Google Pixel Buds 2A review: the pixel 10 of headphones

It’s been over four years since Google graced us with a pair of budget Pixel buds, but after rejuvenating its professional voice with a vastly improved second-generation pair, that’s exactly what we got at this year’s Pixel 10 launch event.

The Pixel Buds 2A offer a refreshed design, ANC and spatial audio support, all excellent improvements over the original version. But the earphone market is in a completely different state than it is in 2021, and with a $30 markup over their predecessors, the Pixel Gems 2a aren’t the immediate value proposition you might expect them to be.

Hardware and design

THE PIXEL BUMS 2A they received a makeover for this generation, with both the buds themselves and their protective case reducing in size. It’s still the same rounded, pebble-shaped case we’ve come to expect from Google, and unlike other mid-range offerings from companies like Bose, they’re small enough to fit in your pocket easily. These are small enough to be “why not” earbuds, worthy of grabbing the port even if you’re not sure you need them.

The matte finish on display here feels slow and protective, able to hide most subtleties while the only glossy plastic resides inside the case. It’s a proven design, and I especially appreciate that Google managed to hide a replaceable battery under its main shell. While it’s not necessarily hot, with the right parts, you’ll be able to keep a good charge for many years to come. It’s a shame the same can’t be said for the buds themselves, but that’s the price paid for the wireless revolution.

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As is the case, the buds themselves are equal parts small and cute, with a pretty significant reduction in size compared to the first-gen A-series. Those earbuds, while light enough for all-day wear, felt quite uncomfortable in your ears after less than an hour, thanks to their overall, larger size and particularly The long wing tip for in-ear stability. Here, the 2a buds really fit my ears; If anything, the smaller wing tip actually does a better job keeping the buds from slipping out of my ear canal. Google’s suggested insert and twist instructions work well enough to keep these earbuds stable, even when exercising.

That’s not to say that Google doesn’t still have a to-do list for hardware iterations on a possible follow-up to the Buds 2A. Touch controls, unfortunately, remain an issue on this pair. For the second generation in a row, Google has kept the physical volume controls exclusive to the more expensive model. You can tap to pause, play, and skip songs, while pressing and holding lets you turn Gemini on and off or activate depending on your current settings, but that’s about it. Turning the volume up or down requires physical phone volume commands or voice commands, and no one should use their voice to change the volume in 2025.

Even putting those complaints aside, however, the touch controls remain inherently flawed. Too many times during my initial week with the earbuds, I lost reactions, tapping the pixel buds multiple times without my music stopping or playing. I’ve had taps swapped for Holds and vice versa, enabling passthrough mode when I meant to pause a podcast or enabling ANC when I’m trying to have a conversation. The Buds 2A aren’t completely unreliable, but they’re unreliable enough to become frustrating in everyday use. There’s a reason the competition has moved to stems, frankly, and that’s because of touch controls like this.

Still, I’m mostly happy that Google is keeping this design alive. Sure, there are obvious benefits to following the crowd, but these strike me as earphones I could lie in bed with, or easily rest my head against the window on my next plane ride without feeling any exaggerated pressure. There’s a lot to like about the Pixel Buds 2A, and it really boils down to some great design chops from Google.

Software and battery

I’ve been using the Pixel Buds 2A with my Pixel 10 since taking them out of the box, and to no one’s surprise, it’s just about the best earbud experience you can have on Android. While I immediately ran into a minor roadblock — the typical quick pair process didn’t begin without manual actions on my part — outside of that initial setup process, I was quite happy with the overall process here. The buds are quickly connecting when you remove them from the case, and controlling every aspect of the 2A buds can be done directly within the settings, without the need to download an accompanying app from the Play Store.

While this means that jumping in to make quick fixes takes a moment longer than usual (unless you add Google’s pixel buds widget to your home screen, that is), I’ll take it every time I reach for it over a messy app drawer. There’s nothing particularly new with the app experience this time around, but thanks to Google’s recent Material Design iterations, it continues to feel leagues better than almost any other competitor’s layout. Checking battery status, switching between transparency modes, adjusting shortcuts or EQ settings – everything is super simple.

There are a couple of settings you’ll want to pay attention to if you plan on collecting them. The first is MultiPoint, which the Pixel Buds 2A support, but you’ll need to enable it with the “more settings” option at the bottom of the page. You’ll also want to make sure your earbuds are saved to find a hub if you disconnect them while they’re disconnecting. This is part of the setup process that Google walks you through after unboxing, but it’s good to double check before it all disappears.

