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Are Google’s $99 Pixel Buds A-Series a supreme bargain? (review)

Google’s latest true-wireless earbuds leave off a few features but basically look and sound the same as the Pixel Buds 2 — and they cost a lot less. So are they a great deal for Android users? CNET’s David Carnoy has you everything you need to know in his hands-on review. You can order Pixel…

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Google’s latest true-wireless earbuds leave off a few features but basically look and sound the same as the Pixel Buds 2 — and they cost a lot less. So are they a great deal for Android users? CNET’s David Carnoy has you everything you need to know in his hands-on review.

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82 Comments

82 Comments

  1. Abdullah Senani

    June 3, 2021 at 8:24 pm

    What about the case’s IP rating? Can it resist water or will it die if we forget it within clothes going to laundry?!!

    • Ceadda

      June 3, 2021 at 9:53 pm

      As a person with many experiences washing my cellphones, a word of advice… make a big sign and tape it to your washing machine that reads, “Locate ear buds and phone before washing!”
      That might save you hundreds of dollars someday. 😊

  2. WellingtonBananas

    June 3, 2021 at 8:28 pm

    You can get the Sony WF SP800N which have much better battery life and active noise cancelling for the same price.

  3. Kevin Barry

    June 3, 2021 at 8:44 pm

    His up talking is incredibly irritating

  4. Sharpz Solomon

    June 3, 2021 at 8:47 pm

    Definitely a downgrade from my current Google pixel buds which I’m quite happy with and zero issues

  5. Kashish Prasher

    June 3, 2021 at 8:51 pm

    They look like if someone took the regular buds CAD files and then 3d printed the model

  6. TheDezmen3

    June 3, 2021 at 8:53 pm

    And no calling quality sample. Even shows street scene. What a “tech” review..

  7. the TruthStand

    June 3, 2021 at 9:15 pm

    I was one of the suckers that bought the expensive one with all of the connectivity issues. It bothers me that instead of making those work better or maybe coming out with a new generation that fixed all the problems they decide to go budget and leave us who bought the more expensive version out to dry. I hope they are coming out with a new version of the expensive kind.

  8. Mike Clemets

    June 3, 2021 at 9:44 pm

    Master D. ,sennheiser have 100 earbuds now google buds too

  9. Marco Kelly

    June 3, 2021 at 9:51 pm

    I’m sold. Can’t wait to have these in my ears jammin. Touch controls is a great perk but at the price point, Who cares!!

  10. Uma Mageswaran Perumal

    June 3, 2021 at 10:25 pm

    A for Android

  11. Denver Blakewood

    June 3, 2021 at 10:40 pm

    great review thanks

  12. fightnight14

    June 3, 2021 at 10:59 pm

    If they fixed the hissing then I might get one

  13. Ryan M

    June 3, 2021 at 11:05 pm

    Glad to hear they may have resolved the audio drop out issue that still plagues the Buds 2. I loved the fit but no volume swipe is a deal breaker.

  14. Rationalist

    June 3, 2021 at 11:08 pm

    Anything that competes with Apple I’m supporting

  15. Dennielle Elaine

    June 3, 2021 at 11:11 pm

    I agree; if you already own the 2020 true wireless pixel buds than this is a bit underwhelming. And no volume swipe function is a pass for me. ( I own 2 ‘ clearly white & quite mint ‘ use them both !)

  16. Jonathan Strauß

    June 3, 2021 at 11:13 pm

    Hi from Germany 🇩🇪. I have the Pixel Buds 2. Love it. No problems with them. I’m on the waiting list for the pixel buds a. Definitely worth training them for 99€.

  17. Reese Armstrong

    June 3, 2021 at 11:21 pm

    Nobody told me about these!

  18. Don Rob

    June 3, 2021 at 11:25 pm

    If you don’t know these PIXEL BUDS for $99.99 are a great bargain… THE QUALITY SOUND IS AMAZING FOR THE PRICE…COP THEM👍

  19. Sergio Herrera

    June 3, 2021 at 11:31 pm

    You can actually buy the galaxy buds + from Best Buy for $10 more currently so I’m not sure how much of a bargain these actually are

    • Fahad jamal

      June 4, 2021 at 12:42 am

      My thoughts exactly

  20. Frank P

    June 3, 2021 at 11:44 pm

    Have the pixel buds 2, the right earbud is super quiet. Might upgrade to these, but I don’t want to be screwed out of my money again.

  21. E

    June 4, 2021 at 12:01 am

    plastic more durable then meta ??

  22. Felix Five

    June 4, 2021 at 12:14 am

    Much better than the Samsung ones.

  23. I'm George

    June 4, 2021 at 12:43 am

    It’s hard to pay for major name brand wireless earbuds when one can easily find some better quality and features for less on Amazon, for about half the price of these. With active noise cancellation at that.

