
Google Pixel Buds - cglong
https://blog.google/products/pixel-buds/pixel-buds-now-available
======
dang
All: just so you know, we changed the URL from
[https://store.google.com/product/pixel_buds](https://store.google.com/product/pixel_buds)
to a more readable article. Some of the comments are about the original site.

~~~
WhyNotHugo
Visiting that link takes me to the store, but no buds listed there.

Maybe they're region-locked?

(Note: Not redirected. It's that same URL, but only lists other products).

~~~
judge2020
Based on using some various "view site from different locations" websites,
Brazil can't see it, Italy and Japan get "we aren't in your region", and
Sweden gets a list of other products.

------
crazygringo
I'm very happy to see better competition with Apple's AirPods. And visually,
these look fantastic -- distinct but just as tasteful.

The lack of active noise cancellation still seems to leave Google a
"generation behind" here, but playing catch-up is still a great thing.

But more than anything, I'm fascinated by the "Adaptive Sound" mode.
Seriously, for _years_ I've wanted my headphones (and laptop speakers) to
auto-adjust their volume based on both the signal and ambient noise. If it
works well, I hope to see the concept spread pretty much everywhere as an
option.

~~~
thebean11
Yeah, no active noise cancellation or "transparency mode" equivalent is just a
massive bummer. It's hard to compete with the AirPods when you're missing the
two most impressive features.

They sure look cool though.

~~~
Eyas
They have a vented design which is very similar to transparency mode.

I wouldn't say a generation behind compared to AirPods, but they're definitely
a _class_ below AirPod Pros.

~~~
thebean11
Oh I missed that detail, what does the vented design achieve on the pixel
buds? Can you control how much sound gets in?

~~~
disillusioned
My read is that they're fundamentally like "open backed" headphones. It's not
controllable, it's just that they don't actively block the air, so they let
outside sounds in.

------
samcrawford
"Get real-time translations right in your ear". This immediately made me think
of the babelfish from Hitchhiker's Guide. Looking forward to reading some
reviews of these.

~~~
retSava
Had a Google hangouts meeting with a US and an AU participant, and I'm from
Sweden, and amazingly enough Hangouts (or is it Meet now?) can provide close
to real-time closed captions (subtitles), with a very high degree of accuracy.
It also shows who is saying something, so subs may be,

PartA: Who's going? PartB: I'm going. PartC: When is it?

What boggles my mind is why it doesn't immediately after the meeting end,
Hangout would send you a transcript of the meeting. This would be a crazy USP.

~~~
Foivos
I think the option to save the transcript is available only to the organiser
of the call.

~~~
retSava
I was the organizer but didn't see it. Another coming up in 3 minutes, will
look closer this time!

~~~
Foivos
I checked the online documentation again and there is no mention of recording
the live captions now. I am very confident that, a few months ago, this option
was there for the call organisers.

------
komali2
> Listen all day long. > Get up to 5 hours with a single charge,

If quarantine has taught me anything, it's that 5 hours is not all day lol.
I've switched to wired headphones because my wireless weren't working for me
working/walkingaround/etc all day, unlike when I was working and I'd only wear
them during the commute in, gym, and commute home.

~~~
what_ever
> 10-minute charge of earbuds in the wireless charging case delivers up to 2
> hours of listening time and up to 1 hour of talk time.

I think it could work for me given the case provides 24 hours of listening
time. I sure don't mind taking 10 minutes break every 2 hours or so.

Disc: Googler.

~~~
wetpaws
I have a Bluetooth headphone with 14 hour life and keeping track of the
battery and remembering to charge it is already really distracting.

2 hours sounds like an absolute nightmare.

~~~
tashoecraft
It's a different mindset. The buds charge in a case so whenever you're doing
anything else you just drop them in. They charge very fast so I can go days
without realizing the battery is draining just by habits. It's only when I don
longer session that I hit it.

------
jmcnulty
I have a pair of the first generation Pixel Buds in my draw. One of my most
frustrating product experiences of recent years. They didn't last that long in
use (~5 hrs IIRC) so would frequently have to go back into the case to
recharge, if I was lucky. The connections to the charge points in the case
were so flakey that it was hit and miss if they would charge at all. Sometimes
I'd pop them in at night, think it was ok as the LED was pulsing. But come the
morning they'd be as flat as they were the night before. This happened SO many
times I really started to hate them.

And they didn't block any ambient sound, so were pretty much useless in noisy
environments.

Eventually I gave up, went in a different direction and purchased a pair of
SONY WH-1000XM3 over ear headphones. What a world of difference. Gorgeous
sound, comfortable, noise cancelling (or ambient sound) and 30 hours of
battery life. My buds have just sat gathering dust ever since. Don't want to
use them ever again, and it's put me off buying anything like them in future.

