Google Pixel Buds A-Series – Wireless Earbuds, Clearly White

Product Information

a b "Google Pixel Buds charging and status lights: Pixel Buds (2017)". Google Support . Retrieved December 13, 2022. Schoon, Ben (October 15, 2019). "Google's original Pixel Buds are dead to make way for the new version". 9 to 5 Google . Retrieved December 12, 2022. Cipriani, Jason (February 24, 2021). "Google's Pixel Buds 2 have some magical features. Here are 9 of them". CNet . Retrieved December 13, 2022. Rayome, Alison DeNisco (June 5, 2021). "Pixel Buds A vs. Pixel Buds 2: Every spec compared". CNet . Retrieved December 13, 2022. The Pixel Buds A-Series offer everything that was good about Google’s previous earbuds for just over half the price.

The A-Series have pretty much all the features that we saw from the Google Pixel Buds 2 – i.e. hands-free access to Google Assistant, real-time translation, and an IPX4 water-resistance rating that makes them sweat-resistant. Industrial design of the Pixel Buds A-Series again was led by Gina Reimann for Google, heading a team that included Dustin Lee and Jeremiah Baker. [49] On June 3, 2021, Google announced the Pixel Buds A-Series, a mid-range variant of the second-generation Pixel Buds that largely share the same external design. [45] They were released on June 17, 2021 in the United States and Canada. [46] In August, they were further released in France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. [47] As released in June 2021, the A-Series was available initially in Clearly White and Dark Olive (green) colors; in October 2022, a Charcoal (dark grey) color was added. [48] Design & features [ edit ]

Hold up! Something’s different:

Kellen (March 4, 2021). "Pixel Buds Bug Fixes Now Include People Just Turning Off Features". Droid Life . Retrieved December 12, 2022. Pixel Buds is in pairing mode. Pairing mode will begin automatically if you press and hold the pairing button for 3s during the setup process with a new device. Wagoner, Ara (July 21, 2022). "Which color Google Pixel buds Pro should you buy?". Android Police . Retrieved December 13, 2022. For an iOS device it’s a more old-school process, but still easy enough. Once you’ve pushed the button on the charging case, with the lid up, find the earbuds on the device’s Bluetooth settings, and pair them from there.

The Pixel Buds also introduced a "fast pair" feature to Android; with a smartphone that runs Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) or higher with the Bluetooth radio active, opening the lid of the case will bring up a notification prompting the user to pair the earbuds with the phone. The button of the case also can be used to pair the Pixel Buds manually as needed. [20] Criticism [ edit ]

Porter, Jon. "The Pixel Buds' translation feature is coming to all headphones with Google Assistant". The Verge . Retrieved October 15, 2018. Admittedly, we weren’t expecting much of a difference in performance considering that the design of earbuds haven’t really changed that much. We were wrong. Thanks to some new tuning, the Google Pixel Buds Series-A have much better bass response, which makes them a real step up in terms of sound quality from the Google Pixel Buds 2. The A-Series support Google’s Fast Pair with Android devices but can be paired with Apple devices and Windows PCs, too. They support Bluetooth 5 with the universal SBC and AAC audio standards used by most devices. They only connect to one device at a time but each earbud can be used on its own. The Bluetooth connection to a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra and iPhone 12 Pro was solid at home and on a fairly quiet street. Testing in congested areas was not possible, however, because of the Covid-19 situation in the UK. We don’t fancy the next song in the playlist, so a double tap on the left earbud moves us on to John Martyn’s Small Hours. It’s a fine test of a speaker’s (or headphones’) dynamic ability, with frequent shifts in volume, but the Series-A cope well, delivering the music faithfully. There is perhaps just a touch more detail in the midrange from those Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Plus rivals, but the Pixel Buds are overall a well-rounded listen.

Martonik, Andrew (December 11, 2020). "Google Pixel Buds review, 2 months later: Still my favorite true wireless earbuds". Android Central . Retrieved December 12, 2022. a b c d Welch, Chris (June 3, 2021). "Google Pixel Buds A-Series review: price is everything". The Verge . Retrieved December 13, 2022.

When should I charge my Pixel Buds?

Holding your finger on the ‘G’ logo on the surface of the earbud invokes Google Assistant for commands and questions when connected to an Android phone. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

If you’re just looking at the exterior of the Google Pixel Buds Series-A, you won’t see a huge difference compared to their predecessors: these are still completely wireless earbuds that have an almost space-age aesthetic to them. If your buds run out of power, a 15-minute charge will offer around three hours of listening time, which should be enough to cover the commute. The charging case itself has a light that indicates the state of play with your buds, including the amount of power available. a b c d e "Google Pixel Buds Requirements & Specifications". Google Pixel Buds Help . Retrieved May 13, 2019. The distinguishing feature of Pixel Buds is their inclusion of the Google Assistant, a smart voice assistant. This allows the earbuds to translate conversations in real-time, among other standard features such as web search and media connectivity. [15] [16] [17] It supports translation of 40 different languages. [17] Based on the October 2017 demonstration, early coverage compared the Pixel Buds' translation capabilities to that of the fictional Babel fish from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams; [18] however, in a review for Wired, James Temperton called the feature as released "a bit of a con", as the Pixel Buds merely provided a microphone and speaker for transcription and machine translation powered by Google Translate running on a smartphone: "to speak speak English to a German who then replies in German that's translated into English you will need: two Google Pixel 2 phones and two Google Pixel Buds headsets. And even then you'll likely spend most of the conversation staring awkwardly into middle-distance while Assistant tries to work out what the hell is going on. Long rant cut short: you don't actually need the Pixel Buds to do this, they're an entirely pointless accessory." [19]

a b c d e "Google Pixel Buds review: the future shouldn't be this awkward". The Verge . Retrieved November 17, 2017. Connecting your Pixel Buds A-Series to a smart device is either simple or extremely simple, depending on the device. For Android devices with Fast Pair, just open up the lid of the A-Series’ case near to your smartphone and the devices automatically find each other.