When Apple released the original Airpods in December 2016, the tech community had mixed feelings about them. While the reviewers acknowledged the seamless integration into the Apple ecosystem and superior user experience, they criticized the “silly” looking design, the mediocre sound, and the comparably high price. Consumers obviously thought differently about it, and the Airpods quickly became the most sold earphones in the world. After Apple introduced the second (only slightly improved) version of the original Airpods earlier in 2019, now the long-awaited new “Pro”-version is here. They have entered the shelves just in time for the holiday season. Here’s a summary of the best reviews we have found online. Beforehand: all the tech reviewers think of the Airpods Pro as being a great product.
Most Everyday-friendly new design
The changes in the design of the Airport Pro’s are instantly visible: they are now shorter and come with exchangeable silicone earpieces of three sizes. Not only does this allow for a better fit for many people, but Apple also includes a software feature that provides feedback on whether the applied silicone earpieces are the best fit. All the reviewers we have checked agreed on them being very comfortable to wear. Jim from JimsReviewRoom even goes as far as comparing them to being as light and non-intrusive to wear as earrings. Linus from LinusTechTips described them as being extremely “comfortable and light” to wear, and Marques from MKBHD considers them the earbuds with the overall best design for everyday life. Especially considering the splash-water- and sweat-resistance, they can be used in more environments than ever before.
In addition to the new and comfortable design, the Airpods Pro come with a pressure-sensitive area built inside the stems that allow for different gestures like pause, play, and triggering Siri. It seems to work well. Still, Dave Lee criticized the lack of customizability in these gestures and especially that it’s not possible as of now to change the volume without using the phone or Siri.
Sound Quality and Active Noise Cancellation: robust but not best-in-class
The “Pro” addition to the name doesn’t mean that it’s geared towards actual professionals, but rather for being the more “premium” version compared to the existing Airpods. The features where this premium is most noticeable are the improved sound quality and the active noise cancellation. JimsReviewRoom describes the sound as clean, distortion-free, and consistent. The sound profile is more focused on the mids and is not as bass-heavy. All reviewers consider the overall sound quality well, but not above average and inferior to some competitors like the Sony WF-1000XM3. However, compared to the existing Airpods, the quality is a huge step up. The new Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) feature, however, is what really makes this product shine. All reviewers agree it’s excellent, but not quite best in class either. According to MKBHD, sound quality is significantly better when ANC is turned on. JimReviewRooms points out that ANC works, especially when a lot of dialogue is involved (e.g., watching youtube). Constant noise like the background noise of a coffee shop or plane is handled well, while other products are superior in blocking inconsistent noises.
Higher price than Non-Pro Airpods, but at great value
The Airpods Pro are not supposed to be the successor to the existing Airpods 2 from earlier this year. They are simply the more premium version, just like any other product from Apple carrying the “Pro” addition. They also cost $50 more, but considering all the extra features Apple is throwing in, it doesn’t seem overpriced. “Painfully Honest Tech” even goes as far as saying no “Apple Tax” is being charged. But all the other reviewers basically agreed on the Airpods Pro, delivering substantial value on price.
Critics: reparability, volume control, android integration
Nobody’s perfect, and that goes for the Airpods Pro as well. Most reviewers criticized the lack of a gesture for volume control. This means you’ll still have to ask Siri to turn the volume up or down or simply do it the old-fashioned way via phone or whatever device the Airpods are connected to. This is something that, in theory, could be fixed with a future software update.
An exciting aspect only Dave Lee mentioned is the fact that you cannot exchange the battery. That’s a bummer since batteries are the component in gadgets that ages the worst. This means in the worst case you might end up with significantly lower battery life after only two years. It will likely drive you to buy the new and “fresh” model, despite the rest of the device still working just fine. This way, gadgets become somewhat consumable, which is not what most people want.
Finally, the lack of integration and customization for Android users is another point that was criticized. Although that might be something, Apple wanted to keep as basic as possible on purpose. Especially the gestures aren’t working as on Apple devices, and apparently, there is no Google Assistant instead of Siri.
Verdict: Greater than the sum of its parts
Again, all reviewers were overall impressed by the new Airpods Pro but still considered some features to be inferior to the ones from competitors. But at the end of the day, the Airpods Pro is Apple at its best: an overall stunningly well-designed product with just the right features combined in a very user-friendly package. This results in a product that is greater than the sum of its parts. MKBHD brought it to the point and said, if he had to pick just one wireless earbud to use for all purposes, he’d have to go with these Airpods Pro. I think that wraps it up pretty well.
What do you think of the Airpods Pro? Let me know in the comments down below.
