With the AirPods Pro 3 in stock and the AirPods Pro 2 reduced, you have a decision to make if you’re an iPhone user.
If you already have a pair of AirPods Pro 2, should you upgrade to the AirPods Pro 3? Or, perhaps you’ve got the original Pro model and you’re thinking whether you should save money by going for the AirPods Pro 2 or go big and get the AirPods Pro 3?
If these are dilemnas you’re experiencing, then we can help as we’ve reviewed the AirPods Pro 2 and its successor and give you the lowdown on which is the better option.
Price
Here’s one thing that hasn’t changed with the AirPods Pro 3. It’ll sell for $249 in the US, the same price as the AirPods Pro 2 launched at.
In the UK, the 1:1 pricing seems to have disappeared with the new AirPods launching at £219 instead.
The price for the AirPods Pro 2 is currently £169, compared to the £219 of the AirPods Pro 3. That does make them more enticing if you want to save money, but as we’ll get to, you’ll be missing out on the enhanced performance the latest headphones provide.
Design
The design is aesthetically the same. Apple hasn’t made any radical decisions despite some rumours to the contrary ahead of launch. They still come in just a white finish and the charging case is pretty much the same as before. If you’re looking to upgrade, the AirPods Pro 3 remain a familiar pair.
Apple has subtlely redesigned the shape of the earbuds, they point more inwards (to your ear) for what they say provides a more secure and comfortable fit. The ear-tips have also been tweaked with the use of silicone meant to aid a better noise-cancellation performance. Our testing found that the new model does offer an improvement in those areas.
The more secure fit should help if you plan on using these headphones at the gym (we’ve seen quite a few AirPods fly across a gym floor); and the IP57 rating is an improvement, with better protection against water, sweat and dust.
AirPods Pro 3 wins
Features
Rather than focusing on every single feature, we’ll focus on the few new headline features. There’s Live Translation, powered by Apple Intelligence, which claims to make it easier to understand if you’re talking to someone in a different language.
If both users are using AirPods Pro 3 with Live Translation enabled through their iPhones, you can have a conversation despite the language difficulties, with the new AirPods lowering the ANC to make it easier for you to hear the translation in real-time.
English, French, German, Portuguese and Spanish languages are supported; however, this feature is also available on the AirPods Pro 2, so it’s not a reason alone to purchase the newer pair.
A feature the new Pro has over previous models is the built-in sensor that monitors your heart-rate during workouts. We found the tracking of our heart-rates to be accurate when compared to an Apple Watch Ultra, and the integration with the Workout Buddy feature on the Fitness app works well.
Again, it’s not the reason to buy the AirPods Pro 3; but if you’re a runner and only want to spend on one pair of headphones rather than another sports one, Apple has you covered.
AirPods Pro 3 wins
Noise Cancellation
One of the stats that Apple threw out when the AirPods Pro 3 launched was the increase in noise-cancellation over older models. The AirPods Pro 3 is 4x more powerful than the original AirPods Pro, and twice as powerful as the AirPods Pro 2.
This, according to Apple, has been achieved through a number of ways. One is that the foam-infused ear-tips that offer greater levels of noise isolation. Two is that the ultra-low noise microphones and “advanced computational audio” claim to offer a better noise cancelling experience than was possible on the previous buds.
Of course, that all means nothing if isn’t true in a real world sense. Thankfully, it is.
The AirPods Pro 3 handle high frequency sounds better. Persistent sounds are suppressed better than they were on the previous model, making them a good choice if you’re using them for travel. They’re good enough to compete with a pair of over-ear headphones.
You still can’t manually change the strength of the ANC, but you may as well be shouting at a cloud when it comes to having more control over the performance with these headphones.
On a last note, call quality is excellent, which rounds up the AirPods Pro 3’s ANC package.
AirPods Pro 3 wins
Battery
The AirPods Pro 2 mustered six hours of battery life when ANC was enabled. With the latest model, they’ve boosted the runtime to eight hours with ANC enabled.
According to Apple, these AirPods should be able to last for as long as a transatlantic flight; and we found that to be about right over the course of testing. The boost to battery is on the incremental side, but it’s welcome nonethless and another area where the AirPods Pro 3 best the AirPods Pro 2.
AirPods Pro 3 wins
Sound Quality
We felt the sound on the AirPods Pro 2 were great, but the third-gen Pro are much better. The soundstage is wider, the songs sound bigger and more immersive according to our reviewer; bass is balanced, and vocals come away sounding crisp and clear; with enough detail to being out the small details within a track.
They work well across a range of genres, although as usual with Apple there’s no support for any hi-res Bluetooth streaming but there is spatial audio.
The quality of spatial audio can vary, but turning on the Dolby Atmos support does bring more depth and surround, especially if you watch a lot of films on your iOS device.
AirPods Pro 3 wins
Verdict
It’s a slam dunk win for the AirPods Pro 3 over the AirPods Pro 2. They offer a more comfortable and secure design, the noise-cancelling is better; the battery life is longer and the sound quality is better.
In the UK they’re less expensive than the previous model, which is a plus. While not all the features are ones you may find youself using, nothing that we can see has been taking away; so these additional ‘extras’ build upon a strong platform.
Hence the five-star rating for the AirPods Pro 3. They’re an excellent pair of wireless earbuds, and if you’re an iOS user after the best earbuds, there’s no better alternative than the AirPods Pro 3.
