The Sennheiser PXC 550 and Google Assistant story are one of the most bizarre things I came across in a while. A death of the previous headset prompted me to get an upgrade. I really wanted something wireless, that I could also use with a mobile phone. A Bluetooth enabled headset was the logical choice.
Sennheiser PXC 550 and Google Assistant
I reviewed a fair share of Bluetooth headsets before, so at the premium price point, I took the ability to trigger the voice assistant for granted. It usually takes a press of a call button to bring the Google assistant up, but that was not the case with the Sennheiser PXC550.
There was no mention of Google Assistant in the manual, so I reached out to the Sennheiser support to get some answers. Sadly, they were even more clueless than me and for the next 5 months, I have had believed that I have no Google Assistant support available. I reviewed the headset on my website before (I updated the review to reflect the changes) but up until now, it was hard to recommend the headset to anyone.
About 2 months ago the Sennheiser PXC550 had a nice price drop to a comfortable £230 level, and yet without the Google Assistant support, it was still hard to give that ‘thumbs up’ recommendation.
How to enable Google Assistant on Sennheiser PXC 550
Last night I came across a forum. A lot of things were discussed there, one person claimed you can trigger Google assistant with a gesture. Skeptical, I decided to give it a go. And… it worked.
To play the devil’s advocate, this functionality is mentioned in the manual, but would you associate this with the Google Assistant action? I honestly wish that someone at Sennheiser support pointed me towards this solution at the point of the first contact. The instructions are there, Sennheiser PXC550 and Google Assistant work together ok. I’d get rid of the ‘Voice dial” prompt if it was up to me, but at this point, I’m just happy I don’t have to take my phone out each time I want to ask uncle Google a question.
I’ve learned how to use Google Assistant now and you can have my recommendation. Just be smart and get the headset at around £230 rather than original £325, it makes much more sense that way!