~~~
bradstewart
Same experience. Traveling with these was awful.

I'd routinely get on a plane only to discover the Buds had nearly dead
batteries after they decided to wake up in my backpack and connect to my phone
because the case was slightly ajar.

~~~
jmcnulty
That happened to me as well. I resorted to using an elastic band to keep the
case shut.

------
smhg
This is probably a better (location independent) link:

[https://blog.google/products/pixel-buds/pixel-buds-now-
avail...](https://blog.google/products/pixel-buds/pixel-buds-now-available)

~~~
dang
Ok, we'll change to that from
[https://store.google.com/product/pixel_buds](https://store.google.com/product/pixel_buds).

Most of this thread is complaining about the original site, but let's give it
a try.

------
kernelbugs
Does anyone else really struggle with comfort when using headphones which go
into the ear canal (IEMs)? I know there is better sound isolation, but for
some reason I cannot stand the minor pressure of them in my ears.

~~~
crazygringo
Have you actually tried the AirPods Pro?

I've always used in-ear headphones but also always felt fatigue from the
pressure.

But the AirPods just don't have it. It's more like they sit at the edge of
your ear instead of burrowing inside it, and they explicitly use some kind of
vent to equalize pressure as well.

Visually, these look like they operate in roughly the same way.

~~~
mooman219
I've tried them, it's definitely an issue still. If I place them at the edge
of my ear they just fall out. Tried the different sizes too. I never used in-
ear prior in my life, so I assume I'm just not used to it.

------
a254613e
What's up with google and their inability to:

A. Launch products, both software and hardware, worldwide (or at least
majority of countries).

B. Launch products with clear dates and not just "Join a waiting list". At
least in German store that's the only option.

~~~
crazygringo
Do you realize how insanely hard that actually is to do?

It's not like you just localize some webpages and add a currency option to
your payment.

You've got to deal with certification, taxes, customs, warehousing, shipping
partners, warranties, refund, and all with wildly varying levels of government
agency cooperation and efficiency.

Apple is the only consumer company I know of who does this well, because it's
their main business and they have the money and have gigantic teams of people
who do this as their main job. And even then people complain about the
sometimes vastly higher worldwide prices.

Now Google obviously _does_ manage to eventually get these products out
internationally. But it's pretty understandable that they sell in the US as
soon as they can, and also can't necessarily predict the exact date they'll be
available elsewhere.

(And yes you can work with local distributors, but that doesn't solve all
problems, presents its own set of complex challenges, and sometimes may simply
not be economically viable -- e.g. their cut will make the product non-
profitable, and there isn't a market to sell at a higher price.)

~~~
hocuspocus
> (And yes you can work with local distributors, but that doesn't solve all
> problems, presents its own set of complex challenges, and sometimes may
> simply not be economically viable -- e.g. their cut will make the product
> non-profitable, and there isn't a market to sell at a higher price.)

Cry me a river. I can buy a $150 Nokia at the electronics store down the road,
but somehow it's too hard for Google to sell its Pixel lineup (which is not
cheap by any means) and make a profit?

