Google Pixel Buds A-series

Google’s Pixel Buds A-series are small true-wireless earbuds that, while aimed primarily at Google and Android smartphone users, will perform a good job with any device that can handle Bluetooth 4.0+ – so that’s pretty much any recent smart device.

Yours for a competitive £99, compared with the £179 tag the Pixel Buds 2 came on the market for last year, the A-series represent an impressive drop in price that brings them right into a hugely popular section of the market. At this price, they even undercut rivals such as Cambridge Audio’s Melomania 1 Plus (£120) by a significant amount. Available in white and Dark Olive finishes, the A-series come with a tactile ‘smooth pebble’ charging case, a USB-C charging cable and three different sized sets of eartips. Secure and comfortable

The little rubber fins to stabilise the in-ear fit remain from the Buds 2, and they, combined with correctly sized tips, provide a secure and comfortable experience. The earbuds are light, at just over 5g each, and sit firmly in the ear. The buds are IPX4 resistant, so should be fine with water or sweat splashes.

The earbuds do not have active noise-cancelling (a rare feature in buds at this price) but offer reasonable passive noise-cancelling with the correct fit. A spatial vent prevents that bunged-up feeling you get from some in-ears, but this means some external noise inevitably gets through. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; it means the wearer is more aware of their environment.

The buds hold enough power for up to five hours of listening time (or two and a half hours’ talk time), and the case has enough juice for up to four charges, giving around 25 hours of charge all-in.

Google’s wireless earbuds are, of course, aimed first and foremost at Google and Android phones, but they work perfectly well with IOS devices. With non-android kit though, you won’t be able to use the Google Assistant that brings so much to the Pixel Buds party, such as optional Adaptive Sound, which adjusts the volume of the buds depending on extraneous noise, while there’s also a useful ‘find device’ feature too.

The buds themselves handle basic controls competently, with the few basic commands administered by the tap of a finger on the bud. Each bud responds in the same way, so learning the taps required is both easy and perfectly intuitive. A single tap will start or pause your music, or answer a call; a double-tap will end a call or skip forward a track (as well as stopping the Assistant); and a triple tap will go back to the last track.

And that’s your lot as far as manual controls via the buds goes. Volume change is done via talking to Google Assistant, however, so non-android users will have to adjust the noise input on their device. It’s a shame not to have a volume control on the buds (the Melomania 1 Plus have that and will talk to both Siri and Google Assistant, too), but at this price, it isn’t a deal-breaker. Full, clear and natural

We’re pleased with the performance we get from the Google Pixel Buds A-series. It’s a clean, balanced sound that doesn’t favour any part of the sonic spectrum.

Google says its research shows that “most people describe great sound as full, clear and natural. This is what guides our audio tuning process”. We’re perfectly happy to report that this is what we hear from these buds. There is none of the somewhat harsh treble for which previous Pixel Buds were criticised, and the bass is decently fast and snappy without being overbearing. We cue up Lou Reed’s Walk On The

Wild Side and that familiar bassline greets us warmly, followed by brushed snares then Reed’s voice, intimate and clear. Each sonic strand is easily and comfortably followed right through to the breathy sax at the end of the track, and we find ourselves eager to listen to more.

Skipping the next song in the playlist via a double tap on the left earbud moves us on to John Martyn’s Small Hours. It’s a fine test of a speaker’s dynamic ability, with frequent shifts in volume, but the A-series cope well, delivering the music faithfully. There is perhaps just a touch more detail in the midrange from those Melomania 1 Plus rivals, but the Pixel Buds are overall a well-rounded listen.

The A-series behave impeccably throughout testing. The connection is rock solid, and they never lose signal or give the hint of a crackle, whether we’re at our desk or in the supermarket vegetable aisle. There are no issues from either end as far as call quality goes either, the mics on each bud picking up our voice clearly.

For not a huge outlay, you get everything the pricier Pixel Buds 2 provided but with an all-round sound performance that’s up there with the best at this price. Though they’re aimed primarily at Android owners, we can quite happily recommend them to IOS users too, if they are in the market for comfortable, reliable, good-sounding in-ears.