The Pixel Buds look different from any other earbuds out there. They have a shallow hard plastic earbud and a bit of a cord that's used to form a loop to keep the bud in your ear. The earbud itself doesn't have the typical soft rubber tip that goes deep in your ear, and that's actually a good thing. Easily the most comfortable wireless earbuds I've used. The core feature of this design is comfort — these are easily the most comfortable earbuds I've ever placed in my ear. If it weren't for the cord dangling on the back of my neck, I would forget they're there — yes, they're that comfortable. Part of that is the super light weight of the buds, but also how they rest in your ear rather than jamming down inside. The cord loop is difficult to adjust at first, but you get used to it. On the other side of that coin, the Pixel Buds have almost no sound isolation. Because there's nothing that goes into your ear to seal out the outside world, you still hear ambient sound. For someone riding a bike down a busy street that's probably a good thing, and it makes talking on the phone via the Pixel Buds easier, but if you're sitting in a cafe and want to concentrate it'll be an annoyance. Sound quality is surprisingly good These are headphones, after all, so the sound quality is important — and it's surprisingly good! Even with a general lack of sound isolation letting in lots of noise from your environment, you can get a good range of sound and even a little bit of bass out of these tiny buds. They get louder than I'd ever want for my hearing's sake, but that lack of noise isolation also means that there's a higher chance you'll be turning the volume up a bit higher. Are they as good as wired earbuds of the same size and cost? Nope. But they're definitely better than what I experienced with the Gear IconX 2018 earbuds and are on par with larger "neckbud" type headphones I've used in the past. That's pretty good for a relatively tiny pair of headphones, and will be good enough for most people — even if they don't necessarily give you amazing quality for the money. Bluetooth 'Fast Pair' is amazing This isn't something that's specific to the Pixel Buds — you'll find it on an increasing number of headphones — but the new Bluetooth Fast Pair feature is fantastic. Open the Pixel Buds case, unlock your phone, and with a tap you're paired. It's absolutely wonderful, and it removes one of the biggest pain points of Bluetooth headphones. They work perfectly with non-Pixel phones (except one feature)

With "Pixel" in the name, it's easy to think that the Pixel Buds are made to only work with Pixel phones — thankfully, that isn't true. These are still Bluetooth headphones that can be paired with just about anything — Android phones, iPhones and even computers. Google's new Fast Pair Bluetooth pairing works with other modern Android phones, and for everything else they can pair up just like normal Bluetooth headphones. Google Assistant even works, again if you're paired up to a modern Android phone. The only feature that doesn't work is the real-time Google Translate function, which is limited to Pixel and Pixel 2 phones. Google's updates fixed two of the biggest complaints It took months, but Google finally released a software update for the Pixel Buds to fix two of the biggest complaints with the headphones: accidental touches when taking them in and out, and not being able to easily switch between connected devices. It took months, but Google finally fixed two of the biggest complaints in software. The Pixel Buds still can't detect when they've been removed from your ear, but you now have the next best thing — a triple tap on the right earbud immediately disconnects the Pixel Buds from your phone, so you can safely remove them without re-activating the touch controls. This also means you can let the Pixel Buds dangle on your neck for a bit while not in use without fear that they'll activate things. When you want to re-connect, just triple tap again and it'll jump back to your last-used device. Speaking of devices, the same update also dramatically improved the experience of using the Pixel Buds with more than a single phone. You can now pair the Pixel Buds to multiple devices, and once pairing has happened once you can simply initiate a Bluetooth connection from any one of those devices and the Pixel Buds will connect. Whether that's another phone, a tablet or a computer, it doesn't matter — the Pixel Buds will always jump to the most recent connection request. Google Assistant is FAST ... and needs some polish Though these aren't the only proper "Google Assistant headphones," this was my first experience with the feature — and consider me impressed. Rather than using "OK, Google" detection, the Pixel Buds trigger Assistant by pressing and holding on the right earbud to speak commands. Lift off of the earbud, and it finishes taking your input and does what you asked it to do.