They bought a chunk of HTC 3 years ago. HTC has known how to distribute their
products for nearly two decades.

~~~
JakeTheAndroid
They bought only parts of HTC, and the parts the purchased didn't include
their distribution as far as I can find. We don't even know how HTC achieved
their distribution to begin with. Did HTC own the entire supply chain or did
they offload that to a 3rd party?

Either way, HTCs supply chain is way different than Googles even with
acquisition. And there is no way to know if Googles pre-existing processes
would allow them to leverage HTCs distribution effectively if they own it
(which I doubt).

You're comparing different things. What Nokia phone are you buying for 150 in
your country? Nokia isn't a US company like Google. Nokia if Finnish. So it'd
seem likely they'd have figured out EU distribution because they exist in the
region and align with EU processes before NA.

Nokia has basically always produced hardware they've needed to ship. Google
started as a software company that just so happens to deal in a few hardware
projects. When they first bought the Motorola patents they crashed and burned
hard on their hardware. And this was after their initial Nexus launch.

If you cannot get a Pixel in your country it's probably not because Google
decided they can't make a profit on the phone. It's likely a restriction in
shipping they don't care to get around yet, the demand for their devices
aren't high enough for them to solve distribution issues, or they just don't
care that much about their hardware businesses.

~~~
hocuspocus
HMD is hardly a European company, but you can replace Nokia with Xiaomi in my
argument if you prefer.

Why should I care about how Google's hardware business operates? They sold
their first Nexus phone 10 years ago, how many more decades will they need to
learn?

> or they just don't care that much about their hardware businesses

Then they should just stop pretending. The Pixel branding and pricing is a
joke. At least American customers can wait until the phones inevitably reach
$400-450 six months after their launch.

------
gadnuk
Is there a reason they announced this a few hours before earnings?

They look good, but I don't see it on par with the AirPods that have noise
cancellation, sweat and water resistance. And given Google's inability to
support their hardware products past a few years, doubt these would take off
(but I hope they do).

~~~
ayoisaiah
It's a lot cheaper than Airpods Pro, and has a few tricks up its sleeve like
Assistant/Real-time translation.

~~~
rsynnott
But more expensive than Airpods, which are the product it's more similar to,
unless you really want the assistant stuff.

------
hnarn
I recently bought an iPhone SE after entertaining the thought of maybe waiting
for the new Pixel phone. For reasons already mentioned by others here, I feel
like I'm done with Google hardware. The iPhone is by no means perfect and
sure, it restricts me in what software I can download and use, but at least it
works. I don't want to run obscure adb commands, follow online tutorials or
try other roms from xda-developers anymore for basic functionality to work
because my device software is badly done, abandoned or both. I'm too old for
that, and the SE is decently priced too for what you get.

~~~
jspaetzel
Was the last android version you used released on a 3rd party device in 2012?
Because that's what you're describing.

~~~
zamalek
I'm on a Pixel 4. I love it. Everything just works. My fiance's Samsung is
complete and utter trash, I've considered installing a ROM.

Android One makes a big difference.

~~~
holtalanm
preach. I went from a Samsung Note to a Pixel XL and my god the difference is
astounding. Gonna stick with Pixel from now on.

------
bnt
“We aren’t in your region yet” - OK, I’ll go back to my AirPods then.

~~~
bobviolier
Yeah, I really don't get why they don't just release them everywhere. The same
for all their products btw. In the Netherlands they still sell the old Google
Wifi (1st gen), which is apparently their main product as it is the first
thing you see when you go to the store site here.

~~~
saagarjha
Perhaps because the live translation feature isn’t ready for the locale yet?

~~~
falcor84
I would hazard a guess that the majority of people who can afford these
outside the US are already very proficient with both English and their local
language(s), and wouldn't care much about this feature.

------
wodenokoto
In true google “organizing the world’s information”-fashion this page is not
available in certain countries and you are not even informed that you have
been blocked or that you tried to go somewhere “you shouldn’t”

This silent blocking makes me unreasonably angry.

Why is it a secret that google is selling a phone or a set of earbuds? Why
can’t they acknowledge that it exists?

------
losvedir
I'll be looking at the reviews with interest. I wanted to like the original
Pixel Buds but the first pair I got were duds (though support was good about
shipping me a new pair) but then the second pair eventually died and wouldn't
charge. I'm hoping these work better. I looked at reviews for the originals
_after_ I bought them and the reviews weren't great, so maybe I should have
looked at them before...

I like the auto-volume adjustment _as long as_ you can put a max volume on it.
If the ambient noise is loud, I don't want my music to get _even louder_ so I
can hear it over the noise; I worry about protecting my hearing. If anything,
I'd rather the buds decide to just turn off if they decide the noise is too
loud to play over.

