Google killed the 2020 Pixel Buds, so here’s my ‘Pro’ version wish list
The Pixel Buds were good, but Google can step it up
Story byNapier Lopez
Napier Lopez is a writer based in New York City. He’s interested in all things tech, science, and photography related, and likes to yo-yo in(show all)Napier Lopez is a writer based in New York City. He’s interested in all things tech, science, and photography related, and likes to yo-yo in his free time. Follow himon Twitter.
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Active noise cancelation
The 2020 Pixel Buds notably omitted active noise cancelation, a feature present in many earbuds at its price range. That made it a tough sell against some of the competition. For some users, the lack of ANC is a dealbreaker, so Google would undoubtedly introduce ANC on a potential Pro model. Preferably, this ANC would be adjustable, so you could set it just right for your preferences.
Ambient transparency mode
Along with noise cancelation, an ambient sound mode can be very useful when you want to listen to music or an audiobook while still being aware of your surroundings; you might appreciate that when walking down a creepy alley at 3 AM, for example. Even if the headphones were to come without noise cancelation for some reason, I’d appreciate the addition of an ambient mode to make the headphones a little more versatile.
Spatial sound
If it sounds like I’m just copying features from the AirPods Pro… well yes, I kind of am. Spatial sound is the future of headphone audio, and Google would be remiss to release a premium set of headphones without some kind of implementation — especially with more streaming servicessupporting this immersive feature.
Music has traditionally been optimized for speaker listening, but spatial audio evens the playing field for headphones. When done right, it can add a ‘3D-ness’ to sound which can outperform even the best surround speaker setups.
A largely unchanged design
The Pixel Buds and Pixel Buds A-Series are probably the most comfortable true-wireless headphones I’ve worn. Comfort will of course vary from user to user, but part of this is simply because the Pixel Buds are so much smaller than the majority of competitors; they’re among the few that can fit people with small ears, in my experience.
Realistically, it’s likely that a Pixel Buds Pro would be larger in order to accommodate a larger battery; noise cancelation adds significant battery drain. Still, hopefully, Google can keep the headphones relatively compact.
Rock-solid connectivity
It’s 2021. Bluetooth headphones have no excuse to constantly disconnect or fall out of sync under regular use conditions.
Multi-device switching
I miss the days of just being able to plug in headphones from one device to the other. These days, switching Bluetooth headphones from your phone to your laptop and/or desktop tends to be a cumbersome process instead, requiring finagling with annoying menus. Google could go a long way toward remedying this by allowing the headphones to be connected to two devices at once with automatic switching.
Alternatively, as automatic switching is sometimes a little unreliable, the Pixel Buds Pro could introduce a command such as ‘hey Google, connect to my laptop/phone.’
Low-latency mode
Another problem with Bluetooth headphones is latency, which can be particularly annoying for gaming and music production. Currently, the Pixel Buds use the AAC codec (and SBC for the lowest-quality connections), which makes them virtually useless for low latency applications. I’d love to see Google use the new AptX Adaptive standard, which can reduce latency to about a quarter of current values.Bluetooth 5.2is supposed to reduce latency further as well.
Premium earbuds to match premium Pixels? Don’t get too excited.
Rumor has it that Google is going all out with the Pixel series this year. After an unusual phone for an unusual year with the Pixel 5, Google is reportedly planning to return to the Premium space in a big way this year, going so far as tocreate its own processorfor the first time. The company will also reportedly return to havingtwo modelsin the line-up, one in the upper-mid tier of performance and features like the Pixel 5, and another with top-notch specs.
It’s only fitting that the company would want to introduce an audio experience to match. The problem is that the seemingly discontinued Pixel Buds were released just last year, and it would be unusual for a company to introduce a replacement so quickly. Then again, it’s unusual for a company to seemingly discontinue a model so quickly, so a man can hope we’ll learn more come this fall.
