First, let's go over the basics. The new AirPods Pro headphones do not replace regular AirPods; Apple is diligently expanding the line to maintain the palm in the market and give shareholders a restful sleep. Don't forget that there's also that little pocket company called Beats, and there's also a new noise-cancelling model coming out soon, the Beats Solo Pro. By the way, they will cost almost the same as AirPods Pro, 21,990 rubles.
Second thought: Apple, as always, comes with its products at the very peak of current trends. Bose QuietComfort were once the first headphones to feature active noise cancellation—and at first, they weren't a niche product for everyone. They went on sale in 2000, in 2003 the second version appeared, well, next year there will be a small anniversary: twenty years of the series. And now the Bose NCH 700 hold the lead among full-size headphones. But no one has yet made good small ears with active noise reduction. Well, except for Apple.
Third thought: the increased interest in noise-cancelling headphones is explained very simply. There is a high level of stress in society. Stress seriously affects your health, interferes with your life, interferes with your rest, and interferes with your work. And the prefix Pro in the name of these headphones is not accidental: I’m sitting in the office right now, Kazakov is walking around and saying something, Valya Tunitsky is trying to shout to someone from another room, a DJI robot is driving around - do you think it’s normal to work in such an atmosphere? ? Usually I sit and enjoy Bose, but now I can safely tell you: Apple managed to make a small version of Bose QuietComfort. They really are as comfortable as possible, the active noise reduction system works great here and there are many other interesting features. Now I’ll tell you everything. Let's fly!
Unboxing
Lightning to USB Type-C cable, don’t forget, the case can be charged using an iPad Pro (this is useful on an airplane). They have their own attachments - apparently, Apple will sell them separately. Silicone cushion, mesh, clever and at the same time simple fastening system. The case is the same as that of regular AirPods, only slightly extended to the sides. It is convenient to carry it in your pocket and to open it too. The headphones are instantly magnetized into the grooves, no confusion. And even the packaging of the attachments deserves applause - and why didn’t any of the manufacturers think of this before?
Advantages of Apple AirPods
Secure fit. You don't have to worry about how they fit in your ears.
The completely wireless design of AirPods has many people worried about whether these headphones will stay securely in their ears and whether they are at risk of falling out with sudden movements.
Apple engineers designed the weight and design of AirPods so you don't have to worry about the fit. I managed to sneeze a couple of times, run up a few flights of stairs, ride in a crowded subway car, shake my head a lot, and walk for half an hour without having to put the AirPods back in place or adjust them in my ear. The fit is absolutely comfortable and secure. Audio quality.
A sound that suits millions of people around the world. Bang & Olufsen, AKG, Astell&Kern, Bose - headphones from these and a dozen other premium manufacturers sound better than those from Apple. However, is it possible to compare a product for 12,990 rubles with headphones, whose cost can easily exceed the price of the top version of the iPhone? In the audio segment, Apple has never set itself the goal of competing with audiophile models of players or headphones, but they have always released the most popular, sought-after and desired products. Most iPhone owners are completely satisfied with the included headphones, so much so that many of them buy the same EarPods to replace lost or broken ones. AirPods are no exception - these headphones have high-quality sound to satisfy the vast majority of owners of Apple equipment. Their owners will hear the already familiar and beloved sound, further improved by new technologies and a special W1 processor.
You are unlikely to lose them. It's time to debunk one of the most popular misconceptions about AirPods.
Since you've probably never had anything quite like AirPods, these headphones create new use cases. While after use we most often simply throw a regular headset into a bag, hide it in a pocket or put it on a shelf, AirPods immediately set the owner up for constant use of the case. Firstly, thanks to this they will always be charged, secondly, you won’t have to dig around in your bag looking for a second earphone, and thirdly, pets won’t mistake them for a new toy. When using a case, the risk of losing AirPods tends to zero, and storing headphones without it will immediately seem to you not the most convenient and reasonable solution.
Settings
I opened the lid, the headphones were detected in iOS, connected, and you watched an introduction to the new functions. Everything is a little different here compared to regular AirPods: press harder on the volume bar and you can quickly switch between noise reduction and transparency modes.
Well, or you can do this traditionally in the Bluetooth menu - you can immediately select the destination of the presses, calibrate, change the name. Calibration is a very tricky thing: music is played, the microphone in the earphone compares the level with the level outside, and the AirPods Pro understand how well or poorly the tip fits. Sometimes the system advises replacing it. I advise you to do calibration, this affects the quality of music and noise reduction.
Keep in mind that just like other Apple products, AirPods Pro will also receive updates, you just won't know about it. The “Hey Siri” command works great, the chip is the same as in the second version of AirPods, Apple H1.
