iFixit’s Pixel Buds 2a Teardown: A Repairable Case With Unrepairable Buds
Over a billion pairs of earbuds were sold last year, and the sad truth is that most of them are glued shut and impossible to fix once the battery dies. That is the backdrop iFixit opens their Pixel Buds 2a teardown with, and it sets the tone for the whole video. This category desperately needs repairability, and everyone knows it.
Pixel Buds 2a Teardown
iFixit points out that Google has been on a hot streak lately. Their phones have genuine OEM parts and manuals. Their latest smartwatch is the most repairable one on the market. So with the Pixel Buds 2a, expectations were high. Could Google finally break the trend of disposable earbuds?
They start with some good news. There are a few bright spots in the earbud world, like the Fairbuds, Samsung’s Galaxy Buds Live, and PQ Earbuds, all of which let you replace the battery. But most earbuds are glued shut and die young, so the question here is simple. Did Google design the Pixel Buds 2a with repair in mind?
Well, sort of. But mostly no.
Opening The Buds
iFixit gets right into tearing down the buds themselves, and this is where the problems start immediately. The Pixel Buds 2a are glued shut around the driver seam.
They grab a jig to hold the tiny shell, fire up the rework station, and very carefully heat the seam until they can finally pry it open.
Right away, iFixit calls out that this is not a repair the average person can do. If you need specialty gear and a whole setup just to crack open an earbud, it is already failing the repairability test.
Once the housing pops open, things look promising at first. There is a gasket that runs around the outer edge. That usually hints at intentional assembly or maybe a design that could support repairs. But it is too little and way too late, because the real problem shows up immediately.
The battery is glued in tight. Not lightly glued, not tacky, not held in place with a bit of adhesive.
Actually glued. iFixit tries isopropyl alcohol. They try heat. No matter what they do, the battery refuses to come out cleanly.
When they finally get it out, the damage to the casing and the battery tells the whole story. This is not feasible for DIY repair. It is barely feasible for professionals.
But then they notice something strange. The 0.297 Wh cell uses two prongs that connect the battery terminals to the rest of the circuitry. That is usually a sign of a removable battery. A connector would have made this trivial. Instead, glue ruins the whole thing.
It feels like Google had a removable battery plan, then ran out of engineering time and shipped the product anyway. iFixit even jokes that it looks like the team said, “It is good enough, ship it.” It is disappointing because the potential was there.
The Mystery Of The Battery Replacement Guide
iFixit finds something odd on Google’s official repair site. There is a Pixel Buds 2a battery replacement guide listed. Could this mean Google actually intended the earbud battery to be replaceable?
No. It is only for the charging case. The buds themselves are not supported.
The Real Repair Test. Pixel Buds 2a Compared To AirPods
| Feature | Pixel Buds 2a | Apple AirPods (3rd Gen) |
|---|---|---|
| Case Repairability | Highly repairable. No glue. Pull tab battery. Easy internal access. | Limited repairability. Some components accessible, but not very user friendly. |
| Earbud Repairability | Heavily glued. Difficult to open. Battery not realistically replaceable. | Surprisingly more repairable than Pixel Buds 2a. Still tough, but less destructive to access. |
| Battery Replacement | Case battery replaceable. Earbud batteries not replaceable. | Earbud batteries can be swapped with effort. Not easy, but possible. |
| Disassembly Difficulty | Case is easy. Earbuds require heat and force, often damaging the shell. | Still difficult but slightly less destructive compared to Pixel Buds 2a. |
| Overall Repairability | A strong step forward for the case. Earbuds hold it back. | Better balanced. More realistic to fix if you really need to. |
The Case Is A Completely Different Story
When iFixit moves to the case, the whole tone of the teardown shifts. The charging case is the repair hero of this device. There are two torx screws inside the top of the case. Remove those and the entire assembly slides out smoothly, no glue in sight.
The IPX4 gasket is clean and well designed. You can run with it in the rain, just do not take it swimming.
Then comes the coolest part. No screws, no tools. The battery pops out using a pull tab. This is exactly how tiny batteries should be handled. The 1.53 Wh cell is easy to access and replace.
iFixit notices that the Fairbuds case takes only one screw to remove its battery, while this case uses two screws to remove the board and port. But the Pixel Buds case still comes out ahead because everything inside is replaceable with only two screws and a single press connector.
This is genuinely great design work.
Wrapping Up Their Teardown
iFixit finishes the teardown by calling the Pixel Buds 2a a repair paradox. They even read a comment someone left calling it a “repair a dox”, which is probably a term that will stick.
It is obvious the design team had a repairability goal. They nailed the case. They completely missed the mark on the earbuds. But the promise is there, and if Google continues putting out manuals and parts, there is hope for future generations.
If you want long lasting, repairable earbuds, iFixit recommends skipping these.
Our Take On iFixit’s Findings
Google finally made a battery replaceable charging case, which is great, but the earbuds themselves are the part that actually needs repairability. Earbuds die long before cases do. Until the buds get replaceable batteries too, the problem is still unsolved.
Apple’s AirPods are actually more repairable than the Pixel Buds 2a, and that alone shows how far Google still has to go. Google is moving in the right direction, but they need to push further and make the batteries in the earbuds replaceable.
These things cost as much as older smartphones used to. At that price, someone needs to step up and make earbuds that do not become e waste after two years. Farbuds already proved it is possible. So who is next?
Final Thoughts
The Pixel Buds 2a show two very different futures for repairability. The case is the right path forward. The earbuds are stuck in the past. If Google can bring the case philosophy into the buds themselves, we might finally get mainstream earbuds that last as long as people need them to.
If these earbuds were as repairable as the case, we would have a real winner instead of a half success.
See you in the next article!
