The Pixel Buds 2a are a great, wallet-friendly alternative to the Pixel Buds Pro 2

There’s a lot of competition in the $150 and below earbuds market. Compelling entries from Asia are putting considerable pressure on U.S. companies to deliver greater value at the prices they charge for audio gear. At $129, Google’s Pixel Buds 2a deliver value in the form of sonic performance, competent ANC, and of course, the ecosystem connection.

The Pixel Buds 2a would be a solid choice for most Android users, especially those invested in the Google ecosystem with Pixel smartphones and watches.

Credit: Google

3.5/5

Charging Case Included?

Yes

Brand

Google

Bluetooth

Bluetooth 5.4

Price

$130

The wallet-friendly Google ecosystem Bluetooth earbud option, the Pixel Buds 2a, compromises very little to bring a quality listening and calling experience to market.

Pros & Cons

• Strong battery life
• Effective EQ options
• Support for LE Audio
• Engaging sound with solid clarity
• New ANC and transparency modes

• No swipe for volume control
• No HiRes Wireless Audio support

Price, availability, and specs

The Pixel Buds 2a were available online and in stores on October 9, 2025 for $130 in two colors, iris and hazel. Those are the colors for the earbuds themselves, as the cases are white.

What I like about the Pixel Buds 2a

Surprisingly solid sounds

I’m a colorful fella. I love bright, expressive clothes, gadgets, and accessories, so it should come as no surprise that I’m a fan of Google’s hardware color palettes. The Iris Pixel Buds 2a look and sound really great. When you first listen to the Pixel Buds 2a, you’ll notice that they have decent balance that’s slightly hindered by a bit of a scoop in the mids. However, that isn’t a problem because the Pixel Buds app provides a five-band EQ to adjust the sound to your liking (more on that in a moment). This year’s A-series buds are the first with active noise-cancelling, Android battery widget support, which shows you the charge status for the case and buds, and Google’s Tensor A1 chip.

The noise cancelling won’t unseat Bose or Sony from their throne as top-tier ANC earbuds, but at half the cost, I don’t expect that. What you do get is an ANC, which is great at hushing urban traffic noise and the sounds of the city, dinner noises, and 80dB of airplane cabin noise. Some higher-pitched sounds, like the satisfying clickity-clack of my mechanical keyboard, are only softened, but when you have music playing with the ANC activated, much of that fades into the background, and what you’re left with is ANC that’s on par with competitors at this price point.

The Pixel Buds 2a now support Google’s Find My Device, recently rebranded as Find Hub, so that you can use more precise location data with a graphic interface that shows you where your earbuds are when connected via Bluetooth.

The soundstage the Buds 2a present is reasonably broad, though not very deep. Still it’s quite a bit more immersive than I expected. Despite the lack of dynamics from HiRes Wireless Audio codecs, the buds do a fantastic job of reproducing stereo images over AAC, and Spatial Audio. Listening to PCM FLAC files via VLC, the sound is entertaining and engaging. I increased the Treble slider in the five-band EQ to +6, and that seemed to aid vocal presentation and overcome that scoop in the mids without introducing any siblance to the sounds.

I listened to everything, from frenzied jazz romps like Charles Mingus’ “Moanin” to deep sub-bass canon blasts from Skrillex’s “Mumbai Power.” I threw in some wailing guitars via System of a Down, and some aggressive strings via Michael Abels and the “Violin Duel” composition from the Chevalier soundtrack. I was quite impressed, again, with the imaging. Instrumentation was well represented, sounding like it was coming from the left, right, front, and back of the venues in which they were recorded. The buds had a bit of a harder time making sense of the mayhem that is Mingus’ “Moanin’”, but still performed admirably during less energetic portions of the high-energy romp. Bass extension was delightful as I listened to “Mumbai Power” and The Roots’ “Do You Want More?!!!??”

Even with ANC activated, the buds deliver solid sound quality, thanks to the Tensor A1 chip. With the new acoustic architecture, even at lower volumes, the signal processing allowed music and movies to sound full and engaging. Playback controls on the Pixel Buds 2a are managed through touch, and though sensitive and highly responsive, I also noticed that I hardly had any accidental touches if I repositioned the earbuds, which is a common problem with touch controls, especially when a pair of earbuds are as small as these. Speaking of size, their stature and materials make these some of the lightest, most comfortable earbuds I’ve worn for any extended period of time.

People still make phone calls, right? Well, those calls sound great on both ends and do a solid job of mitigating background noise without sounding like you’re in a closet. And invoking Gemini to make those calls is hassle-free, responding predictably and consistently. Using Gemini to control other functions, even when the music is blasting, is also reliable and a fairly smooth experience, with small hiccups here and there.

I’m still working my way through testing the battery life, but so far, I’m on track to see the Pixel Buds 2a meet and possibly exceed Google’s estimate of seven hours with ANC enabled. In 3.5 hours of listening with the volume at 60% and ANC activated, I drained approximately 40% of the battery.

What happens after enough charge cycles in the case, though? The good news is the case battery is replaceable. Even with that, it’s still IPX4 sweat and water-resistant. The earbuds are IP54 rated for water and dust ingress.

What I don’t like about the Pixel Buds 2a

The charges against them are few!

Credit: Pixel Buds Pro 2 (L), Pixel Buds 2a (R)

First, the lack of a wireless charging case is disappointing, considering some competitors offer it at this price point. Additionally, I will definitely lament the loss of the ability to swipe to control volume, like you can with the Buds Pro 2. Pixel phones support LDAC, so it’s a shame that despite how well the buds handle sound reproduction via AAC, there’s so much more life to be had with more data flowing through that Bluetooth pipeline.

Other than that, there are a few features the more expensive Buds Pro 2 have that the Buds 2a don’t at this time, but they’re far from dealbreakers and are features you generally see on more expensive earbuds, anyway.

Should you buy the Pixel Buds 2a?

Short on funds? Love Google products? Do it!

I’ve been playing with beta versions of Android that unlock Bluetooth LE, which these support, and ultimately, LC3 with Auracast. I think we’ll see that come to the Buds 2a at some point, but what they offer today is more than enough to recommend them to those invested in the Google ecosystem and generally Android users who don’t have Samsung or Nothing devices.

At $129, the Pixel Buds 2a are competitive and easy to recommend, with one caveat: if you see the Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 on sale, like they are at the time of this writing, for $60 more, and you have that to spend, go that route. Then you’ll have all the features that connectivity to a Pixel smartphone will offer, at a price that shouldn’t leave you with buyer’s remorse.

Credit: Google

Charging Case Included?

Yes

Brand

Google

Bluetooth

Bluetooth 5.4

Price

$130

IP Rating

Earbuds: IP58 Case: IPX4

Driver Size

11mm dynamic speaker driver