------
rayshan
Here's a great video review by one of my favorite presenters:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMKgWMO3fu8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMKgWMO3fu8)

------
programmertote
I will always have a difficult time deciding to buy a new hardware from Google
(maybe except Pixel phone because I have read some good things here and there
on HN about it and my wife have been using it for about six months now and
does not have a major issue so far although she said the UI is really
confusing/annoying at times) after buying two Google home minis at two
different times only to end up with both only being half-functional after just
about a year of light use.

Good: I have Echo and I can tell that the AI in Google Home (mini) is more
advanced than that in Alexa.

Bad 1: Every time my wife (who uses Pixel phone) and I (I have an iPhone 6)
connect via Bluetooth to our Google home minis, it drops after a few minutes
consistently even when we are using YouTube, which is Google's own app. We
tried all kinds of ways that we can find online to reset these Home minis, and
still that connectivity issue still persists. That went on for about 8 months
and now, both of these minis (bought separately 3-4 months apart) are no
longer connectable through Bluetooth. I really wonder if other Google Home
owners face the same issue.

Bad 2: Google Home app is very confusing to use. Another bad example is--I
have the temperature metric set to Celcius (I grew up in a non-US country) and
both of these minis no longer read temperature in Celcius (after reading it
for about the first six months of use) despite how many times I attempt to
reset it in the app connected to my Google account. I don't know if it has to
do with the firmware upgrades or the app upgrades that has failed to update
the parameters within, but even as a relatively tech-savvy person, I still
have trouble understanding the UI and worse, how to get these minis do such
simple thing as reading out temperature in the metric that I want to use.

~~~
spuz
Have you tried the Google Pixel Buds 1? It might be better to compare their
track record when it comes to headphones rather than home assistants.

------
notechback
Marvellous! Another product with non-replaceable batteries. Hostile to both
consumers and the environment. Really sad to see that all these big companies
don't care even to the smallest degree about all their own environmental
pledges.

~~~
bzb3
Big companies care about what their customers care. Customers don't care about
replaceable batteries, or at least not enough to stop buying.

~~~
asdkhadsj
And this is where government needs to step in, imo. We can't let peoples
shopping habits decide what environmental damage is done.

 _edit_ : Interesting downvotes. I would appreciate clarification and
discussion.

My opinion is such that people will not choose to better the environment.
People have let the oceans fill with plastic for _years_. What faith do you
have in the the population as a whole to adapt to environmental impacts
_before_ they become a massive problem? If people were capable of this, would
they not already have adapted? Hell, people have to be forced to _wear
seatbelts for their own safety_.

~~~
scarface74
I have less faith in the government to give them anymore power than they
already have.

~~~
asdkhadsj
I'm super open to alternatives. Thoughts?

------
tabs_masterrace
The question is, is the battery replaceable? As with Airpods, I won't buy any
product that automatically becomes trash after 2 years, and I hope others will
too. It is not sustainable and it is time for consumers to refuse this notion.
Sure, these little pods won't tip the scale very much, but the practice is
sending all the wrong messages.

~~~
encom
You know it won't be. Wireless headphones are disposable.

My wired Sennheisers are 10 years old. I've replaced the foam pads on them,
which are still available from 1st and 3rd parties. I know someone who just
replaced the pads on her Sennheisers which are 25 years old now.

I was basically called a luddite here the other day, because I thought
firmware updating headphones is madness, but I stand by what I said. Wireless
headphones are a solution to a manufactured problem, because Apple started
removing the headphone port, and everyone copied them, as they always do. Now
everyone is selling their own crappy AirPods.

~~~
matwood
> Wireless headphones are a solution to a manufactured problem,

You can think that, but getting rid of wires is an improvement over nearly any
situation other than sitting at a desk. And even then, I still sometimes slide
away from the desk and yank on the cord.

~~~
encom
On the face of it, no wires seem like a good thing, but it brings with it a
range of drawbacks.

