Noise-cancelling earbuds can protect your hearing from loud sounds.*

Noise-cancelling earbuds use Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), which is designed to lower the volume of certain sounds in real-time, when used as directed, potentially supporting your hearing health.

Silent Seal™ 2.0 reduces this noise pollution by cancelling up to twice as much noise as before.¹ And, if you’re often around high noise levels, you can check your exposure with Hearing Wellness on Pixel Buds Pro.

Busy cities like London and Manchester can be challenging for our hearing. Traffic, roadworks, and construction all contribute to urban noise pollution. They can also make it harder to hear the sounds you want, like a podcast or your favourite song. Noise-cancelling earbuds, including Pixel Buds Pro 2 with Silent Seal™ 2.0, understand and reduce noise before it hits your ear. They do this by working really fast – 90 times faster than the speed of sound.

Sports matches and concerts can produce sound levels that go up and down. Crowd noise can be quiet one minute but loud the next. Pixel Buds Pro 2 adapt to your environment up to three million times a second by processing changing sound levels and reducing unwanted noise before you hear it.

Active Noise Cancellation doesn’t just reduce noise pollution for you, it can help you focus on what’s important and create your own bubble of quiet. If you’re in a busy office or bustling coffee shop, ANC cancels incoming background noise to reduce distractions so you can concentrate on what matters in the moment. 

There are times when it’s useful to stay connected to your surroundings, even when you’re escaping the noise. Like during a quick chat with a friend, colleague, or barista. Conversation Detection (available on Pixel Buds Pro and Pro 2) switches from Noise Cancellation mode to Transparency mode and turns off your media until you’ve finished talking.

To protect your hearing health and avoid damaging noise levels, Pixel phones and Pixel Buds Pro can provide notifications and help you understand your listening behaviours. Hearing Wellness can tell you how often you’re exposed to high volume levels above 80 dB (like city traffic), which can affect your hearing over time. You can check your exposure to loud sounds over the last 24 hours and 7 days to help you make choices about your listening. You can also turn on Volume level notifications to tell you when you’ve exceeded the recommended limit for loud sounds. 

1. On a Pixel phone, tap Settings > Connected Devices > choose Settings next to your Pixel Buds name. On other Android devices, select the Google Pixel Buds app

2. Select Hearing Wellness

Hearing Wellness is only available on Pixel Buds Pro and Pro 2.

1. On a Pixel phone, tap Settings > Connected Devices > choose Settings next to your Pixel Buds name. On other Android devices, select the Google Pixel Buds app

2. Select Hearing Wellness > turn on Volume level notifications

• Drown out distractions
  Use ANC on your noise-cancelling earbuds to create a quieter listening experience when you want to focus. This feature helps to block outside noise without you needing to crank up the volume, which could damage your hearing over time.

• Listen comfortably, not loudly
  Adjust the volume on your earbuds to hear your music clearly but avoid the temptation to go louder than needed.

• Keep it below 60%
  Aim to keep your volume at or below 60% of the maximum volume level your earbuds can deliver.

These tips are based on recommendations provided by the Google Health Clinical team.