This year saw the release of ‘pro’ earbuds from the three largest phone makers when you consider the Australian market. We got the Apple AirPods Pro 2, the Google Pixel Buds Pro and the Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro. While it seems the obvious choice is to go with the AirPods if you use an iPhone, the Pixel Buds if you have one of Google’s flagships or the Galaxy Buds if your phone folds, each of these three Pro earbuds can work across the other’s ecosystem. Something you can’t say about their respective watches.
All three of them each in their own way offer compelling propositions. So, let’s jump in.
Which is better AirPods Pro 2, Pixel Buds Pro or the Galaxy Buds2 Pro?
AirPods Pro 2 vs Pixel Buds Pro vs Galaxy Buds2 Pro: Price
Starting with the criteria that has absolutely no subjectivity involved: Price. The Apple AirPods Pro 2 are the most expensive option here, with Apple sending these out the door for a cool $399. The Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro come in $50 cheaper, at $349 (currently on sale for $299), and the Google Pixel Buds Pro will set you back $299.
Winner: This was going to be obvious, before Samsung slashed the price that is. The Google Pixel Buds Pro are the cheapest option not on sale but the Galaxy pair are the same price, so they win.
AirPods Pro 2 vs Pixel Buds Pro vs Galaxy Buds2 Pro: Look & feel
Each of the three earbuds are so ridiculously reminiscent of everything each phone maker does with everything they sell. The AirPods Pro 2 couldn’t possibly be sold by Samsung, for example, they’d look so out of place. The colour of the Google Buds are part of their appeal for many, offering you to have earbuds and a phone that match. I don’t like this but I do like the fact they’re black, something I don’t love about the AirPods/AirPods Pro range. The non-Pro Pixel Buds come in white, btw.
The Samsung Buds2 Pro aren’t hideous but they are just so big and bulky when shoved into your ear. The subjectivity is really obvious here, I have small ears and don’t like being made to feel like I have battled to fit a comically large earbud in my ear.
The Apple AirPods 2 measure 30.9 mm x 21.8 mm x 24 mm and weigh 5.3 grams. The Google Pixel Buds measure 23.72 mm x 22.33 mm x 22.03 mm and weigh 6.2 grams. The Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro measure 21.6 mm x 19.9 mm x 18.7 mm and weigh 5.5 grams. The case is shiny on the Apple pair and the other two are a soft, matte finish that feels better to touch. The case is huge on the Google pair.
The on-bud controls felt better and more natural with the AirPods Pro 2, but that’s because they have stems and you are less likely to accidentally activate a button trying to simply push them back into your ear holes.
Winner: The AirPods Pro 2 are sleek and light and don’t feel like you’re corking a wine bottle when you plonk them in your ear.
AirPods Pro 2 vs Pixel Buds Pro vs Galaxy Buds2 Pro: Compatibility & walled gardens
The AirPods Pro 2, Google Pixel Buds Pro and Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro all work fine across Android and iOS. You of course miss out on the walled garden features sticking with the one ecosystem gives you. For example, I can ask Siri while wearing the AirPods Pro 2 to handle something on-device and it gets done (of course using an iPhone), I don’t get that experience when I connect the AirPods to my Google Pixel 7 Pro. I still get gorgeous sound, but the earbuds become somewhat ‘dumb’ and are then just a vessel for transporting music into my ear holes.
It isn’t just Apple with this failing, it’s all of them – but the Google Buds and Samsung Buds2 both work much nicer on each other’s phone ecosystem given they’re both Android.
Winner: The Google Pixel Buds Pro and the Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro both win here, they’re a little less ‘walled garden-y’ and reliably hold a connection on each other’s phones. The Apple AirPods Pro 2 DO get a shoutout for giving THE BEST multi-device experience (iPhone/iPad/MacBook).
AirPods Pro 2 vs Pixel Buds Pro vs Galaxy Buds2 Pro: Battery
Another break from subjectivity.
