Google Pixel Buds A-Series: For Google Assistant Power Users

REVIEWS/CONSUMER ELECTRONICS

- WILL GREENWALD

Last year’s Pixel Buds were disappointing, offering mediocre sound quality plagued with Bluetooth artifacts at a too-high price of $179. Google’s Pixel Buds A-Series look the same, but they cost a lot less, at $99, and they fix most of the audio issues we experienced with their predecessors, with clean, balanced sound. Most important, they continue to deliver the best hands-free Google Assistant voice control you’ll find in any pair of true wireless earphones. Although the Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro offers active noise cancelation and better bass for $30 more, Google Assistant power users might be better served by the Pixel Buds A-Series.

THEY LOOK AND FEEL THE SAME

The Pixel Buds A-Series are available in white or olive (which is more of a gray than a green) and have the same physical design as the previous Pixel Buds. The earpieces feature circular bodies with matte outer panels sporting embossed Google logos. Relatively long stems extend from the curved, glossy inner surfaces of the earpieces, terminating in silicone eartips (three pairs in different sizes are included). Small, curved, stick-like rubber fins poke up from another part of the earpiece to provide stabilization in your ear. These fins are permanently attached; most wire-free earphones that include fins use removable silicone sleeves.