Performance and Features
The main feature of Apple AirPods 2 is improved communication with the device, for which we must thank the H1 chip, which replaced the previous Apple W1.
The connection to the device is quite fast in the original AirPods, but in the new version it has become even faster. If you have an iPhone, a notification about the ability to connect to the headphones will appear on the screen the moment you open the charging case. At the same time, the charge status of the headphones and case will be displayed on the screen.
The H1 processor also made it possible to access Siri without having to take the phone out of your pocket. This means that you can ask the voice assistant to answer calls, change songs, and do much more directly through the headphones. The function works as it should - the built-in microphone correctly recognizes the voice even in a noisy environment.
If you wish, you can configure AirPods so that the voice assistant is called by double-tapping the outer surface of the earphone. Here you can configure different presses to play/pause a music track and go to the previous or next melody, or you can disable presses altogether. It is possible to set only one type of pressing on each earphone, which slightly limits the possibilities.
AirPods 2 also connect to Android devices, although there will be no automatic connection; thanks to Bluetooth version 5, pairing is quite fast. You just need to press the button on the back of the case, and the headphones will appear in your phone's Bluetooth device menu.
Apple also assures us that thanks to the H1 chip, the updated AirPods switch between active devices up to two times faster, call forwarding is 50% faster, and the latency in games is 30% less. Indeed, when using AirPods 2 while playing on an iOS smartphone, there were no delays. In addition, making and answering calls through headphones is really convenient, the sound quality is very high.
Control
Since the shape of the earphone has changed, the sensors have been moved to the legs of the microphones: you need to take them with your fingers for action, the action is confirmed by a click (you hear it, not feel it). There are no holes at the ends of the legs. For Play/Pause you just need to touch, to turn on noise reduction or transparency - touch and hold. Since both headphones are identical, all actions are repeated here, but in the settings you can select actions for long presses. Everything is done in a not entirely obvious way, but in a few minutes you can figure it out.
To adjust the volume, you need to take out your phone or ask Siri to turn it up. This photo shows the compression areas - see those flat surfaces? The black parts are the meshes that cover the microphone.
Convenience
As soon as I posted a photo of the headphones on Insta, my friends immediately attacked me: how they sit is the most popular question. There are two types of people, some cannot wear AirPods, others can wear them and cannot live without them. I belong to the second category, I can walk with AirPods for hours, they don’t fall out, nothing hurts, everything is ok. But that's not how the AirPods Pro are made. Their shape is not even reminiscent of in-ear headphones, but of custom-made “custom” ones: you have an earbud in your ear, there is a driver in it (we are trying to understand, one or two), the driver looks into your ear canal and a silicone tip fixes the whole thing. The attachments are very easy to remove and lock, it takes some skill, but it’s easier than with regular ones. I’ve already said this, but I’m not too lazy to repeat it.
So here it is.
DO NOT BUY AIRPODS PRO WITHOUT TRYING ON.
Do not do this under any circumstances. I’m sure they will suit many people, millions of customers, but even in my normal ears the right earphone presses a little, I want to adjust it. Of course, after a couple of days a habit will appear, everything will be ok, I would buy them a second time, and a third time, but you keep my thought in mind.
Another point: there are no problems with inserting/pulling out, everything is the same as with AirPods.
Design and appearance
In terms of design, there are practically no differences between the second generation AirPods and the original model. The oblong headphones and pill box-shaped case look exactly the same. But, the new case now has a small LED indicator that shows the charge status of the headphones - green means full charge, and orange means incomplete.
The charging case allows you to use the headphones for another 20 hours in addition to the 5 hours that the headset comes with initially - all the same as the original AirPods. Apple also announced the ability to talk on a single charge for up to 3 hours, which is an hour longer than the previous model. This is made possible thanks to the built-in proprietary H1 chip from Apple - but more on that later.
The charging case works quickly - in just over an hour the headphones are charged from zero to 100%. In addition, the battery life declared by the manufacturer is almost true. Wireless charging in the case means it can now be charged via a Qi-compatible charging station without any wires. If you already have such a rug, the new feature will be useful; Additionally, if you have original AirPods, a new case can be purchased separately.
It's interesting that Apple decided not to change the design of the headphones themselves - the earbud-like appearance was ridiculed even after the release of the original headphones in 2016. In 2022, they still look somewhat strange, although many much more stylish headphones have been released since then - the same Samsung Galaxy Buds or B&O Beoplay E8.
Another criticism of the first generation AirPods was the lack of replaceable silicone tips that would allow you to choose the most comfortable size for your ears. Nothing has changed in the updated version. Despite this, the new Apple AirPods 2 are quite nice and comfortable; you shouldn’t run with them - the risk of falling out of your ears and being lost is quite high.
