Google’s second generation Pixel Buds are truly wireless earbuds that pack a ton of features for a price of $ 179. Just like Google Pixel smartphones, the Google Pixel Buds get “feature drops” that bring a lot of new features and add improvements. The first of such “feature drops” is here for the second-gen Pixel Buds, as announced in a Google blog post, and they bring some substantial improvements.
The first of these improvements is partition detection, which detects when you share one earbud with you and then you can adjust the volume independently on each earbud. This way, you do not have to sacrifice your volume preferences when listening to music or watching a movie with someone else. And the new bass boost toggle can add a little extra oomph to music.
Another new feature added with this update is a “transcribe” mode that can help you better understand another language by having translated speech directly in your ear. This feature is initially launched for French, German, Italian and Spanish speakers to translate English speech. For example, a Spanish speaker may ask Google Assistant on their Pixel Buds “Hey Google, ayúdame a entender inglés” to begin translating and transcribing English into Spanish in the Google Translate app. Translation is not immediate and requires audio to be transferred to Google for processing.
There is also an experimental “Attention Alerts” feature that can detect when something important is happening in your neighborhood that needs your immediate attention. The feature detects things like a dog barking, a baby crying, or an emergency service ride by and temporarily reduces the volume of everything you are listening to so you can focus on your surroundings.
As previously announced, you can now find your Google Pixel Buds in the My Find Device app. This also works for other Fast Pair-enabled devices. Next, you can now ask Google Assistant to change touch controls or check the battery life on your earbuds. Eventually, people who have related issues with their buds – an issue that users have been experiencing since the Pixel Buds were first released a few months ago – will be happy to know that this update also addresses some of these issues, according to Android Police. Make sure you update to firmware version 550 if you have encountered these problems.
As of today, the Google Pixel Buds are now available in Oh So Orange, Quite Mint, and Near Black in the US for $ 179 in the Google Store.
