I am not a tech reviewer. And no, this isn't one of my cheeky attempts to force-engineer a series title out of my articles. It's just a statement of fact. I have only two big requirements for any tech or appliance I purchase. Does it work? And does it do what my previous version of the same item did? For example, if I purchase a new laptop, it has to have equal or better capabilities than my current one. Same for a camera or an e-reader, and especially for cell phones and earbuds.
Up until early 2020, I was avoiding the wireless earbuds game entirely, mainly because, up until that point, the only ones I saw were still connected via wires, either that weird neckpiece or just a wire connecting them that draped around the back of your head. To me, that was not what I wanted out of wireless earbuds, I wanted them to be two tiny buds that popped into my ears and connected to my phone. And I got my wish with the Raycon Everyday earbuds. That was exactly what I expected out of wireless earbuds, two distinct buds, connected to my phone, the case was small and convenient to carry, and they had buttons with which to operate them using tap combos instead of a switch or button on that aforementioned weird neckpiece.
And I really liked them, for many reasons, I got a good deal on them, because every YouTuber under the sun has Raycon as a sponsor (except me for some reason, Raycon please sponsor me! Although I suppose this article is shooting any chances of that in the foot... ) they worked, and were easy to connect to my phone. Sure, they had their downsides, recently I had been having issues with the buds remaining connected when they were inside the case, and even turning them off before placing them inside wasn't curtailing the issue, but I was happy with them and not intending on replacing them any time soon.
But everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked... I mean, when I accidentally dropped the open case onto the sidewalk while popping the buds into my ears, causing the case to split in half. It still worked, and the Gorilla Tape I used to secure it was working fine, but it was time for a change.
The aforementioned broken case held together by two strips of Gorilla Tape and hope.
And given that in the time since getting the Raycons, I had upgraded from an iPhone to a Google Pixel Pro, I figured it was time to give the Google Pixel Buds Pro a try.
Author John Scalzi had published a review of them a while back that I remember reading, and despite his gripes with them, I figured they were my best choice, given that they were designed to work best with my phone, so I ordered a pair. At $199.99, they were pricey, but I had a gift card that shaved about a quarter of the price, and while they weren't as cheap as the Raycons, they're still cheaper than the comparable Apple AirPods and I'm supporting a slightly less evil corporation by purchasing them!
And they’re shaped like a tiny robot friend!
Anyway, as I said earlier, I don't care much about the specs, I care about whether or not it does the job I need it to do, which is to let me listen to music or audiobooks during my commutes to work and while walking my dog. Does it do that? Admirably! And the fit is pretty good, I didn't even bother swapping into the other ear tips, because the default ones work fine for my ears.
Forgive my messy hair and unkempt beard. Also, jeez, I gotta clean my ears more often!
My only gripe would be that, much like most technology these days, we're foregoing typical buttons for gesture-based operation. The Raycons worked with button clicks, for example, a single click paused, a double click on either bud rewound or skipped ahead a song, and a triple click on either bud raised or lowered the volume. The Google Pixel Buds Pro do not do that, they utilize taps and swipes, with no physical button present, which is taking me a while to get used to. For one thing, my hair occasionally blocks the gesture from working properly. For another, I accidentally pause the music or audiobook when I'm trying to adjust the buds in my ears. And swiping the volume is a crapshoot either way. The only reliable click so far is the Active Noise Cancellation, which I'll get to a bit later. Speaking of, what about the extra features that are of note to techie people but not really relevant to me? Let's take a look. The site lists several bullet points of the features, including:
Charge wirelessly.
Pixel Buds Pro can charge wirelessly with Pixel Stand and other Qi-certified chargers.
This is a pretty big benefit for me, as I love the touch charger (although it's not a dealbreaker). Yes, I know it's not as fast or efficient as a USB-C charger (which it can also charge using) but it makes me feel like I'm in the future, okay? And in the event I don't have a working wire or open port, since some places are still using the USB-A connector, I like to always have a way to charge it.
Lost and found.
If you misplace your earbuds, Find My Device lets you hear them ring if they're nearby, or see their last known location on a map.
This is another big benefit that I wouldn't normally care about, but given that I occasionally lose the case for my Raycons in my pockets or leave it at home while wearing the buds, it's nice to know that I'll be able to keep track of it, even if the worst happens. And it would have been a boon to my brother a few years back if his Raycons could do the ringing, since he lost his Raycons for close to (maybe more) than a month when they fell out of his pocket into the couch, and it was only through happenstance that we happened to stumble upon them while repairing the couch's broken reclining seat.
A battery that keeps up with your life.
Get up to 11 hours of listening time – up to 31 hours with the charging case. And a 5-minute charge in the case gives you up to 1 hour of listening time.
Battery life is important, the Raycon charging case only seemed to get a few days without plugging it in to charge, and when the buds started to die, they needed a few hours in the charger to get back to full power. I took a few trips to Boston between 2020 and now, and in all of those trips, in which I would have to take a roughly 40-some odd minute trip to Penn Station, wait for my train and then take a four hour train ride up to South Station, Compare that, let's be generous and say six hour battery life to the purported specs of eleven whole hours on a single charge. That's enough to get me to Boston and them some! (Say, I should visit again sometime soon)
Not afraid of water.
Pixel Buds Pro are water resistant, so you can wear them during sweaty workouts or on rainy days.
Another one that's not important to me, I never had much issue with rainy days getting my earbuds wet, and I don't work out, but water-resistant technology is always good nowadays since you don't always have a bag of rice on hand.
Premium Active Noise Cancellation adapts to you.
Active Noise Cancellation uses Silent Seal™ to adapt to your ear and block outside sounds.
The noise cancellation feature is the craziest part, I turned it on accidentally while walking the dog and it is wild as all get out. I live in Brooklyn, so silence is not something I've ever been accustomed to. Visiting friends/relatives in non-urban areas, I always have trouble falling asleep because I'm so used to cars whizzing past in the night. But with noise cancellation on, it really does block nearly everything. I saw a bus pass by and it sounded like it was gliding as if it was the Disney World monorail. I've been playing with it a lot, using it on the train when it's crowded and loud so I don't miss a single minute of my book, or just sometimes to see what it'll sound like all quiet. It doesn't block out everything, which is good, because I like being aware of my surroundings, but it's an absolute trip to use, and well worth the price of admission in my book because of the novelty. Plus it means I don't need to pause the audiobook or music when a subway car pulls into the station!
I've yet to use the buds for a phone call, which I seldom used the Raycons for, but I imagine that they'll be decent enough quality. I also haven't used the Google Assistant features, since I also rarely use that while wearing the buds, I'm more apt to use it while holding my phone and activating it that way. It also seems to have a feature where it transmits sounds from outside of the earbuds into my ears, so while I'm wearing them, I can hear outside noise through the earbuds, which is admittedly, kind of cool.
So, to recap:
My threshold for good tech is whether or not it performs its core function well. The Google Pixel Buds Pro do that and then some, and the extra features make it well worth the hefty price tag (which of course the store I purchased them from is now having a sale for, but it's a little late for me) and thus far, I've been very satisfied with their performance, though should I find more gripes, I'll add a postscript to this article. Other than that, I give the Google Pixel Buds Pro five out of five stars and two thumbs up!