Google Pixel Buds A could cut this feature to keep an AirPods-beating price

Google Pixel Buds A could cutting this feature to continue an AirPods-beating price

(Image credit: Regan Coule/Tom's Guide)

Well-nigh Google Pixel Buds A leaks take focused on the wireless earbuds beingness a cheaper successor to the Pixel Buds 2 — likewise as a more than affordable rival to the upcoming Apple tree AirPods three.

However, it'south been more often than not unclear how the Pixel Buds A would find the toll savings to reach such a significantly lower price. 1 possibility, according to 9to5Google, is that the Pixel Buds A volition lose the swipe-based book controls that previous Pixel Buds have enjoyed.

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9to5Google investigated a recent Pixel Buds app update that appears to include strings preparing for the Pixel Buds A'south eventual release. These include "type_one" and "type_two" identifiers, which seem to refer to the Pixel Buds 2 and the Pixel Buds A respectively.

Where it gets interesting is that code relating to the Pixel Buds two's book swipe controls, like the "swipe_forward" and "swipe_backward" strings, are absent from the "type_two" file. This is certainly an indication, though not confirmation, that the Pixel Buds A won't permit y'all adjust book past swiping on the earbud's touch sensors.

Information technology could therefore exist probable that Google will put a more basic touch sensor into the Pixel Buds A, assuming it will support affect inputs at all; only existence able to command the earbuds from your telephone remains a remote though technically possible culling. Either arroyo would aid salvage costs and bulldoze the Pixel Buds A price downwardly, though we'd hope that you'd at least be able to raise or lower volume through repeated taps.

The aforementioned APK teardown likewise hints at a charging example with the battery status LED on the exterior — on the Pixel Buds two instance, it's positioned in-between the earbud sockets, so is simply visible when opening the case. Notably, the possible Pixel Buds A blueprint Google itself included in an email newsletter shows a white LED on the outside of the case.

We don't withal know when the Pixel Buds A volition be released — in fact we don't have official confirmation and so they're even real — but we expect a late Bound or Summer launch. If that's the case, we shouldn't have to wait also long earlier we find out exactly what they'll offer — and whether they'll be a contender for our all-time wireless earbuds list. Picket this space either way.

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James is currently Hardware Editor at Rock Paper Shotgun, but earlier that was Audio Editor at Tom's Guide, where he covered headphones, speakers, soundbars and annihilation else that intentionally makes noise. A PC enthusiast, he also wrote computing and gaming news for TG, usually relating to how hard it is to observe graphics carte stock.