In this weeks blog I am going to be reviewing the Apple AirPod Pro’s and giving my verdict on whether they are worth the price or not. I had been using the AirPods for a number of years and really loved them so was not looking to change until they started to see better days, the battery life was not great on them anymore so I made the decision to upgrade to the AirPod Pros.
I have been using the AirPod Pros’s for about a year now and I can certainly say that they are an improvement on the AirPods. There are a few new features and tweaks that I want to talk about which I think that make these headphone stand out for the previous version.
Comfort:
Compared to the AirPod these feel a lot more comfortable in the ear. Unlike the AirPods the Pro’s come with three different tip sizes that you can click into place so you can find the tip that perfectly fits your ear. The tips are tapered so they conform to the shape of your ears and keep the AirPod Pro’s from falling out. I do exercise in these and I can safely say that they don’t fall out or feel like they are loose at all.
Looks:
I really like the change in appearance from the AirPods to the AirPod Pro’s. I particularly like that the stem of the headphones is smaller and are less noticeable when you are wearing them (especially when out and about). I think the new elongated case design looks a lot more stylish than its predecessor. I just generally think that they just look better.
Charging:
Unlike the AirPods you can wirelessly charge the Pro’s as it comes with a wireless charging case which is a great feature especially if you already have wireless chargers. You can still use the lightening cable to charge the headphone as well. The case provides more than 24hrs battery life. The Pro’s will send a notification to your iPhone when it needs charging and it can be charged using any Qi-certified charger.
One of the really good feature is that it has a quick charge function, 5 mins of charging should give you about an hours of listening time. I have tried this a couple of times when I have forgot to charge them and wanted to use them when out for a walk and it is very handy.
Sound Quality:
I don’t claim to be an expert in sound but these sound pretty good to me. The sound is crisp and clear. But I think the big game changer with the AirPod Pro’s is the Active Noise Cancellation and Transparency mode features, before owning these I hadn’t really owned noise cancelling headphones so I was super impressed. I have used these whilst doing some headspace downstairs whilst my other half is putting the small one to bed and it blocked out pretty much all of the noise, this is also great for when on calls and its not just you in the house.
I tend to use these mostly when I am out of about (walking Derek) so the transparency mode really comes into its own. I have this on when I am walking on the road so I can still clearly hear the traffic and then when we are off the road and in the countryside I can put the active noise cancelling back on. So these are great for when you need quiet to focus and when you still want to be able to hear things around you, the best of both worlds.
Compatibility:
So there is one thing that i would like to mention and that is that I have struggled to connect these to Teams on a windows PC. They work perfectly on Team for Mac but they are not a supported device on teams so if you want to use them for conference calls I would bare this in mind before you buy them.
If you are in the apple ecosystem then these connect across all your devices really nicely, I have connected them to an android phone before and it does work but you don’t get the feature with it.
Price:
So before I come to the conclusion I guess we should touch on the price. So these are not cheap as you would expect from Apple, they are going to set you back £249. Do I think that they are wroth it? I have to say Yes. The new features are great and probably do justify the increased price. If you are not to bothered about the Active Noise Cancellation and Transparency mode or wireless charging then you can’t go wrong with the normal AirPods which are still going cost £159 but are on the cheaper side. Alternatively there are some good budget headphones out there I would just say do your research before buying.
Conclusion:
So for me what I use the AirPod Pro’s for they are perfect. The new Active Noise Cancellation and Transparency mode really make this worth the money for me especially as I have the full Apple Ecosystem. They are also nice and compact so you can just pop them in your pocket as you head out the door.