The era of generative AI gadgets has been disappointing at best. Devices like Humane's AI Pin and Rabbit R1 underwhelmed at launch and fell victim to their own hype cycles. Generative AI has a future in consumer hardware, but you'd be hard pressed to believe it doesn't. The technology has been gaining traction in mobile phones, and headphones are a natural extension of that trend. The Pixel Buds Pro 2, announced at Tuesday's Made By Google event, is an attempt to take the next step.
The earbuds arrive a little over two years after the company released its first-generation product, and like all of the hardware announced at Tuesday's event, Google is pushing generative AI experiences to the forefront, particularly its Gemini Live conversation features.
“Put the new Gemini Live into your earbuds and you can have a real conversation with your AI assistant,” the company told TechCrunch. “It feels just like talking to a close friend, and it works even while your phone is in your pocket. You can ask different types of questions, including more open-ended questions, walk-and-talks, and longer, more reflective sessions. It's like having a colleague you can brainstorm with and discuss ideas with anytime.”
Misgivings about the “close friend” part aside, the new Pixel Buds may be the realization of something Google and various other companies have been working on for years: The lack of natural language conversational capabilities has been a hurdle to the widespread adoption of smart assistants, as companies have overpromised and underdelivered in this space for a decade.
Image credit: Google
Simulating conversations is what LLM-based neural networks are extremely good at, so Gemini Live is the logical next step, though whether most users would be satisfied with a walk-and-talk or a longer, more reflective session is probably a question for sociologists to ask.
Gemini Live's arrival in the Buds coincides with Google making Gemini the default assistant on its new Pixel 9 series. The tech is enabled in part by the earbuds' Tensor A1 chip, marking the first time Google has applied its mobile chip-making know-how to the Pixel Buds series.
Google says the new chip makes the Buds 27% smaller, faster, and improves battery life to 12 hours on their own and 48 hours when paired with the charging case. The Buds Pro 2 also support Google's Find My Device feature, so you can find your lost device on a map or ring your device and charging case if it's buried under a pile of clothes in your apartment.
Google says that its new Silent Seal passive noise cancellation and improved active noise cancellation “cancel twice as much noise than before.” The $229 Buds will start shipping on September 26th.