Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 Review

The newest version of Google's Pixel Buds Pro 2 earbuds are an impressive improvement over the previous generation, which we also loved. An excellent stereo spread and clear separations between instruments give the vibrant mids and full-bodied bass frequencies room to breathe. Their incredible comfort and thoughtful features make these the top pick for many of our Android-using testers.

Performance Comparison

Sound Quality

We assembled a team of expert listeners to analyze and compare the sound quality of these earbuds to the rest in the test. Using a carefully curated, genre-spanning playlist, we listened while working, walking, commuting, and sitting on the couch, communing with our favorite artists. Here's what we experienced.

The Pro 2 earbuds sound even better than the impressive original version, with a richer, cleaner sound that allows you to experience the texture of each instrument and voice while rocking out to their combined efforts.

The mix is solid overall, but we're most impressed with the robust bass tones, which feel like a hug from a good friend, one that makes you so happy you just want to dance. Their strong presence in the mix demands attention without stomping all over the higher frequencies. Speaking of those, the mids are bouncy and vibrant, and the treble tones are clear and detailed. The result is simply delightful.

The full mids and strong lows make for an impactful experience that works especially well with emotive R&B and Hip Hop tracks. In “The Giver” by MAVI, the piano is a warm and rich accompaniment to Mavi's rhythmic, introspective lyrics and the silky layers of background vocals. The drums maintain a punchy presence over the lower, sustained bass tones and deep synths.

Now, back to that bass—it's exceptionally warm and punchy with a silky smooth sheen, enhancing your favorite songs, whether they're classical, hard rock, or bass-heavy EDM. The first 45 dreamy seconds of “You Right” by Doja Cat and The Weekend, with its lush, layered synths and laidback beats, feel hypnotic with these earbuds.

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 each of them in the mix. In “Helplessly Hoping” by Crosby, Stills, and Nash, the powerful vocals and exquisite harmonies from 0:13 to 0:45 stun.

The treble frequencies are a clear improvement over the first generation of these earbuds, delivering a clean, crisp sound with a remarkably natural sound. The guitar solo from 5:55 to 6:44 in Led Zeppelin's “Stairway to Heaven” is striking, with the guitarist's powerful high notes cutting through the drummer's smashing cymbals.

Still, we think a touch more emphasis could help the high notes sparkle. Consistency can also be a problem. In older recordings, the high notes can sharpen at high volumes. Some clarity is also lost, with high notes feeling masked behind the mids and lows. For example, 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. Several of our testers listened a few clicks above the midline to reach their ideal volume. Lower levels feel too quiet.

Soundstage

It's hard for earbuds to build a big soundstage or the sense that the music is emanating from the world around you, rather than just bouncing around inside your head. With the best earbuds, you're able to place instruments in space and time, and they have enough room to resonate. The happy result is that they sound more like they're playing in a concert hall than a garage band.

Luckily for us, the Pixel Buds Pro 2 are among the options that give your music enough space to shine. They create a wide, soaring stage with an exceptional stereo spread that creates an immersive experience. It's even better, larger, and more nuanced than previous versions of these earbuds.

All that space makes it easy to find and follow an individual instrument or vocal riff in the mix. In Rush's “The Spirit of Radio,” the first line of lyrics from 0:41 to 0:55 stands impressively apart from the dynamic bass lines, intricate guitar work, and complex rhythms.

One tester describes listening to “Ivy” by Leon Bridges as akin to standing in the middle of a sun-drenched meadow — open and expansive. Bridge's vocals remain clear and centered amidst the mellow, warm instrumentals, especially in the chorus 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.

After weeks of looping our playlist on repeat, 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 to see how it stacks up.

The chart above shows how well the Buds Pro 2 earbuds track our House Curve, improving slightly on the fidelity of the original model. The most notable differences are slightly less emphasized bass tones below around 75 Hertz (Hz) and a slight shift of the peak in the boundary between the mid and treble frequencies. The highest frequencies also follow our curve much more closely than the original model. The result is an earbud that sounds just a touch better.

User Experience

The Pixel Buds Pro 2 are comfortable, secure in the ear, and offer a nearly seamless user experience for Android users, especially if you're in the Google ecosystem. If that's you, we think you'll love the straightforward and effective user experience. Though they'll work with Apple devices, the app isn't compatible, and many features won't be readily available. In that case, you'll have a pair of very comfy, great-sounding, but pretty basic Bluetooth earbuds.

Comfort

Whereas the original Pixel Buds Pro earbuds offer a light and airy fit despite a bulky appearance, the Pixel Buds Pro 2 look nearly as subtle and lightweight as they feel. Google has shaved 0.03 ounces — moving from 0.22 oz to 0.17 oz — and offered a far more comfortable version than the first. The shape slides seamlessly into the contours of our testers' ears, feeling unobtrusive and fairly breathable.

A smooth, rather than tacky, matte finish is soft to the touch yet easier to grip than slick, slippery plastic. They feel clean and smooth in-hand and in-ear, even with a bit of sweat. These earbuds never seemed to fatigue our ears, even after wearing them for hours on end.

Four, round silicone ear tip sizes and an Eartip Seal Check feature make it easy to dial in a good fit. Simply choose an ear tip size that feels good to you, activate the seal check via the app, hold still for 6 seconds, and they'll let you know if either bud could benefit from an adjustment. It helped several testers find the best ear tip fit when they were 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 your antitragus, that small ridge just above your earlobe. Those wings effectively wedge the buds in place, and since they are so compact and lightweight, the position puts very little pressure on our ears. We're able to wear them around town, at the gym, and on trail runs without worry.