Compatibility: Bluetooth isn't supported on all devices. And Bluetooth setup
and pairing can still be a mess. Analog means round peg goes in round hole and
it always works. Sound quality: Bluetooth, as far as I know, still doesn't
transmit PCM, so audio is compressed, which may or may not be perceptible to
you. Latency: Unavoidable, and may or may not be important to you. Longevity:
Wireless means more complexity, and higher price and another battery I need to
charge and that will only last N cycles before it dies. Stallman-ity: Wireless
headphones run proprietry closed sourced code that you have no control over.

~~~
mikestew
_On the face of it, no wires seem like a good thing, but it brings with it a
range of drawbacks._

Which does not make wireless headphones a "solution to a manufactured
problem". You're fine with wires, fine, but others don't have the same use
case you do. Your list of drawbacks? There's your "manufactured problems",
none of those things matter to me when I'm out for a run.

------
alexpetralia
These look like hearing aids to me.

~~~
Ididntdothis
Once people who have used such headphones for decades are older there will a
be big market for hearing aids.

~~~
oblio
Why?

~~~
postalrat
I assume hearing damage from wearing an earbud for many hours of the day.

~~~
oblio
Unless you turn the volume up, is this really the case?

~~~
Ididntdothis
If you are like me you will crank up the volume over time. I definitely have
hearing damage from headphone use years ago.

------
danschumann
Maybe I watch too much Simpsons, but if I were writing features and benefits,
I'd put: "Makes you look like a robot"

------
Waterluvian
The website seems to want to be an Apple website. But this one just murders my
phone. Does anyone know of any blogs that do an in depth look at how popular
pages are implemented or is that impossible with modern minification?

I'd kill to learn why two very similar sites are just so different in
performance.

------
vpner
Currently using samsung galaxy buds+ and pretty happy with them:
[https://www.samsung.com/global/galaxy/galaxy-buds-
plus/](https://www.samsung.com/global/galaxy/galaxy-buds-plus/).

------
r00fus
Google beats Apple to a multicolor product. I am not a fan of the chosen
colors, but I suppose they had a reason.

Also aesthetically the embossed "G" is a bit garish to me.

I wonder if the Find my device feature works on iOS (even if only through
Safari)?

------
hacker_newz
I will never understand why Google continues to invest in products they fail
miserably at. They were late to the market with the first Pixel buds, and this
doesn't seem any better. That battery life is terrible.

~~~
ebg13
> _That battery life is terrible._

It's the same as airpods, and people love airpods.

------
izzydata
No active noise canceling?

------
dnrvs
That's a shame. I like my ones with the string between them

------
shoulderfake
They look better in the ear than those ridiculous apple ones

------
timvdalen
The connecting cord is my favorite part of my Pixel Buds (1).

~~~
sunnyam
I did like that, especially the ability to take one earpiece out without
worrying that it will get lost, but overall I prefer it without the wire. I've
had mine for about 2 years and the wire has gotten stiff (probably through
work hardening) and that makes it more uncomfortable to wear and makes it
harder to fit in the carrying/charging case.

------
DevKoala
They look bad. What is up with the prominently carved "G"? They feel like they
were designed by a truck manufacturer.

~~~
bootlooped
Is it that prominent? You can't even see it in many of the images since it's
always the same color as its background.

------
dmix
Looks like a hearing aid.

------
arrty88
Does google have enhanced Bluetooth tech like Apples W1 chip?

------
clusmore
Off-topic but this website is such a blatant rip-off of the AirPods Pro
landing page[1] (EDIT: Discussed at the time [2]), and I _hate_ the UX. I'm
not sure what device this is optimised for, but it requires a tonn of
scrolling, it's janky, you end up scrolling past the info you want, it breaks
basic functionality like Ctrl+F. Why not just make a video instead of a
webpage, since that's clearly the effect they're going for?

[1]: [https://www.apple.com/airpods-pro/](https://www.apple.com/airpods-pro/)

[2]:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21378754](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21378754)

~~~
crazygringo
The _entire product_ is a copy of the AirPods.

But you know what? _I 'm fine with that._ That's how competition works, and
competition is what brings down prices.

And I personally find the scrolling page design (both Apple's and Google's)
pretty cool. It would drive me nuts if a site I used daily implemented
something like that, like if it became a trend for news sites. But to show off
a new product where I'll scroll through once in my life? It's pretty slick as
far as I'm concerned. (Provided you've got the CPU to handle it.)

~~~
reaperducer
_That 's how competition works_

No. Competition is you inventing a _better_ mousetrap, not copying someone
else's mousetrap.

