Google Pixel Buds 2a review: Ok Google, let’s talk

Just like Google’s A-series smartphones, the Pixel Buds 2a are a pared-back but more affordable alternative to the brand’s flagship wireless earbuds, the Pixel Buds Pro 2. Unlike the phone side of things, however, Google’s track record in this space is more hit-and-miss – the first generation Pixel Buds A-Series, for instance, only stood out for their hands-free integration of Google Assistant. 

Continuing this trend, the Pixel Buds 2a are bringing Gemini integration to the table, allowing you to hold hands-free live interactions with the AI assistant, as long as you’re using a Pixel phone, that is. Those with phones from other brands will still appreciate the addition of active noise cancellation and the improved battery life, but make no mistake, these earbuds are only really worth buying if you have a Pixel phone. 

What do you get for the money?

The Google Pixel Buds 2a retail for £129, which is £30 more than the first generation. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, however, as the price increase brings several big improvements.

The biggest additions are active noise cancellation (ANC) and a transparency mode, but there’s also a spatial audio mode, support for the newer Bluetooth 5.4 version, a more robust IP54 dust and water resistance rating for the buds and the charging case is now IPX4 splash resistant. 

Battery life is greatly improved, too. The buds now last for up to 10 hours with ANC off, up from the first generation’s five-hour capacity, and even with ANC on, you can get up to seven hours in-ear. With the case included, total battery life is at 27 hours, which once again is up from the first generation’s 24 hours. As an added bonus, the battery in the charging case is now replaceable, adding a modicum of sustainability to proceedings.

The earbuds and the case are smaller and lighter than the previous model, too: the buds are slimmed down from 5.1g to 4.7g apiece, and the case is now 30g (without the earbuds inside), compared to 43g for the first generation.

There are only two colour options – the Hazel reviewed here and a more eye-catching purple Iris style, which feels slightly limited compared to the four colourways offered by the Pixel Buds Pro 2. The case is an off-white regardless of your choice, but the inside is colour-matched to the buds. 

Controls are much the same as the previous generation: the outer face of each bud is touch sensitive, and you can play, pause and skip tracks with a variety of taps, while pressing and holding allows you to cycle ANC modes and/or hail your voice assistant (including Gemini Live, for Pixel users).

You can dictate which function press-and-hold serves in the Pixel Buds app (or via the notification bar on Pixel phones). Other features found in here are the wear detection, spatial audio, a five-band graphic equaliser and, my favourite, audio switch. The latter is like multi-point, but it allows you to seamlessly switch across multiple Android devices that are logged into the same Google account.

What did we like about them?

The Pixel Buds 2a follow the design of the Pixel Buds 2 Pro, with slim stabilising fins and a “twist to fit” style that locks the buds securely into your ear. And it is indeed a secure fit – even during exercise, the buds remained locked firmly in my ears. 

They’re comfortable, too; I pushed the limits of the stated battery life and wore the Pixel Buds 2a for a whole workday, with a few short breaks here and there, and I wasn’t suffering any undue aching by the time I clocked off. The standard medium eartips fit me just fine, but you also get small, extra small and large options in the box.

Inside the Pixel Buds 2a are the same Google Tensor A1 chipset as the Pixel Buds Pro 2 and a custom 11mm dynamic driver. The new Google silicon apparently empowers better ANC and clearer calls with better audio transmission speeds, but most interesting is its AI capabilities. 

The Tensor A1 allows for hands-free interaction with Google Gemini, including holding a conversational back-and-forth in Gemini Live, where you can interrupt, clarify and rephrase on the fly. I went into a different room from my phone, said “Ok Google, let’s talk live,” and had a very eye-opening chat about the different species of bats (‘tis spooky season, after all). I already knew how fluid and responsive Gemini was, but it was impressive to reach that point without having to interact with my phone at all.

The only slight downside I encountered during testing was that Gemini Live isn’t the best at ending a conversation and returning you to where you were before it started. I tried several times to get it to stop talking and return me to my Spotify playlist, but it kept asking questions, leaving me in a frustrating “No, you hang up” loop. Thankfully, a quick double-tap on either earbud ended the chat just like any other call. 

When you aren’t waxing philosophical with robots, the Pixel Buds 2a also perform well on the audio front. The soundstage has decent width to it, granting plenty of space to the frantic mid-section in Iron Maiden’s The Number of the Beast, allowing each drum beat and guitar lick to land with appropriate energy. 

The ceiling isn’t the highest that I’ve experienced, and a little more verticality to the presentation certainly wouldn’t have gone amiss, but it isn’t so cramped that trebles feel choked out. The eponymous crooning in Howl by Florence + The Machine is crisp and clean right to its crescendo, even if it doesn’t quite feel like it shoots for the moon.

