In the past I have used AirPods (not Pro) 2nd generation for almost 3 years and I was very happy with it. They were light weight, fit my ears perfectly and no doubt sound quality was great. Basically I had no complaints. I have also used Bose QuietComfort 35 which are pretty good too but their range is very bad.

But I have been using a Pixel phone for more than 2 years so I couldn’t reap and use many of its features that were only available in the Apple ecosystem. Thus I wanted to try something new which resonated well and provided more goodies in an Android environment.

So when I saw Google launching Pixel Buds Pro, I knew I had to try it. The specs and all the features looked great during the launch but I wanted to try it for real before sharing my thoughts. And I think I am ready to provide honest and absolutely unbiased review after using it for almost 2 weeks:

1. Pixel Buds Pro are not gigantic. When I saw these earbuds during the launch, my first impression was they looked large but when I actually held them in hands their size was just perfect.
   
   
2. Speaking of form factor, these earbuds are extremely lightweight, so much so that I often don’t even feel that I am wearing those while using them.
   
   
3. The thing which I have been completely blown away is its touch controls which work seamlessly and provide complete control to do almost anything without pressing any button:
   
   • You can easily control the volume directly from the Pixel Buds Pro.
   • Needless to say but you can pause and play anytime.
   • You can skip to the next track.
   • You can go back to the previous track.
   • You can activate noise cancellation (ANC).
   • You can enable transparency mode.
   • And you can still use Google Assistant on the fly.
     

Using all the touch controls is very intuitive and requires no learning curve. The best part is that you can configure touch controls and customize touch & hold such that you are able to perform all of the above actions without having to pick one over the other.

4. I was also very impressed with the ANC quality overall. My previous headphones always had ANC but I didn’t use it often. But with Pixel Buds Pro, I am using ANC more than I have used it in the past. Partly because it is so easy to activate/deactivate it and also because they do a pretty good job weeding out the noise.
   
   
5. The Multipoint feature also works pretty reliably and I have been using it very effectively while switching between my Pixel phone and MacBook Pro. I no longer have to disable and enable Bluetooth or use any button to switch between the devices like I had to with my previous headphones.
   
   
6. One simple and common feature which is worth mentioning is in-ear detection. Not only did it work as expected with my Pixel phone but it also worked flawlessly while using YouTube and YouTube Music on MacBook Pro.
   
   
7. I didn’t experience any connectivity or latency issues whatsoever. As a matter of fact it has pretty good range and I am able to use them even when my phone is in some other room which my Bose headphones were not good at.
   
   
8. Automatic updates are enabled by default and it has been working without any friction or needing my attention. I also tried to manually update the firmware once through the app and it again went pretty smoothly.
   
   
9. The shape and texture of its case are so smooth that it draws your attention and will make you hold it more frequently just to feel its surface and perhaps play it like fidget.
   
   
10. The earbuds are also easy to put into the case and very easy to take out as well. Also they sit well into the case and don’t fall out with the lid open and case being upside down.
    
    
11. I was also able to wirelessly charge the case using my Pixel phone so that is a good feature to have if you don’t have the charging cable.
    
    
12. Some of the features which I haven’t tried yet are:
    • Finding the device using the location or ringing the device.
    • Audio switch which lets you automatically switch between compatible Android devices.
      
      
13. Also, I haven’t yet tried these earbuds while running or doing any physical activity but will update this post once I have some data to share.

Now these were the things which I really loved about my Pixel Buds Pro but was there anything which I didn’t like? Actually none to be honest but if I had to still pick then I would say that:

13. It took me a while to learn how to correctly put and fit them into ears. This involved learning how to correctly insert the earbuds into the ears and then rotating it. But once I mastered the technique there was no looking back.
    
    
14. I also have a feature request for Pixel Buds Pro which is to be able to mute/unmute the phone calls and video meetings using some touch control combination.

Note: Don’t use this review to decide if you should buy the M1 Pro or not. Regardless of my thoughts, it is a great product and at par with previous MacBook Pros (MBPs) or might be even better.

Some background, I recently upgraded to M1 Pro from my 2019 MacBook Pro as the touch bar stopped working as shown below:

So what is my first impression of the M1 machine?

To begin with, the 16 inch space gray model looked absolutely gorgeous the moment I unboxed it. Few other things which caught my immediate attention: the keyboard is a breath of fresh air compared to previous models, loved the giant Esc key and the best part, it doesn’t have the touch bar. Also, the display and notch are beautiful, especially the few extra inches of screen real estate which this model provides.

However there are certain things about the new M1 pro which are worth mentioning:

1. It is quite thick and on a bulkier side. So if you are used to using light and thin MBPs then this might take some time for you to get used to.
2. It only has 3 USB-C ports as opposed to 4 USB-C ports. I actually found 4 USB-C ports to be very handy and used them all. But with one port now gone, I would have to probably buy a new connector to extend my USB ports. Not a big deal but kinda annoying as you have to always carry that extra connector.
3. On the other hand it has an HDMI port unlike previous models. However, by now all the good/new monitors have started supporting direct USB-C connection for the display. Also most users now have the HDMI to USB-C port connector. So perhaps the HDMI port was not needed and I bet as the form factor of the M series MBP will improve, this HDMI port would again get replaced by the missing USB-C port.
4. And yes, it also has a USB-C to MagSafe connector to charge the laptop which is good but to be honest I have got used to charging via USB-C and find it to be more convenient.
5. Coming to the performance, my workloads are pretty straightforward so I don’t think I have a valid payload to conduct any benchmarking tests. Also, I haven’t experienced any slowness or hang with this new M1 Pro so it seems to have performed very well so far.