~~~
EvanAnderson
If your mousetrap's very easy to copy maybe your mousetrap isn't good to begin
with.

Patents, design patents, trademarks, and trade dress are all completely
reasonable ways to protect your product. Failing the ability of any of those
methods to product your product, I'd argue copying is fair game.

------
marcus_holmes
Please Google, just because my browser is in Berlin, that doesn't mean I speak
German. I'd like to look at your product. I might even be interested. But I
can't understand what you're telling me.

I have language preferences in my account, and you definitely know who I am
because you're showing my picture in the top right corner.

So why does where I am take precedence over who I am?

~~~
satysin
I always wondered wtf the browsers language setting is for. Can a website not
query this for the preferred language rather than make a language decision
based on an IP address geo lookup?

I am English, my browsers language order is to set English (UK) then English
(generic). No foreign languages. However I live in France and if I visit a
site it will give me a French version due to my location rather than the
language set within the browser.

I (apparently wrongly) assumed saying I want content in English would mean the
website would query what language the user wants and then send that.

Could someone explain what the browser language preference is for?

~~~
kevincox
It's a bit of a chicken and egg problem which is incredibly frustrating, I
wish websites would start to respect it so users start to configure their
browser properly.

Users don't configure it (and quite possibly don't know how) so many websites
ignore it.

Many websites ignore it so it isn't that useful to learn how to configure it.

~~~
reaperducer
On my sites, the URL parameters wins. For example, when the user is explicitly
changing a page's language.

#2 is the site language cookie from a previous visit. If that fails, #3 is the
language the browser requests. If all those fail, English, because it is the
most common language the company uses internally.

In our user testing, we run into a lot of situations where the computer's
primary user, and the person who set it up, are a child, who speaks English.
But our site is more geared toward their parents, who often will speak the
language of their homeland. For this reason, I make it stupidly easy to change
languages, and we have a policy that ALL content has to be translated into
English, Spanish, and Chinese, which covers 99.8% of our customers.

You don't find out these sorts of things through modern "telemetry" gathering
and such current methods of testing. You find these things out by going into
the field and watching your customers use your products. But interacting with
wetware is beneath people in the SV bubble.

------
erk__
For people that cannot access the website: I guess this is what the link
points to [https://www.tomsguide.com/news/pixel-
buds-2](https://www.tomsguide.com/news/pixel-buds-2)

It is pretty annoying that I get redirected away from the site because they
don't have them in Denmark.

~~~
fishbacon
I found this link[1] Which links the US store directly.

[1]
[https://store.google.com/us/product/pixel_buds](https://store.google.com/us/product/pixel_buds)

------
choward
The scrolling on that site is atrocious. What's up with the "Pixel" branding
on the headphones? After the Nexus 6P, I'm never buying another of their
phones again. I see "Pixel" and immediately think "not buying that". Do I need
a Pixel for these to work? Will I be missing out on features of I don't have
one? I can't find anything mentioning what makes these "Pixel" headphones.
Google's marketing is awful.

~~~
robertakarobin
I have a Pixel 2 and really like it. I've hardly had any problems with the
speed or performance of the device, and the camera is better than my DSLR.

~~~
def8cefe
Same here, I have a Pixel 2 and it has held up very well. I run GrapheneOS on
it. I had issues with the back glass on the OG Pixel being extremely fragile,
but no such issues with this iteration of the device.

I'm tempted to upgrade to a Pixel 4 for the wireless charging but it's not
worth a grand. I will probably wait to do so until GrapheneOS no longer
supports the 2.

------
henvic
If you're trying to access from Europe (at least here, in The Netherlands) the
link doesn't work.

[https://store.google.com/us/product/pixel_buds?hl=en-
US](https://store.google.com/us/product/pixel_buds?hl=en-US) works.

~~~
dang
We've changed the link now to an article that should be readable.

------
shoes_for_thee
jfc i do not want to live in a world where people are constantly staring at
their phone with their ears plugged.

~~~
sdenton4
I think you're about two years too late for that, cap'n.

------
gamma3
Whoa, those are some ugly earphones.

