Considering how intertwined music discovery is with TikTok, it wouldn’t be all that surprising if the company launched a music streaming app of its own. Well, patent filings uncovered by Insider suggest TikTok’s working on just that.
TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, filed a trademark application with the US Patent and Trademark Office for “TikTok Music” in May. According to the filing, the service would let users purchase, play, share, and download music. It would also allow users to create, share, and recommend playlists, comment on music, as well as livestream audio and video. ByteDance already filed for a “TikTok Music” trademark in Australia last November.
ByteDance already has experience with music streaming. In 2020, ByteDance launched a music streaming app, Resso, in India, Brazil, and Indonesia. Resso has some of the same features described in the “TikTok Music” filing, such as the ability to create playlists, share songs on social media, and interact with the app’s community.
ByteDance even uses TikTok to bring existing users to Resso. According to a report from The Information, the TikTok app in Brazil comes with a button that redirects users to Resso so they can listen to the full version of a song they’re interested in, a move that helps keep users within the ByteDance ecosystem.
The Information also reports that Resso had over 40 million monthly users across India, Brazil, and Indonesia as of November 2021, a number that’s likely to grow. Earlier this year, a report from Insider revealed that Resso’s monthly active users grew by 304 percent between January 2021 to January 2022 in India alone, as opposed to Spotify’s 38 percent growth in the country during the same period of time.
It’s unclear whether ByteDance plans on developing a music streaming app based on the Resso framework, or if it will come up with something else entirely. Just like TikTok had a profound impact on the way social media sites operate, it’s possible that a music streaming app with TikTok ties-ins could change the music streaming industry, forcing services to adapt.
Apple's iOS 15.6 is here and ready to be downloaded to your iPhone. Released on July 20, the follow-up to iOS 15.5 folds in bug fixes -- including for an error that incorrectly showed phone storage as full -- and a new feature for watching live sports in the TV app.
The TV app will now let you restart live sports games already in progress, as well as pause, rewind and fast-forward. iOS 15.6 also includes a lengthy list of security updates for the iPhone.
Here are Apple's release notes from July 20:
iOS 15.6 includes enhancements, bug fixes and security updates.
TV app adds the option to restart a live sports game already in-progress and pause, rewind, or fast-forward
Fixes an issue where Settings may continue to display that device storage is full even if it is available
Fixes an issue that may cause braille devices to slow down or stop responding when navigating text in Mail
Fixes an issue in Safari where a tab may revert back to a previous page
This may be the last update to iOS 15 before the company's next mobile software, iOS 16, gets a wide release alongside the heavily rumored iPhone 14. The next version of iOS, which is available now in public beta, will bring several new features, including the ability to edit and unsend messages, a new customizable lock screen, changes to notifications, as well as updates to Wallet and Apple Pay.
Apple also released iPadOS 15.6, MacOS 12.5, WatchOS 8.7 and TVOS 15.6 on Wednesday. In addition to security updates, iPadOS 15.6 and MacOS 12.5 got the same TV app update for live sports as iOS 15.6, while WatchOS 8.7 brought bug fixes, and TVOS 15.6 got performance and stability improvements, according to Apple.
The aim during design and development of the new car based on the 992-shape 911 was to make it “fast for longer,” according to Sebastian Golz, project manager on the latest-generation 911 GT3 R.
“Our task was less about making the new 911 GT3 R even faster – the classification within performance windows set by the Balance of Performance quickly cancels out this advantage,” explained Golz. “For us, it was primarily about our customers being able to drive the racing car fast for longer.
“This requires durability, and that’s why we focused predominantly on improved driveability.”
Porsche 911 GT3-R
Photo by: Porsche AG
Central to the concept of the car is a larger-capacity version of Porsche’s normally-aspirated flat-six engine, which has been increased from four to 4.2 litres over its predecessor based on the previous-generation 991.2 Porsche 911.
This has allowed Porsche to increase torque at the bottom of the rev range by approximately 9% and by 4-5% in the top half.