As with other Apple products, the design of AirPods almost immediately became recognizable and iconic, and it is hardly an exaggeration to say that this model contributed greatly to the development of wireless headphones. Therefore, Apple's desire to remain true to its usual style is understandable.
Active Noise Cancellation
Each of the five grams (each headphone weighs 5.4 grams) is an incredible electrical miracle. There’s a healthy custom driver, a ten-core processor, a battery, a pair of microphones, and a pair of sensors - when you take out the earphone, the music pauses. Many people complain about the processor, but somehow they forget that for the noise reduction to work, you first need “brains”. The H1 chip detects noise from outside and delivers it in antiphase, plus the sound inside the ear is also analyzed by a second microphone - it is needed not only for calibration.
Yes, the noise canceler will not cope with a vacuum cleaner near your desk, but still, even sharp noises will be smoothed out, the stress level will be reduced, and you can sit and work calmly. And these are the only compact headphones currently with such an effective active noise reduction system, which works better than the Sony WF-1000XM3. There are no levels of noise reduction yet - I guess Apple doesn’t want to make life difficult for users: the headphones themselves know how to make you feel good.
comparison table
A good way to start this comparison is to list the main differences that exist between the two headphones. Obviously in this post we'll go over each of them in detail so you have the best information possible, but first you might want to check out the differences in the following table.
| Characteristics | 3 AirPods | AirPods Pro |
| Active Noise Cancellation | No | Yes |
| Ambient Sound Mode | No | Yes |
| Spatial audio with dynamic head tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Adaptive EQ | Yes | Yes |
| Custom high dynamic range amplifier | Yes | Yes |
| Sweat and water resistance | Yes | Yes |
| Chip | H1 | H1 |
| Switching | Bluetooth 5.0 | Bluetooth 5.0 |
| Hello Siri | Yes | Yes |
| Autonomy | — 6 hours of audio playback without recharging. - Up to 30 hours of audio playback with the charging case. | — Up to 4.5 hours of audio playback without recharging. - Over 24 hours of audio playback with the charging case. |
| Automatic device change. | Yes | Yes |
| MagSafe charging case | Yes | Yes |
| Sensors | — Skin sensor. — Accelerometer with motion detection. — Accelerometer with voice recognition. - Pressure meter. | — Two optical sensors. — Accelerometer with motion detection. — Accelerometer with voice recognition. - Pressure meter. |
| Microphones | Two microphones with beamforming technology Inward-facing microphone | Two microphones with beamforming technology Inward-facing microphone |
| Headphone dimensions and weight | — Height: 3.08 cm. — Width: 1.83 cm. — Thickness: 1.93 cm. — Weight: 4.28 g. | — Height: 3.09 cm. — Width: 2.18 cm. — Thickness: 2.4 cm. — Weight: 5.4 g. |
| Case dimensions and weight | — Height: 4.64 cm. — Width: 5.44 cm. — Thickness: 2.14 cm. — Weight: 37.91 g. | — Height: 4.52 cm. — Width: 6.06 cm. — Thickness: 2.17 cm. — Weight: 45.6 g. |
| Apple price | 199 euros | 279 euros |
Once you know all the differences in the technical specifications, before we talk in detail about each of them and how they can affect the user experience, we want to highlight the ones that we think you might notice the most. or more that you should consider when choosing a particular device.
- The main and most important thing is noise reduction. Due to this, if you are a user who is considering purchasing some of the two devices, you should clearly indicate whether you will actually need headphones in your daily life that isolate you from the noise that may be around you.
- Comfort is another important consideration when using headphones, and in this case, while both are indeed comfortable, the fact that the AirPods Pro have the famous elastic band means that many users find them unable to use.
- hours of autonomy will also need to be taken into account. It's true that both offer truly fantastic battery life, but as you've seen, the AirPods 3 have better battery life, which you'll have to seriously appreciate.
Voice quality
The Bose NCH 700 has a cool feature where you can hear yourself in closed headphones - that is, you don’t raise your voice because you evaluate it as it should. Here it’s more difficult: I’ve talked to the AirPods Pro twice so far, but both times I “regulated” myself - I feel like there’s no need to yell. The main thing is that the microphones here are ok, it’s very comfortable to talk even on the street. I tried it today, it was good.
Headphone price
When comparing two technology products, price cannot be overlooked as this will cause many people to choose one or the other. In this aspect, Apple wanted to distinguish very well between the two types of headphones, on the one hand, the one that does not offer noise cancellation and will therefore have a lower price than the one that has this characteristic feature.
