Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 review: A big leap forward

If there's an award for "most improved" in the earbud market, Google's new offering is a strong contender. The Pixel Buds Pro 2 are such a leap forward from their predecessor, they feel like a fourth or fifth iteration rather than a sophomore effort.

That's not to say the original Pixel Buds Pro were bad. They were excellent wireless earbuds with great clarity and decent battery life. But the chasm between the two is vast.

The Pixel Buds Pro 2 retail for $379, and are available from the Google store, JB HiFi, Harvey Norman and Officeworks, as well as from Telstra, Optus and Vodafone.

This is where the Pixel Buds Pro 2 really stand out. The original Pixel Buds Pro were comfy enough, but I had constant struggles trying to find a good fit.

I've been pretty open in the past about my shockingly weird ears. The shape of my ear canal makes it nearly impossible to find wireless earbuds that fit. Perhaps I'm an extreme edge case, but the original Pixel Buds Pro would fall out of my ears every couple minutes.

Google says it analysed 45 million data points from different ears to design the fit for the Pixel Buds Pro 2. Edge cases like mine must have been in that dataset, because the Pro 2s are the most comfortable, best fitting in-ear wireless earbuds I've ever tested.

The earbuds formed a perfect seal, with next to no sound leakage. They stayed in place through some vigorous head banging, and they were comfortable enough to keep in place for hours at a time.

This year's Pros are slimmed down from the first generation, coming in at 4.7 grams versus 6.2. That might not seem like a lot, but 1.5 grams less weight feels pretty significant over extended periods of wear. Most importantly, over those periods of extended wear, the Pixel Buds Pro 2 never once felt like they were going to fall out.

The Pixel Buds Pro 2 have the usual lineup of features you'd expect from premium wireless earbuds. There's fast pairing with your Pixel device, which works seamlessly. There's also multi-point pairing, which makes it easy to switch between your phone and laptop. The multi-point pairing worked flawlessly for me, and was handy for switching between video calls on my laptop and music on my phone.

The Pixel Buds Pro 2 also include spatial audio at launch. This is a step up from the original Pixel Buds Pro, which didn't roll out spatial audio as a feature until months after launch. New to the Pixel Buds Pro 2 is conversation detection, which will automatically enter transparency mode when it detects that you're talking. This works almost too well, as my spirited singing when I was alone in the house made my music pause.

The Pixel Buds Pro 2 also have voice control, allowing you to access Gemini. The downside of this is that, at the moment, Gemini doesn't work particularly well.

If you're a Pixel user or Android user, you'll also be able to access the Pixel Buds app, which will let you play around with the EQ and settings to your liking. Unfortunately, there's no iOS version, so Apple users won't be able to access the full range of functionality.

What's missing, as it was in the original Pixel Buds Pro, is anything that makes these earbuds feel like a bespoke experience on a Pixel phone versus any other Android phone. Google's entire ethos is open source, so it doesn't seem like they'd lean into the walled garden model for functionality. But it seems like giving Pixel users added features would be a big step towards making Pixel Buds feel like a must-have accessory the same way AirPods do for Apple users.

The audio quality on the Pixel Buds Pro 2 is another big leap forward. The original Pixel Buds Pro had excellent audio quality, but struggled about with some mid ranges and trebles, such as on Nina Simone's "Feeling Good" and Portishead's "Humming", both of which we use for our standardised earbud testing playlist. The Pixel Buds Pro 2 have no trouble handling these ranges.

On songs like Steely Dan's "Do It Again" and Radiohead's "National Anthem" where there's an extraordinary amount going on all at once, the Pixel Buds Pro 2 do an exceptional job at keeping every instrument and vocal track clean and clear. They also deliver driving bass on songs like The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights" and "The Funeral Portrait" by Opeth. Even with chest-thumping bass, other ranges manage to not get lost or muddied.

The noise cancelling is also much improved from the first Pixel Buds Pro. Google claims the Pixel Buds Pro 2 are twice as effective at cancelling noise as the original Pixel Buds Pro, and while it's hard to gauge that as a metric from firsthand testing, I'd say the claim doesn't sound like a stretch.

The microphone also works well. It may not quite have the clarity of the Apple AirPods Pro 2, but it's still among the best wireless earbud microphones we've tested.

At first glance, the Pixel Buds Pro 2 look little changed from their predecessor. That is, until you open the case.

The new earbuds are smaller, lighter and sleeker looking than the Pixel Buds Pro, with a little ridge allowing you to twist and sort of lock them into your ears. In practice, that's not as Cronenbergian as it sounds.

They're also nice looking earbuds. Google sent me the Peony model, which is a sort of deep pink. They're also available in black, white, and light green.

The case is largely unchanged from the first generation, which isn't a bad decision on Google's part. The Pixel Buds Pro case is well designed. It's comfortable enough to carry around in your pocket, but substantial enough to not get lost easily.

The battery life has improved significantly from the first generation. While the original Pixel Buds Pro got around 7 hours of playback, the Pixel Buds Pro 2 will last for 12 hours without active noise cancellation and 8 hours with it. With their case, their battery life is boosted to 48 hours with ANC off and 30 hours with ANC on.

The Pixel Buds Pro 2 are such an improvement on the first generation that it makes them worth seriously considering amongst a sea of wireless earbuds. They're comfortable to wear and deliver exceptional sound quality. The battery life is excellent, and they deliver all the features you'd expect from a high end pair of wireless earbuds.

My only caveat would be that, if Google is capable of this big a leap from the first generation of Pixel Buds Pro to the second, who knows what future iterations will bring? Google has done such an impressive job with the Pixel Buds Pro 2, it might just be worth waiting to see what they come up with next.