Despite a few hiccups, Google’s Pixel Buds may just be my favorite genuine wireless earbuds on the market. The combination of smart, comfortable design with Google’s indefinite assistant integration makes them fun to use. But as with everything, they could be improved, and an update from Google today is trying to do just that.
Google today adds a plethora of features to the Pixel Buds that significantly expand its functionality. Most notable to many will probably be the new bass boost EQ, which should make the bassheads happy with it; this is accessible from the settings of the device.
A transcript mode helps fulfill some of Pixel Buds’ original promise as an in-ear translator. Although the earbuds could already be used to assist in conversations between different languages, the new transcript mode is probably more useful. In situations where you just have to translate audio without your own answer – say, if you’re listening to a speech in another language – Google can now translate the audio directly into your ears. At launch, the feature supports the translation from English to Spanish, French, German and Italian.
Also noteworthy is a new feature for part detection. Now the earbuds can automatically recognize when you share one earbuds with someone else. Allows you to set the volume individually for each ear – a welcome change for anyone who has ever had to share ear buds with someone who has a completely different sensitivity to volume.
Another clever addition includes what Google calls ‘attention alerts’. With the help of AI, Google can detect some important sounds, including a baby crying, a dog barking, or a siren of distress. Once discovered, the earbuds will play a chime and lower your music volume, making you aware of the sounds you might otherwise have missed. Of course, many people play music so that they can drown out such sounds, but the feature is optional for each individual type of sound, and warnings will not resume within one minute of the same sound.
And finish the news:
- The Pixel Buds will now record their latest known location, which you can access via Google’s Find My Device; this is handy if you have left the earrings at a coffee shop or location other than your home.
- You can now turn off touch controls completely, should you find yourself activating them accidentally.
- You can now ask Google Assistant a few new questions, including “Hey Google, enable / disable my touch controls” and “what’s the battery on my earbuds?”
- Page software, the Pixel Buds are finally available in new colors, including ‘Quite Mint’, ‘Near Black’ and ‘Oh So Orange.’
It’s encouraging to see Google double down on the software aspect of their headphones, and improve them with new features long after its initial release. That was, in fact, part of the Pixel line-up’s original appeal in the first place; Google is a software company, and many of its best features are AI based instead of the best hardware around.
The updates start rolling out to Pixel Buds users today. Well, if the next update could just include a sound-canceling mode …
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Published August 20, 2020 – 16:54 UTC
