Beats Studio Buds vs Pixel Buds A-Series: The Winner is...

Naila Syifa

Updated January 2025

Beats Studio Buds vs Pixel Buds A-Series

The Beats Studio Buds and Pixel Buds A-Series were both released in 2021, but they remain some of the top wireless earbuds on the market. Now retailing around the same price of US$99, they are budget-friendly options that deliver impressive audio quality. In this comparison, we'll take a closer look at the key features and 3 more aspects of each model to determine the winner.

On our list

#1 Design

#2 Features

#3 Compatibility

#4 Battery Life

Key Takeaways

Beats Studio Buds wins over the Pixel Buds A-Series in terms of overall capabilities, offering ANC and Transparency Mode with universal compatibility with Android and iOS. The A-Series lacks those capabilities and some features also work only on Android phones. Battery life is comparable, but the Beats Studio Buds wins if the ANC is turned off.

Beats Studio Buds

Powerful, Balanced Sound

✓ ANC & Transparency Mode
✓ Works with Siri
✓ Compatible with Apple & Android
✓ 8-Hour Listening Time

Buy on Amazon

Pixel Buds A-Series

Rich Sound, For Less

✓ Adaptive Sound
✓ Real-Time Translation
✓ Google Assistant
✓ 5-Hour Listening Time

Buy on Amazon

Design

Pixel Buds A-Series

The Pixel Buds A-Series has a circular, matte-finish exterior with a more pebble-like appearance, while the Beats Studio Buds comes in a more abstract, twisted oval shape with a glossy finish on the touch surface. However, both adopt a compact, in-ear design with ear tips in three sizes and an IPX4 splash-resistant rating.

The touch controls are also similar with a single tap to play/pause, a double-tap to skip tracks, and a triple-tap to rewind. However, a long press on the Beats Studio Buds can be customized to switch between the listening modes, adjust the volume, or activate the voice assistant.

Meanwhile, the long press on the Pixel Buds A-Series is limited to activating the voice assistant. It can't be customized and there is no touch control for volume adjustment. You'll have to adjust it manually on your connected device or by asking the voice assistant.

Features

Beats Studio Buds

To accommodate its lack of on-device volume control, the Pixel Buds A-Series offers an Adaptive Sound feature. Basically, it automatically adjusts the volume level based on the surroundings, increasing it up when more noise is detected and lowering it down when the environment is quieter. So, we won't need to pick up the phone to manually adjust the volume.

Beats Studio Buds doesn't have such an automatic volume adjustment feature, but we can quickly change volume levels with the touch controls anyway. Besides, it comes with two listening modes that are arguably more valuable.

Active Noise Canceling (ANC) blocks out external sounds for more focused listening, while Transparency Mode lets in ambient noise for better awareness of your surroundings. I think these are more useful than an automatic volume adjustment on the Pixel, as they allow for total immersion/situational awareness control whenever we want it instead of automatically changing the volume based on its own judgment of the environment noise level.

Consider this scenario. You're in a busy, noisy airport waiting for your flight. Pixel Buds A-Series, with Adaptive Sound enabled, automatically increases the music volume to compensate for the high ambient noise level. Meanwhile, Beats Studio Buds allows you to choose yourself, either to activate the noise canceling mode and enjoy your music in peace, or to enable the transparency mode so you can hear important announcements.

I guess we can now agree that the Beats Studio Buds is better equipped in terms of audio features. But what about smart features on both earbuds?

Well, they equally support voice assistant control, but the Pixel Buds A-Series only works with Google Assistant while the Beats Studio Buds supports both Google Assistant and Siri. So, that's another point for the Beats Studio Buds. However, take note that Google Assistant on the Beats Studio Buds can only be activated with a long press instead of "Hey Google", while Siri can be activated with a simple "Hey Siri" command.

On the Pixel Buds A-Series, Google Assistant can be activated with either a "Hey Google" command or a long press on the earbud.

Compatibility

Pixel Buds A-Series

On the surface, the Beats Studio Buds and Pixel Buds A-Series are equally compatible with Android and iOS devices, meaning you can use them both to listen to music or take calls with either Android phones or iPhones.

However, when we look more closely, the Beats Studio Buds have the upper hand in terms of universal compatibility. The Beats app (where all the settings, features, and customization take place) is available on Android, while the same settings are built into iOS with no app required. So, with either platform, you can enjoy the full set of features that the Beats Studio Buds offer.

Meanwhile, the Pixel Buds A-Series gatekeeps certain features like Adaptive Sound and Real-Time Translation to Android phones only. The Pixel Buds app is also currently limited to Android with no iOS version available. That means iPhone users are left with just basic on-device controls with no access to the more advanced features and customization.

So, if you're an iOS user or plan to use the earbuds across multiple platforms, the Beats Studio Buds are the more versatile choice.

Battery Life

Beats Studio Buds

When the ANC is off, the Beats Studio Buds offer up to 8 hours of continuous listening on a single charge, with an additional 16 hours of battery life from the charging case. However, when the ANC is turned on, the battery life drops to 5 hours on a single charge.

That's the same as the Pixel Buds A-Series, which also provides up to 5 hours of listening time with up to 24 hours of total battery life with the charging case.

So, the Beats Studio Buds and Pixel Buds A-Series have comparable battery life, with the Beats offering slightly more runtime when ANC is disabled.