That said, the airy feel can give the impression of reduced stability at times. Again, we never lost one, but occasionally, we would wonder if they were still there. We find that more a testament to their incredible comfort than a true issue with their stability. And we gained trust in them over time.

They're rated IP54, an upgrade from the original Buds Pro, earbuds which were rated IPX4. The first digit references their ability to resist dust, and the second refers to their ability to resist water damage. Like the original version, these earbuds can handle water splashes from any direction (and we've confirmed that they handle sweaty workouts gracefully.) Unlike the originals, they are now rated to withstand dust as well, making them more durable overall.

Customization

If you have an Android, you can download the Google Pixel Buds app and easily customize your earbuds. The app is often preloaded on Google Pixel smartphones. If you don't, you won't be able to access many of their features. They'll pair with an iPhone, still sound great, and their touch controls still work, but that's about it.

Speaking of those touch controls, tapping once will play or pause music and answer or end calls. Swiping left and right adjusts the volume, and holding either the earbud button down activates or inactivates the noise cancelation feature. You can also chat directly with Google Assistant, letting you send texts or request real-time language translations.

The Pixel Buds app gives you more control. You can adjust the frequency response curve with five default settings (such as “vocal boost” or "heavy bass") or manually adjust 5 frequency bands yourself. We like the default mix as you can read in the sound quality section above, but it's nice to experiment. There's also a spatial audio and head-tracking setting for a more immersive experience. We find it's a subtle shift that slightly improves the already excellent sound stage.

An ear fit test helps you find the perfect ear tip for your needs, and a “Hearing Wellness” feature tracks your exposure to potentially damaging noise levels. The app will also help you locate lost earbuds and turn active noise cancelation and transparency mode on and off. Multipoint connectivity lets you move easily between devices, like your laptop and phone, and a conversation detection feature stops the music and shifts to transparency mode when it detects a voice nearby.

Their ease of use scores do take a hit for their inability to download the app on an Apple phone. That said, they pair easily with our testers' Apple devices and sound so good in their factory settings that we never noticed the inability to adjust the mix.

Connectivity

Our testers didn't have any issues connecting to the Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 or maintaining that connection as they switched between devices and took the earbuds in and out of their ears.

That said, we've only tested a few of these earbuds. To expand the sample size, we also scoured 1-star Amazon user reviews for any mention of connectivity issues. Since these earbuds are new to the market, no issues have been reported to date. We'll check back regularly to let you know if that changes.

Noise Cancellation

Though the Pixel Buds Pro 2 earbuds aren't among the top-performing active noise cancelling (ANC) earbuds in the test, they're among the most impressive among the second-tier options. They improve on the performance of the first generation by reducing some bass and low mid-range frequencies by an additional 5 to 15 decibels.

They minimize distractions, distancing typing fingers and dimming background sounds to let us focus on our work. Still, they fall short of creating the fully immersive, world-quieting experience offered by the leading ANC earbuds in the test. They do so by physically blocking sounds, which works best for higher frequencies, and actively canceling out lower-frequency sounds.

With the help of SoundCheck software and the Brüel & Kjaer Type 5128 Head Simulator, we are able to test the effectiveness of both mechanisms. You can hear the results for yourself in the video above and see them charted below. They quiet mid and bass range frequencies by at least 20 decibels and over 30 in a few ranges. In the treble range, where their passive isolation is doing more of the work, they lower sounds by at least 15 deciles.

If you're in a busy environment, you can switch to transparency mode with a tap of your finger. In that setting the earbuds pipe sounds in around the noise-isolating seal. It's a common feature, but it doesn't work well in these earbuds, creating a humming that sounds like someone just turned on a fan. For that reason, we don't like the Conversation Detection mode since it will pop into transparency mode every time we mutter to ourselves.

Battery Life

In our tests, the earbuds played for 10 hours straight at 75% of their max volume without the ANC running. While that's an impressive result, it's not as long as the 12 hours that Google claims or the over 11 hours that the first generation achieved. Still, that will easily get you through a work or travel day.

If you're out and about longer, the case offers 3 more charges, which is 1 more than the original version offered. That's over 40 hours of use before you need to plug in. In a pinch, a mere 5 minutes of powering up in the case will provide 1.5 more hours of use.

Call Quality

We recorded one of our female and one of our male testers reading a whimsical mountain script, then played each through the mouth speaker of our head simulator (the Brüel and Kjaer 5128-B). We repeated the test under three conditions — once in silence, once with office sounds in the background, and once over the obnoxious sounds of a subway platform.

These buds handle phone calls well in quiet, calm settings. As ambient noises increase, their performance starts to falter.

With the cacophonous sounds of a subway in the background, the buds succeed in lowering the volume on surrounding sounds, but both the male and female voices sound tinny, with a slight echo, and distant. The woman's voice is understandable, but you do have to concentrate to follow the sentence.

With office sounds humming in the background, both voices are impressively clear. The earbuds more or less eliminate the ambient sounds and transmit both voices with little distortion.

With no background noise, both voices come through loud and clear.

Should You Buy the Google Pixel Buds Pro?

If you're a devoted Android user, these earbuds are one of our top recommendations. Their comfortable fit, seamless user experience, solid battery life, and sparkling audio quality are undeniable. If you use Apple products though, you won't have much control. They'll still sound wonderful, but you won't have access to their more customizable features. If you're looking for the best active noise cancellation on the market, these are good, but they aren't top-tier just yet.

What Other Earbuds Should You Consider?