Gemini Will Overshadow the Best Upgrades to Google's New Pixel Buds and Pixel Watch

Google's AI assistant will get the spotlight, but that doesn't mean the new wireless earbuds and smartwatch won't have hardware improvements.

My gut tells me that Google is going to use its Pixel devices launch event on August 20 to talk a lot about AI—specifically Gemini and how it’ll be woven into the Android-powered devices in a deep way. Google so poorly safeguarded the reveal of its entire Pixel hardware lineup that it only makes sense for the company to focus its upcoming event on AI rather than the gadgets themselves.

That’s what I’m thinking about as I see the daily leaks for the Pixel 10 family and the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, along with alleged pricing for every model and storage tier. Now we have full leaks—not just morsels—for the Pixel Buds 2A and the Pixel Watch 4, courtesy of Android Headlines and Evan Blass (@evleaks), respectively.

Android Headlines has been on a roll lately, leaking basically every detail about the Pixel 10 phones, Pixel Watch 4, and now the Pixel Buds 2A. The budget-centric wireless earbuds will reportedly come in three colors (“Iris,” “Strawberry,” and “Fog Light”) and will be sticking to stemless designs, even as other brands like Samsung caved with the Buds Pro 3 and copied AirPods. As I exclusively reported last year, wireless earbuds with stems often have better voice call quality because the microphone is placed on the stem and physically closer to your mouth. I’d bet money that Google will spend a chunk of its keynote talking about how it’s using AI to boost noise reduction and call quality; we’ve already seen the machine-learning techniques deployed as various Pixel 9 camera and audio recording features. It’s hard to discern from a few leaked shots, but the case of the Pixel Buds 2A also looks… stubbier? Pricing for the Pixel Buds 2A hasn’t leaked, yet, but there are still 19 days for that to happen!

Most likely to be overlooked will be improvements to sound quality and longer battery life—the two most important things to consider when purchasing wireless earbuds. If there’s anything AI should be used for, I’d love for it to be longer battery life. The current Pixel Buds A-Series get up to 5 hours of listening time and up to 2.5 hours of talk time on a single charge; with the charging case, you get a total of up to 24 hours of battery life.

In related Pixel accessories news, the same tech blog also shared details on the Pixel Watch 4. Reportedly coming in the same 41mm and 45mm sizes, the fourth-gen Google Wear OS smartwatch will largely look the same with a round display set in a pebble-shaped case. The smartwatches will supposedly come in four colors: black, silver, gold, and a “Moonstone” gray that I’m digging. You can bet your ass they’ll come with Gemini, just like the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 and 8 Classic.

Just like the Pixel Buds 2A, I anticipate Google will gloss right over the upgrades to the Pixel Watch 4, such as its bigger battery, up to 25% faster charging, and a new puck (see image above) that lets you prop the smartwatches sideways. Who has time to talk about smartwatch tech specs when Gemini loves to hog the stage?

Leaked pricing for the 41mm Pixel Watch is as follows: $349 for the Wi-Fi-only version and $399 with LTE. For the 45mm model: $399 for Wi-Fi-only and $449 with LTE. For those keeping track, the $349 is the same starting price as the current Pixel 3, so reportedly no price hike!

I’m being snarky. I’ll, of course, give any AI and Gemini integration on the Pixel Buds 2A and Pixel Watch 4 a fair shake. I legit believe that AI—when included intentionally—can be additive. Every tech company is shoehorning AI into what are mature product categories. It’s a free-for-all to see who can jam AI into devices in the least icky way.

Like
Love
Haha
3
Upgrade to Pro
Alege planul care ți se potrivește
Citeste mai mult