Smartphones & Tablets | May 23, 2023
The Pixel Buds Pro are premium wireless earbuds released by Google last year in Spain. Now, the folks at Mountain View are preparing to launch a major update that includes “Clear Calling,” a feature for clearer audio during calls.
After rolling out two updates to the Pixel Buds Pro since their launch in July last year, a third update is imminent. This follows the significant addition in March with support for Spatial Audio with head tracking and the support for five-band equalization introduced in the October 2022 firmware update.
Last year, all Pixel devices received a feature called “Clear Calling,” which simply reduces background noise during audio calls. It’s precisely this feature that will be included in the upcoming major update that Google has prepared for its premium earbuds.
In addition to reducing background noise, the “Clear Calling” feature also improves voices by making them clearer, making it easier to distinguish them in environments where audio calls can be challenging. Although background noise may still be present, it is significantly reduced, according to 9to5Google’s experience with the earbuds.
There is an interesting detail regarding clear calls on Pixel devices, which is that they utilize the Tensor G2 chip to enable this experience. However, the Pixel Buds Pro do not have this processor, so it is unknown if the feature works fully on the earbuds or if they need to be paired with a compatible smartphone.
The first feature is support for “Super Wide Band Speech,” which aims to enhance the audio quality of calls from 16 to 32 kHz. This improvement is a result of Google’s efforts to support Bluetooth on Android devices.
This new function is related to the enhancement of HD Voice, which was made possible through Voice over LTE (VoLTE) technology. There is a possible connection between the previous improvement for clearer calls and this update, as it focuses on significantly improving the sound when engaging in conversations while using the Pixel Buds Pro.
There is another feature related to Digital Wellbeing. It takes into consideration that you are listening through the headphones and monitors the volume used to enjoy the sound experience.
These improvements are expected to arrive in the coming months and will continue to enhance the audio experience, making their upcoming wireless headphones more appealing for purchase. Google has plans to launch these headphones in 2024.