The engine has been tilted front to rear by 5.5 degrees to improve the weight distribution and to create room for a larger rear diffuser.
Porsche 911 GT3-R
Photo by: Porsche AG
The car also has a pronounced aerodynamic step under the nose of the car, which has been made possible by cutting away part of the boot structure at the front.
The revised front-end aerodynamics allow for a cleaner airflow to the rear diffuser underneath the car.
Together with an increased wheelbase this has created “more stable and constant aerodynamics and lower loads on the rear tyres”, according to Golz.
Porsche has also aimed at lowering running costs of the new GT3 by 10 percent over the car it replaces.
The new car ran for the first time in July 2021 at Porsche’s Weissach test track and has so far notched up 112 hours of running, including a trouble-free 30-hour endurance run at the Barcelona circuit.
Porsche 911 GT3-R
Photo by: Porsche AG
Porsche Motorsport hasn’t ruled out undertaking a test race this year, most likely one of the late-season rounds of the Nurburgring Long-distance Series (formerly the VLN), but its competition debut as a homologated car will be at next January’s Rolex 24 Hours IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season-opener.
The car will also be eligible for the Le Mans 24 Hours from 2024 when the FIA World Endurance Championship and its sister European Le Mans Series adopt GT3 rules as the basis of a new category to replace GTE provisionally called LMGT.
The new car, which will be on display in the paddock at the Spa round of the GT World Challenge Europe from Saturday, retails at €511,000.
That compares with the 2022 list price of €459,000 for the current 911 GT3 R introduced ahead of the 2019 season.
There are, however, more standard features on the latest car that were extras on its predecessor, including a tyre-pressure monitoring system.
Bad news for the (presumably few) people out there who have relied on Amazon Drive for storing their important files in the cloud: Amazon is shutting down the service. On the plus side, you’ve got well over a year to figure out an alternative and get everything moved over.
The company says Amazon Drive will no longer be supported as of December 31st, 2023. That’s when access will be completely cut off. Uploads are going away earlier and won’t be accepted as of January 31st. The Amazon Drive apps for Android and iOS will be taken down on October 31st, 2022.
“We will continue to provide customers the ability to safely back up, share, and organize photos and videos with Amazon Photos,” Amazon said in an email to customers. But for all files that aren’t images or videos, you’ll have to download them. On its FAQ page, Amazon recommends using the Amazon Photos desktop app for Windows or macOS if you’re trying to retrieve larger files. You can also go here to cancel your Drive subscription.
As for why Amazon is making the decision to sunset Drive after 11 years, the company says, “We are taking the opportunity to more fully focus our efforts on Amazon Photos to provide customers a dedicated solution for photos and video storage.” Perhaps that means Amazon has big ideas in mind for taking on Google Photos and Apple’s iCloud Photo Library. But the Drive news will definitely be a disappointment to those who grew accustomed to housing their files on Amazon’s dependable servers.
YouTube is trying to make it even easier for creators to turn their longer videos into Shorts formatted for the platform's TikTok competitor, by adding a new “Edit into a Short” tool to its iOS and Android app. It’ll let creators select up to 60 seconds from one of their videos and bring the clip into the Shorts editor, right from the YouTube app on iOS or Android. From there, they can add things like text, filters, as well as additional videos shot with the Shorts camera or pulled from their photo library.
In an announcement post for the feature, YouTube says that the finished Short will link to the full video it was clipped from, which could help make Shorts an ideal promotional tool for the creator’s longer content — a key incentive for them to dive in while YouTube continues testing monetization options for the feature. If a viewer enjoys a Short created with this tool, they wouldn’t have to go to the creator’s channel and search around for the full video.
Unlike other tools like Cut, which lets you use five seconds from a longer video in a Short, or Clips, which can be converted into Shorts, the Edit into a Short tool can’t be used on other users’ uploads. It’ll only show up in the Create menu if you’re viewing a video you uploaded.
