Went on a walk late this evening, as I normally do, but this time with the AirPods Pro 3 instead of 2. I usually use them in transparency mode at night because I want to be more aware of my surroundings while listening to podcasts, and I like the chill vibe.
Walking with them was a bit surreal and I think this is underreported, but transparency mode seems a lot better to me. I could hear the crickets and other bugs. I could hear things further away in the forest behind our houses like creaking limbs or a critter rattling in the underbrush. I could hear the distant low rumble of the highway. But what’s weird is that I feel like I could hear them even better than my bare ears. I wasn’t even listening for this, I just found myself constantly aware of it since I walk about every evening with my old AirPods Pro 2. It was pleasant.
—
May as well speak on my other experience here with them so far.
As someone with weird ears they finally absolutely nailed the fitment with this new shape and especially the ear tip. The foam is more around the very end of the tip so it’s subtle but important support for locking in sound in ANC but also keeping them in the ear without feeling uncomfortable. While doing anything active I alway found them slowly sliding out and I would adjust them on the Pro 2. And when I got sweaty and would tip forward they would sometimes slide out. I found myself doing this less on the Pro 3 but still doing it out of habit and each time I found they were where I left them and they didn’t slide in any further. So that will take some time to adjust to not needing to adjust them, lol.
I’m not an audiophile but switching between the Pro 2 and 3, definitely notice a little more low end bass which feels a little odd for an in-ear device but not in a bad way, just in a surprising way. Not earth shattering but nice. On the high end I can’t tell as much but I feel like it certainly songs I notice more separation between instruments in Spatial Audio? It’s like a lot less dramatic version of when I upgraded my home theater and finally bought a nice speaker, the Sonos Arc Ultra. Again, not an audiophile, but you do notice the sound stage just feels a bit more clean. At this point I don’t expect major leaps in audio quality from such tiny drivers between versions, so small steps are fine. They already sound fantastic for what they are.
My only (small) complaints are as follows: The smaller battery in the case at 24 hours vs. 30 hours in the Pro 2. For a standard 8 hour battery with ANC, I’d like to see 32 hours so it can do a full charge 4 times instead of 3. I also want an option to turn off heart rate sensing entirely while working out because I have an Apple Watch and don’t want it draining my battery even more. Beyond that, I’d like to see actual Find My tracking in each individual ear bud instead of just the case, and a black or space black colorway. These things are already so close to perfect—just a few more tweaks and we’ll be there! But man is it already so good. I might have to ColorWare these at some point. Never done that before!
Walking with them was a bit surreal and I think this is underreported, but transparency mode seems a lot better to me. I could hear the crickets and other bugs. I could hear things further away in the forest behind our houses like creaking limbs or a critter rattling in the underbrush. I could hear the distant low rumble of the highway. But what’s weird is that I feel like I could hear them even better than my bare ears. I wasn’t even listening for this, I just found myself constantly aware of it since I walk about every evening with my old AirPods Pro 2. It was pleasant.
—
May as well speak on my other experience here with them so far.
As someone with weird ears they finally absolutely nailed the fitment with this new shape and especially the ear tip. The foam is more around the very end of the tip so it’s subtle but important support for locking in sound in ANC but also keeping them in the ear without feeling uncomfortable. While doing anything active I alway found them slowly sliding out and I would adjust them on the Pro 2. And when I got sweaty and would tip forward they would sometimes slide out. I found myself doing this less on the Pro 3 but still doing it out of habit and each time I found they were where I left them and they didn’t slide in any further. So that will take some time to adjust to not needing to adjust them, lol.
I’m not an audiophile but switching between the Pro 2 and 3, definitely notice a little more low end bass which feels a little odd for an in-ear device but not in a bad way, just in a surprising way. Not earth shattering but nice. On the high end I can’t tell as much but I feel like it certainly songs I notice more separation between instruments in Spatial Audio? It’s like a lot less dramatic version of when I upgraded my home theater and finally bought a nice speaker, the Sonos Arc Ultra. Again, not an audiophile, but you do notice the sound stage just feels a bit more clean. At this point I don’t expect major leaps in audio quality from such tiny drivers between versions, so small steps are fine. They already sound fantastic for what they are.
My only (small) complaints are as follows: The smaller battery in the case at 24 hours vs. 30 hours in the Pro 2. For a standard 8 hour battery with ANC, I’d like to see 32 hours so it can do a full charge 4 times instead of 3. I also want an option to turn off heart rate sensing entirely while working out because I have an Apple Watch and don’t want it draining my battery even more. Beyond that, I’d like to see actual Find My tracking in each individual ear bud instead of just the case, and a black or space black colorway. These things are already so close to perfect—just a few more tweaks and we’ll be there! But man is it already so good. I might have to ColorWare these at some point. Never done that before!
