Apple’s AirPods Pro (2nd-Gen), alongside iOS 17, supports a smart Adaptive Audio feature called ‘Conversation Awareness.’
The feature pauses any media playing on your AirPods Pro when it detects that you’re speaking to someone, and automatically turns on Transparency mode. Once you’re done with the conversation, the media slowly creeps back up.
Now, Mountain View-based Google is looking to add the feature to its Pixel Buds Pro, as shared by Kamila Wojciechowska.
Firstly, conversation detection. When enabled, speaking (detected using AI) will temporarily switch ANC into transparency mode and pause the media.
You can override this by tapping the earbud, if necessary. pic.twitter.com/PE9i9cy7BR
— kamila 🌸🏳️⚧️ (@Za_Raczke) October 2, 2023
According to the leaker, the feature will be available with firmware ‘version 5.9,’ which should roll out sometime soon after Google’s upcoming Pixel 8 event. Further, in Wojciechowska’s brief experience using the feature, they said that conversation detection works “decently well” on the Pixel Buds Pro.
Another new feature is hearing wellness, which shows you how loud your media volume is in decibels and gives you recommendations on how to protect your hearing health, similar to noise level prompts on the Apple Watch, albeit more informative.
Here's a sample notification you could get from the feature, if you enable it. pic.twitter.com/orqENj5fxU
— kamila 🌸🏳️⚧️ (@Za_Raczke) October 2, 2023
Lastly, the Pixel Buds Pro will reportedly soon support Bluetooth Super Wideband, essentially doubling the bandwidth for voices, making you sound “fuller and clearer,” in addition to improving wireless audio compression and reducing latency, which could be useful for gaming. Further, ‘Clear Calling,’ which uses artificial intelligence to reduce background noise and enhance voice clarity, is also coming to the Pixel Buds Pro.
It remains to be seen how well these features will work in practice. Google has not announced when the firmware update will roll out, but we expect it to happen sometime after its hardware event on October 4th.
At the event, we’re expecting Google to unveil the Pixel 8 series and the Pixel Watch 2.
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