To summarize, it is a great laptop and will not disappoint you but it might take a while to get accustomed to its new form factor.

This review is about my experience of moving to Android after having used the iPhone for almost 5 years. Initially I wasn’t sure if it would ever work out as I was particularly nervous about missing the Apple ecosystem since I used a Mac and still had an Apple watch at that time.

But now that I have used Google Pixel for almost 2 years, I think I can answer the most important question: Do you miss the Apple ecosystem after moving from iPhone to Android? Before I answer that question let me share some of the things which I absolutely love about Android:

Pixel Camera

Pixel camera is one of the best cameras I have ever used. My wife who is very picky about photos and who has been an iPhone user for almost 12+ years now likes the photos taken from my Google Pixel phone. The portraits taken by Google Pixel are just out of the world.

Google Photos

Complementary to Google Pixel, Google Photos is an equally awesome app. Simple tools like finding the right photos faster, collage creation, portrait blur, magic eraser, select top shot and many other computational photography features have been very elegantly knit into Google Photos and Google Pixel.

Hold for me

This is again one of my favorite features. How many times we call customer service and have to wait several minutes before someone can answer us. And while we are on hold, we have to deal with the distracting music. But now we can use the Hold for me feature where Google will do all the listening and informing you as soon as someone is available on the other end to help you. I have used this feature many times and it just works flawlessly.

Turning web pages to podcasts

I find it much easier to listen to audiobooks and podcasts than reading long blogs. Earlier I used to just skim through long posts and never managed to read it completely. But now I use the Google assistant to convert any web page into a podcast and the experience is as good as listening to a great audiobook.

Phone app

It is so convenient when Google is able to detect the person/company calling me or the one I am calling to. Their name is auto updated in my call history and thus I no longer have to store or filter their contact numbers. Also, Google’s feature to screen calls has got rid of most of my spam calls.

Material You

Android’s Material You generates a breathtakingly fresh theme with every wallpaper. It can transform the overall UI very easily thereby making it more vibrant, personal, alive and easily customized. So everyday when I use a random wallpaper, I get the feel as if I have just updated the software to a major version in order to get an overhauled UI design.

Information

The home screen can show all the calendar/traffic notifications at glance and even the current song being played in a public place. Also some of the apps can appear on your screen in the form of bubbles when you switch context and move to some other app. All these features allow you to multitask and be efficient. Speaking of notifications, my favorite alert is the earthquake detection alert which is sent whenever an earthquake is detected by an Android phone.

Google Workspace

I have been just awestruck with Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs and Google Meet integration. In short, Google workspace is an awesome product and all its apps both on Android and Desktop work like a breeze.

Clock display

I like the always-on clock on the locked phone screen of Pixel whenever it detects you near the phone. It has helped me so many times to find the phone in a dark room where my kids are often sleeping. On a related note, the Pixel clock display while it is getting charged on the Pixel Stand is my favorite night and alarm clock.

But what about the Apple ecosystem?

Apple Watch

My primary use cases of a smartwatch are:

1. Health and fitness tracking.
2. Notifications.
3. Good battery life.

The smartwatch which I used initially to pair with my Android phone had decent fitness tracking and notifications. But it really let me down in battery life and UI performance. So to be honest I initially missed a good smartwatch integration in Android. However, I recently started using Fitbit and I must say that it has exceeded my expectations so far. It has got pretty good health tracking features and an incredible battery life. At the same time the UI is well designed, easy to use, fast and very responsive.

iMessage

As an iMessage replacement, I now use Google Messages in Android to send texts/SMS. I have found it to be very fast and reliable even while texting with iPhone users. They also have a browser based app which will never let you miss the iMessage integration between Mac and iPhone. Overall I found it to be a far superior product having many cool features like smart reply.

AirPods

You would be surprised to know that AirPods work flawlessly on my Google Pixel so not sure who gets the credit here. Other than in-ear detection, I cannot make the difference if I am using AirPods on an Android phone or an iPhone. Besides that there are many good alternatives Google Pixel Buds for Android to get the same AirPods like experience.

AirDrop

I do miss AirDrop sometimes but I mainly used it earlier to transfer photos from my iPhone to either my Mac or to my wife’s iPhone. Now I instead use Google Photos which allows me to instantly sync and access my photos from any other device.

Anything else I miss?

I would say the thing which I miss the most is the banner notifications on the locked screen. Currently Android only shows an icon on the top status bar for a new notification and I am not aware of any way to display banner notifications on the locked screen. So if you want to read a new notification then you have to scroll the status bar down. Not a deal breaker but kinda annoying.

Conclusion

So what is my final answer to the original question: Do I miss the iPhone or the Apple ecosystem? For me the answer is a No. And the reason is that all the AI and ML based features of Android / Google / Pixel apps outweigh the benefits of being in an Apple ecosystem.