AirPods Pro 3 vs Google Pixel Buds Pro 2

Google’s pair came out a year earlier: Pixel Buds Pro 2 was announced on 13 August 2024 and went on sale on 26 September 2024, and AirPods Pro 3 followed on 9 September 2025. The older design is the lighter one, at 4.7 grams per bud with a medium tip against 5.55 grams, and it has the newer Bluetooth version, 5.4 against 5.3.

Spec by spec

Spec	AirPods Pro 3	Google Pixel Buds Pro 2
Announced	9 September 2025	13 August 2024; on sale 26 September 2024
US price	$249 at launch	$229 list
Chip	H2; second-generation Ultra Wideband chip in the case	Tensor A1 in each bud
Per charge, noise cancellation on	Up to 8 hours	Up to 8 hours
Per charge, noise cancellation off	Not published	Up to 12 hours
With the case	Up to 24 hours, noise cancellation on	Up to 30 hours on; up to 48 off
Five-minute charge	About an hour	About an hour and a half, noise cancellation off
Fit	Short stem; foam-infused tips in five sizes, XXS to L	Twist-to-adjust stabilizer; four tip sizes
Weight	5.55 g per bud; case 43.99 g	4.7 g per bud with a medium tip; case 65.0 g with the buds inside
Driver	Not published	11 mm
Dust and water	IP57, buds and case	IP54 buds; IPX4 case
Hearing	Hearing Test, Hearing Aid, Hearing Protection	Hearing Wellness, Loud Noise Protection
Heart-rate sensor	Yes, for workouts	Not published
Bluetooth	5.3	5.4; pairs with Bluetooth 4.0 or newer
Wireless charging	MagSafe, Apple Watch charger, Qi	Qi

Your phone decides most of it

Apple keeps Pro 3’s best features inside its own devices. Hearing Aid, heart rate in the Fitness app, Live Translation and Find My all run through Apple’s software, and ringing the case through Find My takes iOS 27 or later. With an Android phone, Pro 3 gives you Bluetooth audio with limited features.

Google does the same in reverse. Pixel Buds Pro 2 connects to an iPhone as an ordinary pair of Bluetooth earbuds, but the Pixel Buds app, Gemini and head-tracked spatial audio stay on Android, and Gemini comes with Google’s account, country and subscription conditions.

Switching between devices works differently too. Pro 3 follows your Apple Account from one Apple device to the next. Google says Pixel Buds Pro 2 can switch between your devices, without calling it multipoint. Both cases have a speaker so you can ring them when they go missing, Apple’s through Find My and Google’s through its own finding service.

Hearing Aid is an iPhone feature

If hearing help is part of why you’re shopping, this settles it. Pro 3 has Apple’s FDA-authorized Hearing Aid, plus Hearing Test, Hearing Protection and an automatic Conversation Boost when the hearing aid is running. Apple offers it on AirPods Pro 2 and later, updated to current firmware and paired with an iPhone or iPad running iOS 18 or iPadOS 18 or newer (macOS Sequoia on a Mac). It’s meant for perceived mild to moderate hearing loss, some countries don’t have it, and it isn’t a diagnosis; a clinician can tell you whether it fits your hearing.

Google’s hearing features do a different job. Hearing Wellness in the Pixel Buds app and Loud Noise Protection are about loud sound, and neither is a hearing test or a hearing aid.

Live Translation is a Pro 3 feature too, though it’s still a beta, needs an Apple Intelligence iPhone and covers only some languages and regions.

Battery: the same 8 hours, more in Google’s case

Per charge with noise cancellation on, it’s a tie at 8 hours. Turn it off and Pixel Buds Pro 2 runs up to 12, with up to 48 in total from the case; with it on, the case takes the total to 30. Pro 3’s case reaches 24 with noise cancellation on, and Apple’s other ratings cover Transparency with Hearing Aid (10 hours), Spatial Audio with head tracking (7.5) and workouts with the heart-rate sensor (6.5).

For quick top-ups, five minutes in the case gives Pro 3 about an hour of listening and Pixel Buds Pro 2 about an hour and a half with noise cancellation off, and Google adds that 15 minutes buys about 3 hours.

Apple’s case takes MagSafe, Qi and Apple Watch chargers as well as a USB-C cable, which you buy separately; Google’s sticks to USB-C and Qi. Google weighs its case with the buds inside, so its 65.0 grams doesn’t compare directly with the 43.99 grams of Pro 3’s empty case.

Fit, water and workouts

Pro 3 holds on with its short stem and foam-infused tips in five sizes, and you swipe the stem for volume. Pixel Buds Pro 2 is a stemless bud with four tip sizes and a twist-to-adjust stabilizer. Google says the buds are 24 percent smaller than the first Pixel Buds Pro, but its store gives the same 25.0 × 49.9 × 63.3 mm for the earbuds as for the case, so there’s no usable bud size to compare.

Apple’s water ratings are higher: IP57 on both Pro 3’s buds and its case, against IP54 for Google’s buds and IPX4 for its case. Even IP57 is meant for sweat and water during exercise, not for swimming.

For training, Pro 3’s heart-rate sensor logs your workouts in Apple’s Fitness app (iOS 26 or later), at a cost of battery: 6.5 hours of listening while it’s on. It’s a fitness reading, not a medical one.

Noise cancellation and sound

Both have active noise cancellation, a transparency mode and Adaptive Audio. Apple adds Conversation Awareness, which lowers playback when you speak, and Personalized Volume; Google’s Conversation Detection lets you talk without taking the buds out. Google says Silent Seal 2.0 cancels twice as much noise as the previous Pixel Buds Pro, and Apple measures Pro 3 against older AirPods Pro, so the two claims never meet, and neither comes with decibels.

Google fits each bud with an 11 mm driver. Neither company lists a codec, so neither is a pick for LDAC; Sony WF-1000XM6 lists LDAC and LC3, and AirPods Pro 3 vs Sony WF-1000XM6 puts it against Pro 3.

Price and colors

Pro 3 launched at $249, and Google lists Pixel Buds Pro 2 at $229. On 19 September 2026 Google’s store had them on sale for $189, a discount rather than a new list price, so compare both stores on the day you buy.

Pro 3 comes in white. Google sells Porcelain, Olive, Peony and Hazel, and also named Wintergreen at launch in 2024, so pick from the colors still on sale. Pro 3’s box leaves out the USB-C cable; Google’s includes the case and four tip sizes.

Want to skip ear tips altogether? AirPods 5 starts at $129 with an open fit but no Hearing Aid; see AirPods 5 vs AirPods Pro 3. Still on AirPods Pro 2? AirPods Pro 2 vs Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 covers that pairing.