YouTube has put a lot of focus on Shorts since it started rolling out the feature in 2020. It’s tried to incentivize creators to use the format by setting up a fund that paid creators if they uploaded Shorts. As TechCrunch notes, the company has also been padding out its library by converting existing videos to Shorts, as long as they were filmed vertically and under 60 seconds long. Last month, YouTube said that over 1.5 billion people watched Shorts each month.
YouTube’s post says the Edit into a Short tool will “allow you to bring fresh life to your classic content” and that access to it is currently rolling out. While it probably won’t completely replace more traditional video editing software when it comes to creating Shorts (like in an instance where a creator wants to splice together multiple clips from the same video), it could encourage creators to take a look at their back catalog and see if there’s anything that would work well as a Short.
Google is trying to cut down on annoying, unskippable ads in Android apps and overall bad behavior in the Play Store (via TechCrunch). The company announced wide-ranging policy changes on Wednesday that update rules across several categories to be more specific, clamping down on loopholes developers may have used to skirt existing rules.
One of the changes that will impact your everyday phone usage the most is for ads. Google says its updated guidelines, which will go into effect on September 30th, help ensure “high quality experiences for users when they are using Google Play apps.” The new policy tells developers that apps can’t pop up a full-screen ad that won’t let you close it after 15 seconds. There are some exceptions — if you voluntarily choose to watch an ad to get some sort of reward points, or if they pop up during a break in the action, those rules won’t necessarily apply.
Google’s current policy says ads “must be easily dismissible without penalty” and that you have to be able to close out of full-screen ads, but the 15-second benchmark is new. While that’s still a bit of a wait, it does make it so that you won’t have to sit through a two-minute long ad where the (tiny, hard to see) “x” only appears after 70 seconds, right in the middle of a game or while trying to do something else.
The new rules also specify that ads shouldn’t be “unexpected,” popping up right after you load a level or article. Again, the current rules already say that surprise disruptive ads aren’t allowed, but the new rules give additional concrete examples of violations.
It’s worth noting that the ad policies for apps made for children are stricter. While Google’s not changing a ton about what types of ads developers can show to kids, it will be making some changes to the tools that developers use to deliver those ads, starting in November.
Google’s also making changes to how apps can implement and use Android’s built-in VPN (or virtual private network) tools. Apps won’t be allowed to implement their own VPNs to collect user data unless they get explicit permission from the user, nor will they be able to use VPNs to help users bypass or change ads from other apps. Mishaal Rahman, a technical editor for Esper, pointed out on Twitter that this could help clamp down on ad fraud where users pretend to be clicking on ads from one country while actually being in another but says that it could also affect things like DuckDuckGo’s privacy-focused app tracking protection.
Google’s new rules include several other changes as well. For example, developers will be required to link to an “easy-to-use, online method” for canceling subscriptions in their app if their app sells subscriptions — the company does say that linking to Google Play’s subscription center counts. Google’s also cracking down on health misinformation, adding a section that says apps can’t contain misleading information about vaccines, unapproved treatments, or “other harmful health practices, such as conversion therapy.”
The update also makes some changes to the language around monitoring apps, or “stalkerware,” saying that any app made to track people has to use a specific flag telling Google what it’s doing and that apps have to say that they can monitor or track you in their Play Store description. (These sorts of apps are still only allowed to track employees and children — Google explicitly says using these apps for tracking someone else, like a spouse, is banned, even if the user claims the person being tracked is aware of it.)
There’s one slightly humorous tidbit in the updated “Impersonation” section — in addition to other companies, developers, and organizations, Google’s new rules say that developers can’t try and trick people into thinking that their app is associated with an “entity” if it’s not. As an example of what this means, Google shows an app with iconography that could trick users into thinking it’s associated with a government or cryptocurrency project. (There’s also a funny line about how you can’t name your app “Justin Bieber Official” unless you’re actually Justin Bieber or have his permission, but it was already in the existing guidelines.)
This example appears to be perfect timing on Google’s part. While the policy won’t go into effect until the end of August, the company announced it just a day before Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) sent it a letter asking for more information on scammy crypto apps on the Play Store.
