AirPods Pro 2 And Pixel 7 Compatibility Problems: An Issue With The AirPods Or Pixel?

Apple introduced its top-of-the-line AirPods Pro 2 at its "Far Out" event back in September 2022. They are touted to offer a superior sound quality owing to their new H2 wireless chip, low distortion sound drivers, and an improved audio amplifier. The icing on the cake is that Apple's TWS earphones offer good compatibility with Android smartphones. However, as per a report, Pixel 7 and Pixel 6 users are facing some issues with their AirPods Pro 2. Let's see if it's a Pixel issue or if the AirPods Pro 2 are the culprit.

AirPods Pro 2 Compatibility Issues

Google Pixel 7 and Google Pixel 6 owners are complaining that the latest AirPods Pro 2 wireless earphones aren't able to function normally due to a bug in the A2DP offloading. During playback, the audio volume starts going down slowly till it stops after 90 seconds. Strangely, there's no connection issue as the earphones remain paired with the handset, but won't resume the playback. In order to get them working again, you need to disconnect and reconnect them again to resume playback.

The report adds that the AirPods Pro 2 shows the same issue with Pixel 7, Pixel 6a, and Pixel 6 Pro smartphones and is not restricted to a single unit. At this point, it is unclear whether it is a Google Pixel handsets issue or Apple AirPods Pro 2 issue. However, there have been multiple reports of the AirPods Pro 2 connection issues, audio drifting, and erratic volume levels with even the iPhones and iPads.

A MacRumors reader commented that his AirPods Pro 2 keep disconnecting from his iPhone randomly and it stops the playback, which can only be resumed after pairing them again. This is similar to the issue Pixel owners are facing and seems to be a software bug with the earphones. If it really is an issue with the AirPods Pro 2 and Apple pushes an update to fix it, Pixel users will have to fetch an iPhone to update them as it requires an Apple product for the process.

Is There A Workaround For Pixel Users?

Some adventurous folks have found a workaround for this issue, but it is a temporary fix. You can simply enable the Disable Bluetooth A2DP hardware offload in the Developer Options of your Pixel device. You will need to ensure that the Developer Options are enabled at all times to function properly.

However, this workaround kills one bug but creates another issue. You will experience lower audio quality with this setting. The A2DP hardware offload switches the audio decoding from the handset to the earbuds, which enables the compression, and hence the reduced sound quality. For now, users will have to live with this issue till the root cause is identified and addressed.