'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean?
ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.
When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.
ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form.
How to improve ANC on Google's Pixel Buds Pro
About six months ago, I realized I had enough credit in my Google account to snag a couple of Pixel Buds Pro for my wife and me. Because they were basically free, I didn't really pay much attention to them. My snubbing of Google's earbuds was compounded when I received the Denon PerL Pro earbuds, which sound exponentially better than any earbuds I've tested to date.
For whatever reason, I realized I'd put the Pixel Buds Pro in my sling bag. While I was out one day, I pulled them from my pack, inserted them into my ears, adjusted the EQ, and found them to sound almost as good as the Denon PerL Pro. Even though they were just shy of matching those amazing Denon earbuds, the Pixel Buds Pro offered a few features that made me realize just how good they are.
Also: The best earbuds you can buy
One such feature is the active noise cancelation, aka ANC. It's probably the best noise canceling I've ever experienced. If you insert your buds and find it to be lacking, there's a simple reason for it. What's most likely happening is the seal between the earbud tips and your ear isn't quite right. But how do you know if that is the case?
Fortunately, Google has a trick up its sleeve to help you with that.
Let me show you how to fix that seal.
How to improve ANC on Pixel Buds Pro
What you'll need: To make this work, you'll need a pair of Pixel Buds Pro and a Pixel Phone. You'll also need the extra silicon tips that were shipped with the earbuds, in case the selection you originally made wasn't correct for your ears. When I ran the test, I was surprised to find that the size of tips I typically choose wouldn't allow for a proper seal to get the most from the noise cancelation.
That's it. Let's run that test.
1. Insert your Pixel Buds Pro
The first thing to do is pull out your Pixel Buds Pro and insert them into your ears.
2. Open Settings
Next, open Settings by pulling down the Android Notification Shade twice and tapping the gear icon in the bottom right corner.
You can also access Settings from within the Android App Drawer.
Also: The best noise-canceling earbuds for deep work and quiet studying
3. Open Connected Devices
Within the Settings page, tap Connected Devices.
If you haven't pulled your Pixel Buds from their case, do so now.
4. Open the Pixel Bud Pro Settings
On the resulting page, you should see your Pixel Buds Pro listing. Tap the associated gear icon to open the settings app for the device.
Your Pixel Buds Pro should have a unique name in the listing.
5. Open Sound Settings
Below Touch Controls, you should see a listing for Sound. Tap that entry.
You can also customize the Touch Controls for your Pixel Buds Pro earbuds.
6. Open the Eartip Seal Check
On this page, you should see Eartip Seal Check. Tap that entry to open the test page.
You've found the gateway to the test.
Also: The best sleep headphones you can buy
7. Start the test
Make sure your earbuds are snug in your ears and tap Start to begin the test. The test will begin and play some pleasant music for about 20 seconds.
Tap start to begin the ear tip seal test.
8. Check your results
At the end, you want to see Your earbuds sound great! on the results page. If you see anything else, something is wrong. What can go wrong is that you've either not snugged the earbuds in tight enough or you have the wrong tips attached to the earbuds. I would suggest you first reseal the earbuds and run the test again. If it fails a second time, change the tips and rerun the test.
If your seal doesn't pass the test, you'll have to reseal and try again.
Also: These two past Pixel phone problems are popping up again on Google's new flagship
It shouldn't take much adjustment to get this test to pass. However, if you want to get the most out of the Pixel Buds Pro ANC, you'll want to make sure you pass this test, otherwise, the noise canceling won't be nearly as effective.
And that's all there is to improving the active noise cancellation for your Pixel Buds Pro earbuds. You'll know when you get this right because the earbuds will not only be better at ANC but they will sound so much better. With a better seal, you'll get a better bass response, which will give whatever you're listening to more depth.