There’s nothing special or noteworthy about the exterior of the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro, and on paper, its specifications look like it’ll be a good gaming laptop, with the potential to be great. As it turns out, I should learn to stop judging a laptop by its housing. The Legion 5 Pro is a workhorse. Plain and simple.
Specs
Here are the specifications of the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro I’ve been testing:
Model: Lenovo Legion 5 Pro (16lAH7H)
Display: 16-inch WQXGA 165Hz (2560x1600)
Processor: Intel Core i7–12700H 3.5GHz (24M cache, 4.7GHz Max Turbo)
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Laptop GPU, 8GB GDDR6
Memory: 16GB DDR5 4,800Mhz
OS: Windows 11 Home
Storage: 512GB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD
Webcam: 720p with e-Shutter
Ports: 1 x Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C, DisplayPort 1.4), 2 x USB-C (USB 3.2 Gen 2, DisplayPort 1.4), 3 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, 1 x e-Shutter switch, 1 x 3.5mm headphone/mic combo, 1 x HDMI, 1 x RJ45
Connectivity: WiFi 6E 802.11ax, Bluetooth 5.1
Dimensions: 14.17 x 10.4 x 1.05-inches (WxDxH)
Weight: 5.49-pounds
Lenovo Legion 5 Pro – Design
The Lenovo Legion 5 Pro looks like a cross between your Dad’s work laptop and a gaming laptop. The 5 Pro comes in a storm grey color that’s close to Apple’s space grey color offering. On the outside of the lid is the Legion logo, and that’s it. There isn’t any sort of fancy decal or design that’s become common on most gaming laptops.
Upon opening the lid, you’ll find a 16-inch display with thin bezels on the vertical sides of the screen and a slightly thicker bezel going across the top, housing a 720p webcam.
On the deck of the laptop, just above the keyboard is the power button with an indicator light in the middle of it. It turns white when the laptop is running on battery power, and red while charging.
There’s a full-size keyboard with a number pad on the right-hand side, with chiclet-style keys that have flat edges on three sides and a rounded bottom. There are four different RGB lighting zones behind the keyboard that you can customize to fit your mood, with a total of three different profiles available to switch between in the Lenovo Vantage app.
The trackpad is centered with the keyboard, or off-center on the left side of the 5 Pro’s housing. It’s smooth and easy to use, save for the imaginary line on the trackpad where it registers any interaction as a right-click instead of a standard click. I’ve had to consciously remind myself, several times during testing, to go higher and over to the left more on the touchpad in order to use it without errant right clicks.
The 5 Pro has a long list of ports, most of which are on the back of the laptop’s housing. There are a few sprinkled on either side and a unique switch on the right that puzzled me at first. Let’s start with that switch – it’s an e-Shutter switch that turns the webcam on or off. There’s a small icon that shows up on the 5 Pro’s display when you switch modes, letting you know the camera’s current status.
When the camera is turned off, the switch is red to let you easily see the camera’s status. Next to the switch is the 3.5mm combination microphone and headphone jack. Finally, there’s a standard USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 port on the right side.
Flanking the left side of the housing is a USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 with DisplayPort 1.4 support near the front, and a USB-C Thunderbolt 4 port behind it. There’s a Thunderbolt icon next to the rear port letting you know that’s what you’ll want to use for faster transfer speeds, if your external hard drive supports it.
On the rear of the laptop’s housing is an Ethernet (RJ45) port, another USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 Port with DisplayPort 1.4 support and power delivery of up to 135W for charging the laptop. Next to the USB-C port is an HDMI port, followed by two USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports. Finally, there’s the charging port that uses Lenovo’s power-in adapter. This is the charging port you’ll want to use during gaming or resource-intensive tasks as it provides 300W of power when paired with the included power supply.
My favorite aspect of the port arrangement on the 5 Pro is that you’ll find labels just above the ports on the rear of the laptop, making it possible to see which port is where when you’re looking down on the laptop’s housing.
As I said earlier, there’s nothing fancy or extraordinary about the Legion 5 Pro’s design. It’s a grey laptop with a logo on the lid and ports on three sides. It looks fine.
