Budget-Friendly Pixel Buds A

Google is working on a cheaper set of truly wireless earbuds. The company wants to get it right this time and get it right for under $100. Google’s second-generation Pixel Buds is an improvement over the company’s original wireless earbuds.

Google never managed to get the two Pixel Buds connected as reliably as many competitors, and some owners still complain of audio dropouts even after numerous firmware updates. The A-Series buds are more comfortable to wear over longer periods than the pricier earbuds. They retain the same enjoyable sound quality, and hands-free “Hey Google” access to Google Assistant and features like real-time language translation are still useful tricks to have at your disposal.

The carrying case is just as fun to fidget with as before and has the same thunk when you close it. Google promises the same five hours of continuous battery life, with a total of 24 hours when you include case recharges. The company didn’t overcome the connectivity issues, though it made some improvements. Each earbud connects individually to the source device. Both the antenna and chipset architectures were optimized for stronger transmission power and increased range to avoid cross-body audio dropouts.

Google said that he made subtle improvements to the physical design. A-Series earbuds aren’t very good at noise isolation. The adaptive sound feature, which automatically adjusts volume based on your surroundings, is also carried over from the 2020 Pixel Buds. The Pixel Buds A-Series still support Android’s Fast Pair feature for quick setup. On Pixel smartphones, the companion app is built-in, but users can download it from the Play Store on other Android phones. You can locate your earbuds, toggle settings like bass boost and in-ear detection, or check battery levels for the earbuds and case.