I've tested the Pixel Buds 2a and there's one thing I miss from the Buds Pro

Google's Pixel A family offers great value for gadget fans, with the Pixel 9a one of the best cheap phones and its Pixel Buds 2a making a good case for themselves too. But in testing, there's one feature that I really miss from my regular Pixel Buds Pro 2.

The Pixel Buds 2a were announced alongside the Pixel 10, a cheaper evolution of the Pixel Buds Pro 2 and a replacement for the original Pixel Buds A-Series. The original Pixel Buds from 2021 offered good value, but I was never taken by the additional arm that Google included, designed to hook into your ear and make them more secure.

With a range of different tips in the box, I found that the fit was good enough to keep the Pixel Buds A-Series in place without the additional promontory. Fast forward to 2025 and Google announced the Pixel Buds 2a, ditching the rubber nubbin and replicating the design of the Pixel Buds Pro 2.

That's a great move as these headphones share a compact and lightweight body that I find fits really well into my ears and stays secure. They both offer great sound quality, really effective noise cancellation and both come in a charging case that's one of my favourite features.

Yes, I think the Pixel Buds case is the best earbuds case across the whole industry. It's smooth like a pebble and wonderfully tactile, so it makes for a great stress toy. I often turn the case in my fingers while sitting at my desk trying to figure out a problem or while waiting for a train that never seems to come.

That's not something I've done with other brands where the size, shape and angular finishes often make it rather uncomfortable to manipulate.

Hitting these core features made it a seamless transition from the regular Pixel Buds Pro 2 over to the cheaper headphones and with both offering the same 11mm driver and Tensor A1 chip, I didn't find much difference in the overall performance.

Yes, the Pixel Buds 2a aren't quite as effective at noise cancellation as the Buds Pro 2 because there's one less microphone, but noise cancellation isn't an exact science. Both offer those Gemini functions (which in all honestly, I barely use, as I find the interaction clunky) - and the Buds Pro 2 advanced features I'm not bothered about.

The Buds Pro 2 offer Adaptive Audio which I don't really like because I find it inconsistent, Conversation Detection I'm also not sold on because it's never as seamless as I want, while head tracking for spatial audio I just find uncomfortable.

While the battery life is shorter by some 10 hours (because the case is smaller), the 20 hours offered is a little below average for this segment, so they require fair regular charging.

With all that in mind, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the Pixel Buds 2a over the Pixel Buds Pro 2 as there's a hefty price saving to be had. But there's one omission that really irks me: the Pixel Buds Pro 2 supports swiping on the surface of the Buds to adjust the volume.

I've found this really useful, just tweaking the sound up and down as I go through my day and it's something I constantly miss on the Pixel Buds 2a. Having to reach for the volume on my phone instead just reminds me that the Pros are a little better, for this reason alone.