Google Pixel Buds Pro vs The Best 😲 Hear the Sound Quality Difference!

The Pixel Buds Pro is Google’s best noise cancelling earbuds. Of course, it’s now a very saturated market with noise cancelling earbuds at every price level. But these are designed to compete with the best. Having tried them for a while, in some ways they were impressive, yes, but in other ways not so. We’re going to test them against some of the most popular earbuds right now, the Sony WF-1000XM4.

Fit and Stability

In terms of fit and stability, the Pixel Buds Pro doesn’t exactly lock into place as snug as the Sonys. These use silicone ear tips, and you do have to plug them in, then twist to secure. But that doesn’t mean it’s not stable, I would still go running with them, just not anything more intensive than that.

Specs and Features

It’s got up to 7 hours of battery in the earbuds, and up to 20 hours with case with noise cancelling. Wireless charging is supported with any compatible Qi-charging pad. They’ve got a tap and swipe control scheme that’s worth mentioning here because it does allow you to do pretty much any control gesture that you need without the phone. You swipe to adjust the volume, tap to control your music, calls and noise cancelling. So they have a much broader range of controls than the Sonys and most other earbuds out there.

You will get the best experience out of them on Android devices. It supports Google Fast Pair, and the Pixel Buds app lets you update the Buds software and customize their touch controls among other things.

App

Audio Switching, which is something like Apple’s Seamless Switching, lets you stay connected, and transition the earbuds’ sound easily between different Android devices, provided you are signed into them with your Google account. But if you don’t just use an Android, maybe you have a combination of an iPhone, iPad, the Buds Pro does support Multipoint pairing.

You can activate it on the Pixel Buds app and start connecting the Buds Pro to up to two devices at the same time. There are several limitations though.

The app is not available on iOS, so if you don’t have an Android phone, you can’t activate any of those special features. Contrast that with the Sonys, they’ve got their own app which is both available on Android and iOS, with full custom settings, the Sony Headphones Connect app. That’s better.

Sony Headphones Connect App

The Pixel Buds app also doesn’t have Equalizer settings for the Buds Pro. Instead, it uses an auto-EQ feature that decides for you what sounds best at different volume levels. This won’t be an issue if your phone has its own custom sound settings. For example, I’m using the Samsung Galaxy S22+, and it’s got its own global settings for spatial audio and EQ features. But not every phone has that, definitely not phones like the Nothing Phone (1). I mean, it’s flashy but it doesn’t have global sound settings like the Samsungs. And if so, then you’re pretty much stuck with the Pixel Buds Pro’s default sound if you were to pair it with the Nothing Phone (1).

Sound Quality

Not that it sounds bad, it does sound quite decent if you like your earbuds to sound brighter and crisp. Compared to the Sonys, this frequency sweep shows that it’s got a significant boost in the treble frequencies while being a bit more laid back in the upper mids.

Google Pixel Buds Pro (Red), Sony WF-1000XM4 (Blue)

When I was comparing them to the Sonys A-B, I noticed that the Sonys sounded more heavy in the vocals, and had more presence. The Sonys also did sound a bit more detailed with string and percussions tracks. This could be due to the Sonys being capable of hi-res streaming, and other background processes like DSEE Extreme, which upscales the higher frequencies in your audio. Contrary to what other reviewers said, in my own testing I feel that the Pixel Buds Pro’s bass could hit harder and tighter. Here are some audio samples. I recommend wearing earbuds for this test, and be sure to turn off all background EQ to get the best accuracy.

Pixel Buds Pro’s nozzle.

There is another thing that I noticed with the Pixel Buds Pro, and that is its volume. It’s not as loud as the Sonys, perhaps about 10 percent softer. So if loud volume is important to you, this is something you gotta take note of.

Call Quality

In quiet conditions I did prefer how my voice sounded on the Sonys, it was less filtered. But in noisy environments, with wind noise, the Pixel Buds Pro did a much better job filtering out that background noise. It did also take out a lot of detail from my voice but, you know what, at least the person on the other side of the call can hear me better. Listen to the samples here.

Noise Cancelling

It seems that the Pixel Buds Pro’s noise cancelling is more effective at cancelling low frequency rumble. I mean, on the Sonys you can still hear a bit of background hum, not so much on the Pixel. But the Sonys do muffle mid-range frequencies better. That has got a lot to do with the Sony’s foam tips. So it will be more effective at blocking human chatter if you’re in a supermarket or a noisy cafe. Samples here if you want to experience the Pixel Buds Pro’s noise cancelling.

Transparency Mode

In terms of transparency or ambient passthrough, it seems that the Pixel Buds Pro feel almost as transparent as the Sonys. I mean, yes it still does sound a bit more artificial, like there is more white noise on the Pixel Buds Pro, but you’re not gonna have a problem having conversations with people while wearing these earbuds.

Conclusion

To conclude, if we compare these to the Sonys, it may seem like the Pixel Buds Pro isn’t adding as much value considering the price. These are not capable of hi-res, so some audiophiles may not even consider it, it doesn’t have full support on iOS devices unlike Android, which has the Pixel Buds App, and no custom sound settings.

But it does do the very important things well, I’m loving the tap controls, its small, compact size, powerful noise cancelling, better call quality, and it’s got multipoint pairing which the Sonys don’t have at all. Plus, even if you are using only an iOS device, you can get around not having the Pixel Buds app. Just borrow an Android device from a friend. 😁

You can check the Pixel Buds Pro’s latest pricing and availability through the Amazon links below.

Google Pixel Buds Pro - https://amzn.to/3QHqHHV

Sony WF-1000XM4 - https://amzn.to/3zbNN12