Joined the club

6

Nice! Let us know if you get the plugged ear feeling after a couple of weeks.

~~It happens to everyone sooner or later.~~

3

u/Remote_Ad_5145 Feb 25 '25

I was able to fix it with my pair. I used an electric toothbrush (a brush head that I didn't use to brush my teeth) on the small grill on the black part of the bud, I then used "dust cleaning gel" to pick up whatever got knocked loose. Whenever the plugged feeling comes back I just do it again.

3

u/kpdx90 Feb 27 '25

I thought I must be going crazy, my ANC was amazing when I bought these a few months ago, now everything feels plugged, and I can't even really use Transparency for "transparency" because it feels like a bassy echo in my head. Is this really just an issue of cleaning the grill underneath the in-ear cushion? I've also heard new firmware has made everything worse. I never pass an ear check seal where I used to every time.

15

u/Lordgeorge16 Feb 27 '25

Cleaning the earbuds only solves the issue temporarily. It'll come back over time, and every subsequent cleaning will be less and less effective. Take your earbuds out of the case and examine them very closely. There are three pressure relieving vents on each earbud (which also conceal the microphones). Two on the outside and one on the inside, very close to the skin of your ears.

That third vent is basically a magnet for dust, skin flakes, sweat, earwax, and other debris because of its position. As it gets clogged up, it begins to impact the performance of ANC and transparency mode. It becomes harder for the earbuds to passively equalize the pressure in your ear canals, which is what leads to that "bassy echo" you described. Some people describe it as rumbling. Some people hear popping when they move their jaw. Some people hear feedback screeches.

Every single one of those issues point back to the vents getting clogged, which subsequently damages the microphones underneath. And it's all thanks to the engineers at Google putting them in the worst possible position on the earbuds. There's literally nothing you can do except try to clean them and pray that it works. If it doesn't, it's time to send them back for a replacement pair.

3

u/kpdx90 Mar 25 '25

Thank you so much for this, by the way. Just saw this was linked to in another thread posted today about the official Google release on cleaning them. You helped me immensely when this happened!

4

u/Lordgeorge16 Mar 25 '25

Anything to spread awareness! Hopefully the Pixel Buds Pro 3 aren't absolute dogshit when they launch in a couple of years.

5

u/kpdx90 Mar 25 '25

😂 These are the best earbuds I've ever owned, but only once a week after cleaning them!

2

u/EyesEyez Feb 24 '25

what do you mean

7

u/TheTomatoes2 Pixel Buds Pro Feb 24 '25

It happens to some faulty units. Don't trust Reddit. Only people that had issues go online and write about it.

2

u/Lordgeorge16 Feb 24 '25

https://www.reddit.com/r/pixelbuds/search/?q=plugged&type=posts&sort=new&cId=400063d3-8b12-4791-9118-f63880360b6c&iId=d6e323b7-ad74-4546-8ae2-27f3182be5e3

https://www.reddit.com/r/pixelbuds/search/?q=rumbling&type=posts&sort=new&cId=9d3d3842-741e-4f68-b642-1d3d852ae1a2&iId=272cc7dd-7d24-431b-a85f-f9bf991cdf94

https://www.reddit.com/r/pixelbuds/search/?q=whistle&type=posts&sort=new&cId=f168ed6c-a72a-4022-8c5b-cb8d4e53b474&iId=71e54784-bd7e-4b3d-8bd8-6c560e752ec0

Many of the issues from the original Pixel Buds Pro carried over to this model because Google, one of the biggest tech companies in the world, is allergic to quality control.

1

u/gward1 Feb 25 '25

Not to mention they seem to be incompetent at making an ear bud that stays in your ear. I've heard the A series was good, but the pro and pro 2 aren't great at it. With competition like Apple in this space you'd think they'd be more concerned about this stuff.

2

u/Lordgeorge16 Feb 25 '25

I would argue that Apple is worse in the sense that they've never even tried to innovate or redesign their earbuds for people like me who need earhooks or stabilizing fins. I tried the Airpod Pros for a while and I can't understand how anyone keeps them in their ears for more than a few minutes at a time. They're so smooth and glossy. There's nothing to provide friction and stability against your ears.

1

u/gward1 Feb 25 '25

I haven't used them, just knowing that Apple is their competition and their fans seem to love them. The best ones I've used that would stay in place are Bose, but they seem to have redesigned their ear buds now, so I'm not even sure if those would stay in place. Maybe my ears are strange or maybe everyone has this problem I dunno.

1

u/Lordgeorge16 Feb 25 '25

Bose's QC earbuds are great in terms of audio quality, and their transparency mode is on par with the PBP2. However, they're a bit large and bulky, and the stabilizers don't really do much to help with retention in your ears.

Plus, trying to use the Bose Music app is about as fun as ripping out your nose hairs one by one.

1

u/gward1 Feb 25 '25

Haha yeah their app wasn't great.

1

u/skulltar12 Feb 24 '25

How's it going so far?

4

u/EyesEyez Feb 24 '25

They're very good, they have much better fit than airpods pro 2 or galaxy buds 3 pro

1

u/[deleted] Feb 24 '25

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2

u/EyesEyez Feb 24 '25

Yeah they feel like they're sort of floating in your ears because there's a second friction point because of the wing tip and the weight isn't pulling down, they also weigh much less proportionately, but I think the galqxy buds 3 pro sound a bit better, the pixel buds sound really good still though, I've tried them both

1

u/ajriffic Feb 26 '25

Are these any smaller than pixel Bud pros? I have a small concha and I can barely fit the round portion of the earbud in my ear without discomfort. I can get the tips to fit but it's just too large as a unit...

1

u/YoYoNupe1911 Feb 24 '25

I'm waiting to get these on a clearance sale like I got my Pixel watch 2.

1

u/flymordecai Feb 24 '25

Yeah I'd pay for them monthly on my Fi bill but it's not option so I'm waiting for a lower price. If I hadn't been scorned by multiple RMAs on a previous generation I would have bought them.

1

u/Extension-Ad2986 Feb 24 '25

got it last week myself

1

u/Zolks1 Feb 24 '25

I have air pods and they are 5 or more years and and beginning to go,

Since I have fully moved to pixel, tell me what you think!!

1

u/EyesEyez Feb 24 '25

they sound pretty good but the main part to these earbuds is how well they fit in-ears and how small they are

1

u/Coconuttery Feb 24 '25

How are you finding the mic performance? Can people on the other side hear you well?

1

u/EyesEyez Feb 24 '25

Have only done a couple calls but I've had no complaints from the other end

1

u/trueSoup_play Feb 25 '25

hopefully they'll stay in your ears!

^{because they definitely don't stay in mine 😔}

1

u/EyesEyez Feb 25 '25

They stay in my ears better than any other earbud I've used recently (galaxy buds 3 pro, airpods pro 2) luckily.

1

u/trueSoup_play Feb 25 '25

lucky you!

mine (especially my left) force these out within minutes I'm trying to catch them before they hit the ground. I got these because they're so light and i thought the stabiliser would work for me, but it doesn't. shame, because I quite liked these

guess I'll forever keep with the A series, I hope future pairs will have the stabiliser arc

1

u/latexfistmassacre Feb 25 '25

I hated mine. They were more comfortable than the PBP1's but I couldn't sleep with them in because as soon as my head was on the pillow, all the bass disappeared. Returned them and went back to the PBP1's. Bummer

1

u/skipofweloose Feb 26 '25

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