Google’s Pixel Buds Professional stay one among our favourite pairs of true wi-fi earbuds, providing strong energetic noise cancellation (ANC), punchy bass, dependable contact controls and a bunch of handy options for Android customers particularly. That mentioned, given how aggressive the wi-fi market is lately, they are not the best worth at their normal checklist value of $200.
Right this moment, although, Wellbots is operating a sale that brings the pair all the way down to a extra palatable $135 with the checkout code ENGPIX65. This is not an all-time low — the buds fell as little as $117 in a comparable deal final October and went for $119 for a lot of the vacation season — nevertheless it’s the perfect value we have tracked in 2024. For reference, the machine dropped to $139 final month. This provide applies to every of the set’s colorways.
Picture by Billy Steele / Engadget
That is the bottom value we have seen this 12 months for Google’s highest-end wi-fi earbuds.
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Engadget’s audio professional Billy Steele gave the Pixel Buds Professional a overview rating of 87 again in 2022. By default, they’ve a sculpted, hyped-up sound with thumpy bass and elevated treble. It is the sort of signature that will not swimsuit audio purists however ought to work nicely with trendy pop music. As with many pairs, although, you may tweak the sound with a graphic EQ. The earbuds themselves have an IPX4 water-resistance score, so they need to have the ability to face up to typical exercises. Battery life is strong at roughly seven hours with ANC on or 11 hours with it off, whereas the case helps wi-fi charging. You may join to 2 units without delay, and the pair helps in-ear detection, so it’s going to mechanically pause if you take away an earbud.
Possibly the most important cause to contemplate the Pixel Buds Professional is how tightly they combine with Android. It is considerably just like how Apple’s AirPods work with iOS: You may name on the Google Assistant hands-free, shortly swap between paired units, make the most of adaptive and spatial audio modes, ring the earbuds remotely and entry Google Translate, amongst different OS-specific options. Final fall, Google additionally added a “dialog detection” mode that mechanically pauses your music and turns off ANC if you begin speaking to somebody. All of this performance is natively out there on Google’s Pixel telephones; with different Android units, you may entry many of the identical tips by way of a separate Pixel Buds app.
There are nonetheless points to notice. Whereas we did not have any consolation points in testing, the match could also be difficult for these with smaller ears. Name high quality is not nice, neither is the included transparency mode. For extra discerning listeners, there isn’t any help for higher-quality Bluetooth codecs like aptX or LDAC. And once more, it is a busy market: Different pairs just like the Sony WF-1000XM5, Sennheiser Momentum True Wi-fi 4 or Anker Soundcore Area A40 can present higher noise isolation, sound high quality or total worth in a vacuum. It would not be an enormous shock if we noticed a brand new mannequin at Google’s I/O convention subsequent month, both. Nonetheless, the present mannequin stays a well-rounded alternative for Android followers as we speak, and this low cost brings them all the way down to a extra acceptable value.
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