Google has included many of its flagship headphone features in the new Pixel Buds 2a, making them a truly compelling pair of wireless headphones. For US$179you get active noise cancellation (ANC), pretty decent sound, and all in a very lightweight package.
However, as the embargo on them is lifted, they are seeing a lot of sales and Pixel Buds Pro are discounted to $179. Also. They offer more features, better sound, longer battery life, and the list goes on.
I wanted to like the Pixel Buds 2a, but they don't have much to stand out from the rest of the competition at this price. I think if the price drops to $115 in Canada, the Buds 2a will become a much more attractive package. At the current price it is very difficult to sell it.
A Tough Market to Crack
At $179, the Buds 2a compete with a ton of other mid-range headphones. I'd say they stand out because they're small, but the Pixel Buds Pro have almost the same design, which negates that advantage if you can get the Buds Pro on sale.
On Android, you have full control over the equalizer and the equalizer balancing feature, which maintains the sound level of all components at a lower volume. While this is good, I will say that these are one of the first headphones I've worn in a while that were worth going into the EQ settings.
When I turned them on, the treble was boosted and I had to tone down both treble options in the settings to reduce the harshness on some instruments. The bass was much better and I left the EQ untouched. Is this enough for most people to notice? I don't think so, but it's strange that Google hasn't tuned them as well as the Pixel Buds Pro 2.
Typically, wireless headphones fall into one of three camps: terrible, good, and surprisingly good. They fall into the good category, but I would even call the sound quality very good. The remaining components increase the score again. If your main concern is sound quality, Nothing Ear is better and cheaper, while Nothing Ear It's only $40 more and sounds even better.
The microphone is also a nice addition to these headphones and works great in quiet environments. However, as soon as a fan or some constant noise is heard in the background, the audio isolation kicks in too much and the microphones have a hard time picking up the entire words. They're fine in a pinch, but taking calls on a busy street may not work as well as you'd like.
The touch controls are fine and there is a caveat to making these buds so small, but as with most touch controls it does result in misses. I think the design is good enough that it doesn't happen when I need to adjust the fit, but when trying to play/pause it sometimes double-registers a press and skips a track or triggers ANC/Transparency. With that said, if you really like the small size, the trade-off is worth it, but for most stem-based controls Galaxy buds or Nothing will be easier to use.
Who is this for?
If you're an Android user and want a small and lightweight set of headphones, the Pixel Buds 2a are a great option (provided Pixel Buds 2 Pro they are not on sale). As a word of caution, I'll note that I expect Google will also discount these headphones in a few months to around $115 or so, and at that price they're a great deal.
The small size and decent noise reduction make them very convenient for training. However, the small size may also make them less stable in larger ears.
iPhone users will have to look elsewhere as there is no Pixel app to make them fully functional. They will still work, but ANC can only be controlled using the built-in controls.
Power users who hold a lot of meetings may also want to take a look at Samsung's Galaxy Buds 3 series. cheaper options do not have silicone tips so ANC is a little worse, but the mics are better, and they switch between Windows and Android better than most headphones.
Pixel Buds 2a can be purchased on the website Google Store for $179.however, as I mentioned above, at the time of writing Pixel Buds Pro 2.
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