The Made By Google event (on August 13) is Google’s August 2024 showcase. The big stars of the show are the Pixel 9 phones, but Google also announced the long-awaited Google Pixel Buds Pro 2. Their existence wasn’t exactly a secret, with details leaking weeks in advance, but the official announcement still contains some important new information.
Here’s what you need to know about Google’s (hopefully) best earbuds ever.
Google Pixel Buds Pro 2: Price and Availability
The Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 are now official.
We have it on good authority that the price in the US is $229 and in the UK £219. We’ll update this page as soon as we can once Australian pricing is known (although it would then cost around AU$430).
The previous generation, the Google Pixel Buds Pro, launched with an RRP of $199 / £179 / AU$299, which is lower than the price of key rivals like Apple’s AirPods Pro. The AirPods Pro 2 have an RRP of $249 / £249 / AU$399, so while they are more expensive than the original Buds Pro, they still undercut Apple’s top-end offering.
Google Pixel Buds Pro 2: Design upgrades
The new Pixel Buds Pro 2 are smaller and lighter than ever, and they should stay put whether you’re working out or running to the subway: They’re 27% smaller than before and have a twist-to-adjust stabilizer to keep them in your ears. They also come in four colors: Porcelain, Hazel, Wintergreen, and Peony, though not all four will be available everywhere. The earbuds have an IP54 rating for dust and water resistance, and the case is IPX4.
One of the details in the leaked images showed a new cutout on the case next to the USB-C port. Speculation had suggested that this was a speaker for Find My Device, allowing you to hear where you’ve left your case if you misplace it, and Google has confirmed that Find My support will come to the new Pixel Buds.
With medium earbuds installed, the Pixel Buds Pro 2 measure 22.74 x 23.08 x 17.03mm, and the charging case is 25 x 49.9 x 63.3mm. Each earbud weighs 5.7g, and the charging case with earbuds inside weighs 65.0g.
Each earbud houses three microphones, and has tap and swipe sensors for music, calls, and voice assistants. There’s an IR proximity sensor that can detect when you’ve taken your earbuds out, and there are also motion-detecting accelerometers and gyroscopes.
The earbuds come with four sizes of tips: extra small, small, medium and large.
Google Pixel Buds Pro 2: new features
Bluetooth is 5.4 with LE Audio and Super Wideband, and each earbud is now powered by the Tensor A1, the first Tensor chip in an earbud. The new processor promises not only improved noise cancellation – Google says it cancels twice as much noise as before, and is much better at isolating and blocking the troublesome higher frequencies – but also improved audio. The Tensor creates a new, discrete audio signal that bypasses the noise-cancelling circuitry and sends a more precise signal directly to the drivers.
The drivers are 11mm in size and there is a new treble chamber that should deliver better highs than before.
There’s improved Clear Calling for phone calls, and the Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 should also make the people you’re calling sound clearer, even if they’re not using Pixel Buds Pro. That’s thanks to a better algorithm for processing in-call audio, and Google says it will add more scenarios to the algorithm later this year.
Google’s earbuds now have call detection, similar to Sony’s feature. This feature detects when you’re talking and switches from ANC to transparency mode and back again when you’re done.
Google says you can expect 12 hours with ANC off (48 with the case), and 8 hours / 30 with ANC on. There’s also fast charging, with around 5 minutes of charging giving you up to 1.5 hours of audio with ANC off.
Note that the Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 are compatible with any Bluetooth 4.0+ device, but some features require specific hardware: Bluetooth Super Wideband requires a Pixel 8 or later, and Clear Calling requires a Pixel 7 or later.