Google Pixel Buds (1st generation)
2017 - 2019, 2 years old
Wired Bluetooth earbuds with a Google Assistant trigger and a real-time translation feature pitched as a Babel-fish moment for AI.
Launched alongside the Pixel 2 in October 2017 at 159 dollars, the original Pixel Buds leaned hard on a Google Translate demo that Sundar Pichai used to suggest the earbuds could break down language barriers in real time. Reviewers found the fit awkward, the touch controls unreliable, and the translation feature heavily dependent on the paired phone rather than the buds themselves. Google removed them from its store when the second-generation, truly wireless Pixel Buds were announced at the October 15, 2019 hardware event. The original model was never updated again and was quietly delisted from support pages.
- Founded
- 2017-10
- Shut down
- 2019-10-15
- Funding raised
- Undisclosed
- Years alive
- 2
- Founders