Lenovo Legion 5 Pro – Performance and gaming
Inside the Legion 5 Pro is an Intel Core i7–12700H with 14 cores and 20 threads, an Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti with 8GB of GDDR6 memory, a 512GB NVMe SSD for storage and 16GB of DDR5 4,800Mhz memory. That’s a respectable component list for any gaming PC, let alone for a laptop. Other than the 512GB of storage, that is. I filled up the 512GB of storage after installing a handful of games and benchmarking apps, which meant rejiggering which apps and games were installed during my testing. Ideally, 1TB of storage is where all gaming setups should start.
What surprised me, however, was just how much performance was packed into the 5 Pro, especially when I compared its benchmark scores to more expensive high-end systems with objectively better specs. When you compare the scores to systems like the MSI Raider GE76 with an i9–12900HK and an RTX 3080 Ti, or the Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 16 with an AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX and an RTX 3080 Ti, it’s clear that the Legion 5 Pro is keeping up with, and oftentimes outperforming, both systems.
For example, when you compare the 5 Pro’s Borderlands 3 score of 101, you see that it nearly kept up with the GE76’s score of 108 and outpaced the Duo 16’s score of 93. 3DMark’s Time Spy benchmark test showed the 5 Pro’s real potential with a score of 11,916, outscoring both comparison laptops. The GE76 was close at 11,742 and the Duo 16 behind that at 10,768.
Gaming on the Legion 5 Pro has been fun. The speakers provide plenty of output to overpower the fans without making you feel like you’re making way too much noise. For my first few matches of Fortnite, I let the 5 Pro’s AI software decide if it should run in performance mode, based on what app or game is open. With all of the settings cranked to high – excuse me, epic – in Fortnite and the resolution set to 1920x1200, the 5 Pro averaged 123 frames per second.
When I manually switched the 5 Pro over to performance mode with the same settings, it averaged 113 FPS. Odd, right? I think the AI may be doing more than just turning performance mode on and off, seemingly also optimizing the system to get all of the performance it can out of it.
Finally, I tested with the full 2560x1600 resolution, which dropped the average frames per second down to 84.
Outside of gaming, the Legion 5 Pro handled whatever task I threw at it. Between using Edge with way too many tabs open, and alternating between a Twitch stream or one of my Spotify daily playlists, it never slowed down. I did some light photo editing with GIMP, as well, and have nothing bad to say about how the 5 Pro handled it.
One gripe I have is with the overall brightness of the display. Unless the brightness level is nearly maxed out, say 90% or above, it’s far too dark for my eyes. At the 50% threshold, which we use to run all benchmark and battery tests, I’ve had a horrible time seeing what’s on the screen. Don’t get me wrong, the concept is visible – just dark. Too dark. I had hoped the display’s HDR support would translate into a bright and vivid picture at all times, but that’s not the case.
What about when brightness is cranked up? Well, it looks good. Color saturation is on point and the clarity of images and video is clear and crisp.
I’m not the biggest fan of the keyboard’s keys, only because I found myself getting lost on them while gaming far more often than I usually do.
Lenovo Legion 5 Pro – Battery life
Lenovo’s spec sheet lists an estimated five hours of battery life for the 5 Pro. That’s a respectable and honest estimate.
In day-to-day use, the battery life of the Legion 5 Pro was good enough for casual work for several hours before needing to be plugged in.
Running the PCMark 10’s Modern Office battery benchmark, however, the battery ran from 100% to empty in 2 hours and 39 minutes. That’s a decent amount of time, but it falls short of Lenovo’s estimate as well as the performance we’ve seen from the GE76 and Duo 16.
Lenovo Legion 5 Pro – Software
There isn’t a whole lot of preinstalled software on the 5 Pro. There’s Lenovo Vantage, which I found useful to set lighting profiles, check for updates or adjust system settings like turning off the Hybrid GPU mode that switches between the integrated and dedicated GPU based on which app you’re using.
