high to middling these days. 

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