Just days after Samsung made its Samsung made its Galaxy Buds 3 FE official, Google’s ushering in a new pair of similarly affordable, value-oriented earbuds, and I got to briefly try them. That’s right, the Pixel Buds 2a are officially official with a much more compact carrying case and in-ear design that resembles the more expensive Pixel Buds 2 Pro.
Google’s Pixel Buds 2a are priced at $129 / £129 / AU$239 and are up for preorder right now. However, just like the just-announced Pixel Watch 4 or Pixel 10 Pro Fold, and even the Pixel Buds 2 Pro in 2024, these earbuds won’t ship until October. Specifically, October 9, 2025, is the Pixel Buds 2a’s actual launch and when deliveries are expected to begin.
Even with a long time to wait, there is a lot to like here, especially factoring in the price you pay.
It starts with the overall design. The Pixel Buds 2a take up less space than the original Pixel Buds A earbuds and were easy to place in my ears.
I especially like that the twistable stabilizer has trickled down from the Pixel Buds 2 Pro and allows you to sort of lock these in your ear for when you’ll be active, or to choose a slightly looser fit for gentler use. There is an ear-tip fit test you can conduct in the companion app for Android devices, and Google ships four ear tips in the box.
I wouldn’t sleep on the fun new Iris color option (shown above), either. It’s more of a light lilac in person, but I especially like the subtle pop of color it provides. Pixel Buds 2a are also coming in Hazel, which is a shade of black (shown below).
You’ll also find a “G” for Google engraved on each bud, and that same spot has a capacitive touch sensor for controls, such as pausing music or engaging Google Gemini, though you can also call upon the AI to help using the phrase, ‘Hey Google.’
Google’s also stepping up battery life here – Pixel Buds 2a should last for 10 hours on a full charge or for up to 27 hours with recharges in the case, though that’s with active noise cancellation turned off. With it on, you’re looking at seven hours from the buds and 20 hours from the case.
The carrying case is smaller and very palm-able, making the buds even more tempting to take every with you. The case recharges via a USB-C port and, like the Pixel Watch 4, now has a battery that can be replaced, making it more serviceable for long-term use.
Aiding in the improved battery life over the previous Google Pixel Buds A-Series is the Google Tensor A1 chip. It should make things a bit more efficient and speed up responsiveness, but it also powers another new feature – active noise cancellation.
Google promises that ANC on the Pixel Buds 2a is as good as the first-generation Pixel Buds Pro, and we’ll need to put that to the test. Without music playing, though, I was able to engage the ANC on the Buds 2a, and it brought a fairly packed hands-on space to a whisper.
It put me in the zone, to a degree, and with a track playing it should be even more effective, though Google didn’t allow us to play music during this early look, which obviously means we’ll be holding off from a full verdict until we can do our full review.
The Pixel Buds 2a will also feature a transparency mode for times when you want to let in environmental noise or someone chatting with you.
While I didn’t get to try audio playback on the Pixel Buds 2a, we do know that an 11mm dynamic driver powers the experience, and these affordable earbuds will boast an adjustable five-band equalizer via the app. For when you want to be immersed in sound, spatial audio is supported here as well, though it only works with certain Pixel devices (from Pixel 6 and later).
And if you misplace the case, you can see the location on a map, and if the earbuds are inside, you can ping it to have it play a sound. This way, the game of hide and seek will be done a little quicker.
On paper, the Pixel Buds 2a are shaping up to be a pretty compelling pair of earbuds, but even at $129 / £129 / AU$239, these are entering a pretty packed world of the best earbuds, with strong options at the same price and lower.
As we approach the official launch and arrival date of October 9, 2025, we’ll put the Pixel Buds 2a through their paces and see just how good these new Google earbuds are. If you’re sold, though, the Google Pixel Buds 2a are up for pre-order now in either Iris or Hazel.
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jacob.krol@futurenet.com (Jacob Krol)
