Google Pixel-Buds A-Series: simplicity is hard

 

The long-rumored Pixel Buds A-series have been announced. Pixel Buds A-series start at $99 and will be available to consumers June 17th. Google is trying a second time to save their Pixel Buds much like they saved their Pixel phones with the introduction of an A-Line or A-Series to be exact. However, unlike the phone market the TWH (true wireless headphone) market is saturated with excellent earbuds and brands that have been offering value at an affordable price. Google is trying but making a dead-simple, no-nonsense, to the point (ok I'll stop) pair of earbuds. From the sound to the name let's talk Pixel Buds A-Series.  

 
 

One thing I've noticed is that the name is a bit of a misnomer. Calling something the "A-Series" implies at least two items which in this case the product contains just one item. Perhaps foreshadowing to another product? More likely just Google bungling yet another name on yet another product. Although I do see their predicament; Pixel Buds-A or Pixel Buds A doesn't exactly run off the marketing tongue. In this case naming the product seems to be a lot more complicated. Simplicity is what $99 earbuds should be. At $99 no one is expecting amazing ANC (well actually...,), amazing audio effects (spatial audio for example), and no one is expecting premium materials. What most expect is good sound, good comfort, and good battery life. Good connectivity is a given and is part of the simplicity of a good pair of earbuds. 

Image Credit: The Verge

So, what exactly are the compromises of the Pixel Buds A-series? At a full $79 away from its bigger brother the Pixel Buds compromises are expected. Said compromises are basically no wireless charging (in the case), no volume up/down swipe controls (excuse me...?), and continued connectivity woes (something that might.  

Something nice to see is that the A-Series has the same 12-milimeter drivers found on the original Pixel Buds 2. Here's some quotes from the reviews at The Verge and CNET: 

  

The acoustic architecture is unchanged, so the sound signature between the Pixel Buds and Pixel Buds A-Series is very consistent. That’s a good thing. Google aims for full, natural audio reproduction, and that’s what you get from these earbuds and their 12-millimeter drivers. You can still enable the “bass boost” option in settings to give the low end some added oomph. Even with bass boost active, the Pixel Buds don’t match the boominess of something like the Jabra Elite 75ts or Sony’s WF-XB700s. Still, there’s a level of clarity that outshines many earbuds that sell at the $100 mark. Waraich told me that Google increased overall volume levels across the board after some customers found the 2020 Pixel Buds couldn’t crank as high as they’d hoped. - The Verge

 

They sound quite good overall, with ample bass that's not loose or bloated and have decent clarity with a bit of sparkle in the treble. They don't have the more refined, richer, more open sound of higher end earbuds like the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 or Sony's WF-1000X series, but their sound measures up well against other earbuds' sound at his price. There's a bass boost mode along with an adaptive sound mode that raises and lowers volume according to the amount of ambient noise around you, but the EQ options in the app are limited. - CNET

Image Credit: The Verge

Sound quality is a bit harder to judge without being able to hear the earbuds but based on the initial reviews and the info from Pixel buds 2 I'd say they're in decent shape. Some concern over the volume issue though because the A-Series has an open-ear design. This means that lots of outside noise is piped in which does reduce cost (not needing a dedicated ambient mode), but it also means sound quality is degraded. However, the noise detection feature, that detects noise and automatically raises the volume to compensate, is still included and while it's not exactly ANC it should help to mitigate noise. Another note is that there is only one IR sensor which doesn't matter since ear-on detection only needs one.  

 

Image Credit: The Verge

I think the biggest mistake was removing the swipe backwards/forward for volume controls. Google had no real reason for doing this as the tapping for skipping tracks is still active. I have theory that because of the plastic used in the Pixel Buds A-series adding swipe would have made it more expensive. Another theory is that google had overcomplicated the swipe gesture with a specialized sensor that would have added too much to the price. In any case I think google completely bungled one of the simplest earbud gestures. For all the compromises made this really should be one of them.  

  

Battery life is also quite strange, the Pixel Buds A-series grab about 5 Hours of battery life, and an added 19 hours with the charging case. This is one of my biggest struggles when choosing between my AirPods Pros or Jabra Elite 75T's. I use mostly one earbud for the entire day, so battery life is important to me. Smaller earbuds like the Pixel Buds A-series and the AirPods Pros tend to grab about 5-hours while slightly chunkier buds like the Elite 75T's grab about 6-7 hours. I suppose most won't use their earbuds this often however, I would have liked at least 6 hours just to be safe. It doesn't nail the battery life fundamental but it's not the worst I've seen.  

 

Image Credit: Android Centralw

 

Honestly, the Pixel Buds A-series do feel like good earbuds because they hit the fundamentals. Pixel Buds A-Series hit good sound, good battery life, and good comfort. It even brings in small things such as IPX4 water resistance and fast-pair (Android only). Of course, I've already talked about the concessions and at this point you already have decided if you really need those features. I still fear that the connectivity issues that nuked the original Pixel Buds 2 will eventually come to plague the A-Series. Some other connectivity quibbles are the fact that there's no Qualcomm AptX support (minor quibble) and no multi-point (medium quibble). The Pixel Buds A-series are the simple earbuds for Android users. If you want ANC for $100 dollars you can go and grab that, if you wanted the best battery life for $100 you can go and grab that, but if you were looking for the fundamentals you found it in the Pixel buds A-series. 

 

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