Google’s $159 Pixel Buds A available to preorder now

Considering the popularity of Google’s more affordable A series of Pixel smartphones, it seemed inevitable that the company would extend that branding to its range of true wireless earbuds. We’ve known about the Pixel Buds A since Google ‘accidentally’ leaked the cheaper earbuds on its Twitter back in May 2021 before officially unveiling them a few weeks later in June. Now just a few weeks after the Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro were revealed, we finally have an official Australian release date and local pricing for the Google Pixel Buds A.

The Google Pixel Buds A cost $159 here in Australia. Preorders are available today at the Google Store, JB HI-FI, Harvey Norman and Officeworks and will be released Wednesday, the 25th of August. The Pixel Buds A will also be available through Telstra from 27th of August, and Vodafone and Optus later in the year.

To put that price into perspective, the standard Google Pixel Buds cost $279. The closest comparable product to the Buds A are the standard Apple AirPods, which start at $159 (though that model is now over two years old).

There aren’t many compromises made with the Google Pixel Buds A for the amount you save. You lose out on the water-resistant charging case of the standard Pixel Buds but the earbuds themselves are still IPX4 water and sweat resistant (which can handle a splash of water but probably shouldn’t be submerged). Wireless charging is also missing in the Pixel Buds A which might be a dealbreaker for some. The only other difference is that the microphone on the Pixel Buds A doesn’t offer wind reduction like the Pixel Buds.

Other than those small tweaks, the two pairs of true wireless earbuds are almost identical.

It’s also worth mentioning that every Pixel Buds page on the Google Store currently redirects to a comparison of the Pixel Buds A, so you can’t actually purchase the standard Pixel Buds at the time of writing.