There’s also an option in Vantage to overclock your GPU with a couple of clicks. There is, of course, a warning when you first enable the feature, but once you skip past that you’re able to adjust the GPU Clock and VRAM Clock. Once you get it tuned to your liking, you can enable overclocking with the flip of a switch.
McAfee LiveSafe is preinstalled and after setting up the computer I was immediately met with a warning that my free trial of coverage had expired.
In addition to the unnecessary bloatware of McAfee, the Vantage app had a few ads at the bottom of the main page. There was an ad for “seamless gaming,” a 10% discount offer for Lenovo support, and a reminder to register the laptop.
It wasn’t a sure thing that the Pixel Buds Pro would turn out to be good. Google has had a mixed, inconsistent track record with wireless earbuds so far. The original Pixel Buds in 2017 had such an unconventional design that something as fundamental as putting them back into the case was overly complicated. The Pixel Buds 2 moved to a much sleeker, true wireless form factor, but they were beset with connectivity issues and frequent audio dropouts. Google righted the ship with the low-end $99 Pixel Buds A-Series last year, but now all eyes are on the new, flagship $199 Pixel Buds Pro — the company’s first earbuds with active noise cancellation — to see whether Google can really hang with the very best from Apple, Sony, Samsung, and others.
Turns out, it very much can. The Pixel Buds Pro fully resolve the Bluetooth woes of the second-gen model while delivering improved sound quality, longer battery life, satisfactory noise cancellation, and bonus convenience features like multipoint. They’re not the smallest or lightest earbuds around, but Google’s elimination of the integrated wing tips (or “stabilizer arcs”) from prior models results in better overall comfort.
When Google announced these earbuds a couple months ago, it made a point to call out the custom silicon and in-house audio processing that were key to developing the Pixel Buds Pro. Every company with earbuds that are the best at something — think noise cancellation in the case of Sony or transparency mode for Apple — builds its own components to achieve that. According to Google, the Pixel Buds Pro include a custom six-core audio chip (not to be confused with the custom Tensor chip in Pixel phones) that powers the active noise cancellation system, and they also use custom 11-millimeter drivers / speakers tuned by the company’s audio team.
So then, let’s get right to it: noise cancellation on the Pixel Buds Pro is generally quite good for subduing noise at home, the office, or in a coffee shop. But I do notice that some parts of the frequency spectrum (like street noise from passing cars) cut through louder than they would on the AirPods Pro or Sony’s WF-1000XM4 buds. Since the ANC runs on Google-developed algorithms, it’s feasible that firmware updates could further enhance the noise-canceling strength of the Buds Pro. As it stands today, the ANC is more than competent — even if it won’t be bumping Sony or Bose from the top of the mountain.
Transparency mode, on the other hand, is decent but falls well short of matching the natural, airy sensation you get with the AirPods Pro or Sony’s LinkBuds S. Google’s transparency passthrough does the job but has a semi-muffled tonality to it. This is likely, at least in part, because the Pixel Buds Pro no longer have the same “spatial vent” that lets through some natural ambient sound on the 2020 Pixel Buds and Pixel Buds A-Series.
While on the subject of ANC, I’m admittedly perplexed by the feature Google calls “Silent Seal.” The company describes it like so:
Everyone’s ears are unique, so it’s not always possible for the eartips to create a perfect seal that prevents sound from leaking in from the outside. Pixel Buds Pro use Silent Seal to adapt to your ear, to help maximize the amount of noise that’s canceled.
When I asked for more specifics on how Silent Seal works or exactly what is happening, Google spokesperson Marisa DeRose oddly declined to share further details. My best guess is that Google’s algorithms try to optimize the active noise cancellation based on your ear shape and how the earbuds fit you, but the lack of information leaves me skeptical that Silent Seal is really a game changer.