  24. Steven Horaites

    June 4, 2021 at 12:58 am

    There has to be a premium version in the works, otherwise why bother with wireless battery share on the pixel 5?

  25. Jeremy Dennis

    June 4, 2021 at 1:19 am

    Can we trade in our piece of crap pixel bud 2 for these?

  26. iamsassi

    June 4, 2021 at 9:13 am

    Congratulations to a great coverage, well done

  27. Dellens Luckhosta

    June 4, 2021 at 11:00 am

    The product coming from America be more expensive for my currency 😭

  28. Tristen Hernandez

    June 4, 2021 at 11:36 am

    Every time he says “A- series” it triggers my Siri voice assistant

  29. TheOriginalPain18

    June 4, 2021 at 1:24 pm

    Buy Xiaomi airdots 2
    They’re £20 and do pretty much everything Pixel Buds A does

  30. Paula Deem Reynolds

    June 4, 2021 at 1:27 pm

    Really liking the color

  31. Henry-Joy

    June 4, 2021 at 2:02 pm

    If they were matte plastic, I would 100% get them. I can’t stand glossy plastic.

    • Richard

      June 4, 2021 at 11:36 pm

      Agree, Looks like cheap plastic.

  32. rance judge

    June 4, 2021 at 2:04 pm

    ññ

  33. Ashwin Ramesh

    June 4, 2021 at 3:44 pm

    why does he look like the CEO of a company?

  34. GG

    June 4, 2021 at 3:48 pm

    I’ve been wanting some wireless buds but never really pulled the trigger because of the price (I’m a bit frugle with phones/phone accessories) but this has me interested. The reason why I’ve always wanted to choose the Google buds over any other pair was the translator, I thought it was a cool feature. Anyone with Google buds, do you even use Google translate, should I just go for another pair of buds that are around the same price point that maybe a bit better? I feel I’m being a bit silly wanting to buy google buds over another product because of something I may use as a few times lol

  35. Eli Santiago

    June 4, 2021 at 3:51 pm

    The jaws on this man is disturbing.

  36. Wholesome Donut

    June 4, 2021 at 3:53 pm

    129 for pixel buds 2 currently at best buy. Gonna spend those extra 30 bucks

  37. James Myers

    June 4, 2021 at 4:15 pm

    Sheesh I just brought the pixel buds 2 last month lol

  38. Levent

    June 4, 2021 at 4:34 pm

    if you route all your call by Bluetooth in iphone you will have a smooth connection

  39. lefthandedpolack

    June 4, 2021 at 4:38 pm

    Not when you can get similar sound quality from a set of 23 dollar earbuds that have a wire between them and legit volume controls with 16 hours of battery life. I’m good.

  40. Eric Moors

    June 4, 2021 at 6:00 pm

    Less of a rip off than the previous model.

  41. Hari Mathan Mohan

    June 4, 2021 at 7:47 pm

    Great review. Covered all the things I was looking for.

  42. L P

    June 4, 2021 at 8:34 pm

    The music choice not good

  43. RAJESH KUMAR

    June 4, 2021 at 8:56 pm

    This is a 5 star rated esrbuds by whathifi

  44. Orrin

    June 4, 2021 at 10:13 pm

    Had the soundcore air pro 2 but lost one side. And they don’t sell separate replacements 😒 so I’m glad these are out. Get the buds to go with my 4a 5g 😁 btw, the soundcore sounded great. Much better than the similarly priced airpods.

  45. Eli Daw

    June 4, 2021 at 10:34 pm

    Do we reckon that because google is offering a cheaper wireless earbud that the Pixel 5a won’t have a headphone jack?

  46. Marcus Young

    June 4, 2021 at 11:13 pm

    Pixel buds 2 would’ve been great if connectivity wasn’t an issue, u have the swipe gestures, sound was decent, fit was secure only problem was the ear buds cutting in and out.. if these were an upgrade I would be hesitant on getting them bcuz of that connection issue, however they DO sound better than the AirPods Pro’s but the pro’s are better with connection

  47. Zac Rosamond

    June 4, 2021 at 11:46 pm

    Why, in the shot of the buds on the rooftop from about 0:28 to 0:34, does the unit appear to wobble or shiver? Makes it look like a super-imposed 2D image…

  48. Up Skill Or Die

    June 5, 2021 at 12:49 am

    A stands for Amazon where you can find far better earbuds for a fraction of the price. Google trying to be like Apple on pricing is laughable and we’re not falling for it.

  49. Barry Burka

    June 5, 2021 at 12:59 am

    Anything google is crap!

  50. Guiller Vsq

    June 5, 2021 at 1:15 am

    Great video, I’ll probably get them for the price and what they offer they will work just fine. I’ll use these with my Pixel 4a until tbe 6 come out. Thanks!

