Google’s Pixel Buds Pro are now available for pre-order ahead of its release on July 28, but one user has already gotten their hands on the earphones, giving us a preview of what to expect and showing how they stack up against the Series A.
u/Linkakox on Reddit posted to the r/GooglePixel subreddit this morning with the reveal that the Pixel Buds Pro had somehow already landed on their doorstep.
What?
The order was placed through fnac.com, a French retailer. Apparently, the pre-order shipped on July 21st, but the site hadn’t set the “pre-order” limitation yet, which apparently allowed this user to slip under the radar and get their order earlier.
Regardless of how, what does this tell us?
Well, first of all, we get some initial impressions of the headset. According to u/Linkakox, the Pixel Buds Pro sound better with music than the Pixel Buds A-Series, and the buttons are also physically slightly larger than the A-Series. As for the fit, it’s mentioned that they “feel less secure” compared to the Pixel Buds A-Series.
Active noise cancellation (ANC) is also apparently good, and multipoint audio seems to be working.
As seen below, a quick gallery of images shows the earbuds’ packaging and a comparison to the Pixel Buds A-series. Looking at the earbuds themselves, the Pro model looks much more bulbous than the Series A, and of course lacks the “fin” on previous Google earbuds. The Pixel Buds Pro case looks noticeably wider and thicker. Another image shared with us shows a small tube containing additional eartips. There’s no charging method in the box, it doesn’t even include a USB-C cable. Of course, the Pixel Buds Pro can use the same charger as your Pixel, even if it’s a wireless charger.
Digging a little deeper, we asked au/Linkakox about the software situation with the Pixel Buds Pro, which seems to be the only thing keeping these earphones from being ready for everyone based on these first impressions.
The existing Pixel Buds companion app does not support all Pixel Buds Pro features, such as ANC settings. But the touch controls seem to work to move between ANC and Transparency modes. Pressing an earbud for two seconds toggles between the two modes.
Multipoint can even be accessed through the Android settings menu. Apparently the Buds work with a Windows computer running Multipoint, which was the expected functionality; After all, Multipoint is a Bluetooth feature, it’s just the smart switch that Google has. running via Fast Pair.
Google is set to ship Pixel Buds Pro to all users on July 28. with the $199 headphones providing up to 31 hours of battery life, a custom audio chip and more along with ANC. Stay tuned for more.
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