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Pixel Buds Pro firmware update adds 5-band EQ

By Phil Nickinson Updated April 25, 2023

If you have the new Google Pixel Buds Pro, be on the lookout for a firmware update that’s going to make some of the best buds of 2022 that much better. The update adds a full 5-band EQ, with individual sliders to adjust the sound precisely how you like it. Here’s how to adjust the Pixel Buds Pro EQ.

There also are a number of new presets, Google says, “tuned by our audio engineers.” You’ll also see updates for controls to the left/right balance (so you can push things to one side more than the other, if you prefer), as well as some other unnamed bug fixes.

Google Pixel Buds Pro update. — Phil Nickinson/Digital Trends

The update requires you to have Version 1.0.474476083 (or newer) of the Pixel Buds app, and your buds themselves will be on Version 3.14.

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Missing from this update, however, is spatial audio, which Google said from the jump would be coming to the Pixel Buds Pro at some point. So stay tuned.

Now is a good time to consider the Pixel Buds Pro if you haven’t already. They’re part of the second round of Amazon’s giant don’t-call-it-Prime Day sale, which lops off nearly 25% of the cost to take things down to $152.

Google also mentioned that it’s got a new color of the lower-end (but still very good) Pixel Buds A-Series. If charcoal gray is your thing, you can get your preorder on now for $99. (The other two colors are currently on sale for $69.)

Former Section Editor, Audio/Video

Phil spent the 2000s making newspapers with the Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal, the 2010s with Android Central and then the…

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I desperately want a new classic Walkman, but Sony probably can’t give me one

Tech minimalism is begging for a new Walkman. Though rebuilding it may be close to impossible

Sony Walkman WM2011

Every few months, another piece of tech that seems obsolete crawls out of a drawer and becomes cool again. The age of minimalism has revived the popularity of iPods among younger buyers. Dumbphones have become an escape hatch from endless notifications. Similarly, digital cameras are dangling from bags again. Physical media keeps attracting people who want something they can actually hold instead of another frustrating subscription.

All of this makes it the perfect time for Sony to bring back the classic Walkman, which was a phenomenon during the 80s and 90s. I would love one. Give me a compact cassette player, physical buttons, and wired headphones. Keep the apps, notifications, and algorithms that shape your taste of music. No more AI assistants or personalzied feeds, just you and your Walkman. There is only one problem though. Recreating the Walkman that people love and remember, would be far harder than putting an old design back into production.

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Proton reveals how smart TVs track you and the escape situation is pretty grim

Modern smart TVs fingerprint your screen content at the chipset level.

Google TV applications on the Sony A95K TV.

Your smart TV may know far more about your viewing habits than you realize, even if you rarely use its smart features. In a new privacy explainer, Proton warns that many modern TVs quietly collect data about everything displayed on the screen and share it with manufacturers, advertisers, and analytics companies.

The worrying part is that escaping this tracking is becoming increasingly difficult because many privacy controls are buried deep in settings or enabled by default. Proton argues that buying a smart TV today often means accepting a level of surveillance that most people never knowingly signed up for.

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LG is cracking down on smart TV apps that quietly turn your TV into a secret proxy

LG OLED Settings

If you own an LG smart TV, there's a chance one of your harmless-looking apps has been moonlighting as an internet relay for someone else's traffic. According to a report from KrebsOnSecurity, LG says it's finally stepping in to stop this menace. This week, the company confirmed it plans to suspend any webOS app that turns a TV into what's called a residential proxy node.

The move follows a report from security firm Spur, which found that more than 42 percent of apps on LG's webOS store include SDKs that quietly reroute internet traffic through your TV, indefinitely. Samsung isn't spared either, with over a quarter of Tizen apps carrying similar code.