  51. miladmzz

    June 5, 2021 at 1:48 am

    Love it

  52. sai harshan

    June 5, 2021 at 2:01 am

    A series is dammnnnnnnnnn!

  53. Upamanyu Ghosh

    June 5, 2021 at 3:09 am

    I love the package as a whole but for some reason the build just seems super cheap to me…

  54. Alvin

    June 5, 2021 at 3:14 am

    They look like Amazon bud

  55. Maria Garcia

    June 5, 2021 at 3:41 am

    How do you get 19 extra hours from the case? How does that work?

    • TheAngryEdd

      June 5, 2021 at 12:15 pm

      you charge the case, which charges up to 19 hours. And then whilst the earphones are in the case, it’ll charge them up to 5 hours. So essentially every time you pop the earphones back into the case they charge back up, but you only have 19 hours until the case runs out before you have to put the case on charge again.

    • Maria Garcia

      June 6, 2021 at 4:42 am

      @TheAngryEdd thank you for explaining.

  56. Micheal Hunt

    June 5, 2021 at 3:51 am

    How do these compare to the wyze earbuds?

  57. ⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻The Guy Who Cares⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻

    June 5, 2021 at 8:29 am

    I’d get the earfun free pros

  58. TheAngryEdd

    June 5, 2021 at 12:11 pm

    No marketing around pixel buds A other than a ‘coming soon’ landing page.. pretty weird for a massive tech company. Also, im struggling to understand why i wouldnt spend £30 more and get a more premium product from Jabra etc. Not really sure if these are the best choice to be honest, perhaps I need to wait for the Pixel buds 3.

  59. Tech & Komsan

    June 5, 2021 at 1:13 pm

    Are pixel buds better than AirPods?

  60. Don Rob

    June 5, 2021 at 3:13 pm

    These are the best headphones for $99 that’s on the market today… HANDS DOWN 👍

  61. Oliver Juarez

    June 5, 2021 at 4:17 pm

    How is the bass in this???

  62. newfnshow031

    June 5, 2021 at 7:36 pm

    You can get the tribit flybuds 3 for $40

  63. Nara Hitesh

    June 6, 2021 at 2:48 am

    Seems like a perfect pair for my pixel 4a

  64. Arte Synthetica

    June 6, 2021 at 2:59 am

    Whatever above 30 bucks cannot be classified as bargain.

  65. Adrian Sz

    June 6, 2021 at 3:43 am

    Can you use one without the other?

  66. GalaxyNexus1

    June 6, 2021 at 4:02 am

    Disappointed the design wasn’t changed at all. I was really excited about last year’s model, but sadly had to return them as they wouldn’t stay in my ears. Hopefully they come out with another high end model with a different fin design.

  67. Ricerous

    June 6, 2021 at 4:05 am

    Something in AliExpress can be better than this and cost less than 20 bugs.

  68. Gavin Ding

    June 6, 2021 at 5:45 am

    which is better
    buds a or wf h800 from sony

  69. Joel

    June 6, 2021 at 5:47 am

    They are soo ugly!

  70. Andre Staten

    June 6, 2021 at 9:20 am

    Question, didn’t watch the full vid yet. But can the series-a buds be charged/used in the original buds case? Thus giving them wireless charging.

  71. Darth_27

    June 6, 2021 at 9:26 am

    Ur glowing dude
    Looking pretty good

  72. Benjamin Stephen

    June 6, 2021 at 1:57 pm

    Hopefully this airpods has good bass soundl quality

  73. Gaurav Vikalp

    June 6, 2021 at 2:42 pm

    For 100 dollars, they could’ve added mechanical controls on these buds- if not touch controls. You don’t wanna reach for you device when running or commuting, you’ll rather tap on your bud and change a song. Voice commands don’t work that great in my native tongue anyway.

  74. Keri D

    June 6, 2021 at 3:37 pm

    I have the Galaxy buds and they are a nightmare! They are so uncomfortable, they battery life is wishy washy, a lot of the time one side will die way before the other. At times the case doesn’t even charge them in-between so I don’t remember to charge them the night prior then I’m screwed. Making and taking calls are unbearable as well. They also won’t connect to the galaxy app so I can’t even get the benefits from that either…Ugh! I’m sold on these pixel buds!

  75. Eddy Mazarredo

    June 6, 2021 at 6:53 pm

    big fan of the Pixel platform / and these A-series are awesome – specially excited to hear they play well with conference calls.

  76. Howard T_Duck

    June 7, 2021 at 12:09 am

    I don’t care about active noise canceling because I like to know a little bit what’s going around me while I listen to music. just better sound quality always!

  77. Christopher Vinson

    June 7, 2021 at 12:26 am

    I’ve had 3 replacement pairs of the Pixel Buds 2s. They are perfect indoor, but useless outdoor. Terrible sound quality, static, and alternating sound depending which side I hold my Pixel phone.

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