The new headphones from Google are small and very light, they have a powerful Tensor A1 chip, thanks to which they can effectively suppress ambient noise and ensure high-quality sound reproduction with very low latency, which is especially important when watching movies or videos and, of course, also when playing games.
In the package, you will find four silicone extensions, so the headphones can be adapted to any ear size and ear canal shape. During configuration, a test will be run to see if the headphones fit well in the ear, and you can choose the correct size of the earpiece. The correct position and sealing of the plugs in the ear canals are crucial for quality sound, especially bass reproduction, and also for the proper functioning of the noise reduction. The headphones have a silicone fixing fin, so you have to turn them a little after putting them in your ear. Then they hold very reliably even during sports activities. At the same time, they do not get in the way even when worn for a long time, for example during a 6-hour train journey. Declared resistance to dust and splashing water IP54 allows the headphones to be used even in the rain and sweat will not harm them. The compact case has the shape of a flattened egg with a matte, pleasant-to-the-touch surface. On the bottom side, next to the charging connector, there is a buzzer slot, which is used for the function to find the headphones. At the same time, the white LED on the case flashes. The case is also splash-proof according to IPX4.
Control is simple and intuitive. You adjust the volume by moving forward and backward. Touch and hold to toggle between ANC and adding ambient sounds. It’s intuitive, when someone speaks to you or you want to hear something, just touch the outside of either earpiece. You can perform a more detailed setup, including initial configuration and tests, in the Pixel Buds app. In it, you can customize the sound using a five-band equalizer with presets for different genres. However, I never used this option – simply because it was not necessary. The sound engineers tuned the acoustic system to perfection.
I tested the headphones with the Pixel 9 Pro XL smartphone and a four-year-old laptop. In the first case, the latency was almost unrecognizable, with a laptop that only supported the older bluetooth interface standard, it was a little longer, but it still did not interfere when watching a video. The headphones support the latest bluetooth 4 LE. Even Google couldn’t resist the temptation to implement at least one premium feature to work only with its Pixel smartphones. Specifically, it is surround sound with head tracking. When you move, the sound moves with you. The Clear calling function tries to clean and remove noise from the voice of your communication partners during voice communication. People who know the supported languages will appreciate the possibility of entering commands for the voice assistant or Gemini Live AI.
Thanks to the Silent Seal 2.0 technology, active noise suppression is effective, but at the same time pleasant. I appreciated the noise reduction on several long train journeys. The monotonous sound typical of the train, which is a mixture of lower frequencies, almost disappeared, but I could hear the announcements of the on-board radio clearly. I don’t always succeed in correlating the headphone testing with the flight, so I used a studio microphone to record the noise in the cabin, and when testing ANC, I play this sound from very high-quality speakers, capable of playing the entire audible range from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. I tried to listen even in moderate wind and I have to commend the designers that they managed to solve the speaker grilles well.
The noise reduction was excellent, probably the best and most pleasant of the headphones tested so far. I emphasize: the best and most pleasant, not the strongest. If the designers get carried away and overdo the noise reduction, it ceases to be pleasant.
The plugs have acoustic transducers with a diameter of 11 mm. According to the rich and rich bass, they have a well-designed sound chamber despite the small dimensions of the earplugs. Although these headphones are primarily intended for mobile activities, their sound quality will please even the most demanding listener. The sound is balanced and well reproduced, so you can identify the sounds of individual instruments. The bass does not overshadow vocals or instruments producing higher notes. I’ve been listening to jazz and several albums by keyboard master Rick Wakeman and have been very pleased, including the surround sound of the stereo reproduction, which isn’t too dissimilar to listening to the HiFi set-up I have these tracks ‘heard’ on.
Despite the very small tips and the charging case, thanks to the modern chip, the headphones managed to achieve 8 hours of battery life with ANC on, while together with the case you have energy for 30 hours of listening. The case supports wireless charging of the Qi standard.
PROS, CONS:
+ Excellent sound and noise suppression, battery life, compact dimensions, comfortable to wear
– Some features are only available for Pixel devices
Cena: 249 EUR
Source: www.nextech.sk
