Google Pixel Buds Review (2020): Best Earpods in 2020?

So, I've been using this new Pixel Buds for less than a week now, and here's what I think about it. First of all, I really like the design they went for. It looks clean, has a matte finish, everything is rounded, and it just feels natural. The charging case is really small to the point where I can actually fit in the tiny pocket that I never use. And it feels kind of compact because it's sort of heavy. Also the earbuds themselves kind of look like mentos in your ear, but I really like that because they are not obtrusive and they look clean. When you open and close it. It gives you a really satisfying clicks. Also, a battery life notification just shows up every time you do that. 

The setup is really seamless. You just pop it open close to your phone, and then a notification just pops up, and then it walks you through the entire process. There's a dedicated app for the Pixel Buds, and it's really clean.Basically, it has what you need. It uses Bluetooth 5.0, so the latency is really minimum. When you're playing games on your phone the lag really becomes an issue, and I should just say it's unusable. And it can do Fast Pairing stuff, so that's really cool. And the sound is great. I really like the base produces in low volume and the clear highs. I mean. I like it basically.

But I can't really do a good comparison because I've been using these JBL wired earbuds for around eight months. You know, whenever you put on a regular in-ear earbuds, you also push some air in, and that gets kind of uncomfortable, but it doesn't happen with the Pixel Buds because of this vent. Air and noise can easily pass through it, so you don't get that plugged ear feeling. Google's purpose to do that had stuff to do with Ambient Computing which is basically what you do with the Google Home devices. It responds when you need it, and fades away when you're done. 

You know, even the voice recognition is on, you get really limited access to the Google Assistant when your phone is locked. Hey Google, can you turn on the lamp? Sure, but first you'll have to unlock your device.So, it's not really hands-free, but I can easily just do that with the Pixel Buds when it's connected to my phone. Hey Google, can you turn on the lamp? The range is really good, the battery life is okay, but I don't think they can last for straight five hours by the rate the battery goes down, but I can just put them in the case for a quick charge, so I guess that's not really a problem, and it gets kind of uncomfortable after wearing them for a while. 

The silicone piece that goes in your ear and this flexible part, they'recalling it the Stabilizer Arc, it just doesn't feel okay, but I really wear earbuds for an extended amount of time plus the buds that are likely to fall from my ears, so I guess I'm okay with that. And all the touch controls work really well. When I was first putting these in my ears, I was getting a lot of accidental touches, and it was just constantly triggering the Google Assistant, and it was just a complete mess. But they did fix it with some software updates and now it works fine. You know you have to swipe back and forth to raise and lower the volume, but you can also swipe up and down to do that. 

There's a feature called "Adaptive Sound" which basically turns the audio up or down based on the noise level of your environment. I was doing the dishes with this feature turned on just to see if it works or not, but I didn't really find any noticeable difference in the volume. Maybe I need to be in a noisier environment for that to work. And just to let you know, you can just get a black case, and get the "Just Black" version when it becomes available,to have in "Everything Black Pixel Buds" You know, I actually waited for these since the announcement because I actually wanted something that is as practical as the Apple Airpods, but for Androids. And the new pixel buds just happen to be those.