Google also says that the Pixel Buds Pro contain sensors that “measure the pressure in your ear canal” to alleviate the plugged-up sensation that ANC earbuds can often produce. I did manage to get more particulars on this from product manager Pol Peiffer, who told me by email that the sensors “constantly measure the pressure in your ear canal so the earbuds can actively relieve it and stay comfortable. These measurements never leave the earbud and are erased immediately after they are processed for noise canceling.” This is Google’s solution for the lack of an air vent, but I’m curious as to whether the overall noise cancellation power on the Pixel Buds Pro is being hamstrung by this emphasis on comfort. It’d be nice to have the option to crank it to 11 — ear pressure be damned.
Backing up a bit, the Pixel Buds Pro carry on the design lineage of Google’s last couple models. The outward-facing portion still looks like a Mentos, especially in the mellow yellow color of my review sample, but the rest of the earbud is much more substantial and chunky. When you initially pluck them from the case, the Buds Pro might not seem like earbuds that will be especially comfortable or stay in your ears well. Thankfully, that first impression is misleading.
Even without the affixed stability fins from past Pixel Buds, the Buds Pro slid into my ears snugly, and after some twisting and light adjustments, I wasn’t concerned about them going anywhere. I thrashed my head around, and they stayed put. They also passed the standard eating and talking tests without dislodging. It’s certainly easier to (purposefully) remove them than the foam-tipped Sonys or deep-seated Galaxy Buds, but you don’t need to worry about unexpected tumbling-out-of-your-ears mishaps. I’ve noticed they stick out a bit in smaller ears but are more flush and subtle in big ears like mine. And despite the relative heft compared to lighter buds, they stayed comfortable over extended listening. Google bundles the standard three sets of silicone tips in the box, and there’s an ear tip seal test in the Pixel Buds app if you need further confirmation you’re using the right size. The pebble-shaped carrying case is also very similar to past Pixel Buds, with the same eggshell feel and satisfying snap when closing, plus wireless charging.
The Pixel Buds Pro deliver the best audio experience of Google’s lineup thus far. They don’t rival the superb dynamics and rich clarity of something like Sennheiser’s Momentum True Wireless 3 earbuds, and I think the Sony 1000XM4s still surpass them in a head-to-head. I wouldn’t quite rank these in that upper echelon, but for a daily, take-everywhere pair of earbuds, I’ve been pleased with Google’s refinements. The Hold Steady’s “Lanyards” came through with ample bass kick and punchy guitars. Lake Street Dive’s “Nick of Time” showed off their smooth vocal reproduction, and while sampling John Mayer’s “Wild Blue,” the Pixel Buds Pro created ample separation between instrumentation to let the solos shine. In some tracks, the mids can come off as recessed, and I’d like more control over the default V-shaped EQ. Google’s website confirms that’s in the works.
For now, audio tuning settings from past Pixel Buds (like bass boost) are MIA in the Pixel Buds app, but the company plans to add five-band EQ customization sometime this fall. In the meantime, there’s a “volume EQ” toggle that lifts bass and treble at lower volumes to keep your music sounding consistent throughout the range. Audiophiles might be disappointed that the Pixel Buds Pro only support AAC and SBC for Bluetooth codecs — rumors that they would also include LC3 and Bluetooth LE audio are untrue — but I think tuning and audio signature are ultimately more important to how they sound. If you can’t live without LDAC, there’s always the 1000XM4s, LinkBuds S, or even cheaper options.
To ensure the Pixel Buds Pro have fully conquered any unwelcome dropout issues, I tested the new earbuds on busy streets, intersections, and in other environments that would’ve spelled doom for the Pixel Buds 2. But the audio kept playing without any interruptions. That held true whether my phone was handheld or in my pants pocket; the latter scenario can cause audio disruptions for some earbuds, but not these. The connection is simply much more robust this time around.
Google covers pretty much everything you need with the onboard controls: tap once to play / pause, twice to skip tracks, or three times to go back. You can press and hold to switch between ANC and transparency, and this gesture can be customized (on either earbud) to activate Google Assistant as well. The swipe-based volume controls of the 2020 Pixel Buds have also returned, letting you increase loudness by brushing a finger forward across the earbud surface or lowering it by swiping backward.