I was equally happy with the representation on the other end of the spectrum, as well. Bass notes thump along nicely in Ghost’s Call Me Little Sunshine, hitting with a solid weight that steers clear enough of the lower-mids. It may not be quite as deep as some prefer the lower-end, but I found I was able to dial up the bass in the (otherwise quite rudimentary) graphic equaliser by a couple of notches without diminishing the rest of the mix.

Spatial audio is reserved for Pixel users, and it’s not even the head-tracking version that you get with the Pixel Buds 2 Pro. It works fine enough with compatible content, adding a little more depth behind the tracks, but it’s far from revolutionary. Chalk this one up as fine to have, but it’s certainly not a reason to seek these earbuds out.

I was far more taken with the audio switch feature. As a phone and tablet reviewer, I’ve always got a few devices stacked on my desk, so I tested this out with a Google phone, a Samsung phone, a Samsung tablet and a Xiaomi tablet. Pressing play or answering a call on the next device would sometimes come with a delay of up to 10 seconds, but it was usually a fluid enough transition. And if you want to go back, you get a little pop-up on the currently playing device giving you the option to revert to the previous source. 

Apple and Samsung both offer similar experiences within their own ecosystems, but the difference here is that you aren’t limited to one brand, with the freedom to operate across different Android devices.

I’ll have more to say about the ANC and transparency modes in the next section, but as a broad overview, both are a great addition to the Pixel Buds 2a. You only get one strength for each, but what you do get works well. The active noise cancellation negated the majority of a busy road’s roaring – save for the highest frequencies – and transparency allowed me to hold a conversation without taking out the buds. 

What could be improved?

Despite using the same Tensor A1 chipset as the Pixel Buds Pro 2, we don’t get the conversation detection feature here, which automatically switches to transparency when you start talking and then back to ANC when you finish. As the architecture is all here to allow that feature, this has clearly been removed to better distinguish between models. 

On the subject of ANC, I encountered an issue during testing that doesn’t appear to be widely reported for the Pixel Buds 2a – yet. With either the ANC or transparency modes enabled, I would intermittently hear a high-pitched whine in the left earbud, which became even worse whenever I would adjust it in my ear. 

By my reckoning, this is an issue with the external microphone that detects ambient sounds to then either dampen or amplify them, and was exacerbated by me grazing over the mic when I adjusted the buds. 

Whatever the cause, this feedback made using ANC uncomfortable at best and intolerable at worst. As I said, I’ve not seen other references to this problem for the Pixel Buds 2a specifically, but I have seen users report a similar problem with the Pixel Buds 2 Pro after around a month of use. 

Otherwise, my issues with the Pixel Buds 2a boil down to a lack of options. Firstly, the codec support only extends to SBC and AAC, meaning that Android users are left without a high-res option, which is a somewhat baffling decision from the creator of Android. By comparison, the Cambridge Audio Melomania M100, our current favourites around this price, support aptX Lossless and aptX Adaptive, in addition to SBC and AAC.

I’m also not a fan of how limiting the control scheme is. You don’t get the option to swipe on the touchpads to control volume, as you do on the Pixel Buds 2 Pro, but even accepting that as a consequence of this lower price, what’s left is heavily locked down. You can adjust the function of press-and-hold individually for both earbuds, but there are only two options to choose from. And the rest of the controls cannot be customised in the slightest.

Another area in which the Pixel Buds 2a feel underfeatured in order to justify users spending more on the Pro model is the lack of wireless charging. This feature is now regularly seen on buds around this price – such as the recent Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 – so it would have been nice to see the Pixel Buds 2a keeping up a little more with the competition.

Should you buy the Google Pixel Buds 2a?

The Google Pixel Buds 2a aren’t the most feature-rich option in their price range – nor do they have markedly better audio quality than the competition. They’re another pair of competent but largely pedestrian earbuds from a brand that can’t seem to completely crack the true wireless formula.

If the ANC feedback issue I encountered is an unlucky, isolated incident, they don’t do anything particularly wrong, either. So if either hands-free Gemini or auto switch sound appealing to you, I think there’s a strong argument for choosing the Pixel Buds 2a over the Pixel Buds Pro 2. Audio quality and battery life are decent enough, the design and fit are basically identical, and they cost £60 less. 

It’s not the most ringing of endorsements – and I’m still unconvinced that I’ll be the only one to experience the problem with ANC – but if you have a Pixel phone already and fancy Google’s unique features, I’d say save yourself that extra money and pick up a pair of the Pixel Buds 2a.