My first thoughts on the Apple AirPod Pro 3s that arrived Saturday.
The Pro 3s go a lot deeper into your ear canal. On the Pro 2s I was using medium ear tips and they were a good fit for me. On the Pro 3s using the medium ear tip they were perched on the outside of my ear and I had to go extra small for a good fit and the ear tip test worked first time.
The sound quality is better with better bass and they appear to have more volume, probably because they are much further in my ear but they sound very good.
The new AirPod case is a little bit bigger too despite having a slightly smaller battery.
You need to upgrade your iPhone up to IOS 26 (the very latest) to get all of the features that they offer and I am simply not prepared to update yet. I have always been happy for all the first adopters to try a brand new IOS and let them iron the bugs out.
Without the features of IOS 26 I am fortunate that my audiogram is being used that I am already using in the Pro 2s. I cannot get beyond, what appears to be a bug in the hearing test. It's telling me to clean the AirPods despite them being new and I cannot get past the screen.
The main AirPod menu that is usually close to the top of the settings menu is not there but I can get to most of the usual options like Transparency and Noise Cancelling via the connected bluetooth menu BUT there are no volume controls!
I think Friday (19th September), when the new iPhones were released was the first day for IOS 26 to be used "in the wild" so to speak and Apple is already working on IOS 26.0.1 so I am happy to wait.
I had planned to buy the latest iPhone 17 Pro Max but it is almost certainly being shipped with the latest IOS 26 and I have decided to put the purchase off for a couple of months until everything is working smoothly. IOS 26.3 or 26.4 will probably be the sweet spot.
I need to test the noise cancelling etc that is meant to be much better so I need to go to a noisy pub and test them out...
My thoughts so far.
The Pro 3s go a lot deeper into your ear canal. On the Pro 2s I was using medium ear tips and they were a good fit for me. On the Pro 3s using the medium ear tip they were perched on the outside of my ear and I had to go extra small for a good fit and the ear tip test worked first time.
The sound quality is better with better bass and they appear to have more volume, probably because they are much further in my ear but they sound very good.
The new AirPod case is a little bit bigger too despite having a slightly smaller battery.
You need to upgrade your iPhone up to IOS 26 (the very latest) to get all of the features that they offer and I am simply not prepared to update yet. I have always been happy for all the first adopters to try a brand new IOS and let them iron the bugs out.
Without the features of IOS 26 I am fortunate that my audiogram is being used that I am already using in the Pro 2s. I cannot get beyond, what appears to be a bug in the hearing test. It's telling me to clean the AirPods despite them being new and I cannot get past the screen.
The main AirPod menu that is usually close to the top of the settings menu is not there but I can get to most of the usual options like Transparency and Noise Cancelling via the connected bluetooth menu BUT there are no volume controls!
I think Friday (19th September), when the new iPhones were released was the first day for IOS 26 to be used "in the wild" so to speak and Apple is already working on IOS 26.0.1 so I am happy to wait.
I had planned to buy the latest iPhone 17 Pro Max but it is almost certainly being shipped with the latest IOS 26 and I have decided to put the purchase off for a couple of months until everything is working smoothly. IOS 26.3 or 26.4 will probably be the sweet spot.
I need to test the noise cancelling etc that is meant to be much better so I need to go to a noisy pub and test them out...
My thoughts so far.
