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Pixel 5 will soon take audio output to the next level: Here’s how it works
June 01, 2025
The forthcoming Google Pixel feature drop could include a new toy for music lovers. Dubbed Adaptive Sound, the feature was uncovered on aGoogle Pixel 5byXDA‘s APK sleuths.
The feature confusingly shares its name with aGoogle Pixel Budsfeature. But while Adaptive Sound on the Buds automatically adjusts the volume levels on the fly to suit the wearer’s environment, Adaptive Sound on Pixel phones will tweak the equalizer instead.
While playing music on a Pixel phone, Adaptive Sound may up the bass and treble in noisier environments, or drop both in quieter settings. The feature uses the phone’s microphone to “assess the acoustics near you,” Google explains on the settings page. It uses this info to tweak the equalizer accordingly.
Adaptive Sound doesn’t seem to kick in while the listener’s using headphones or earbuds, so this is purely a system to improve sound out of the phones’ loudspeaker. That’s a good thing, too. We list theGoogle Pixel 4series among the smartphones with thebest onboard speakers. It’s unclear if these devices will gain the feature alongside the Pixel 5 and likely thePixel 4a 5G.
For those with privacy concerns, Google states that “all microphone audio is deleted shortly after it’s recorded. It’s processed locally and never leaves your device.”
The feature may make its bow next week bundled with the latest security patch push to Google’s phones.
Next:All the Google Pixel phones released thus far
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