Apple reckons the AirPods Pro 2 will give you up to 6 hours of listening time with a single charge (but that drops to up to 5.5 hours with Spatial Audio and Head Tracking enabled). You’ll get up to 4.5 hours of talk time with a single charge, providing you don’t listen to music through them. The charging case will give you ~30 hours of listening time and ~24 hours of talk time in total. They charge up super quickly, however, and you’ll get an hour of use from 5 minutes in the case.
The Google Pixel Buds Pro, meanwhile, will give you up to 7 hours of listening time with Active Noise Cancellation on. That bumps up to 11 hours if you turn ANC off. Combined with the case, you’ll get ~30 hours of total listening time, which is the same as the AirPods Pro 2. As is the case with the AirPods Pro 2, 5 minutes in the case will give you an hour of use (even with ANC on).
Lastly, the Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro will last up to 5 hours. This is…quite bad. Samsung doesn’t lay out its battery claims all too well, probably deliberately. BUT, Samsung advertises up to 5 hours of playback for the buds with ANC on and 8 hours with it off. The Buds 2 Pro charging case can bump that up to 18 hours of playback total with ANC on and 29 hours with it off.
Winner: The Google Pixel Buds just slightly beat out the Apple AirPods Pro 2 (by an hour), but they’re kilometres ahead of the Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro on battery life.
AirPods Pro 2 vs Pixel Buds Pro vs Galaxy Buds2 Pro: Music
Just to be clear, the active noise cancellation (ANC) on all three of these earbuds is spectacular. Apple comes out just ahead, but that’s because, I feel, they completely remove you from the outside world. Google is closing in on Samsung and Samsung is closing in on Apple. It’s a short lead.
Listening to music is much the same.
The Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro sound best on less instrument-heavy music. Across pop and more electronic tunes, you’ll get loud, distortion-free clear separation from voice and backing tracks, none of that thudding sound that sometimes comes with super repetitive and loud melodic loops happening in the background. Bass is handled quite well, too. The heavier the track, however, the more noticeable the distortion is and sometimes there’s bleeding between vocals (screams) and guitars (tuned very low).
The Google Pixel Buds Pro also sound really, really good, but can be a little heavy-handed with the bass when compared to the Apple AirPods Pro, which provides a more balanced soundscape. Drums can feel a little overpowering, with the thud lasting in your ear a little too long. Pop music is delivered superbly, and I’d have to agree with our reviewer, that there’s good separation between highs and lows when boosting the volume through the Pixel Buds Pro (full volume was far too loud for my ears to take) although the bass gets a little too dominant when the buds get really loud, and at high volume, they weren’t completely free from distortion.
Lastly, with the Apple AirPods Pro 2, Adaptive EQ means richer bass, particularly at lower levels, crystal clear sound across a wide range of frequencies – and a lot of this is handled software side. Hip-hop, pop, rock and EDM will get you excited. Anything with instruments that kick will sound schmick, to be honest. Putting the buds through the usual song tests, I can hear silence on a track, a light and climbing guitar strum, feel the emotion in vocals, paired beautifully with drums that don’t overpower the other instruments, nor make you flinch when a heavy bang beams through. Spatial Audio is also a plus.
Winner: The Apple AirPods Pro 2. They sound the best, but the others still sound great.
The verdict
Don’t be mad but I have to split it three ways. The Apple AirPods Pro 2 are perfect if you use an iPhone, the Google Pixel Buds Pro are perfect if you use a Pixel phone and the Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro are perfect if you use a Samsung phone, double perfect if you have a Samsung Galaxy Watch and use the company’s fitness/health-tracking features to their full capacity. The sound from the AirPods Pro 2 is only marginally better than the Galaxy Buds2 Pro, but the noise-cancelling on both of those trumps the Google Pixel Buds Pro. The Google Assistant is the better of the three, so the Buds Pro are better experience.
If I had to pick a winner, I’d go the AirPods Pro 2. But, it’s like picking your favourite child. Sorry I haven’t made your life any easier.
