Google has unveiled a new pair of high-end buds that could potentially rival flagship models from Apple, Sony and Samsung. Here's what we know.

Google unveiled a new pair of high-end true wireless earbuds during its annual IO showcase on Wednesday, officially known as the Pixel Buds Pro.

The buds have active noise cancellation (ANC) for the first time in the series alongside a transparency mode. The battery has up to 11 hours listening time, or 7 hours with ANC on. An update for spatial audio is coming later this year, Google confirmed.

The new Pixel Buds Pro wireless earbuds cost £179 come in four different colours and will be available to pre-order on 21st July. They will go on sale on 28th July.

The wireless earbuds come with built-in Google Assistant for your voice commands, and will support Find My Device for locating lost buds, even if it's just one of them.

The Pixel Buds Pro will support wireless charging, and total amount of battery capacity goes up to 31 hours when using the charging case.

The upcoming wireless earbuds were unveiled alongside other products, including the mid-range Google Pixel 6a smartphone and the Google Pixel Watch.

The Pro model will join the Pixel Buds A-Series, which are priced at £99.99 and offer solid audio quality, battery life and basic touch controls but lacked some of the more premium earbud features - mainly active noise cancellation (ANC).

Prior to the A-series buds, Google released the original Pixel Buds in 2020, priced from £179. Despite lacking ANC, these had some top features including wireless charging and on-bud volume control, but have since been discontinued.

Following a series of hands-on tests, here’s what our expert had to say about the original set in their Google Pixel Buds review: “Are the Google Pixel Buds worth the money? The simple answer is yes if you have a Google Pixel phone.

“Set-up is quick and easy, the touch controls are intuitive and responsive, and Google Assistant works seamlessly. However, these mid-range earbuds have tough competition and don't offer the active noise cancellation technology many are after. If that's you or if you aren't already invested in the Google ecosystem, you may be better off paying a little bit extra for all the bells and whistles of ANC.”

It remains to be seen if the latest Pixel Buds Pro will be able to compete with the leading premium earbuds in 2022, such as the AirPods Pro or Beats Fit Pro, but it certainly sounds like they will nicely round out Google’s own tech ecosystem.

Here are the top five highlights from the Google IO 2022 keynote.

Our team of expert technology reviewers routinely go hands-on with wireless earbuds of all shapes, sizes and prices. Here's some of the latest coverage:

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