Google are rolling out a free firmware update that will improve your Pixel Buds Pro, with smart new features and improvements.
This week, Google hosted their annual Made By Google event. The stars of Made By Google ’23 were the updates to their flagship smartphone and smartwatch lines: Pixel 8, Pixel 8 Pro and Pixel Watch 2.
The event wasn’t all hardware though. Google also spent a lot of time highlighting all of the work they’ve put into AI over the past year. This tied in to the new software features coming to their flagship active noise cancelling earbuds. Google launched the Pixel Buds Pro in July last year.
Alongside the software features below, Google have launched two new colours: Bay blue and Porcelain. These two new colours compliment the new colours introduced on the new Pixel phones and watch. They join existing colours: Coral, Charcoal, Fog and Lemongrass.
First up are two key improvements to phone calls. Google have improved their Clear Calling technology, which reduces background noise and enhances voices on phone calls. Clear Calling is enabled automatically, so there’s no need to turn it on for each call. This is great for ensuring your friend on the other end can hear you, even while you’re calling in noisey areas.
Google are also introducing Bluetooth Super Wide Band speech exclusively to Pixel 8 and newer phones. Doubling the bandwidth, this, combined with Clear Calling, ensure better, more natual sounding calls.
Next up is Conversation Detection. With this feature enabled, the buds will automatically pause audio and turn on Transparency Mode when you start talking. When you and the person you’re speaking to stop talking, the music will automatically resume and switch back to Active Noise Cancellation. This can be a useful feature, however personally I had to turn a similar feature off on my Sony headphones, after it kept incorrectly identifying people talking around me to be my own voice and interrupted the flow. Hopefully Google’s implementation of this will be better.
The Pixel Buds Pro are also getting reduced latency by up to 50%. This is another feature that is only available when paired with a Pixel 8 or Pixel 8 Pro, and is only supported by compatible games. Hopefully this will improve gaming with the Pixel Buds Pro.
Hearing Wellness shows you a record of your listening behaviours, providing suggestions on how to maintain hearing wellness over time and when to lower the volume.
Last up, Google are introducing a Pixel Buds web app for Chromebooks. The app will let wearers change the earbud settings, switch noise control modes and install firmware updates.
The Google Pixel Buds Pro are available for the same $199.99 price tag.
You can pre-order the new colours today and they’ll start shipping October 12.