While we’re sure more is still to be revealed about Google’s recently announced truly wireless Pixel Buds 2 due for release early 2020, the company’s annual event in New York City gave us some pretty exciting details.
Although only time will tell if these new rivals to Apple’s AirPods, and the superior offerings from Bose, Sony and Bang & Olufsen, will shoot ahead of the pack, it’s looking like Google are in a good position to take the #1 spot.
Sporting a hybrid design, the buds will use traditional silicone tips for a solid fit and bass response, while also making use of spatial vents to help allow ambient sound in. They look quite slick and modern, although a bit wider than our current fav: Sony’s WF1000-XM3.
Beamforming microphones and accelerometers will assist in picking up not only voice, but vibrations made through the jaw. This should help make smart features much more efficient, and also feed into Google Translate which will perform real-time language translation, hopefully better and faster than previous versions of the headphones.
What’s most exciting is the long-range Bluetooth 5.0, which Google is promising connects to a smartphone through three different rooms include, or across the length of a football pitch outside. A completely stable, stutterless connection is still one of the major issues with truly wireless headphones, so if this holds then these earbuds will be a pretty big deal. Reportedly, they can handle the extra boost in connection because they dynamically switch which earpiece is the primary unit based on signal strength.
In terms of battery life, Google are promising five hours of continuous playback, and up to 24 hours when making full use of the wireless charging case. They will charge via USB Type-C, as they should.
The Pixel Buds will release in 2020 and retail for around $179.