Gemini support appears unchanged from last year’s Pixel Buds Pro 2. Frankly, I still think earbuds are the best way to interact with Gemini, mostly because it’s an easy way to get around the fully closed wake phrase. However, launching into Gemini Live still requires you to say “Hey Google, let’s chat live” and that’s not good enough for me. With Gemini Live seemingly becoming a bigger part of Google’s AI-based roadmap, I’d like to see the company figure out a way to minimize that phrase in the future. Additionally, most requests I’ve made to Gemini — like, say, turning down the volume — work fine in its default state.

I had no major connection issues with the Buds 2A during my first week’s use, save for some clipping in the kitchen with my phone left on the desk in my office. That’s surprising, considering those locations aren’t particularly far from my house and I’ve never had such a problem with other various headsets, including those from Google itself. I haven’t been able to recreate the problem, so throw it up to interference, still something worth noting.

In what has become a model for devices rocking the Pixel brand, battery life here is perfectly fine. I’m actually surprised I couldn’t kill the earbuds on their own like them; Google’s estimate of seven hours with ANC enabled seems accurate in my experience. The case, however, is a little more disappointing. While I (rightly, I think) praised the size and portability of the Buds 2A case, it translates to just 20 hours of battery life on reserve. I basically went through the case every two or three days to compensate for this, and I’m not sure it meets my personal modern standard for earbuds, especially without the convenience of wireless charging..

Sound and more

“Good, not great” seems to be Google’s theme when it comes to the actual audio components found inside these earbuds, as that phrasing applies to pretty much every aspect here. For example, with the EQ that was balanced—my personal preference for listening to music—the bass lines on the drone of the geese’s “Trinidad” perfectly along the chorus without washing out the explosive horns or the endless hi-hat march. However, the whole thing sounds a little Tattered, as if no matter how close I get to the music, there always seems to be a thin wall separating itself from the band.

That’s not to say it’s not an enjoyable listen. The guitar riffs on Beth’s “No Joy” are as in your face as I would have hoped, and Magdalena Bay’s “Image” synths still seem as mysterious and other worldly as they did on my first listen through that album last year. But I’m certainly not noticing every little breath, every little musical decision just in the way that high-end headphones can usually introduce, nor did I ever feel like I was listening to these songs in a completely fresh state. Like I said, good, but not great.

The same goes for active noise cancellation, a feature that quickly transforms from a premium feature limited to more expensive pairs of earbuds to something you’ll find on virtually any $100+ set. Google’s ANC here is better at blocking out anything close to white noise. Air conditioners, fans, air filters – they are all basically blocked by these gems. Likewise, the vacuum cleaners are greatly reduced, though they ultimately still prove to be a little too loud to be completely blocked out by the Buds 2. If you’re spending your Saturday cleaning while podcasts are coming through, however, you’ll still be able to listen to your episodes without blasting the audio.

But simultaneously, more organic noises demonstrate a much larger challenge. The sound of a TV playing at a normal volume, for example, was muffled but Not Completely blocked, which could prove challenging with talk-focused media like podcasts or YouTube videos. The same goes for the sound of my keyboard as I write this review; That tactile click sound is muffled, but still finds a way to bleed through any streaming music. It’s decent for the price and I’m happy to see it here, but don’t buy these earbuds for the ANC.

The audio passthrough, unfortunately, doesn’t fall into the “good, not great” category, because, well, it’s not very good at all. Google’s transparency mode has difficulty adjusting sounds to their correct volume; Multiple times, I found it difficult to hold a full conversation with my fiancée because a Tower fan nearby completely drowned out his voice. That’s fine in a pinch, but if you’re holding a conversation for more than a couple of minutes at a time, you’ll probably want to toss them in the case until you’re done talking.

For phone calls, the microphone is fully usable. Talking to an iPhone-owning friend about a call using my Pixel 10, I was told that it doesn’t sound as good as when I call using the phone itself, but he wouldn’t even think the call quality was bad if he wasn’t listening to a test. While the air conditioner running in the background was muted by Google’s microphones, it could hear me typing on a nearby keyboard.

Google may have taken a four-year hiatus from the mid-range earbuds market, but that doesn’t mean the rest of its competition has stood still. From Nothing’s sleek lineup to the OnePlus Buds Pro 3 that are often discounted well into this $130 price point, you can find plenty of good options from Google’s Android partners that outperform the Pixel Buds 2A in one or more ways.

Yet, much like the Pixel 10, I think Google’s product here is more than the sum of its parts.

I like the Buds 2a significantly more than their predecessors, and none of its shortcomings are enough to push potential buyers in any other specific direction. Google has made some really good earbuds here, and frankly, my biggest piece of advice would be to simply wait for a sale. These are a decent buy at $130, but at $99 or less, their place in the market suddenly makes a lot more sense.