AirPods Pro hands-on review
AirPods Pro are not a compliment to AirPods as Tim Cook suggests
Conclusion
A definite replacement!
Tim Cook says that AirPods Pro are more of a compliment than a replacement to the standard AirPods. I can tell you he is wrong!
I have had AirPods gen 1 for 2 years and AirPods gen 2 for one year. I’ve enjoyed them every single day, they are brilliant. I got the AirPods Pro on the launch date so I have lived with them for 2 full days now. 🥳
Side note: the delivery experience with UPS is nothing short of horrible and shocking 🤯, at least in Sweden and to private residences. I wish Apple could stop using them as a partner.
The AirPods Pro are a major jump forward and definitely a replacement to the AirPods, mainly due to the enhanced audio quality and the much better fit.
The jump from the AirPods gen 1 to AirPods Pro is huge, as you’ll also gain wireless charging, always-on Siri, Bluetooth 5.0 and more, it’s like going from iPhone 6 to iPhone 11 Pro.
The best in-ear headphones?
Are you an audio professional? Then you know the answer better than me.
If you live inside the Apple Walled Garden the AirPods Pro are simply the best earbuds for you. Stop looking for anything else.
They are superior to any other earbuds that Apple offers. Don’t even think about buying any other earbuds, with or without ANC, from any tech vendor. Be happy and continue enjoying your Apple lifestyle and all the harmony and ease it brings. Plus, they are cheap considering Apple’s pricing in general and the marvel of technology they pack.
But if you’re not an Apple fan, then there are several other options to consider. However, I still assume that AirPods Pro are among the top 3 if not the best. There aren’t many other earbuds that tick all the boxes: wireless audio, wireless charging, active noise cancellation, stylish, small & lightweight, Bluetooth 5.0, an integrated virtual assistant (e.g. Siri) and touch controls.
The best over-the-ear headphones?
For over-the-ear headphones, it doesn’t matter if you’re an Apple fan or not. You have to step outside of the walled garden to get a proper set.
In the category, passive noise cancellation, there are plenty of good options for over-the-ear headphones. Pick any Sennheiser, Sony, Bang & Olufsen, Bower & Wilkins in the price range above $300 and you will be happy.
For active noise cancellation, the best over-the-ear headphones out there are simply Sony’s WH-1000XM3. It just a shame that they don’t have Bluetooth 5.0, nor that they support multiple connections.
The breakdown
Noise cancellation
Active noise cancellation is according to me next to useless unless you are in environments with constant noise of predictable frequencies, e.g airplanes. The laws of physics will not allow any active noise canceling system to cancel out sudden unpredicted changes of sound frequencies, for example, the chatter of your colleagues around you.
So don’t fool yourself thinking an ANC headphone will do the job (have you tried activating your ANC headphones but not playing any music? Don’t tell me you can’t hear the chatter of your colleagues. Then you must be deaf!)
The best way to cancel out unwanted chatter is to stuff earplugs into your ears. The next best way is to drown the chatter with music that is louder than the chatter.
Hence I don’t care about the active noise canceling features of any headphones (unless when I’m in an airplane, which is ~2 times/year).
Transparency mode
Having active noise canceling, means also having microphones for listening to the outside world to know what sound frequencies to cancel out. Apart from the noise cancelling mode, The AirPods Pro also has a transparency mode.
When transparency mode is activated you’ll hear everything around you much louder, it feels like your ears have been upgraded to dog ears. 🐶
This is a great safety feature to activate while bicycling to work. It is also useful if you want to eavesdrop on your colleagues. 🕵🏻♂️
Audio quality
The second thing I love most with the AirPods Pro is the improved audio quality. I don’t have golden ears, and most of my inner ear hair has probably died, but I can still hear a big difference in audio quality comparing the AirPods with the AirPods Pro.
The bass is louder, which should be no surprise since the AirPods Pro have much better and a closer fit. Personally, I would enjoy even more bass.
With standard AirPods, due to their non-optimal fit, the sound is not present the same way they are in the Pro version. Switching from the standard to the Pro feels like the artist moved much closer to your ears and the volume was turned up 3 notches. Everything sound clearer. I no longer enjoy listening to music on my standard AirPods.
Call quality
The thing that my wife enjoys most with the AirPods Pro is that she can talk to me on the phone while I’m wearing them bicycling home. With the standard AirPods, the sound of the wind would irritate her too much. Now that the AirPods Pro have a better wind shield/filter, we can talk with ease.
Always-on Siri
AirPods gen 2 and AirPods Pro both support activating Siri without touching them. This feature is more useful than you might think.
For example, I bicycle to work daily. With my AirPods gen 1 I had to take one hand off the bike and try to fiddle with my Apple Watch while going 30+ km/h in rush traffic to change the volume or skip tracks (the helmet prevent you from tapping the AirPods to activate Siri).
Announce messages
Another feature that shines on my day is when Siri reads my incoming message for me as they arrive when wearing the AirPods Pro. This also works with AirPod gen 2. I don’t have to stop the bike to read the message on my iPhone. Once you experienced this, you will wonder how you could live without it before.
Size & fit
AirPods Pro are shorter than AirPod s but they are bulkier at the top. They are about 30% heavier, 5.4 grams compared to 4 grams. However, I can not feel the added weight at all, probably because 5.4 is still super lightweight. Although I loved the long stem of the AirPods, I’m more comfortable with the shorter stem of the AirPods Pro.
I was a bit worried that I would not appreciate the AirPods Pro because they go into the ear-hole and seal it off. Usually, my ears tend to not like this after an hour or so, my left ear especially. But to my surprise, my ears don’t have a problem with the AirPods Pro. I’m not sure exactly why, perhaps the shape of them, the weight-distribution, the extra soft silicone tips (3 different sizes are included) or the air-went that helps depressurize the ear-hole.
The new AirPods stays in the ear much better, no need to worry that they will fall out when bending over to pick up something, while head-baning to crazy-good music 🎶 or when running 🏃🏻♂️. No silicon wingtips needed any more. This is probably the thing I love most with the AirPods Pro.
Apple added a tip fit test, that measures the fit while wearing the AirPods Pro and lets you know if you need to adjust them or not for optimal sound quality, pretty cool, right?
Hand off
Sometimes technology irritates (e.g when Siri does not understand what you are screaming out loud for the 5th time). But there are other times you fall in love with technology and the innovation coupled with it.
My first time I handed-off a song while it was playing on iPhone to my HomePods, was a wow-moment. It felt like physically handing off a virtual thing, the song automagically and seamlessly continued playing on my HomePods, on the same beat it stopped on my iPhone. Wow! 🤩 Next time I leave my apartment while a song is playing on the HomePods, I will “bring” the song with me by quickly placing my iPhone near the HomePods.
Wireless charging
Life can be tough sometimes. But there are small things that brightens the day. One of them is wireless charging, what a good feeling quickly placing the AirPods Pro (and AirPod gen 2) case on a charging mat. Fire and forget. No hustle. Mmmmm. 🥳
Sleeping time 😴
I have an addiction to listening to something (mostly a podcast episode) when trying to sleep (with a timer set to stop the audio). I wore AirPods almost every night. Of course, I would have to search for them in the morning since they don’t stay in, but they would not hurt nor irritate my ears while.
Due to their form factor, the AirPods Pro’s are unfortunately not so fun to wear while sleeping. 😢
Interactions
The standard AirPods has the tap-with-one-finger-to-interact interface while the AirPods Pro have the squeeze-with-2-fingers-to-interact. I must admit that I like the tap variant of the standard AirPods more because it is simply quicker.
