I Tried Out Google’s Translating Headphones. Here’s What I Found.

Let’s return to the whiteboard for a look at Google’s Pixel Buds. (Hayley Tsukayama/The Washington Post)
Let’s return to the whiteboard for a look at Google’s Pixel Buds. (Hayley Tsukayama/The Washington Post)
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I Tried Out Google’s Translating Headphones. Here’s What I Found.

Let’s return to the whiteboard for a look at Google’s Pixel Buds. (Hayley Tsukayama/The Washington Post)
Let’s return to the whiteboard for a look at Google’s Pixel Buds. (Hayley Tsukayama/The Washington Post)

Google has set out to make its mark on the headphone world with Pixel Buds — wireless headphones that can control your phone and that claim to translate conversations in real time. But how do they stack up? Google sent us a pair to review to find out.

The most important thing you should know about Pixel Buds is that their full features only work with Google’s newest smartphone, the Pixel 2. While they’ll function with other phones, you must have a Google Pixel phone — last year's Pixels, the Pixel 2 or Pixel 2 XL (which, buyer beware, have had some early quality-control issues) — to access the Pixel Buds’ marquee feature: real-time translation.

To be honest, it’s not exactly real-time. You call up the feature by tapping on your right earbud and asking Google Assistant to “help me speak” one of 40 languages. The phone will then open the Google Translate app. From there, the phone will translate what it hears into the language of your choice, and you’ll hear it in your ear. So, if you’re speaking to someone and they say “Où est la bibliothèque?” you will then hear “Where is the library?” in your ear. Then, when it’s your turn to speak, tap and hold the right earbud to have what you say translated and broadcast out of your phone.

The translation feature is promising but not perfect. Translation doesn’t happen at conversational speed — this is not Star Trek’s universal translator or Douglas Adams’s Babel fish. Still, it is much better than a phrase book. While human translators need not fear that they may be without a job, it could be good for travelers or others who want to have a simple, if somewhat halting, chat in another language.

That said, needing a translator is not a scenario that’s likely to come up for most people everyday.

And if you don’t have a Pixel? Well, these are far less attractive. Pixel Buds can connect to other Android phones and iPhones but only, essentially, as normal wireless ear buds. On all phones, you can tap your right earbud to call up your virtual assistant — Google Assistant on Android phones, Siri on iPhones. Swipe forward on your earbud to turn up the volume, and back to turn it down. Sound quality is about on par with other Bluetooth headphones I’ve tried, which is to say not mind-blowing but pretty good for listening to music while doing other things. The Pixel Buds don’t skimp on volume; I rarely found cause to crank them above 50 percent.

They are comfortable, with a fabric loop that you can adjust to fit into your ear. I completed a workout without them falling out.

Pixel Buds are the same price as Apple’s AirPods at $159. Like AirPods, Pixel Buds come with a case that doubles as a quick-charging portable battery, so you can juice them up on the go. The headphones themselves will give you about five hours of juice, which you can extend by popping them in the case. I had little trouble getting them to last a full day this way.

Pixel Buds or AirPods?

The main factor in picking between Apple’s AirPods and Google’s Pixel Buds should be what kind of phone you have. Head-to-head, though, I have three main observations. I like the Pixel Buds’ touch-based volume control, which I found more convenient than asking Siri to adjust the volume all the time. On the flip side, the additional controls makes them more complicated than AirPods, both in setup and operation. There’s a steeper learning curve in using these than AirPods, and Pixel Buds aren’t quite as smart about, for example, pausing when they’re not in your ears.

Finally, while Google Pixel Buds don’t plug into your phone, they do have a 20-inch cord connecting the two buds. Why get a pair of wireless headphones with a cord? Well, for me, it was a good thing — I could drape them around my neck and not worry about losing one.

But if you hate having a cord resting on your neck or want something completely wireless, these aren’t for you.

Conclusion

Unless you’re really in need of basic translation services — and willing to pick up a Pixel 2 — there are better wireless headphones for a more reasonable price.

That said, it’s worth realizing that the Pixel Buds are more than just a pair of headphones. They’re an early illustration of what we can expect from Google, which will try to make products that stand out from the pack with unusual artificial intelligence services such as translation. They also show how Google, like Apple, wants to create products that work best with other products that it makes — and therefore encourage you to pick sides in the technology wars.

Neither of those points, admittedly, are necessarily relevant to how well they work as headphones. But both are worth keeping in the back of your mind as Google continues to push out products.

