Google Pixel Buds Pro
Part of my disappointment in the Google Pixel Buds Pro is that the phone did such an incredible job of replacing its Samsung counterpart, and I had kinda hoped that they could do the same here too. Unfortunately, though they have tried their hardest to compete, Google has come up just a couple of steps short of Samsung.
Pros
There are a couple of things that Google gets really right, and one of those is the case. The pebble-like shape makes it super nice to hold, and the battery life is solid. The quality of the audio itself was also a fairly noticeable step up from the Galaxy Buds Pro. The integration within the Google ecosystem is nice, but part of that is probably just that I never used Bixby anyway, so Samsung not letting you easily access is from the headphones felt really annoying.
When they fit, they feel like they disappear in my ear. It's this weird feeling, where the initial fix is slightly less comfortable, but they somehow melt away in a way that the Galaxy Buds never did. I've worn these for 8+ hours and not had any comfort issues, whereas after 2 or 3 the Galaxy Buds start to be uncomfortable.
If I have all of this praise for the Pixel Buds, why do I feel like they're being beaten by Samsung? Well, firstly it's...
All of the bugs
I have experienced a TONNE of weird bugs on these buds, but the two most memorable ones are:
1) Every now and again, you'll put the buds in the case, and the buds will acknowledge that they're in the case, but they won't turn off after you close the lid. This has been an issue that has popped up two or three times, and is always on the left bud.
2) The buds seem to refuse to ever sleep. A couple of times I accidentally left a bud out of the case. On the Galaxy Buds, they seemed to enter some form of power saving which meant that I was saved any blushes when I realised I hadn't stored them properly, but I'd still have a decent chunk of battery. On the other hand, if I leave a Pixel Bud outside of the case I can tell you with 100% certainty that it will be dead when I pick it up.
3) The bug that bothers me most in regular use is that for some reason, even though I'm only wearing one bud, it will still enable noise cancellation. What this means is that it is a super comfortable experience wearing one bud, it's oddly disorientating. I feel off-balance and like there's a weird pressure in my ear. My solution? I've mapped the long-press to toggle between ANC and transparency modes.
More than that though, there is also this issue with...
Limited software support
Google Assistant at a shout is super nice, but why aren't there any strength settings for the transparency and noise cancelling? And whilst I'm on that note real quick: why are they so bad? I will legitimately be unable to tell if the ANC is on or off at times. I love having audio transparency set to the most insanely high setting, and it's just too quiet on the Pixel Buds Pro.
Overall, I like the Google Pixel Buds Pro, but it's just a bit weird that Google has so far to go with all of the software, as they're the company that has been pushing hardest with talk that the software is the most important part of a smartphone.
Update: 26/02/2023
I'm bumping up the score by half a point because it has been a whilse since I got the weird bug where noise cancelling got enabled even with only one bud in. Spatial audio is officially here and it... exists. I will probably talk about it more in an actual post, but I generally don't see the appeal.