------
sabujp
much cheaper alternatives : [https://headphonesaddict.com/best-underwater-
bluetooth-headp...](https://headphonesaddict.com/best-underwater-bluetooth-
headphones/)

------
rsynnott
> In October, we introduced the all-new Google Pixel Buds [..] Today, Pixel
> Buds are available for $179 in Clearly White in the U.S.

So, 'introduced' in this context means "mentioned we would sell at some point"
rather than the more conventional meaning of introducing to the market?

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shrimpx
These prices are horrendous. I bought some GoNovation Demi buds for $40 and
they are ipx7 with aptX and sound amazing with great battery life. No way in
hell these pixel buds are 4.5x better. Apple Google and Samsung are using
propaganda to spread the lie that $150-200 is the price point of earbuds. Look
at GoNovation, MEE, Anker, and other companies doing amazing work delivering
quality under $50.

~~~
kadoban
Not a new concept in marketing, but yeah these are not what I'd buy even if I
were into wireless headphones. You're paying more for the name than anything
else.

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beyondcompute
Another weird product from Google. I have an impression (I might be wrong)
that decisions there are made by a) hardcore geeks, b)
“politicians”/ideologues. It manifests in company’s complete inability to
connect with real-world everyday people, to understand what consumers want,
what they prefer or dream about.

Another possibility is “self-organization”, of course, or decisions made by
committees where everyone us afraid to hurt others’ feelings and the
responsibilities are blurred so much that the resulting products always turn
out awkward and full of compromises.

Products that are totally devoid of fun, desire and in some cases common
sense.

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systemvoltage
IMO this is a horrible case design - why make it round so it rolls around on
your desk? Can't stand it up right, etc. It is not an object that you
continuously hold in your palm, then why not make it a box? Add draft angles
to help with the injection molding process.

Industrial designers are continually chasing organic forms for no reason at
all from car interiors to headphone cases - functionalism takes a back seat,
fancy presentations to executives impress and sexy curves appeal to the
masses.

It is almost as if we've forgotten how to design things from the ground up -
functional aspects should define the form. Earbuds are fine though - they need
to be ergonomic to sit in the ear.

~~~
cbeley
I would imagine it would live in my pocket more often. In that case, the round
design is a lot more comfortable.

I'm not sure why I'd want it to stand up-right on my desk either. It'd just
accidentally knock it over.

To each their own.

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tomerbd
I'm using wired, I keep getting pain whenever I use wireless earphones with
radiation.

~~~
NathanWilliams
Radiation? What radiation are you talking about? The non-ionising Bluetooth?
The radiating sound waves?

What about the (again, non-ionising) EMF coming from the cords in your wired
headphones?

Sometimes a little knowledge is a dangerous thing...

~~~
tomerbd
The one that causes pain in ears.

~~~
copperx
Are you talking about pain that radiates out of your ears?

~~~
tomerbd
"Overall, extremely low frequency magnetic fields were evaluated as possibly
carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B)."

[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK390731/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK390731/)

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orliesaurus
I wonder how much electro magnetic radiation they will emit...there were quite
a few scaremongering videos out there about the airpods...or bluetooth
headphones in general.

The issue is that most people (that I've noticed in the US) just have them in
their ears ALL DAY. The earbuds/airbuds/headhphones are connected to cellular
phones (and hence transmitting just to stay connected).

That CAN'T be good for your ears/brain...Not an doctor myself but just common
sense I believe? Anyone has any idea...am I just tripping?

~~~
Guest0918231
> That CAN'T be good for your ears/brain...Not an doctor myself but just
> common sense I believe?

Electromagnetic radiation sounds like a scary word, but visible light also
falls into that category. Does this mean it's unhealthy to be in a room with
light? Should we cover our windows, turn off our lights, and live in the dark
to limit our exposure?

~~~
Symbiote
That alone isn't a good counterargument, since x-rays and gamma rays are also
electromagnetic radiation.

~~~
govg
True, what needs to be emphasized is that the visible spectrum lies above
bluetooth / 5G and whatever when it comes to energy, whereas x-rays and the
like lie above the visible spectrum itself.

~~~
hedora
That’s not a good argument either. Microwave ovens are at a similar frequency
to Bluetooth.

The important factor for cancer is how much energy penetrates the outer layers
of the skin and is therefore able to damage DNA.

