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Google has been swimming against the tide for far too long by releasing the first Pixel Buds generation with a cord back in 2017 and keeping the outdated wireless headphones around until recently, but now a true wireless model is here to give Apple's industry-leading AirPods a run for their money.
Commercially released just a few months ago, the swanky new Pixel Buds were largely praised by reviewers for their premium sound quality, comfortable design, and solid battery life, but a number of serious issues and bugs plagued the user experience of many early adopters.
The first big feature drop is here
On the bright side, the search giant acknowledged the problems relatively quickly, working on fixing them as soon as possible. According to The Verge, that's happening as we speak, with the latest firmware update currently rolling out to the second-gen Pixel Buds aiming to decrease "instances of cut-outs during calls" and provide "better auto-recovery when one or both earbuds lose connection."
While it doesn't sound like Google expects its first-ever true wireless earbuds to offer flawless Bluetooth connectivity after this update, any improvement is certainly better than no improvement. Speaking of, the company is actually focusing on other departments in this "feature drop", enhancing the overall audio experience, translate functionality, and Google Assistant skills of the Pixel Buds (2020).
With bass boost, you can now easily increase your bass directly from the settings menu, while sharing detection will allow wearers to control the individual volume of each earbud when listening to music or watching a movie with a friend using a single pair of Pixel Buds.
As the name suggests, the new transcribe mode will build on the convenience of the existing translate tools by helping you better understand a foreign language. All you have to do is ask for a transcript on your phone, which will be delivered while Google Assistant also continuously translates from English to French, German, Italian, or Spanish in your ear.
But wait, there's more
Speaking of the company's voice assistant, this can now check your battery life and turn touch controls on and off without you having to lift a finger. Meanwhile, the "experimental" Attention Alerts feature will try to notify you of "important things happening around you" by automatically (and temporarily) lowering the volume of your content when detecting things like emergency vehicle sirens, crying babies, or barking dogs.
Finally, we're genuinely surprised that the Pixel Buds didn't come with Find My Device functionality enabled right off the bat, but hey, better late than never. Of course, the feature will only show you the last location where the earbuds were connected to an Android phone, so if your Bluetooth happens to malfunction while searching for your lost headphones, you're out of luck.
Before wrapping up, we should also highlight the true wireless Pixel Buds are finally, finally, fi-na-lly available in more than one color stateside.
You can order the Clearly White, Quite Mint, and Almost Black flavors from both the official US Google Store and Best Buy right now and hope to receive your preferred model within a few days, but unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the eye-catching Oh so Orange variant, which is still listed as out of stock with no official word on a firm release date.
Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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