The Pixel Buds Pro come with the usual perks of having Google Assistant in your ear; you can ask for the weather or walking directions, respond to texts, request a song, have notifications read aloud, or take advantage of features like Live Translate when traveling — all with hands-free “Hey Google” voice commands. It’s helpful to have these tricks at your disposal, but other specialties from past Pixel Buds — adaptive sound, attention alerts, and the aforementioned bass boost — have quietly been removed. Regardless, I’d argue the biggest new addition to the Pixel Buds Pro is multipoint, which allows you to connect to two audio sources (like your phone and computer) simultaneously.
And it works pretty much like a dream: I can start watching a video on my MacBook Pro, hit pause, switch over to my Pixel and start a song on Spotify, and the earbuds play it without delay. Stopping the song and jumping back to the video is just as seamless. When a call comes in, you can just answer it, and the buds will prioritize that audio; it’s a huge plus being able to avoid Bluetooth menus. Every so often, you’ll hear a little hitch in the audio when transitioning between audio sources, but it’s barely perceptible. Voice call performance is acceptable; I was intelligible to my colleagues on Zoom even in a busy coffee shop, and in quieter environments, I never got any complaints about mic quality.
Later this year, Google plans to counter Apple and Samsung by introducing spatial audio with head tracking for the Pixel Buds Pro. So when you’re watching movies or listening to Dolby Atmos music, you can move your head around, and the sound field will shift appropriately. But like always, this is all about ecosystem lock-in and will be limited to Google’s own hardware — so you’ll need a Pixel phone to do anything with it. The Pixel Buds Pro are also capable of intelligent automatic switching between various Android devices, but I don’t know many people using a handful of Android products unless you’ve got a smartwatch or TV that also happens to run the OS.
AGREE TO CONTINUE: GOOGLE PIXEL BUDS PRO
Every smart device now requires you to agree to a series of terms and conditions before you can use it — contracts that no one actually reads. It’s impossible for us to read and analyze every single one of these agreements. But we started counting exactly how many times you have to hit “agree” to use devices when we review them since these are agreements most people don’t read and definitely can’t negotiate.
You can pair and listen to Google’s Pixel Buds Pro without needing to agree to anything in the software. However, installing the Pixel Buds app — required to enable multipoint and other earbud features — comes with a number of mandatory agreements:
Google Assistant also collects data “such as your device contacts or activity on Google sites and apps, to provide better, more helpful answers through the Google Assistant. Third-party services may also share information with Google pursuant to their own privacy policies when you choose to use those services via Google services, including the Google Assistant.”
Final tally: between two and three semi-mandatory agreements if you want to get the most from the Pixel Buds Pro.
Battery life for Google’s latest buds is rated at 7 hours with noise cancellation on or up to 11 with it switched off; in several days of testing the Pixel Buds Pro so far, those estimates seem on the mark. And the earbuds are rated IPX4 for water resistance, so you don’t need to worry about getting them sweaty mid-workout. The case is a slightly less durable IPX2, but at least it’s got some level of protection.
Even with all the praise, there’ve been occasional bugs. I’ve had (very) rare instances where audio breaks down and gets unlistenable while watching a video when using multipoint, or the stereo imaging of the earbuds gets thrown out of whack after I manually disconnect one of the two devices. These glitches aren’t unheard of when using true wireless earbuds, and Google has some early kinks to iron out. But on the whole, I’m much more confident in recommending the Pixel Buds Pro than any of the company’s prior efforts, and that boils down to their rock-solid overall connection stability.
The Pixel Buds Pro are Google’s best set of earbuds yet. They’ve shed the connectivity flaws that sank the second-gen model while adding respectable active noise cancellation, longer battery life, and superior sound. And the inclusion of multipoint makes them genuinely more useful day to day. Like any pricey earbuds, you’ll want to try them on for yourself to get a feel for the fit. But assuming the new, bulkier design jibes with your ears, Google finally has a full-featured, flagship pair of earbuds that Pixel fans can enjoy without any back-of-mind reservations or second thoughts — just as it ought to be for $200.
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