Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
A few months ago, I faced something that had never happened to me before: A trusty pair of Bluetooth earbuds died on me. No, it’s not that they ran out of juice or that I lost my charging cable; they just flat-out stopped working. And, as someone with several weekends of fall travel coming up, that was going to be a problem. I knew I’d have to replace my trusty ‘buds, and I’d have to do it reasonably quickly.
So, I did what any well-informed shopper would do: I sought out the advice of experts. I pinged a few members of the SoundGuys crew and checked in with our own Rita El Khoury, whose gadget tastes often match my own. I gave them my budget, which wasn’t much considering I was coming from the CMF Buds Pro 2, and asked what they thought I should get next.
Across the board, they recommended the Google Pixel Buds 2a, so I picked up a pair while in New York City for the marathon, and here’s why I think it might have been my best tech-buying decision of the year.
Everything I want in a pair of earbuds
Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
I’m not an audiophile — far from it, honestly. I spend most of my days with Shokz OpenRun Pro wrapped around my ears, mainly because I’d like to hear traffic (and anything else) coming while I’m out for a run. As such, I tend not to miss the fancier features that come with a premium set of wireless earbuds, simply because I’m not used to them in the first place. Give me a decent sound profile, a comfortable fit, and basic controls, and I’m happy.
And so far, I’d say I’m pretty happy with the Pixel Buds 2a. The sound profile is good enough for me to pop them in while on a plane, train, or in an automobile and switch back and forth between podcasts and playlists without issue. Is it perfect for either one? No, not really. Google tends to keep its profile somewhere in the flexible middle, but it certainly beats the default Shokz profile, which loses softer instruments like acoustic guitars as soon as there’s any background noise.
Google's tiny, stemless design is fidget-free and more comfortable than AirPods.
In fact, I’d probably take the overall sound of the Pixel Buds 2a over the CMF Buds Pro 2 that they’re replacing, too. Although generally good, I thought the CMF Buds Pro 2 suffered from a bit too much bass in their default state, which has never been my cup of tea, as I mostly listen to sad indie tunes. And, given how often I switch phones, and thus have to set up my earbuds anew, I’m mostly going to compare default profiles.
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