So when google released their first pixel buds they were all around a disappointment. And people kind of forgot about them especially cause the market started to get bombarded by new truly wireless earbuds almost every other day. But now we’ve got the new pixel buds and I think nobody is going to forget about these earbuds anytime soon cause these things are great. 

So the new pixel buds retail for $180 which put them in the same wheel house as the Galaxy Buds Plus, Jabra Elite 75T’s, and AirPods. And for $180 I do think these ear buds justify their price… so if you want to pick these earbuds up they’ll be linked down below. 

Now first off I want to address the case and over all build quality of these earbuds. Even though these earbuds retail for $180 they feel like they’re a pair of $300 plus earbuds. The case itself has like this stone like feel to it that kind of feels like you’re holding a pebble in your hand. It kind of feels like the soft touch back that you’ll find on the Pixel 4 but it not as smooth. But over all this case feels way more premium than the glossy plastic cases found on the Galaxy Buds Plus, AirPods Pro, and Jabra Elite 75T. And also the way that this lid just snaps open is both very satisfying and it also feels very sturdy. Now when it comes to size, the Pixel Buds case is about the same size as the AirPods Pro case but it is a little thicker. But nonetheless you barely notice this carrying case when its in your pocket which is very important for a pair of good everyday carry wireless earbuds. 

Now when it comes to battery life… these earbuds have a combined battery life of 24 hours, the earbuds themselves can got for 5 straight hours and the case can supply 4 full charges. Now if that sounds familiar is cause these earbuds have the same battery life performance as AirPods. And having a combined battery life of 24 hours is what we like to see on truly wireless earbuds in 2020.  

Now another apple like feature these earbuds have is that when you open their case near your phone you’ll get a notification card with your earbuds and case battery status. But something that these earbuds also do that I really like is that they’ll also show you a notification directly on your phone for when your case is running low on battery. And this is a feature that ive been begging apple to add on iOS for awhile now. Cause I can’t tell you how many times ive been caught with dead earbuds simply cause I didn’t realize that I had to charge their case. Cause even though AirPods have an indicator light its very easy to not ever notice it.

Now when it comes to charging these earbuds, these earbuds charge via a USB C port so you can charge your phone and earbuds with the same cable. And this carrying case also has wireless charging. So if you have a phone that has powering sharing then you can always charge up your earbuds if you’re ever caught with dead earbuds in public.

Now this carrying case is QI certified so you can use any QI certified wireless charger out there.  And technically these earbuds can charge on the Pixel stand if you place it just right… but as soon as you put it down its going to stop charging. So I think google is going to have to put out a new pixel stand with their Pixel 5 that has a second charging coil placed a little lower so that you can use your pixel stand to charge both your phone and earbuds. Cause right now it makes no sense that you can wirelessly charge you phone with the pixel stand but still need to use a cable to charge your earbuds.  

But now lets talk about fit, these earbuds it like your standard in ear ear buds like the Galaxy Buds or Jabra Elite 75T’s. They aren’t shallow fitting like the AirPods Pro and they also don’t go in super deep into your ear canal like the Sony WF-1000XM3’s do which personally im not a fan of cause the 1000XM3’s are very uncomfortable. Now these earbuds do a very good job of staying in place cause they’re very light weight and they’re also very low profile but they also have these built in ear fins. Now these ear fins are non removable… but I kind of wish they were. Even though they help keep these earbuds in place… you always feel that they’re there and I think that cause this rubber is just a little too stiff. So I think that if you're a smaller person with smaller ears then these ear fins will might get in the way a little bit… or be a little more noticeable. Part of me has actually thought about cutting these ear fins off, but nonetheless I wish these fins were removable or at least that they came with different sized tips. But besides that minor ear fin rant it think these earbuds will fit most people just fine. 

Now when it comes to bluetooth connectivity, each earbud establishes a connection with your phone… so if you just want to use one earbud at time you can use either one it doesn’t matter. And when it comes to watching movies or videos on your phone these earbuds have zero latency across the board whether you're using an iPhone or android device. But I am making this review from an android user’s perspective. Cause if you’re using an iPhone user just get AirPods. 

Now when it comes to listening to music with these earbuds… these earbuds sound all around decent. They have decent bass, they have decent instrument separation, they have a decent sound stage and they have a decent amount of clarity. These earbuds don’t sound nearly as good as the momentum 2’s which are my earbuds of choice to listen to but they definitely sound better than the AirPods Pro. But something that I will point out is that these ear buds do like to put a slight emphasis on the mids so vocals are a little pronounced here which personally I don’t mind at all. And the bass on these earbuds only comes in when it has to, and when it does it hits pretty good. Over all I do think these earbuds are going to please most people. But something that I do want to point out is that these ear buds don’t have an adjustable EQ. Even though I really wouldn’t change anything about them… having the option to do so would be nice. So I really do hope google puts out a software update that would include an adjustable EQ for these earbuds. 

Now when it comes to actually controlling your music with these earbuds… each ear bud has a touch pad. You can swipe front or back on either earbud to raise or lower your volume and you can tap double tap or triple tap to play, pause, or skip through your music. And I gotta say, the touchpads on these earbuds are perhaps the best ones ive ever used. Usually whenever earbud have a swipe gesture, thats the gesture they tend to miss the most. But thats not the case with these earbuds. The touchpads on these earbuds are both very accurate and fast… so they feel very natural. And they also do a really good job of ignoring touch inputs when you’re just adjusting these earbuds. 

But also, if you press and hold on either of these earbuds until you hear a chime and let go your assistant will read off any notifications you’ll might have. Or you can press and hold until you hear the chime and then just start talking to your assistant. Or you can always just say Hey google and start talking to your assistant that way. Either way if you like to use google assistant on a regular basis like I do then these are awesome. 

But now I want to quickly address the adaptive sound feature on these earbuds. This is just a feature I simply don’t use cause sometimes when im walking around with these earbuds they’ll suddenly spike their volume and then just drop it again. So this is just a feature that I don’t see any real need for. 

But something that I really do wish these earbuds had is an ambient mode so that I can hear my surroundings when im walking around the city doing errands. And I really think that these earbuds not having an ambient mode is a really big draw back cause a lot of other earbuds in this price range have an ambient mode and I think an ambient mode on in ear earbuds is extremely useful. Now Google has said that these earbuds will get new features in the future and I really hope an ambient mode is one of them cause I think a quality ambient mode is more important than active noise cancellation on earbuds which I something else these earbuds don’t have but I don’t really care 

But with all that being said, I really like the new Pixel Buds. But I think the biggest reason why I like the Pixel Buds is cause of their over all build quality. These earbuds feel very premium for ear buds in general. I really like the case’s stone like to feel to it, I like the snap of the lid, and the case is decently small. And that premium feel also carries over to the earbuds themselves. And there’s just something about having a pair of premium feeling earbuds to match the feel of your premium feeling phone that feels really nice. But build quality alone likely won’t be enough to sell you on the pixel buds. But tech specs wise the Pixel Buds are very good as well. They have a combined battery life of 24 hours, they have wireless charging, they sound decent enough so they’ll please most people, and their touch pads are a joy to use. The only thing thats really holding these earbuds back and making them the obvious choice for any android user is the lack of an ambient mode… so I really hope google pushes that feature out in a future software update.