For this reason, the third generation AirPods are available on the Apple website for 199 euros , while AirPods Pro are 279 euros . However, these prices may change if you look for these devices in other stores such as Amazon, which usually have some pretty cool deals and which here at ITIGIC we tell you about almost daily.
Areas of use
There is a lot to think about here, and I will give out more information when I prepare the operating experience. Nevertheless, there are already a few thoughts.
First thought: AirPods Pro are much better suited for the gym, as they are water and sweat resistant, IPX4 stated. But they fit better in the ears, and are certainly more durable in intense workouts than regular AirPods.
Second thought: these headphones are ideal for meditation, listening to audiobooks before bed, using different sleep programs - when you need to play crickets, the sound of the surf, and all that. Do you know why? The answer is simple: when you lie sideways on a pillow, you won’t be able to press the sensor. Apparently, that’s why “pinches” were invented.
Third thought: thanks to rain protection and transparency mode, these are ideal headphones for jogging or walking around the city, in the park, or trekking.
Fourth thought: since the microphone legs do not protrude down so much and are pressed against the ears, it is very cool to wear AirPods Pro under a helmet. That is, snowboard, ski, and choose your favorite sport yourself.
Fifth thought: Playing CoD on iPhone is very good, but even for PC it is an ideal headset. And the sounds will be positioned perfectly (I believe in this, but we have to try), and the quality of speech transmission will be at the highest level. Especially if you decide to play on a laptop somewhere on a trip - there are such people too, right?
Sixth thought: you should definitely buy these headphones if you work in noisy places, use only Apple equipment, don’t want a large model, and are generally trying to optimize your equipment (tablet instead of laptop, etc.).
Well, I’ll save the rest of the guesses for operating experience. I'll try everything at the same time.
This is our recommendation
To complete this comparison, we want to tell you what recommendation we want to give from the ITIGIC writing team. From our point of view, the most complete headphones are undoubtedly the AirPods Pro , as they offer everything that the AirPods 3 has, adding a truly differentiating feature, noise cancellation. So, for all the users who want noise canceling and don't mind paying this price difference, without a doubt, the Pro is the headphone they should buy.
Now, if you're a person who always uses headphones at home and doesn't require noise cancellation or you simply don't want to reach the price point of the AirPods Pro, without a doubt, the AirPods 3 are a fantastic alternative both for the sound quality they offer and the comfort they offer. time of their use.
Sound and music
A custom driver is used here, but nothing is clear about the amplifier yet - I think I’ll get back to you soon with more detailed information. It's even more amazing how one driver produces such a wide dynamic range. There are no obvious dips in either the high frequencies or the mids, the bass is great.
But everyone has their own preferences, and in our office, only I have fully enjoyed the AirPods Pro, but my colleagues didn’t appreciate the sound. You ask: so who to believe? You can only trust yourself.
Apple customized AirPods Pro for the widest possible audience of consumers, and whatever the driver, a lot depends on the content, the device, and your preferences. I believe that the company’s many years of attempts to give users a kind of golden mean in a variety of directions - be it the quality of shooting on iPhone cameras, sound in AirPods, pictures on a MacBook monitor - these attempts deserve great respect.
And I would rate the AirPods Pro's sound as excellent for Bluetooth headphones. If you want to improve it, load FLAC, warm up AirPods Pro (no matter how funny it sounds), enjoy. It has its own equalizer. Apple Music and Tidal are at your disposal. Well, for now I’ll turn on the Rubberband album by the incomparable Miles Davis and get my dose of positive vibrations.
But if you fly to earth, then Apple should seriously experiment in the next headphones and use a separate driver for high frequencies and a separate mid-low frequency driver. And then it will be very good - however, maybe this will be the case with AirPods Pro 2?
I’ll also say for all fans of electronic music: brothers, this is awesome. In general, I listened to a lot of different genres, for electronics this is a 100% hit. But for vocals, not really.
One last thought about sound: compared to AirPods, this is a completely different matter - you can’t talk about superiority or, conversely, inferiority. Different character of sound, different sensations, emotions.
I chose AirPods Pro for daily use.
How's the sound quality?
If we talk about the sound quality coming out of Apple AirPods 2 in more detail, I didn’t notice any difference between the original AirPods and the second generation version. The sound is lively and powerful, although there can be some noticeable wheezing at high frequencies, and the bass here is far from the best on the market.
In many compositions, high vocals feel a little uncomfortable, although the mid frequencies do not cause any complaints. Problems arise with low timbre, but guitar solos sound great. In general, the situation is the same as on previous AirPods - voices in the midrange, guitars and keyboards are excellent, at low levels there is a lack of fullness, where high frequencies can squeak and sound rough.
