They’re here – in either Hazel or Iris, don’t you know – and there’s so much more to like than the admittedly winsome colorways.
Google’s latest contender for our best earbuds buying guide boasts plenty of perks that until very recently I’d consider ‘flagship fare’ rather than mid-range inclusions.
Then again, this is Google and this is 2025; the Buds 2a were always going to try to better what’s gone before them – and not just on previous Google Buds, but its rival tech’s assorted heavy-hitters too (Samsung, Apple, Sony and Nothing, I’m looking at you).
So what do I love, and what seems a (slight) let down now that we’ve had a little look at the Google Pixel Buds 2a? Let’s get stuck in…
1. They’re oh-so bijou – and small is beautiful
The Pixel Buds 2a arrive as the newest version of the most affordable Pixel earbuds, to supersede the June 2021-launch Google Pixel Buds A and sit alongside the just-updated Pixel Buds Pro 2.
And the first thing to note is their size, because make no mistake, while the Buds 2a are based on the Pixel Buds Pro 2 (with the twist to adjust and stabilize mechanism, including Google’s Silent Seal 1.5 to help block unwanted ambient audio) the redesigned internal acoustics have allowed Google to create the smallest and lightest Pixel Buds to date.
Yes, there’s still a new 11mm dynamic driver under the hood; Google’s just managed to squirrel it away and distill all of its know-how into an even smaller package.
This is music to my small ears – and may well make them a fine fit for my best earbuds for small ears guide. Love to travel light? Their case is also super-small and ideal for pockets and evenings out – because cans often feel too bulky around my neck all night when I’m trying to go baggage-free (take that however you’d like).
2. A-series now puts the “A” into ANC
The new Pixel Buds 2a are the first A-series earbuds to get active noise cancellation, and as previously mentioned, they also feature Google’s Silent Seal 1.5 to help nix extraneous noise. Said ANC also features a transparency mode – we’ve even given it a try in our early Pixel 2a hands-on. – and for just $129, you love to see it.
In fact, Google claims the Buds 2a offer 1.5x the ANC as the first-generation Pixel Buds Pro, which arrived in July 2022.
That claimed uptick in ANC efficacy in particular is no small statement and it’s one we can’t wait to try out and assess properly. Stay tuned for our full review.
3. Gemini, but Live
Gone are the days when a hotline to Siri (or your chosen non-AI-enhanced virtual assistant) via a long-press on an earbud would suffice. This is Google, so you’d expect the company’s buds (or Buds, as they’re literally called) to work with Gemini to a degree, for controlling audio and quick answers to questions.
However, the Buds 2a come bearing support for the latest ‘Live with Gemini’ variation of the service, promising real-time responses that should feel both natural and conversational. Remember when the Nothing Ear (a) got ChatGPT support via a squeeze of the stems last summer and wowed us all – because it hailed the arrival of a flagship perk in a mid-range product? This, for me, is the first true rival to that event.
4. Stamina that includes the use of ANC
Often, new and affordable earbuds boast a pretty respectable battery life until, upon closer inspection, you realise the quoted number of hours you’ll get for the buds is without ANC deployed – perhaps because the buds don’t even feature ANC.
Not here though! The Bluetooth version is 5.4, the buds are powered by Google’s Tensor A1 chip (for Pixel-specific features such as Clear Calling, Find Hub and easy multipoint connections) but the point here is battery life, because it is a very respectable seven hours with ANC on, or 20 hours of total playback via the charging case. Switch off the ANC and you can expect 10 hours or 27 hours via the case.
Good, no? If these stamina claims stand up to our real-time testing, the Google Pixel Buds 2a will certainly represent value for money on road trips.
…and the one fly in the ointment
I’ll spit it out: spatial audio. Although Google-device-specific spatial audio is listed on the spec-sheet for the Google Pixel Buds 2a, Google hasn’t stated whether this particular brand of immersive audio software includes any dynamic head-tracking to use your phone as a source device (and thus, its three-dimensional audio might move from ear to ear as you turn your head).
What we do know is that this brand of immersive side-sauce is available only on the Google Pixel Buds 2a when using the Pixel Tablet and/or slightly newer Pixel phones from Pixel 6 onwards. Use a different brand of Android? No dice, I’m afraid.
So, where buds such as the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (Gen 2) and LG Tone Free T90S offer device- and streaming service-agnostic head-tracked spatial audio, the Google Pixel Buds 2a do not. You need to be using a Pixel device to get it.
‘But the Bose and LG examples are much more expensive!’ I hear you cry. True, but the Sony WF-C710N are cheaper than the Buds 2a by $30 and include support for Sony 360 Reality Audio, which is at least device-agnostic. This means if you’ve got access to tracks on Amazon Music Unlimited or Nugs.net, you can listen to them in their immersive glory after setup (which involves the video capture of your ears) on either an Android or an iOS source device.
The caveat to all of this is that Apple Music’s content is available in Apple’s proprietary spatial audio (the basic kind, without head-tracking) on any headphones, provided you toggle it on in either your iPhone settings or your Dolby-Atmos enabled Android handset. So technically you can get spatial audio in the Pixel Buds 2a on a non-Google Pixel Android… but you’d have to use an Apple product.
I’d have liked to see Google roll out full Android support for spatial audio in the Buds 2a. It feels like an open goal missed; something that might make fans of the Pixel Buds (of which I know many) feel compelled to stay loyal to Google’s Pixel Buds despite not owning a recent Pixel phone (and let me be clear: I know only two Pixel smartphone devotees).
Anyway, just to reiterate, this is not to be considered anything like a partial review, much less a full one. We’re still analysing everything we heard and saw at the Made by Google event (click that link if you’re catching up) and will come back to update you as and when we do get some quality time with the new products showcased at the shindig.
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becky.scarrott@futurenet.com (Becky Scarrott)
