Google’s Pixel Buds Professional stay considered one of our favourite pairs of true wi-fi earbuds, providing sturdy lively noise cancellation (ANC), punchy bass, dependable contact controls and a number of handy options for Android customers particularly. That mentioned, given how aggressive the wi-fi market is lately, they are not the best worth at their customary listing worth of $200.
At this time, although, Wellbots is operating a sale that brings the pair right down to a extra palatable $135 with the checkout code ENGPIX65. This is not an all-time low — the buds fell as little as $117 in a comparable deal final October and went for $119 for a lot of the vacation season — but it surely’s the perfect worth we have tracked in 2024. For reference, the gadget dropped to $139 final month. This provide applies to every of the set’s colorways.
Photograph by Billy Steele / Engadget
That is the bottom worth we have seen this yr for Google’s highest-end wi-fi earbuds.
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Engadget’s audio skilled Billy Steele gave the Pixel Buds Professional a evaluation rating of 87 again in 2022. By default, they’ve a sculpted, hyped-up sound with thumpy bass and elevated treble. It is the type of signature that will not go well with audio purists however ought to work nicely with fashionable pop music. As with many pairs, although, you possibly can tweak the sound with a graphic EQ. The earbuds themselves have an IPX4 water-resistance ranking, so they need to be capable of stand up to typical exercises. Battery life is strong at roughly seven hours with ANC on or 11 hours with it off, whereas the case helps wi-fi charging. You’ll be able to join to 2 gadgets without delay, and the pair helps in-ear detection, so it will routinely pause whenever you take away an earbud.
Possibly the most important motive to contemplate the Pixel Buds Professional is how tightly they combine with Android. It is considerably much like how Apple’s AirPods work with iOS: You’ll be able to name on the Google Assistant hands-free, shortly swap between paired gadgets, make the most of adaptive and spatial audio modes, ring the earbuds remotely and entry Google Translate, amongst different OS-specific options. Final fall, Google additionally added a “dialog detection” mode that routinely pauses your music and turns off ANC whenever you begin speaking to somebody. All of this performance is natively accessible on Google’s Pixel telephones; with different Android gadgets, you possibly can entry a lot of the similar methods via a separate Pixel Buds app.
There are nonetheless points to notice. Whereas we did not have any consolation points in testing, the match could also be tough for these with smaller ears. Name high quality is not nice, neither is the included transparency mode. For extra discerning listeners, there is not any assist for higher-quality Bluetooth codecs like aptX or LDAC. And once more, this can be a busy market: Different pairs just like the Sony WF-1000XM5, Sennheiser Momentum True Wi-fi 4 or Anker Soundcore Area A40 can present higher noise isolation, sound high quality or general worth in a vacuum. It would not be an enormous shock if we noticed a brand new mannequin at Google’s I/O convention subsequent month, both. Nonetheless, the present mannequin stays a well-rounded alternative for Android followers as we speak, and this low cost brings them right down to a extra applicable worth.
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