NEW YORK, NY – OCTOBER 15: New Google Pixel Buds headphones shown during Google launch … [+]
This post originally appeared on July 26 and was updated on July 28. Update below.
In about a month, Google will send a major update for its Pixel Buds. It’s not just a common firmware upgrade to fix problems (though it will), but it’s the company’s first “feature drop” for the recently released headsets.
Update 7/28: We won’t have to wait long to see what Samsung and Apple are doing to challenge the Pixel Buds. Samsung’s “unpacked” event is scheduled for August 5 and, in an attempt to generate some excitement, the Korean company launched a video teaser Yesterday.
As expected, nothing was explicitly revealed, but there are clear silhouettes of the devices Samsung plans to unveil, including the alleged Galaxy Note 20, a new smartwatch, and of course the Galaxy Buds “Beans,” of which you can see the rumored bean shape.
Like my colleague David Phelan pointed yesterday The new buds appear to have an unusual bean shape that fits snugly inside the ear. Filtering demo video It shows how exactly they fit, but there’s little information on what new ‘smart’ features will come with the buds. Although they are rumored to have active noise cancellation.
Elsewhere it now seems more likely that Apple will update its AirPods with a series of new biometric sensors to better measure health data. As Phelan reports“It is believed that the upcoming AirPods Pro could be packed with additional sensors to make them much more attractive as a health and fitness device. Patents, as discovered by Patently Apple, have previously been awarded to Apple in recent years, so it could mean that a 2021 version of AirPods Pro multiplies well by including the new sensors.
“These could include a heart rate sensor, VO2 sensor, galvanic skin response sensor, ECG sensor, temperature sensor, and more.”
It seems the idea is that AirPods, when paired with your phone or Apple Watch, could measure a variety of activities outside of steps and heart rate, which could include proper shape for yoga poses and temperature control (particularly useful at this time). Apple is likely to recognize that Google has a monopoly on artificial intelligence-based smart features and, in response, builds on its strengths: health and fitness control. It is not yet known how exactly all of these sensors will be grouped into a pair of small AirPods, and how useful they really are, remains to be seen, but an interesting battle is brewing between the two devices.
Feature drops are functionality updates for Pixel Buds and Pixel Phones (where the concept originated) that add new software features on a regular basis. The idea is for users to experience new features that cannot be expected by major software releases, which, in the case of Pixel phones, means the annual Android update.
We don’t know what will happen in Pixel Bud’s first feature drop, but the very idea of continually improving and adding new functionality to products through major software enhancements coming from Google’s AI factory is, and will continue to be being, a problem for the competition.
Some of these features can be tricky and eliminate the main functionality of the headphones, which is to play music. But which truly wireless headphone users now don’t enjoy the usual “smart” features, like automatically pausing music when a headset is removed? Or touch to skip / pause a track or in-depth EQ settings? All are included as standard with most TWS headphones. It is quite possible that unusual features like noise detection or battery alerts will become the new normal sometime in the near future as well.
So what features can Google add to make its Pixel Buds a more engaging prospect with the first drop in features? After surveying some Pixel Bud owners, two ideas stood out to me: toggling touch sensitivity and more granular sound settings.
Let’s start with tactile sensitivity. If you are familiar with the original 2016 Pixel Buds, you know they were plagued by accidental touches due to the large capacitive area.
Unintentionally pausing and skipping music every time you tried to adjust your headphones was annoying. I’ve been using the new Pixel Buds for a couple of weeks now, and while they are a significant improvement on the original headphones, they still have this issue. More than my Galaxy Buds Plus, which is saved by the lower ratio of housing to capacitive area. The solution? A feature that allows users to temporarily disable controls, both one and one, so you can stroke your headphones fearlessly.
The other requested feature is an equalizer, with the ability to save presets. It would be very welcome to have the option to adjust the bass and treble to suit your general tastes, especially if you can change quickly depending on your environment. An overall more customizable setting, such as adjusting gesture controls or muting incoming calls with a tap, would also be a welcome move from Google.
It doesn’t end here
It is the possibility, and the promise, of improvements that sets Pixel Buds apart. Although Google hasn’t officially committed to regular functionality updates, the feature removal program itself relies on regularity, so expect more after the August update.
Other companies update their products with fleshy new features, of course. Apple has announced a number of new features, including an impressive spatial audio feature, for its AirPods and AirPods Pro, but there is no suggestion that this is something that happens frequently.
The regularity of these feature drops for Pixel Buds is the second most interesting unknown piece of the puzzle (after the actual features).
Pixel phone updates occur approximately every three months (although Google is very interested in not officially committing to this schedule), which I imagine is an achievable goal given the near-constant features that its Assistant team seems to develop. Phones can also do much more than headphones, so there’s more to work with.
For Pixel Buds, Google will have to be creative if it wants to follow a regular schedule. Maybe my imagination is limited, but there are only so many things a pair of headphones can do without delving into the world of pointless tricks.
But that’s why the Pixel Buds have an advantage over the competition, there be be more to come from headphones and probably be be surprised. After a couple of updates, the Pixel Buds that launched in May 2020 will look and behave differently than the Pixel Buds of May 2021, at no additional cost. If the next update resolves the serious audio cutoff issues, the Pixel Buds will continue to be a threat to the competition with each update.
More about Forbes
Google confirms that Pixels Buds will receive its first major update very soon
Samsung raises the Galaxy Buds game to fight against Apple’s AirPods Pro
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