Key Takeaways
- Google Pixel Buds A-Series offer solid quality, great fit, and longer battery life for a lower price than AirPods.
- The colorful earbuds come with features like passive noise reduction, Bass Boost for clear, layered sound.
- Regardless of the device, they detect your ears, pause playback, and have easy touch controls, making them versatile.
If you use an iPhone, or really any other device other than an Android phone, it might seem counterintuitive to purchase Google’s wireless earbuds. But nearly three years since they were released in 2021, Google’s Pixel Buds A-Series not only remain competent wireless earbuds, they’re earbuds that work well with pretty much any kind of device. That’s a much different story than Apple’s own AirPods, which are practically hostile to electronics that aren’t made by Apple.
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If you’re looking for an affordable pair of wireless earbuds, and you’re willing to accept the possibility of potential issues that could arise by not occasionally connecting the Pixel Buds A-Series to an Android device for updates, Google’s entry-level earbuds are worth considering. Here’s four ways they beat Apple’s third-generation AirPods.
Google Pixel Buds A-Series
The Pixel Buds A-Series is cheaper, more colorful, and sound better than AirPods.
1 More budget-friendly earbud price point
$80 cheaper than Apple’s offering
The Google Pixel Buds A-Series costs $99, which is cheaper than the $179 second-generation Pixel Buds they replaced, cheaper than the $179 third-generation AirPods, and cheaper than the $139 second-generation AirPods, one of the most popular and recognizable accessories Apple has ever sold. It’s easy to see why, at $99, the Pixel Buds A-Series are in good company with other picks on Pocket-lint’s best cheap earbuds list, and highly approachable.
You might get more features at a higher price — the $200 Google Pixel Buds Pro has built-in active noise-cancellation — but all of your basics are covered and covered well for what Google’s charging. The difference between the Pixel Buds A-Series and third-generation AirPods have far more to do with proprietary tech and ecosystem advantages Apple has created than dramatically different design or sound quality.
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2 A more secure earbud design
Keeping earbuds in your ears
In many ways, the Pixel Buds A-Series look and fit better than the AirPods. There’s a certain charm to Apple’s non-pro one-size-fits-all approach. It’s tried to make earbuds that can fit anyone’s ears, and it got them more right than wrong. But there are still people who have ears that just don’t play nice with their earbuds. If that’s you, the Pixel Buds A-Series are the answer. They come with rubber tips which create a seal for passive noise reduction and flexible wings that create an even more snug fit. The whole package sticks in your ears more easily than AirPods, and comes in fun colors, too.
With five hours of battery life in the Pixel Buds and an extra 24 hours in the charging case, overall battery life is shorter than Apple’s AirPods, but again, you’re getting USB-C charging for anywhere from $79 to $39 cheaper.
The charging case, which has a USB-C port but doesn’t support wireless charging, comes in a matte finish that feels more premium than the glossy plastic the AirPods use. With five hours of battery life in the Pixel Buds and an extra 24 hours in the charging case, overall battery life is shorter than Apple’s AirPods, but again, you’re getting USB-C charging for anywhere from $79 to $39 cheaper.
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3 Clear, layered sound with great bass
You may miss out on Apple’s Spatial Audio, but Bass Boost is epic
The Pixel Buds A-Series sound fantastic for the price, especially if, as Pocket-lint’s original review notes, you’re able to improve the Buds’ middling bass with the Bass Boost option in the Settings app. The earbuds offer a clear sound stage with a pleasing amount of separation between treble and mids. Connect the headphones to an iPhone, and you’ll lose out on support for features like Spatial Audio, but they otherwise stand toe to toe with what the AirPods are able to reproduce.
The earbuds offer a clear sound stage with a pleasing amount of separation between treble and mids.
In terms of blocking distracting sound around you, the Pixel Buds A-Series aren’t as successful as other wireless earbuds with ANC, which are increasingly available at the wallet-friendly price of the Pixel Buds. But the light seal Google’s earbuds are able to create does block some background noise while keeping you aware of the important things around you. Annoyance will still present, but it’s not bad by any means.
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4 Same earbud features regardless of device
Automatic ear detection and easy touch gestures with Android, PC, or iPhone
When you connect wireless earbuds designed for Android with a PC or an iPhone, you don’t expect to receive a virtually identical experience, but with the Pixel Buds A-Series, you do. Outside of losing access to Google Assistant and a few other software experiences, the Pixel Buds work the same regardless of what they’re connected to.
They automatically detect your ears and pause whatever you’re playing when you remove a Bud and you can control playback with the same touch gestures that make the headphones so easy to use on Android. You can’t say the same thing for the AirPods, which have many of the same features.
FAQ
Q: When will Google update the Pixel Buds A-series?
Google’s last change to the Pixel Buds A-Series lineup was the introduction of the light blue “Sea” color that was released alongside the Pixel 7a. Google released the original Pixel Buds A-Series in 2021. It’s not clear what Google would introduce in a new pair of cheap Pixel Buds, but with the Pixel 8a expected to be released this summer, it would make sense to have some affordable earbuds to go with it.
Q: Do Pixel Buds work with Android and iOS?
The Pixel Buds A-Series work better with Android devices in the same way that AirPods work better with iPhones and iPads. Like most other wireless earbuds, the Pixel Buds A-Series also might need software updates that you’re only going to get by connecting them to an Android device. That might be reason enough alone to not buy the Pixel Buds over the AirPods.
But there is an important difference between how Google and Apple do things. When the AirPods are connected to a non-Apple device, they act as the most basic of basic Bluetooth headphones. For example, features like automatic ear detection are completely disabled and double taps on the second-generation AirPods don’t work at all. The Pixel Buds A-Series have some obvious missing features if you use Google Assistant, but other modern wireless earbud features, like the previously mentioned ear detection and touch controls, remain intact. That’s a meaningful difference if you plan on connecting your Pixel Buds to multiple different types of devices.
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