(The Washngton Psot)



Grievances and Forgiveness Were Both on Display in Prince Harry’s Raw TV Interview

Britain's Prince Harry departs after attending court for his appeal against the rejection of his legal challenge to the British government's decision to take away his police protection when he is in Britain, outside the High Court in London, Britain, April 9, 2025. (Reuters)
Britain's Prince Harry departs after attending court for his appeal against the rejection of his legal challenge to the British government's decision to take away his police protection when he is in Britain, outside the High Court in London, Britain, April 9, 2025. (Reuters)
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Grievances and Forgiveness Were Both on Display in Prince Harry’s Raw TV Interview

Britain's Prince Harry departs after attending court for his appeal against the rejection of his legal challenge to the British government's decision to take away his police protection when he is in Britain, outside the High Court in London, Britain, April 9, 2025. (Reuters)
Britain's Prince Harry departs after attending court for his appeal against the rejection of his legal challenge to the British government's decision to take away his police protection when he is in Britain, outside the High Court in London, Britain, April 9, 2025. (Reuters)

The rift between Prince Harry and his family has burst into the open again with the prince’s raw television interview after losing a court case over his security.

In a long and at times emotional conversation, the 40-year-old prince said he wants reconciliation, while re-airing grievances against the royal family, the UK government and the media.

Here are key takeaways from Friday’s BBC interview:

A security feud has deepened the royal rift Harry said his father, King Charles III, won’t speak to him because of “this security stuff” – a legal wrangle over protection for the prince when he is in Britain.

“This, at the heart of it, is a family dispute,” he said.

Harry has been estranged from his family since he and his wife Meghan quit royal duties in 2020 and moved to the United States, alleging hostility and racist attitudes by the press and royal establishment. Harry’s tell-all 2023 memoir “Spare,” stuffed with private details and embarrassing revelations, made things worse.

But Harry said what’s souring the relationship now is a decision to remove his police protection detail after he stopped being a working royal. On Friday the Court of Appeal in London rejected Harry’s bid to restore the protection, saying a government committee was justified in deciding that security should be assessed on a case-by-case basis whenever Harry visits the UK.

Harry blamed the palace, alleging that the decision to withdraw his security had been made at the direction of royal officials, who sit on the committee alongside police and government representatives. He said they were “knowingly putting me and my family in harm’s way,” hoping that the sense of threat “would force us to come back.”

He suggested his father was part of the problem, saying he’d asked the king “to step out of the way and let the experts do their job.”

Harry highlighted health concerns about the king King Charles, 76, has been treated for an undisclosed cancer for more than a year. Buckingham Palace has given infrequent updates, and has not disclosed what form of cancer the king has.

Harry, who has met his father only once, briefly, since his diagnosis early last year, said “I don’t know how much longer my father has.”

He held out little hope of another meeting soon.

“The only time I come back to the UK, is, sadly, for funerals or court cases,” he said.

After taking several months off last year, Charles has returned to a full slate of public duties. This week he told a reception for cancer charities that being diagnosed was “a daunting and at times frightening experience.” He added: “I can vouch for the fact that it can also be an experience that brings into sharp focus the very best of humanity.”

Harry fears for his life and safety Harry has well-founded concerns for the safety of himself and his family.

He is fifth in line to the throne, behind his brother William and William’s three children. He spent 10 years in the British army, serving two tours of duty in Afghanistan.

Harry said that before 2020 he was placed in the highest tier of at-risk royals, alongside his late grandmother Queen Elizabeth II.

Since then, he has been stripped of taxpayer-funded police protection, and also denied permission to pay for it himself, leaving private security his only option.

He said that is not as good as police protection, which is provided for life to “people who leave public office,” such as former prime ministers.

“I can never leave the royal family,” he said. “I was born into those risks, and they've only increased over time.”

He claimed that “some people want history to repeat itself,” an apparent reference to the death of his mother Princess Diana. She was killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997 while being pursued by paparazzi.

He worries his children will lose part of their heritage Harry, Meghan and their children Archie, 5, and 3-year-old Lilibet, currently live in California, and Harry said he “can’t see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the UK.”

The prince said he loves Britain and “it’s really quite sad that I won’t be able to show my children my homeland.”

Harry claimed that he and his family are endangered when visiting Britain because of hostility aimed at him and Meghan on social media and through relentless hounding by news media.

Harry wants reconciliation with his family – but it may not be imminent Harry’s explosive memoir “Spare” scattered bitterness and blame at Charles, Queen Camilla – Harry’s stepmother – and his elder brother William.

In the interview, he said he could forgive his family, and even the British press that he reviles and has repeatedly sued.

“I would love reconciliation with my family. There’s no point in continuing to fight anymore,” Harry said.

Historian Anthony Seldon said Harry had chosen his words deliberately to signal he “wants to make a new start.”

“There will be no more spiteful books,” Seldon told Sky News. “He has signaled he wants to be back in a way that needs to be worked out.”

But Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty Magazine, said it's hard to see how reconciliation can happen.

“He clearly feels aggrieved at the outcome of this legal action, but there is a great deal to be gained by maintaining a dignified silence,” Little said. “Sadly, as we know from past events, this isn’t Harry’s way of doing things.”