Google is following the same path for earbuds as they did for Pixel series mobile phones. A bit downgraded version (marked with A) with few less features and very less price. This approach make the pixel brand to reach mid range market. The Google Pixel Buds A-Series are available to buy now for £99.99, far cheaper than the previous Pixel Buds 2 that cost £179.
Google Pixel Buds A-Series available in two colours, Clearly white and Dark Olive, the device come in a neat little cardboard box (entirely recyclable) that contains the buds themselves, the tactile little charging case, a USB-C charging cable and three different sized sets of ear-tips.
Key Features:
Sound that’s music to your ears
The A-Series have pretty much all the features that we saw from the Google Pixel Buds 2 – i.e. hands-free access to Google Assistant, real-time translation, and an IPX4 water-resistance rating that makes them sweat-resistant. Overall, the sound quality is much, much better than before, but there’s still some room to grow.
Made to stay in while you work out.
Based on scans of thousands of ears, Pixel Buds A-Series give you a comfortable, stylish fit that can keep up with you during workouts. With a flush-to-ear design, three ear tip sizes
and a stabiliser arc, your earbuds stay in place and create a gentle seal for amazing sound.
Hands-free help when you need a hand.
Touch controls let you answer calls, as well as play, pause and skip between tracks easily. When you need directions, real-time translations or notifications read to you, just ask 'Hey Google'.
A battery that barely needs a break
The buds hold enough power for up to five hours of listening time (or, heaven forbid, two and a half hours’ talk time), and the case has enough juice for up to four charges, giving around 24 hours of charge all-in. If your buds run out of power, a 15-minute charge will offer around three hours of listening time, which should be enough to cover the commute. The charging case itself has a light that indicates the state of play with your buds, including the amount of power available.
Technical Specification
Lets see what inside the Pixel Buds A-Series.
Operation
The Google Pixel Buds allow you to control your media (songs or videos), manage your calls, or use your Google Assistant while on the go with just a few simple gestures. The coolest party is all gestures can be performed with either earbud (which is not available with few of the similar range earbuds).
Single Tap | Double Tap | Triple Tap |
Play/Pause media Answer call | Next track End/Reject call Stops Google Assistant | Previous track |
Touch & hold (requires Android 6.0+ and Assistant)
Listen to notifications (release after chime)
Talk to your Google Assistant (speak while holding)
The ear detection is one of the best feature, if you take of the ear buds out from the ear music will be paused automatically and will resume once you get out it back.
Understand the charging case status Lights
Case Opened :
Shows the battery status for earbuds. To quickly check the battery level of the ear Buds when they’re in the charging case, open the case lid. If they are fully charged, the status light will be solid white. If either earbud is charging, that status light will be solid orange.
Case Closed :
Shows the battery status for charging case. The light on the front of a closed charging case will indicate battery levels of the Pixel Buds charging case itself when plugged in or when the lid is recently closed.
If no light appears when you do these actions, there is not enough battery to charge the earbuds.
Should you buy the Google Pixel Buds A-Series?
There are many choices in the market. Although, if you are looking for a nice looking, less weight and with a lot of good features and of course within £100 this a nice option. However, if you are looking for the followings then of course this is not for you.
You need active noise cancellation in your earbuds
No Pixel ear buds (Pixel Buds A-Series and Pixel Buds) have this option. Although Pixel Bud has Wind reduction facility which improve the voice quality during the calling. With no active noise cancellation and no noise reduction technology, you have to put a lot of trust into finding the perfect fit – something that's very hard to do with these earbuds. Although, Adaptive sound function is available which is basically Google’s solution to noise cancellation. But this is basically turning the volume up while there is external noise high and turn it down when environment noise are low.
You want best sound quality or spatial audio support
The Google Pixel Buds A-Series really are not best audio grade earbuds and don't hold up to the highest-end earbuds in terms of audio quality. What they offer is a great mid-range quality with very good voice call quality.
You need on-board volume controls
Unlike Pixel Buds (swipe forward to raise volume and swipe backward to lower the volume) Pixel Buds A-Series does not support that feature. Although, still you can ask the Google Assistant to change the volume and that works cool.
