The Google Pixel Buds Pro aren’t expected to start shipping until July 28, but one lucky buyer who pre-ordered the wireless headphones this week has already received their new gadget in the mail – and that gives us an early glimpse of what’s in store. offer.
Reddit User Linkakox posted a topic (opens in new tab) (through 9to5Google (opens in new tab)) on your first impressions of the headphones, including what the sound quality is like and what you get in the box. There are also plenty of photos to pore over.
The good news is that, at least according to Linkakox, the sound quality when listening to music is an improvement over the cheaper Google Pixel Buds A-Series. Active noise cancellation and it works “very well” too, apparently.
Bring your own cable
The new Transparency Mode on the Pixel Buds Pro, which lets in ambient sound – useful when talking to someone, or crossing a street, for example – also works as advertised by Google, according to this initial, unverified review.
What you don’t get in the box is any sort of charging method, not even a USB cable, so you’ll have to sort this out yourself. It also looks like the Pixel Buds app still needs updating to accommodate all the features offered by the Pro headphones.
Orders will officially ship on July 28, and Pixel Buds Pro will also be available for purchase on the Google Store and other retailers on that date. Stay tuned for our full, in-depth review of these new $199 / £179 / AU$299 wireless headphones from Google.
Review: Real rivals for the AirPods Pro?
It’s clear that Apple is enjoying huge success with its AirPods and AirPods Pro headphones, and most other manufacturers have now jumped on the bandwagon to try to grab a share of the market. Samsung is one of them, with the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro set to launch next month.
Google released the original Pixel Buds in 2020 and they were followed by the more affordable A-series variants we’ve already mentioned. With the new headphones, Google is once again hoping to offer some serious competition to the AirPods range.
There’s a lot that AirPods do with the iPhone that Google can provide on Android, including super-fast pairing and a dedicated app. You also get multipoint technology, so the headphones can stay connected to multiple different devices simultaneously.
While this early look at the Google Pixel Buds Pro is certainly interesting, we’re going to need to spend a lot of time on these wireless earbuds to find out if they’re worth the money Google is asking for them – and whether or not, they might even try people who, otherwise, they would opt for AirPods.